Chapter 5 Kaspar #2
“Reaper has always been very good at his job. Before he even came aboard The Black Wraith, he’d already created a bit of a reputation. After that night, people said you’d never see him coming until he reaped your soul.”
My eyebrows rose. For some reason, that story just didn’t… feel like Reaper.
Killing a whole ship full of people in their sleep? That sounded like stabbing someone in the back, and that didn’t seem right to me.
Yeah, the guy was a jerk, but I swore I could see something else in his eyes. In those pretty, dark brown eyes.
Or maybe… maybe I was just looking for something to hold on to because I thought the man was sexy. Maybe I was looking for a way to appease the guilt I felt for the attraction I had for him.
Because how in all of hellfire could I possibly find someone who’d murder that many people sexy? How?
It wasn’t right. I couldn’t like the guy.
Not when… not when he was so evil.
The guilt on his face when my head hit the mast flashed through my mind’s eye, and I couldn’t help but ask myself, is Reaper actually evil?
After Stitches finished applying her salve to my cheeks and arms, she handed over the jar and said, “Apply it every morning and afternoon until you run out, then come see me again. We’ll see if you need more or if you’ve built up a tolerance, m’kay?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
She smacked my arm with a grin. “Don’t call me that. It makes me sound old.”
I let out a small laugh and walked out of her tiny room. “Thanks, Stitches.”
“You’re welcome. Come see me if you need anything, Ghost.” When I looked back at her, she caught my eye. “Even if you just need a friend.”
That made my eyes want to well up with tears, but there was no way in hellfire I was letting any fall. “Thanks.”
With a nod, she went back to mixing something in a bowl, and I headed for the ladder.
I had a lot to get done today before I could get some rest. I still needed to finish the main deck, clean the washroom, and polish the railings on the quarterdeck, and I wouldn’t be surprised if Reaper added something else to my list before the day was over.
Hopefully I’d be done before sunset, unlike yesterday when I didn’t finish all my tasks until well into the hours of night.
One thing was for sure on this ship, I sure as hellfire was kept busy.
The second I stepped onto the main deck, I nearly ran into a tall, hard body, but managed to stop myself a moment before impact—thank the goddesses.
My head tilted back to see who was standing at the top of the ladder like a creep, and my glare intensified when I found Reaper staring back at me. What in the world was he doing blocking the ladder like that? And why in hellfire wasn’t he moving out of the way?
His gaze moved across my face, examining me in a way that had me squirming from the intensity. What was he doing now? Looking for something else to chastise me about?
But then he opened his mouth and asked the last thing I thought he would. “Are you okay?” His voice was quiet, like he didn’t want anyone else to hear, and I blinked at him, my brain taking a couple of beats to process his words.
Reaper seemed to take that to mean I wasn’t okay, and he grabbed my arm and moved me to the side so Willy could rush down the ladder. Reaper cleared his throat and continued to speak in that quiet voice. “Do you need a break for the rest of the day?”
I opened my mouth to reply, then snapped it shut, too surprised for words.
“Ghost?”
Clearing my throat, I shook the cobwebs out of my brain and finally said, “No, I’m fine to work.”
He scowled at me. “You know I can simply ask Stitches, and she’ll tell me if you’re supposed to rest.”
“I’m not. She said I was fine. It’s just a bump, no big deal.”
He grimaced, grinding his teeth. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. I didn’t mean to—” He cleared his throat and went to speak again, but Viper yelled his name from somewhere above us on the quarterdeck, and Reaper snapped his mouth shut with another grimace.
“If you need to take it easy, just let me know.” Then he turned on his heel and rushed for the stairs that led to the quarterdeck while I stared after him.
“Reaper!” Viper yelled again.
“On my way, Captain!”
That had been the strangest interaction I’d had with the man yet.
What in the hellfire had that been about?
One minute, the man was acting like a complete douchenozzle, and the next, he was being… sort of sweet and checking on me.
The man was going to give me whiplash.
But… but that sort of solidified what I thought I’d seen in his eyes. There was kindness hidden there, hidden very, very deep, under the guise of an evil pirate. But it was there all the same.
With those thoughts swirling through my head, I went in search of my cleaning supplies.
A battle cry came from somewhere below deck before stomping footsteps rushed up the ladder. My nerves were on high alert as everyone ran around the ship, preparing.
