19. Chapter Nineteen
”Is finding Wright Thackeray that important to you?” Alaric asked, leaning his shoulder against the windows that lined the ship”s stern. The heat of his body created a fog against the glass, though it didn”t make much of a difference when the clouds of mist still surrounded the ship. It had thinned in the last day, though it was still difficult to see past their wake.
Rahmi sighed, lifting his head from the map he had laid out on his desk. ”Thackeray has something of mine, or at least he knows where it is. I need it back if we”re going to make any sense of this.” He waved a vague hand over the old, water-stained parchment.
”And you think it”s worth getting into the prison rather than finding another way around it?” Alaric”s single blue eye leveled Rahmi with a stare. He shifted on his feet, crossing his arms over his chest just as The Mark of Malice dropped the anchor. The shuddering splash echoed through the gorge they had sailed through, reverberating over the shipwrecks just out of sight. ”We lost thirteen sailors to the nasnas. We can”t afford to lose anymore.”
”If we get this stone, we won”t have to worry about losing anymore,” Rahmi countered, placing his knuckles on the desk”s surface to bracket the map. He scoured his eyes over it for the hundredth time that day. ”I”m not concerned about getting into the prison. I”m concerned about getting out.” His hand itched to reach toward the block of wood, the horse head taking more of a shape in the last few days.
Alaric was quiet for a moment, running a contemplative finger over his lower lip. ”And say you do get out. What then? Do we remove Karim from the brig and allow him the freedom to roam the ship after he almost killed Doc in the galley?”
The map thief had become a thorn in Rahmi”s side, but it was true. In his desperation to leave The Mark of Malice, there had been an incident involving a wooden mixing spoon, three fillets of fish, and a crate of potatoes. And after last night, Rahmi certainly wasn”t going to be looking at potatoes the same way again. In the melee, Rahmi was also sure Kalia had slipped an apple or two into the top of her dress.
”Karim”s usefulness is running its course, but I still need him to guide us to the correct cave once we are in the vicinity of the archipelago,” Rahmi went on with a sigh. He scrubbed a hand down his face, feeling the stubble scratch against his calloused hands. ”We”ll only have a limited amount of time for the islands to appear, and if he is to be believed, there are hundreds of them.”
Alaric looked away, jittering his foot against the floor. ”And you”ll be taking the djinn?”
Rahmi scraped his hand into his hair at the mention of Kalia, but he promptly ignored it. She had pushed him away when her boots hit the quarterdeck and hadn”t bothered looking back to acknowledge further that he had jumped off his ship after her. He had muttered the word atira in her direction, most easily translated to bitch in his native tongue. From how her eyes narrowed at him over her shoulder, he was sure she caught the gist.
”Yes, I”ll be taking the djinn. Her abilities should come in handy if we run into any trouble.”
”You”re awfully trusting, considering you expect her to help you infiltrate the prison, locate Wright Thackeray, and get both of you back to the ship.” Alaric scoffed, shaking his head. ”She”s tried to kill you every chance she gets. What makes you think she”ll bend to you this time?”
Rahmi smirked as he straightened. He casually picked up a brass compass and tossed it into the air, catching it in his other hand. He had seen the lengths she would go to protect others. That side of her would be an effortless target. ”She”s not as prickly as she likes to believe,” he replied, setting the compass down with a thunk on the desk. ”She does have some soft spots that will be easily manipulated. There”s one on this very ship.”
Alaric”s blank stare flashed momentarily before roaming around the cabin. Rahmi tracked it with interest, watching as the quartermaster”s gaze glided across the pile of parchment stacked on the side of the desk, the collection of broken quills that Rahmi had tossed in frustration into the corner of the cabin, the half-drunk bottle of fion precariously balanced on the armchair seat, and the single corked glass bottle of dried herbs that his mother had given him for luck when he left to join the king”s navy. A crease notched between his brows as Alaric finally lifted his eyes toward Rahmi once more.
”Reshef is a valuable crew member, captain.” Alaric”s voice had taken on a coldness that Rahmi hadn”t expected, his cheeks brightening to a red beneath his pale skin. ”It would be unwise to—”
”Reshef is a means to an end, someone you brought here, and has somehow managed to worm his way into the heart of our djinn,” Rahmi interrupted. Alaric”s eyes darkened in silent response. Rahmi sucked in a sharp breath, stepping around the edge of the desk to face Alaric head-on. ”We”ve had many years together, and you”ve been an excellent quartermaster to me. But if you question me in front of the crew, your authority on this ship will no longer be recognized.”
Alaric”s steel exterior melted into something that Rahmi couldn”t identify. ”What will you do with him then?”
Rahmi studied Alaric for a long minute before skirting back around the desk. ”Bring Kalia to me. She and I need to discuss a few things before tomorrow comes.” He sank into the cushioned seat behind him and promptly leaped back up again. Smacking a hand to the stinging burn in his left buttcheek, he twisted around to spot a series of quills protruding from the fabric of the seat. ”Bring her to me now, Alaric.” His words gritted through clenched teeth.
Alaric paused near the armchair, glancing down at the bottle of fion for a final time. ”There”s something you aren”t telling us about this gemstone, captain. And as your second, I would appreciate the courtesy of your knowledge.” He didn”t say another word as he swept from the cabin, shutting the door with a soft snick behind him.
”You summoned me?” A bored voice droned from the doorway and the warmth of a spiced scent wafted in on the evening breeze.
