Chapter 14
Reva
The cabin door clunks shut and my eyes run over the two bunk beds and the tiny, nondescript room before turning to Aster.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m exhausted.” I’m not sure what time it is, but right now, I don’t care.
He shoots me a small smile, gesturing at himself and the top bunk. Sweet of him to take it, but right now, I feel like I could sleep standing up.
I shove the heavy blanket from my shoulders onto the bed and start to strip my soaked clothes off.
Aster’s eyes catch on my bare legs before he squeezes them shut, and I snort as his cheeks grow rosy.
My clothes are no longer sodden but are unpleasantly damp, and I have to peel them from my cold, goose-pimpled skin.
I slide under the covers, pulling the blanket up to my chin. A wave of exhaustion rolls through me as I watch Aster climb up onto the top bunk. My body aches from the hours of tension and the stupid fucking fight with the ocean. All I want is to sleep and escape this day for a few hours.
And then the shivers start. I thought I’d warmed up enough to get beyond them, but clearly not. Maybe it’s the aftereffects of today catching up with me, but my body quivers uncontrollably. I force my jaw to unclench, but my legs are spasming too much to let my body relax.
I thump the thin pillow, wrapping the blanket tight around me, but it’s no good.
Fuck. All I want to do is sleeep, just to take the edge off.
I must let out a pathetic whimper of frustration as, the next thing I know, Aster is sliding down from the top bunk. He pats my leg and slides onto the bed beside me, rolling me over, blanket and all, before climbing into bed beside me.
He wraps his lean arms around me, cocooning me in his arms and tucking me against his front while I lie there stiffly.
“It’s all right. You’re all right.”
I’m not. Not really.
I’m missing the other half of my soul, stuck in the nightmare my mother warned me about.
And then there’s Kit...
Gods, I hope he’s all right, wherever he is.
Another painful pang goes through my gut, and I clench to ward against it.
My body remains stiff and shivering as the moments tick by and I’m struck with how awkward this situation is. I’m hyperconscious that we barely know each other. Although my body seems to recognise Aster’s at some level and I feel my muscles start to unclench and the shivers fade away.
A gentle tapping on the door wakes me from a dead sleep. Aster is still fast asleep beside me, his brow unfurrowed and relaxed for the first time since we found him in that alleyway. Another tap on the door and I carefully unravel myself from the blanket and pick my way over his sleeping form.
Yanking the door open, I find the other pirate from Kit’s shop on the other side—the one with reddish hair and an angel face.
Jack, the raven.
“I brought you some food.” He smiles, and I blink at him through tired eyes. I didn’t notice before, on account of my focus being entirely on Kit, but his cheekbones are sharp enough to cut butter. He also has a sprinkling of freckles across his perfectly formed nose.
“Thank you,” I murmur, glancing over my shoulder to Aster, who’s still fast asleep. “Is there somewhere else I can eat it? I don’t want to wake him.”
As if on cue, my stomach growls obnoxiously loudly, and I rub at it as though that’s going to help to stifle the sound.
“We can go to the kitchen. It’s empty right now, and I hate eating alone.
” He beams at me, and I gawp at him. The man looks like an actual angel who’s come down to mingle with us mere mortals.
Honestly, his face is like a sunbeam. I feel like I shouldn’t look at it directly or it’ll do damage to my eyes.
The tray is groaning with hearty bowls of stew, freshly baked bread and neatly sliced fresh fruit. I give Aster one last look before gently closing the door behind us.
“I’m Jack, by the way,” the pirate tells me as he leads the way toward the kitchen. “I’m not sure we introduced ourselves properly earlier. I’m Captain Finch’s left-hand man.”
I cock my head at him. “Is that a thing?”
“I figure that if Torin is his right hand, there’s no reason I can’t be the left,” he replies with another cheerful grin.
The kitchen is a large room with a stove and a wall covered in cabinets and counters and a huge selection of knives. It’s empty, just like Jack promised, and there are half a dozen benches around large, scrubbed wooden tables that all seem to have a litany of rude poems carved into them.
He slides the tray onto the table and drops onto the bench as I take a seat opposite him as he shares the filled dishes between us. My stomach rumbles again as I shovel a spoonful of stew into my mouth.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it’s delicious. Cooked long and slow, so the meat is so tender it’s falling apart.
