Chapter 32
Thirty-Two
The silvered boardwalk gave way to a murky shoreline as they tramped away from the harbor.
The last few shops slumped into one another like exhausted travelers, with coils of rope, patched sails, and rusted hooks swinging on pegs in the salt-thick air.
Beyond them, the ground softened to wet sand and scrubby grass that sucked at Cali’s boots as she walked.
Ahead, Bonnie had one hand wrapped around the bound hellkin’s arm as she steered him along the water’s edge. Gert flanked his other side, and a smattering of pirates walked behind with daggers at the ready. Cali and Thrain brought up the rear of the group.
“You could have stayed on the ship,” Cali said, low enough that only the dwarf beside her could hear. “Marvella was putting the scones in the oven.”
He glanced at the pantheri, his jaw working as if he was chewing something over. Then he shook his head firmly. “The dwarf is a fine cook, but she’s not why I’m here. I’m here because of you.”
Cali kept her voice mild. “You know, it would be perfectly fine if it had become about Marvella.”
He grunted. “I’m here because of what happened between us in Wayside. And I’m walking in this muck in the dark because I’m not letting you face Marina on your own. End of story.”
A purr hummed in Cali’s chest. “Walking with a friend in the dark is better than walking alone in the light, but you don’t need to worry about me.” She meant it, which was faintly surprising to her. “Marina has no hold over me any longer.”
Thrain made a rough noise in the back of his throat. “Nor me.” A long pause. “Still makes me feel like a prize fool for getting all worked up and wanting to fight a duel.”
“You’ve apologized enough for that,” Cali said. “I mean it. I value you too much to hold a grudge, and honestly, I forgave you before we ever left Wayside.”
He cleared his throat, a gruff, uncomfortable sound.
“I know that. But I needed to get away from the village to shake it off properly. All of it. The embarrassment of being taken in and the embarrassment of how I behaved.” He kept his eyes fixed on the shoreline ahead.
“Hard to clear your head when everywhere you turn there’s someone who knows what a fool you made of yourself. ”
“You weren’t the only fool,” Cali reminded him.
“No,” he agreed. “But I also might have promised Vaskel I’d keep an eye on you.”
Cali stopped walking for half a step before jogging to catch up. “Vaskel?”
“He was worried.”
“I’ve saved that hellkin’s hide more times than I can count.” She meant for it to come out sharp, but her tone held nothing but affection. “He has no reason to worry about me.”
Thrain gave her a sidelong glance from under his heavy brows. “Maybe that’s exactly why he wanted to be sure you were looked after.” He hunched his shoulders. “You’re so capable that you never worry about yourself.”
Cali couldn’t think of an argument for that, so she didn’t offer one.
They trudged on. The moon had slipped behind pewter clouds, bathing the shoreline in shadow. Ahead, the hellkin was pointing toward a protrusion of driftwood and tangled rope, and Bonnie leaned forward to peer past it.
Thrain nudged her with an elbow. “I’ve noticed you’ve been spending a fair bit of time with the captain.”
Cali concentrated very hard on where she was placing her feet. “I’ve always had a keen interest in pirates.”
The dwarf’s laugh was throaty. “You living out one of your pirate romances?”
“That is not—” Cali spluttered and glanced ahead. “That is not what’s happening.”
Thrain was still chuckling, and she resisted the urge to step on his foot.
The honest truth was that nothing had happened. But she would be lying, even to herself, if she claimed she didn’t want something. The practical part of her, however, knew that was wishful thinking.
Bonnie was a pirate captain who lived on an enchanted ship at sea.
And Cali was a pantheri who avoided water and had a village full of friends she’d promised to return to.
Not only that, but her heart still wasn’t free to give to anyone.
Whatever she felt when the captain smiled at her was something to be tucked away.
“We’re friends,” she told Thrain firmly. “That’s all.”
“If you say so,” Thrain said.
She was about to tell him she did say so when Bonnie stopped.
The hellkin had stopped too, and he was nodding toward something ahead, through a break in the shoreline scrub where the ground sloped down to a small natural inlet.
Cali could just make out the unmistakable shape of a brightly colored jolly boat bobbing in the shore break that could only have come from The Cruel Mistress.
A smile tugged at her whiskers. They’d found her. They’d finally found Jolli. Her pulse quickened as she thought about how happy Tris would be. Then Cali shifted her gaze, and her chest seized.
Above the little boat, standing with feet planted in the wet sand and an axe raised in both hands, was a hellkin.
“Marina.” Cali rasped the name like a curse as she realized the hellkin was about to bring the axe down on the boat.
Bonnie released her grip on the captive and broke into a run with the rest of the pirates and Cali right behind her, bow drawn.