Rahmi lifted his gaze, his eyes landing on Kalia”s silhouette framed by the remnants of a golden sunset that snuck through the foggy mist. Remaining silent, he tugged a drawer in his desk open and withdrew the sea urchin from inside, gently placing it in front of him. She didn”t bother to appear abashed or shameful—confirmation in his eyes.
It was the venom from the urchin that still stung the lump in his ass, even hours later, and Rahmi was having a difficult time sitting down. He willed himself to remain still, a feat he had once prided himself on but now was getting the best of him.
Kalia sauntered forward, a hint of a smug smile pressed between her lips. She stalled in front of the desk, reaching down to pinch one of the spikes between her thumb and forefinger to lift the urchin into the air. ”I”ve been looking for this, and I thought it would make a nice pet. Thank you for finding it.” Her bright eyes were positively feral with delight as they washed over him. ”Where was it hiding?”
Rahmi rested an elbow on the desk, scratching the stubble on the side of his jaw. ”Where did you find a sea urchin?”
Kalia shrugged, carefully setting it on a pile of parchment, where one of the spikes pierced the top document. He swallowed a grunt of irritation. ”All sorts of things get pulled up with Doc”s fishing nets.”
He met her innocent stare with an incredulous one of his own. He would need to have an immediate chat with Doc about what he was allowing Kalia to leave the galley with. A conversation he was beginning to have weekly. ”I think it”s best if we removed it from the ship.”
”You”re probably right. It is venomous, after all,” Kalia replied, her gaze roving over him as though she were waiting for him to keel over and fucking die.
Rahmi”s return smile was tight. ”Still won”t be enough to kill me.”
She looked concerningly unperturbed as she took a few steps back from him to sit on the chair”s armrest behind her. ”Shame.”
Predator and prey, cat and mouse—that”s what they were to one another. Dancing around the inevitable, both of them leaning into this merciless game that, one way or another, would more than likely end in bloodshed. It had for Rahmi already. He had the scars to prove it. And he knew that she did, too, as metaphorical as they were.
”And after I saved your life.” Rahmi clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He was learning how to dig the knife in deeper and wrestle that control away from her. He had always been a quick study. ”When I cut through the laces of your stays to free you, I felt the welts on your back. Didn”t think anything of it, not until I was tying you into the rope. Those were deep, weren”t they?”
A calm mask descended over Kalia”s features, but from the tap of her fingers against the back of the chair and the slight tightening of her shoulders, Rahmi knew he had won. She may be an expert in the physicality of their little game, but he was the one who could play her mind. He swatted away her attempt to claw into his head, feeling her talons rake against the first layer of his consciousness.
”We”ve talked about that, ruehi,” he said, sinking back into his chair to cross his arms over his chest.
”Alaric seemed upset when he came to find me. Lover”s quarrel?” Kalia didn”t miss a beat and showed no notion that he had successfully thwarted her. She began to pick at her nails. ”What did you send him to find me for?” Aside from the sea urchin was the unsaid piece at the end of her question.
The indifference she showed was impressive, even for her.
”Tomorrow, we”ll go into the Labyrinth of Lost Souls together,” Rahmi said, watching her closely for her reaction. He didn”t have to wait long.
Kalia”s brow rose to her hairline, and her gaze sparkled with fresh amusement. ”Oh?”
”Oh,” Rahmi confirmed. He swept his eyes over the red dress she had changed back into before narrowing his focus on the way she was staring at the sea urchin still between them. Staring as though she would like nothing more than to fling it back into his face. ”The prison is protected by magic. You”re a djinn. You will give us the best chance of making it out alive.”
Surprisingly, Kalia”s smile turned brittle at the edges, just long enough for Rahmi to notice. A moment later, the overly confident, smug smirk hitched back onto her mouth. ”And if I choose not to help you?”
”You”ll help,” Rahmi noted with a tone of assurance. ”Because Reshef is coming with us. I”m certain you won”t leave your friend there.”
Kalia”s smirk slid from her face, and the glare she set in its place was biting. ”Reshef isn”t a friend.”
”Your repeated defense of him isn”t helping your cause.”
She tapped her nails, the red polish chipped and nearly gone entirely, on the back of the armchair, one ankle crossed over the other. She was seemingly deep in thought, wrestling with herself on how to respond. Finally, she let out a long sigh as she ran a hand over the length of her braid. ”What are you expecting to find in there?”
Rahmi shrugged his shoulder and tried to temper the look of pure glee that came with winning his second argument of the day. He didn”t want to antagonize her further—not yet, anyway. Something about her always made him want to try.
”I don”t know,” he answered honestly. The corners of her lips downturned, tugging her mouth into a frown that highlighted the fierce gleam in her eyes. ”People go into The Labyrinth of Lost Souls. They don”t come back out.”
”And what do you expect me to help with?” Kalia retorted. Her fingers curled around the back of the chair, the nails digging into the faded fabric. ”If we don”t know what we”re getting into, how do you expect me to prepare?”
”How you prepare is up to you,” Rahmi said. He appreciated her beauty in that moment, appreciated how the light illuminated the green in her eyes, how her thigh peeked from the slit of that red dress. He shifted in his seat, and a new wave of pain crested from the venom still embedded in his ass. That appreciation shifted back to vigorous dislike with his next breath. ”But we”re leaving at the break of dawn.”
”This is a terrible idea,” Kalia stated as she slipped from the armrest, planting her boots on the floor. ”You”re going to get us all killed.”
”That”s a chance I”m willing to take.” Rahmi cocked his head. ”And it should be one you”re willing to take, too. It”s the only way you”ll see the capital again.”