“Did you... did you find anything?” I ask.
His headshake has the tiny bubble of hope in my chest shrinking in on itself.
“I hear you have an idea of which direction they headed in, which should make things easier,” he says. “I’m going to head out again soon. Just need to refuel, you know?”
Trying not to let my disappointment show, I let my gaze drop to the tabletop and its bawdy poetry, tracing the letters with my fingertip.
In Ashwick, Wildrake guards his golden hoard
But his princess took my loaded sword
Well, that’s... charming.
“So, did Torin give you the tour and introduce you to everyone?” Jack asks.
At my head shake, he snorts. “I should have known. He probably just grunted and left you to it, right?”
He then launches into a detailed description of each of the crew members. They all seem to be called things like ‘Bones’ and ‘Blacktooth’ and ‘Dagger’. Something that has me fighting a smile as they seem to get more ridiculous the longer he goes on.
“Did you and Torin turn up late to the naming party or something?” I ask, rubbing my aching eyes. “Since you ended up with two normal-sounding names?”
Jack snorts. “I did suggest going by Angry Jack, but Tor refused to use it.” His grin widens. “Anyway, we’re the originals, so it makes sense for us to go by our original names.”
“The originals?”
“Captain Finch’s first crew members on this ship.”
“And how long have you been with him?”
He runs a hand through his hair, staring up at the ceiling and scrunching his eyes up as he thinks. “At least two decades, I’d say.”
I snort. He looks barely a day over thirty. “Were you a child pirate or something?”
“We’ve only been in these parts for the past few years, though.” His eyes flick to me and away again and I don’t miss that he totally ignored my question. “Although we’d have come sooner if we knew what these waters had to offer.”
I roll my eyes as my gut roils at the casual flirtation. Then his face breaks into another smile, and he shows far too many perfect teeth as he laughs out loud.
“You’re finished?” he asks, eyeing the empty plate in front of me.
At my nod, he gets to his feet and gives a sweeping gesture to the door. “Well then, let me give you a tour.”
I extract myself from behind the bench and step up beside him, waiting for him to lead the way.
“Now, word of warning,” Jack continues, his voice dropping lower as he leans closer until his lips are practically brushing the shell of my ear.
I jerk away, brushing the skin with the side of my hand.
“There are a lot of us, but no one will hurt you, just so you know. The captain’s word is law onboard.
Since you have his protection, you’ll be fine. ”
I nod again. Somehow all the talk of being ‘safe’ onboard has me feeling the exact opposite. Although I’m not foolish enough to lower my guard here. Especially not someone who looks like Jack.
Not because he’s preternaturally good-looking. No, that’s more of a distraction than anything. A bit of fluff in your eye to shift your attention from the knife in your gut.
What I mean is how smiley he is, like he’s genuinely happy to be here, talking to me and showing me around the ship.
No one can be that happy all the time. Which means it’s a front; a disguise.
And who knows what he might be hiding under the gleaming facade.
Before either of us can say another word, there are three sharp whistles from somewhere above us. Up on the deck.
“Shit.” Jack’s eyes snap to mine. “Another word of warning: Cap didn’t take the news very well.”
“The news?”
“The news that I didn’t find Kit,” he replies with a hint of impatience. “He’s... blowing off some steam right now. But you should be safe if you just stay below deck, all right? Just stay here.” He pauses for a moment, waiting for my reaction.
Since I don’t know what the captain ‘blowing off steam’ entails, I just give a shrug. Jack doesn’t seem to care, though. He gives a distracted nod and shrinks in front of me, reappearing as a beady-eyed raven peering up at me from the floor.
He takes to the air, narrowly avoiding battering me in the face with his wings. Hovering for just a moment, he then darts out of the room, heading toward the upper deck.
There’s a chorus of cheers, followed by the crash of wood splintering. Then something collides with the side of the ship and I’m jerked sideways, stumbling into the wall.
Jack’s words ring in my ears as I peer down the passageway, more shouts and taunts filling my ears.
I could stagger back to my cabin and try to get some more sleep. I have no idea what time it is, or even what time of day, but I feel like I could sleep for a week.
I let the thought marinate for a moment, like I’m really considering it. Bending down, I pick up his abandoned clothes and brush out the creases, folding them neatly.
And then I discard it, tottering along the passageway toward the deck.