Chapter 9 Kaspar #2
Nearly every night this week, I almost broke into the safe where they were kept so I could charge them. But the risk of being found out was far too great. I was the only new person on the ship, so of course they’d assume I’d done it, and I couldn’t let them find out I was a fluxweaver.
No one could know.
Ever.
Not after what’d happened the last time a friend of mine found out. I’d met Reuben Campbell at a pub, and for a few weeks, I’d thought there might be something there, that he might like me the way I was beginning to like him.
But then he’d caught me using my magic, and everything changed.
Reuben had seemed… scared of me. Like I was acid that he was terrified to touch.
And then the demands started.
He’d wanted me to power every stone he and his family owned, which I didn’t actually mind doing at all. I did mind, however, having it demanded of me while the man sneered and turned his nose up at me. Reuben had acted like I was his personal servant, only there to serve him anytime he wanted.
And I’d also minded when he’d started throwing out casual threats.
“What would happen if someone told one of the king’s guard?”
“Do you think they’d plug you in?”
“Can you imagine how horrible it is living in a waking coma?”
“What would you do if I… let slip what you are?”
He’d gone from a man I wanted to date to my worst nightmare.
After three months of letting him force me to do his bidding, exhausting me and making me constantly check over my shoulder, my sister, Ethan, and Master Redman had intervened.
I still didn’t know how they’d gotten him to back off—they wouldn’t tell me no matter how many times I’d asked—but I’d appreciated it more than they knew.
Reuben hadn’t been the first person to do that to me, and I was sure he wouldn’t be the last.
But since then, I’d been even more careful.
Apparently, not careful enough.
Shaking off the thoughts, I sighed and rolled my shoulders, trying to let the tension out. Not using my magic was really doing a number on me. I really was going to have to find a place to release some of this pent-up power.
“You can’t go off by yourself.”
The sudden voice made me jump, and I whipped around to find Reaper standing a few feet away, staring off into the distance, probably at Duskwater Harbor.
His words registered, and for a few horrible seconds, I thought he’d somehow figured out what I was and that I’d been contemplating finding a remote place to discharge some of my magic.
But then I realized that was ridiculous because there was no way Reaper could read my mind, so I cleared my throat and asked, “What?”
He glanced at me, then away again. “You can’t go off on your own in Duskwater Harbor. It’s too dangerous.”
I scoffed, unworried. I still carried the sword, throwing knives, and daggers I’d found on the ship, and Reaper didn’t know I could make stone explode if I really needed to. No one would hurt me while we were on that island. I was probably safer than he was.
Reaper grabbed my forearm, startling me into looking at him.
He released me quickly, glanced around us, and scowled before quietly saying, “I’m serious, Ghost. That place is nothing but a festering wound filled with vile people who’re out to get everyone they come across.
Everywhere you turn, someone is stealing or hurting another. It isn’t safe to travel alone.”
Even though he was trying not to look at me for appearance’s sake, I could see the concern on his handsome face. “I hear you, big guy. Hawk-Eyes wants to take me to some pub anyway.”
He blew out a breath and gave a short nod. “Good. Stay with her, be careful, and keep your eyes peeled.”
“I will.”
He walked away without another word to me and started barking orders again. I stared after the man for a long moment before I turned back to the island. I was surprised he’d chanced coming and talking to me in a civil manner where anyone could see.
Even though we’d stayed up in the crow’s nest and talked every night, even though I’d seen the good man underneath his facade, we’d kept up the charade. Sometimes it was kind of fun playing the part, but other times it made me sad that he couldn’t be himself in front of the others.
I sent a glare in the direction of the captain’s quarters, again wishing Viper was gone.
But since I didn’t want to get in trouble for it, I quickly turned back to the approaching island.
Like every other city in all of the kingdoms, the place had a wall hundreds of feet tall around it. There were a few docking bays on top of the wall since it was way too dangerous to land in the water, especially way out here in the middle of sea serpent waters.
The closer we got to the wall, the more my nose wrinkled.
The wall itself looked dirty and uncared for, and if I wasn’t mistaken, there was a big chunk missing from the far side.
