Chapter 22
Alister followed the fine piece of ass he’d just railed as they left the navigation room after finding their tunics, and he noticed a slight limp in her step. I may have overdone it.
The second time had been just as intense and heated as the first. Regardless, she finally gave him her answer, and he was pleased it had been a yes.
Now, Alister was going to have his fun with her across the seas. Until he grew bored with her, of course, which he knew he would. What he was feeling wouldn’t last. But for now, it would give him deep entertainment and satisfaction.
She opened the door, and they stepped into bright sunlight. None of the soldiers were left on the ship. He knew their crews must have slit their throats and pushed them into the water.
What surprised him was that Theodore Briggs’ body was still where it had fallen.
A horrible squeal of happiness came from Rosetta, surprising them all – especially Alister, who copped a direct earful. She ran straight into Naeem’s arms, and he picked her up in an embrace and spun her.
“We did it, Rosetta!” The man laughed as her legs lifted off the ground.
Alister might have been concerned watching them do this before, but not now. He shook his head at the two of them.
He had seen it all, had helped her escape. Now that Alister knew Naeem had been freed by Rosetta’s will, and he’d saved her from a horrible man, he couldn’t blame them for their closeness. They bonded through their pain.
Naeem put her down, and she reached for Mr Smith, who embraced her tightly. She even hugged men he didn’t know the names of and had never cared to since it would have been a waste of his time.
Pierre came up to him, patting him on the shoulder once before holding it.
He stared at Rosetta as he said, “Got that out of your system, did you?”
“Nay.” He folded his arms across his chest, still staring at her arse like he couldn’t stop himself. “She’s staying with us for a little longer.”
With a frown, Pierre pulled away from him. He faced Alister with a look of confusion. “What do you mean?”
He nodded his head at her. “Asked her to help us find the Raider’s treasure.”
“You did, did you?” His head shot back to her, a grin forming across his face. His green eyes twinkled with a mischievous glint. “That’ll be fun.”
He knew this wouldn’t be an issue with Pierre or Derek, and he hoped he got words of acceptance from everyone else.
However, Alister did narrow his gaze on the man. “I am telling you now to stay away from her.”
His green eyes widened, slowly coming back to Alister. “You’re saying she’s off limits?”
“Aye. Don’t touch her.” She’s mine.
He wouldn’t have Pierre or his crew entertaining any ideas whatsoever, let alone acting on them. Alister was going to have fun with this woman until he decided he was done, not because it had been decided for him.
Unless she chooses to end things. Then again, Alister fairly doubted she’d be the one who grew bored first.
“What do we know about the support ships?” Alister asked.
He could see his warship sailing next to the Laughing Siren and he hadn’t been paying attention to know if they’d fought them. Cannons could have been firing and Alister would have been too distracted by Rosetta beneath him to notice.
“Some of the men went below deck and shot one of them down when they tried to give chase,” Pierre answered, crossing his arms over his chest. He tilted his head towards Alister with a dull look. “The Howling Death couldn’t assist, but we managed to get them to back off while you were busy.”
He placed one of his hands over his chin in thought. So, they had indeed been in the middle of a fight, and he’d not once noticed. Thankfully it was alright, but that was still a little alarming.
“Good.” It was a shame they’d sunk one and couldn’t raid it before it went to the bottom of the ocean. “I doubt the other will follow. It’ll probably go straight to the queen.”
“This will put a target on our heads.”
“We’re already wanted men.” Alister chuckled. “The queen can only increase her bounties.”
“It’s your ship, though, and I’m sure the fleet vessel will know that. This could have her sending more hunters after us.” He nodded his head towards Rosetta. “She’ll have a while before they discover who’s really the captain of this ship now, and then there will be a bounty out on her too.”
“That’s true.” He brushed his hand through his short beard. “I’m sure that’s why she didn’t want any survivors. They probably would have tried to kill us in our sleep had we forced them to join our crews.”
“Are you sure about bringing her along? It’ll be easier to see us on the horizon with two ships.”
“Aye, but they’ll be more wary about attacking.”
That reminded him.
He reached into the knapsack from where he’d dropped it on the floor and finally looked at the maps she’d given him. She actually delivered on this promise.
