Chapter 17 #2
“I’ll take the others back to the ship,” Steeler began.
“Wait.”
I winced as they all paused to stare at me.
“I, uh…” I cleared my throat, refusing to meet Steeler’s curious gaze.
“I sort of promised one of my classmates that I’d bring her back another pirate so that she can…
do some blackmailing or whatever.” The words sounded even more ridiculous out in the open than they had in my head, so I decided to add some more accusation in there.
“Her friend, Jenia Leake, was just exiled, and she wants her back.”
I expected to witness a few exchanged glances at that. Some kind of admission of guilt in these pirates’ eyes that might indicate they knew exactly where Jenia was tied up—or worse.
Instead, Sasha’s face cracked into a shocked grin.
“Are you seriously just asking us politely if we’ll give ourselves up for ransom? To a second-year?”
“Well…yes?”
Oh, Dazmine was going to be pissed when I returned empty-handed.
But Terrin snapped his fingers. “Wait. Jenia Leake’s friend… are you talking about the hot one with the braids? What’s her name again?”
I folded my arms, refusing to answer. Even if Dazmine and I would never be on fabulous terms, I wasn’t just going to throw her name into dangerous territory if I could help it.
Terrin shrugged anyway. “I’ll do it. What?” he added when Sasha and Sylvie gaped at him. “I’d like to see a girl like her try to take me for ransom. And it sounds like she’s having a hard time. If it would make her feel better to cuff me for a bit…”
“Terrin.” Garvis pinched the bridge of his nose.
“That’s the worst idea you’ve ever had,” Sylvie said.
“And you’ve had a lot of bad ideas,” Sasha added.
To my shock—and to the others’, it seemed—Steeler didn’t immediately shut down the idea even though I had to admit it was absurd.
“It does sound like she’s emotionally charged and dead-set on investigating Jenia’s disappearance,” he mused, curiosity still dancing behind his contemplative expression. “And since Drey has already involved her, we either have to wipe her memories—”
“Not going to happen,” I countered.
“—or involve her under her own terms before she gets desperate,” Steeler finished firmly. “But we can talk more about the logistics on the ship.” He tossed a look to Garvis. “I’ll be back by the time you’re finished with your first lesson.”
The others reached out to grab hold of him. Right before he made them all melt away into nothingness, he looked back at me with another flash of his fangs.
“I’ve told you before, and I’ll tell you again, Drey. Your memories are still in your mind, just hidden where no one else but you can find them. You want them back? You can go get them yourself.”
And with that, he and the others vanished.
“Asshole,” I muttered under my breath.
Now that I was alone with Garvis and Felicity, I realized the storm outside had ceased. Lazy fingers of rain trailed down the windowpanes, but nothing flashed or thundered out at sea anymore.
In the crackling firelight, I turned to the monkey.
“You said you had witch hazel?”
“Yes.” Yes. Her thought echoed her voice, creating a strange but somewhat pleasant harmony in my ears. Why?
I wished I could plant my own thoughts within her mind so that Garvis didn’t have to hear what I said next… but I didn’t know how to do that yet. So I mumbled through my teeth, “When he comes back, can you make sure to disinfect those wretched wounds of his?”
“Oh, of course!” Why didn’t I think of that?
Garvis raised a thin eyebrow at me.
“What?” I threw up my hands. “I can’t throttle him if he’s already dead of a fever.”
The amusement didn’t leave Garvis’s face, but he just said, “Coen probably doesn’t need sterilization. Mature faeries heal a lot faster than their previous selves, but—whatever you say, Rayna. Now, are you ready for your first Mind Manipulating lesson?”
I nodded, twisting my fingers together nervously.
“Good. Because it won’t be fun, so you might want to sit down.”
“Oh. Okay.”
I followed his lead, settling into a cross-legged position on the rug while Felicity went back to fiddling with cupboards and drawers in the kitchen, chittering under her breath. This close, I could see the faint line of kohl smudged under Garvis’s eyes—a pirate indeed.
“Do you mind if we hold hands?” he asked awkwardly. “It’s tradition. Usually it’s a bigger circle, but under the circumstances…”
“Uh, sure.”
I let him take my hands and tried to relax into them. They were so much softer and leaner than Steeler’s, reminding me painfully of Fabian and the way he used to stroke my hair to sleep.
“Okay, now I want you to close your eyes.”
I closed my eyes.
“Focus on your outermost thought. Go ahead and tell me what it is. I can’t hear it right now because I have my own personal blockade up.”
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Why do you let Steeler speak so…rudely to you?”
Garvis gave a soft snort. “He’s not usually like that. He’s in pain, and he’s a maturing faerie with a lot of new… sensations to deal with.” Before I could ask more about that, he said, “Now go a layer deeper. What’s your second most outer thought?”
I sighed and squeezed my eyes even tighter, trying to concentrate on digging through all the questions.
“What did he mean when he said he can’t bear to be in my mind right now?” Originally, I’d thought it had to do with his mutilated brand, but the more I thought about the wording…
Garvis didn’t answer this time. When I peeked open an eye, he had his own closed and appeared to be breathing deeply.
“Now go a layer deeper,” was all he said.
A rattle in the kitchen made me think I’m surprised about Felicity. That she lives with him here in the lighthouse. That she trusts him enough to call him Coco. But I didn’t say that part out loud.
“Go a layer deeper,” Garvis ordered, the sound of his voice mingling with the crackling fire, soothing and hypnotizing.
I don’t blame Steeler for doing everything in his power to keep these kinds of secrets confidential… even if it means Manipulating me.
Wait—what? Why had I just told myself I didn’t blame the faerie who’d dragged me into this mess? Of course I blamed him, I…
“Deeper,” Garvis interrupted, and that single word seemed to push me back until I was sinking into the next thought.
I liked the feel of Steeler’s fingers moving aside my hair.
“Deeper,” Garvis ordered before I could even process what I’d just admitted to myself.
I wanted so badly for him to deny chaining me up.
“Deeper.”
I loathe myself for hurting him.
“Deeper.”
“I can’t,” I gasped out loud. “I…”
I almost opened my eyes, but something was reeling me backward, in, in, in, and Garvis clutched my hands tighter and said, “Deeper.”
My entire mind fell backward, flailing through what felt like infinite sky, until suddenly I was…
I was on solid ground again. Solid… powdery ground?
I opened my eyes, raking my fingers through the ground. Snow.
When I looked up, it was to find myself in an entirely new world, with a wall of ice looming overhead.