And I stood there, silently freaking out.
The Black Wraith was chasing a merchant ship, and I was terrified because we were gaining on her.
The atmosphere was filled with excitement from most of the others, although there were a few rare aeronauts that seemed as nervous as I was, like Stitches. And possibly Ariella, but I didn’t know her well enough to know, and if so, she was hiding it well.
I stood in the middle of the main deck, unsure of what to do.
Everyone was walking or running around me, bumping into me without even realizing it—or at least I hoped this many people weren’t doing it on purpose.
It was like I’d become my name and really was a ghost on this ship, haunting them, on the outside of them, and not a part of the crew at all.
“You need a weapon.”
The voice made me jump in surprise, and I turned to find Reaper staring down at me.
When I didn’t respond, he repeated, “You need a weapon.”
“I… don’t have one.”
He looked up to the sails, as if asking for patience. “I can see that. Go down to the armory and get something to defend yourself with.”
“I’m allowed?”
He growled out, “Yes. You’re staying on the Wraith, but there’s a chance the merchants will board our ship, and I don’t want you defenseless.”
My eyes widened. Did… did he actually care if I survived this?
He stared at me for a long moment, then huffed. “Go now before the trade ship realizes we’re gaining on her.”
He glared at me, and I knew without a shadow of a doubt he wasn’t going anywhere until I promised to arm myself. So I gave him a nod. “I’m going now.”
“Good.” He turned on his heel and started barking orders at people, so I rushed down the ladder and headed toward the armory.
After cleaning every inch of the ship, I knew where everything was, although I wasn’t really sure why they called it an armory when it was literally just a cupboard where people threw extra weapons.
All the pirates kept swords and knives on their person while on the ship, so I wasn’t sure where all these extras came from.
I grimaced.
Oh. These were from other ships, weren’t they? They were stolen, perhaps even killed for, and then thrown in a cupboard like they didn’t matter.
I glowered.
But… there was nothing I could do about that. So I pushed the morose thoughts aside and started rifling through the weapons.
It took some time, but I found a decent sword that had a nice balance to it, grabbed a belt with a sheath, and strapped it on.
I then added the three throwing knives and the pretty dagger I found hidden at the bottom of the pile.
I was honestly surprised the sword and dagger hadn’t been snatched up by someone else. They were both high quality.
The throwing knives weren’t terrible, they weren’t great either, but I figured they’d do in a pinch.
I stood there for a moment, debating adding more weapons since I didn’t know exactly what I was getting into.
After a beat, I grabbed a small knife in a sheath that was tied to a smaller strap and quickly tied it around my ankle.
The knife was kind of terrible quality, but if I was so desperate, I needed it, I figured it was still sharp enough to stab someone with.
Another grimace crossed my face, but I pushed it away. I was on a ship with pirates. What in hellfire did I expect?
With my new weapons all set, I headed back to the main deck. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw how close we already were to the trade ship the pirates were hunting.
My head tilted back to see the sails flapping in the wind—the very strong wind that had been barely a breeze earlier.
My gaze landed on Ariella. Her eyes were open, her arms hanging loosely by her sides, but her gaze had a faraway look to it, like she was seeing something the rest of us couldn’t.
It was clear she was controlling the wind, and I couldn’t help but be in awe of her and her power.
My own power was so small compared to this. I could charge rocks, big whoop. She was over there controlling the wind and making our airship fly faster than I thought possible.
It was amazing.
Reaper drew my attention as he spoke right behind me, making me spin to face him. “Stay on this ship. We’re going to board them, but I want you to stay here. Got it?”
I swallowed and nodded.
“I mean it, Ghost. It’s dangerous, so I need you to stay here.”
“I will.”
He gave me a long look as if seeking out the truth of my words before he nodded once, turned on his heel, and started shouting, “Release the jollies!”
Two jolly boats detached from either side of The Black Wraith.
They were little boats most people used to go ashore in the sea where a large ship like ours wouldn’t fit.
The Black Wraith was capable of sailing in the sea as well, but these jolly boats were made for the air.
Each one had a mini propeller, powered by a fluxstone, so they easily flew on their own.
They met in front of the stern, and one person—Moonie O’Fish—passed something over to Maneater in the other jolly.