Chapter 8
T here’s so many things happening on this island and somehow I’m stuck in this moment, staring at the man I have loved since I was 10. Watching Ace load up the ship with supplies for our crew's next voyage. His arms are so perfectly sturdy as he lifts the heaviest of barrels containing food and fresh water. His dark brown hair is half up in a man bun, while the bottom half trickles down to sit on his well defined broad shoulders. I lower my eyes just to his neck where he has the start of his tribal tattoo. Lowering my gaze even lower to his chest where his shirt remains half buttoned from the bottom, leaving the top wide open advertising the light amount of chest hair. He has always been a perfectly sculpted man.
Ace has had me captivated since the moment we brought him onto our ship. My father, the captain, found him when he was but a child in the water hanging on to every inch of life he had left, his body dangling in the salty ocean and his arms grasping for dear life on what was surely a piece of the ship he came from. The crew pulled him onboard and I was too eager to not run right up to him. He had salt dried in his hair, his face was burned from drying out in the open sun. His arms had scratches from the hard journey that led him to us. He was cute then, as we were only children and he was the first boy I met that I hadn’t seen every day or wasn't considered family. I took one look into his ocean blue eyes and I was forever lost in the broken tides.
Except now, he’s no longer that little boy helpless in the water, he’s a six foot three grown man and well desired by any female who lays eyes on him. He is also my fathers right hand and every man in our crew respects and envy’s him. His stance alone commands authority and leadership.
Ace and I have always been very close friends growing up. My father took him in almost as a son and always made Ace keep a close eye on me when he wasn’t around. But I’ve daydreamed of what our life could be as more than friends. Though, Ace tragically has had no shortage of love interests elsewhere. I can’t blame the women, they all hope that he will find love in their relationship. Though each fling ends in the woman’s heartbreak as they want to settle down and he is too focused on anything else. Maybe that’s why we’ve stayed such good friends all this time. I’ve loved him from afar and silently, as others begged for his attention.
I finally look away before anyone notices me staring and finish lacing up my boots. Now is not the time to be distracted especially if I am going to be any help bringing the crates onto the ship.
I glance over to the alley between the two storage units, behind where Ace is loading our ship and see two men facing our direction. They look to be studying the ship and the people onboard. Both men are wearing long dark forest green hooded cloaks, like the one I saw earlier when I was checking in, that cover most of their face but you can see their mouths moving as they whisper.
?? I study them until the taller one looks over my direction and I make eye contact with his bold green eyes.
Wait a second, I know those eyes .
I don’t pull away until I see the edge of his mouth lift up into a slight smirk, the same smirk he gave me in our fight earlier. I feel a sudden rush go through my body. A slight panic as this doesn’t feel like a casual meet or coincidence. Something is wrong. I glance over at the ship to find Ace and then look back at the alley, but the men were gone.
I search around but they are nowhere to be found, not even a trace of their existence. I rush over to Ace all while keeping my eyes cognitive on the alley way.
“Ace, something is off here. I just saw two men in green cloaks studying our ship.” I say. I purposely leave out that I ran into the one earlier during our class and he just so happens to be the one that had me so flustered.
??Ace looks at me, completely stops what he is doing, and his face matches the concern of mine.
“Where?” He growls as his eyes search the surroundings. My gaze moves from Aces, his head following my eyes down the alley where I saw the two men standing.
“You need to get on the ship, Abby. Tell the rest of the crew we are to leave within the hour. Tell your father it’s The Order. He won’t ask questions.”
I stare at him for a short moment and then mindlessly nod and begin to walk towards the ship but my gut tells me that there is something more here that’s not being said. Ace has always been so protective of me in serious situations, in fact, he is the reason I forged my dagger in the first place. He demanded I have something to keep me safe when we dock on these islands. Usually, I’m well aware of how dangerous it can get, being we are docked on the island with the most ruthless of people.
I look back to Ace to find him still staring down the alley. His body is stiff and his eyes are dark. I want to comfort him but mostly I want to know what he’s hiding from me and suddenly his words play in my head.
Who and what is The Order? I am so confused and this is not a familiar term we have used.
My father won’t ask questions? What have they been keeping from me? Is this the same people that Ace was talking to earlier? What in the hell is happening?!
I keep this in my mind and decide it's not worth asking yet. I can confront Ace and my father once we are safe. I turn towards the ship and rush to alert my father and the rest of the crew.