Chapter 56
Hercules
“Captain, there must be something useful we could be doing with our time.” Evadne twirls her hair around her finger as she speaks, watching it change between black and blue as it moves in the warm daylight.
“Our longboat is in perfect condition, and we have the new slingshots. There is nothing we need to do.” I’m sitting in my captain’s chair on the quarterdeck, my face tilted up toward the sun.
“I wonder how the others are getting on, improving their boats,” she says. “Shame they were given time to make improvements. You could even say it’s not really fair, when we took the time to make ours perfect before the Trials began.” She glances at me.
I stand slowly, stretching, and walk to the railings, making sure my boots thud on the planks as I go. The Whirlwind-class ship’s high quarterdeck means I have an excellent view of the decks of the much lower Alastor and Virtus, but the giant’s huge Zephyr rises just above them, out of sight.
“Looks like Captain Lyssa’s longboat is being patched together out of rags and broken planks. I don’t think we’ve much to worry about there. I can’t see Theseus himself, but his longboat is up on deck. I wonder what’s happening on the Orion? It’s frustrating we can’t see from here,” the girl says.
My eyes roam the deck of the Virtus once more, looking for Hedone. I don’t see her, but she’s there somewhere. So close. And the girl is right—we do have time to spare, given that our longboat is already perfect.
“Evadne, I have an idea,” I say.
“Yes, captain?”
“Artemis said we could use this whole area. And there are three other ships in this area. I think that sounds like an invitation.”
She raises her eyebrows innocently. “An invitation?”
“Why don’t we pay the others a little visit, and see firsthand how they’re getting on?”
“I take it we will be undoing their hard work?” she asks with a smile.
“Of course.” She will be, anyway. I have more pleasurable plans in mind. “I’ll go to the Virtus. You go to the Alastor,” I say. Annoyance flickers on her face, but she replaces it quickly with a meek expression. Good. She’s learning.
“We can see from here that the Alastor is no threat. Wouldn’t it be better to find out what’s happening on the Orion?”
I look back out at the Alastor. It’s easy to make out the small boat they’ve set up on the top deck, and two figures fighting to attach a sail to the single mast.
“Fine,” I say. “Go to the Orion. Do what you can to impede their progress.”
“Of course. I’ll leave now,” she says.
“Asterion, prepare the longboat,” I call out, then look at Evadne. “Yes, you should. It’ll take you a while on foot.”
She gapes at me. “On foot? I’ll never get up onto the Orion on foot. I’ll wait and go when you return from the Virtus.”
“No, you’ll go now. On foot.”
Her eye twitches as she stares at me, trying to control her tongue, no doubt.
I watch her, a lazy smile taking my lips.
“Yes, captain,” she grinds out eventually, and wheels away, toward the steps that lead down from the quarterdeck.
Triumph washes through me. My lessons are paying off. She is definitely learning.
I keep my longboat low to the ground as I approach the Virtus, trusting that the ship’s long front sail will keep me from view.
The thought of Hedone when I last saw her, the desire obvious in her intense, dark eyes, makes me will the boat on faster.
As I come up alongside the ship, I turn to the Minotaur.
“Come back for me in one hour.”
“Yes, captain.” Asterion nods.
I reach out of the longboat, grab the edge of a ballista window, and pull myself easily up and through, onto the Virtus.
The weapons room is empty of people, just housing the long row of massive wooden crossbows lining the edge and the barrels filled with lead shot beside them.
I’ve been on Typhoon-class ships before, and they have lots of space dedicated to living quarters.
With only four crew members needing rooms, most of them will be empty, but I need to be sure I find Hedone without letting anyone else know I’m here.
I’ll find her rooms, and if she isn’t there, I’ll wait for her.
I’m not leaving the Virtus without knowing the feel of those beautiful lips on mine.
I creep out of the ballista room and turn down the wood-paneled corridor, toward the back of the ship.
It smells different to my ship—a citrus scent lingering in the air.
Does it smell like her? I hurry past a series of open doors until I hear voices.
I stop and press myself against the wall, listening.
There’s the steady clinking of metal and the noise of water splashing. I’ve found the galley.
“Here, I can wash that up for you. It’s the least I can do.” The soft, husky voice belongs to Hedone. My muscles constrict slightly.
“It’s fine. You’re getting better, you know. Not with the knife, perhaps, but at least you can lift a spear and aim a slingshot now,” an older female voice replies.
“The slingshot is easiest. I don’t have to be near my opponent.”
“If you’re half decent, then you don’t need to be near them to use a spear, either. We’ll start again in three hours, when that meal’s gone down. Go and get some rest.”
“Okay.” There’s the sound of wood scraping on wood, and I hold my breath as a door a few feet ahead of me swings open.
Hedone sweeps out, turning in the opposite direction to me and making her way down the hallway.
She’s wearing a tight leather fighting vest, much like Evadne’s but filled out in all the right places, and dark leather trousers.
Joining her vest to her trousers at the back are flowing ribbons of sheer turquoise silk, looking remarkably like wings.
Even in fighting garb she looks like a goddess.
She holds her arm out as she walks, running her fingers along the dark wood, humming softly.
I let out my breath slowly and creep after her.
We walk past another four doors, and then she pushes one open and goes inside.
I give her as long as I dare and then go in after her.
I find myself in a lounge that looks a little like my own, save for the white silk draped over the mahogany walls, softening everything.
There’s a large white daybed by a low table in the center of the room, and a well-stocked bar and bookcases against one wall.
Hedone isn’t in the room, though. I can hear her humming through the open door at the back of the living room.
I step quietly across the room. She’s leaning over a huge bed, almost as large as my own, pulling back sheets and arranging cushions.
Lust pulses through me. I take one long stride through the open door, and as I come up behind her, I cover her mouth and spin her to face me. Her wide-eyed panic gives way immediately as she sees me, and I move my hand from her mouth to her cheek.
“Hedone,” I breathe.
“Hercules,” she whispers back. “How did you—”
“I have one hour.” She lets out a breath as I push my hand into her soft hair, my thumb stroking her jaw. “You are so incredibly beautiful,” I tell her. Her face breaks into a smile.
“Wait, I have to tell you something,” she says.
I softly tilt her head to one side, exposing her long white neck.
I lean forward and kiss the bare skin. Goosebumps rise across her neck instantly, and she gasps.
“I heard Aphrodite and Theseus talking. They said Zeus had to deal with something to do with Hades and that he wouldn’t be able to help you,” she says in a rush. I straighten, meeting her eyes.
“I don’t need any help.”
“But I can help you,” she says, staring up at me.
“Please. Let me help you.” I could spend forever lost in those deep, intoxicating eyes.
“I can make you feel better than you ever dreamed possible.” Her voice is breathy and deep, and she has that dark, hungry look again.
Every part of my body responds to her immediately as she pushes me gently onto the bed and brings her soft lips to mine.