He’d already been to one location and knew the booty wasn’t there. Three others were maps he’d never seen before. One in the east, not too far away from their current location. One in the north that looked more promising. A final one was in the south, deep into seas he wasn’t familiar with.
I don’t know if the Raider ever went south.
He’d never had a map that led that way. The bag was filled to the brim with maps – treasure maps to other potential chests.
Some were of places he wasn’t familiar with, but he wanted to know the seas better than anyone, and one day he hoped he would travel over all of them.
That was a goal after the Raider’s trove, though.
Rosetta was finally released from the men congratulating her and she turned to point at Theodore’s lifeless corpse. “What is he still doing here?”
Alister had been wondering that too.
Naeem stepped forward with an awkward laugh, rubbing his short hair.
“I didn’t know if you still wanted to hang his body up and whack him with a stick until you saw what came out of him like a pinata.”
She really hated that man. He snorted a quiet laugh. He wouldn’t get in the way of whatever she wanted to do; it wasn’t his place.
“I was drunk when I said that!” she shouted with a laugh. “You daft twit!”
“How was I supposed to know you weren’t serious?”
She stood in front of the body with her feet apart, her hand over her chin in thought. Whatever she was contemplating pulled her face tight into a thoughtful expression.
Her cheeks puffed as she dropped her arm, reared her foot back, and proceeded to kick him so hard in the nuts that multiple men, including himself, winced and covered their precious groins.
“Shit, I hope she’s never kicked a man that hard in the balls while they’ve been alive,” Pierre whined.
“She kneed me the day we took back my ship.” I still haven’t gotten her back for that.
“You poor soul.”
She slapped her hands together like she was brushing them of dirt.
“I’m good. You can toss him now. Oh! Wait!” She reached down and lifted a flap of his officer uniform. Pulling a small coin bag from his belt, she then tossed it into the air before catching it. “Now I’m done with him.”
She threw it at Alister, and he caught the weighty bag.
“Like I said, the safe didn’t have much gold, but that’s at least something. Prick always carried a heavy coin pouch to flaunt his wealth.”
She gave him a bright smile after he looked inside and nodded his head with approval. This is almost a silver coin each for my men. They’d be pleased with that, at least.
“Alright, let’s get those prisoners to the surface.”
“Nay,” Alister cut in. “I need to speak to my men first.”
The prisoners could be divvied up afterwards. His crew came a little closer, just under fifty men, ready to listen. A sea of eyes found him, and her crew listened in out of curiosity.
“I’ve asked Rosetta to sail her ship with ours while we look for the Raider’s trove.” He folded his arms to show his unwillingness to budge in this decision. “I’ve already decided, she has already agreed, and I won’t be putting it to a vote.”
“What do we get out of it?” one of his men shouted, patting his chest once. “You’re just doing this for yourself.”
A few nodded their heads, agreeing with the question. Alister noticed Rosetta’s men start to circle her, speaking in hushed whispers in comparison to his boisterous crew. They were a rowdy lot in everything they did.
“Aye. For once, I’m making a decision as Captain and I’m not asking for permission.
” He narrowed his gaze into a glare, letting his good eye trail over them.
“Her ship has many benefits, like her cargo space. She can hold more livestock so we can eat better. Just think of the meat, eggs, and milk we can have, instead of the shit we’ve been eating.
She can also hold more grog, as well as booze.
Then there is the vast amount of room for other cargo so that we can ferry all the good stuff. ”
Like the gold and loot they’d steal, which Alister would demand stayed on his ship. They’d get a share of the loot, but he was an untrusting man who wouldn’t let her sail away with it.
“What about the loot on this ship promised to us?” Kent pointed his finger at Alister. “I was promised a new sword!”
“Then get yourself a new sword; the armoury will be full. We can still go through this ship and take the things we want, but...” He unfurled one hand to lift a single finger.
“Keep in mind that it still needs to function and will be treated like our own. If this crew needs something back, they can take it.”
The fact they could still go through the ship, and the Laughing Siren could be seen as a supply carrier for them, appeased his men. Then he was asked a question he hadn’t thought of.
“Who is in command?” Pierre asked with a frown, his arms folded, but more to be comfortable as opposed to in arrogance.
“I am.” Alister snorted a laugh. “Obviously.”
“She doesn’t really listen to you, or anyone, for that matter.”
Hmm. Pierre was right. She is argumentative and hot-headed.