Chapter 3
Lyssa
Iblink. His hood is tipped back, and I swallow hard as I take in his face.
He’s a kid. An older kid, but definitely not more than a teenager. His skin is so white it looks like marble, and he’s filthy.
“What are you doing on my ship?” I say slowly. I don’t lower the slingshot. I’ve learned the hard way to trust nobody.
“She left me here.” His voice is strained, but I hear the relief in his words. “And unless you shoot me, here is better than on her ship.”
“Why did she leave you here?”
“I think she forgot about me.” His brown eyes are wide and fearful, but resolute.
“How did you end up on her ship?” I ask, my slingshot still leveled at him. He keeps his hands in the air. I scan his body, looking for weapons. I can’t see any.
“I was kidnapped,” he says quietly. “From Libra.” His eyes finally leave mine, and he stares around at the glittering skies. “She mostly keeps me below decks,” he says, before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “Her ship stinks of those Cyclopes. This smells… amazing.”
My heart contracts, and anger roars through my veins. “How long have you been a captive?”
He blinks his eyes open and screws up his face. “Maybe a year? I don’t know.”
My lips part, and I try not to let my horror show on my face. “How old are you?”
A sliver of pride shines in his eyes. “Seventeen. And I survived because I told her I was diseased. She believed me and wouldn’t feed from me.” A hint of a grin pulls at his mouth.
Gods above. I feel sick.
How in the name of Hades has this kid been through a year of living hell and is still able to grin?
“I’ll take you back to Libra,” I say.
“But I don’t want to go home.”
I frown at him, finally lowering my weapon. “You don’t want to get back to your family?”
“I don’t have a family. She took me from the slums.”
My heart aches again. I’ve lived in the Libran slums. They’re the only place in Olympus where the homeless can eat. It was where I met Epizon. But they’re far from safe, as this kid knows firsthand.
“Well, where do you want to go, then?”
He scuffs his filthy bare feet across the planks. “I saw you fight.”
Wariness makes my reply tight. “So?”
“Could I… stay here?”
I clench my teeth and take a breath. “No. I’m sorry, but that is absolutely not an option.”
“Why not?”
“I don’t need another crew member, especially one I met under three minutes ago. I’m sorry, kid, but no. No way.”
“I can help!” he says earnestly. “I’m good at a lot of things. Cleaning, mostly, but once I’m a bit stronger, and used to the light again, I can be useful!”
“I don’t need a deckhand,” I say. Plus I sure as shit can’t afford one.
He closes his mouth, then something hardens in his eyes. I tighten my grip on my lowered weapon. Desperation makes people act crazy. I know this.
He lifts his chin. “Lady Lamia didn’t just leave me behind.”
I tense.
“She also left the box of silver with me.”
Hope swells in me. Epizon won’t approve of keeping the money, but gods, we need it. And that disgusting excuse for a breathing being doesn’t deserve to get it back.
“Where is it?”
“I’m not telling you.”
My brows shoot up. “What?”
“I’m not telling you, unless you let me stay.” His voice is a tiny bit wobbly, but his eyes are still resolute.
My temper spikes, but I find myself annoyingly impressed by his bravery. He saw me fight. He saw Epizon fight. And he’s still trying to blackmail me?
“You hid it? On my own ship?”
He nods. “Yes. This ship is a Crosswind, right?” He looks around at the mast interestedly.
I can’t tell if he’s masking his fear, or genuinely believes I won’t hurt him. Which, truth be told, I’m pretty sure I won’t.
Even if he is a plant left here deliberately by Lady Lamia, I imagine he’s not doing it of his own free will.
I stare at him, trying to let my instincts do their work. Could he be in league with her, a lover or another vampire? Left here on purpose to keep track of, or even retrieve, the tank creature?
He looks like a scared, hungry, pale, battered human kid. But looks can be deceiving in Olympus.
I need to get the silver and then drop him off anywhere, as soon as possible. Whether or not he’s working for Lady Lamia, I don’t need kidnapped kids on my ship.
“Let’s get a couple of things straight, shall we?
You are, essentially, a stowaway on my ship.
Meaning I have every right to throw you overboard and watch your flailing body fall through the skies until you hit the ground.
” His eyes move back to mine, and now I can see him wavering.
“Where’s the silver? You have three minutes to tell me, or you’re going the same way as those dead Cyclopes.
I do not have the time, patience, or funds to keep you here any longer than I need to. ”
He manages a full minute of silence. And honestly, I’m trying hard not to be impressed, given that a year inside that monster’s ship would have broken most folk. “Under my cloak,” he says eventually on a sigh.
I shake my head. So much for being an evil mastermind.
“That is the shittiest hiding place ever.”
“I know,” he says, and moves slowly, lifting shackled ankles to reveal the box sitting on the planks beneath his cloak. “I panicked.”
I sigh and move to the box. When I flip it open, my spirits soar.
This is easily enough drachmas to replace the last of the wood we’ll have just used to repair the hull, and there might even be enough left over to buy some soap.
My thoughts get misty at the thought of soap, and I give the kid a softer look.
“Well, nice try, I guess.”
I lean over, let a surge of anger ripple through me, and snap the chain between his ankle shackles. He holds out his wrists hopefully, but I shake my head. “I’m sorry, but I’ve still only known you five minutes, and you’ve come from my enemy’s ship. Those stay on until we drop you back on Libra.”
His face falls. A pang of guilt washes through me, but I force it down. I can’t go around trusting everyone on Olympus with a sob story. That would be most of them. This world treats its citizens like shit.
“We have food, though,” I tell him. “And tea.”
His face lifts again. “Nettle tea? Fates, it’s been so long since I had nettle tea.”
“Yeah, I think we have nettle tea. What’s your name?”
“Lucas.”