Why in the world would they let that happen?
Did they want a sea or island monster to get into their city and eat everyone?
Long ago, before our ancestors built our kingdom walls, humans lived in constant fear of being torn apart and eaten by monsters.
They couldn’t stay near the water because the sea monsters were many, always hungry, and capable of coming onto land for short stints.
But neither could they go inland because the deserts, plains, and forests were filled with even more monsters with their own insatiable appetites.
The only thing that kept us safe and let our people flourish were the walls protecting our cities, towns, and farmlands from monsters.
The people of Duskwater Harbor needed to fix their wall before something terrible happened.
But… this was pirate island. I shouldn’t be surprised by the state of it. Everyone had heard the stories. I’d just… hoped they were wrong.
As our airship settled on the mooring tower and things were connected, I stared at the city below with trepidation. Now that we were here, I was a little nervous about it.
But before I could freak out, Willy came over and waved me on. “Come on, Ghost. Let’s go.”
Hawk-Eyes was with him, and she gave me an encouraging nod. So with a sigh, I disembarked the ship and followed them down the many stairs to get to the ground.
I saw Viper and Reaper ahead of us, and when they reached the bottom, they went in the opposite direction from the rest of the crew. They were going to make a trade with the loot from the last raid—something I had no interest in being a part of.
The rest of the crew was grumbling by the time we reached the ground, but they were in good spirits and ushered me away and through the dirty streets.
There were booths lined up along the main street where people were selling and trading things, but there was a lot more yelling going on than I was used to. I saw lots of weapons, some clothes, food, alcohol, fluxstones, tools for ship repairs, and lots of other random things.
Honestly, it was loud and overwhelming.
When we finally made it to the saloon, I was relieved that Hawk-Eyes pushed me into a seat.
But then I took a long look around and huffed.
It wasn’t much better in here than it’d been out there—people were loud, crude, aggressive, drunk, and uncaring of others around them—but at least I could sit back and watch instead of being right in the center of it.
There was a band playing in the corner, a bartender behind the bar along the far wall, and several waitresses, as well as a bunch of women—and a couple of men—walking around with barely anything on, who were clearly sex workers.
When one of the women came over to our table, Willy blushed, which made him even cuter than he already was.
After flirting for a minute, the woman walked away with a wink in his direction.
She must’ve picked up on the fact that no one at our table wanted to take her up on her offer.
Well, Willy probably wanted to, but I doubted he’d go through with it.
“You okay over there, Willy?” I asked, trying to hide my laughter.
He sighed and put his head in his hand, elbow on the table. “Yeah,” he said dreamily, staring after the woman. “I’m good.”
That made me laugh, and Sage flicked some water at him with a chuckle. “If you want her, go barter a deal with her.”
Willy blushed again and shook his head before taking a long sip of his beer. “Nah, I’m good.”
“You don’t need to be shy.”
He shrugged. “Just because I like lookin’ doesn’t mean I wanna touch.”
Sage grinned and lifted his cup at him. “Fair enough.”
I clinked glasses with them both before taking a sip of my beer. It tasted foul and horrible and nothing like the beer from home. But I didn’t want to make a big deal about it, so I kept on drinking without a word, hiding my grimace with my cup.
Ariella came over and slapped my shoulder. She glanced around the table before pointing at Willy. “You.”
He pointed to himself. “Me?”
She nodded, looking super serious for a minute, but I could tell she was only joking around. “Yes, you.”
Then she grabbed Willy’s hand and tugged him along and through the array of tables and chairs, taking him closer to the music. She threw her arm around his shoulders and started swaying them both as she loudly sang along with the band, looking like she was having a great time.
Willy’s entire face was red with embarrassment, but he was smiling widely—wider than I’d ever seen—and gamely going along with her, so he was having fun too.
I was glad. After what he went through, I’d been nervous that the crew would be cruel to him.
But my… friends—were they my friends?—were going out of their way to include him, and he seemed happier for it.
I was honestly surprised by how many of our crew came out tonight. I would’ve thought that after spending weeks on end in each other’s space, they wouldn’t want to spend even one more minute together. But I thought wrong.