Danger Lurks
Chapter fifty-six
Finn wished he could have killed the lothyda instead of merely maiming it.
The despicable creature had injured his wife, friends, and ship.
He grunted as he helped Castien lift one of the pieces of rigging.
Every movement was agony. His body longed for respite it could not have.
There was significant work to be done, now and when they reached Stonemouth.
“We aren’t positive,” Castien said as they walked the rigging to the portside where they were creating a pile of materials. “But she should have had her moontide by now, and her other symptoms . . . well, Wren is fairly certain there is no other explanation.”
They dropped the wood. A smile spread across Castien’s face that spoke of pure, unfiltered joy.
Yet there was a darkness that clung to him.
One that showed he was worried about the journey to come.
Danger lurked beneath each cresting wave and around every bend.
And now it wasn’t just their lives at risk, but that of a small helpless child.
Finn thought back to the first time he’d held his sister Marina in his arms. He’d been but ten years old, yet he knew as soon as he looked down into her big blue eyes that he’d conquer death itself to ensure her safety.
Cas had shared his sentiment, and it would no doubt be tripled for his own child.
“You know I am overjoyed for the both of you,” Finn said to him, grinning through the stabbing pain in his side. “If you couldn’t tell yesterday.”
Castien chuckled and grabbed for a section of tangled canvas and rope.
Finn followed suit. A few paces away, Petals cleared the same amount of debris on his own that required both Cas and Finn.
Meanwhile, Kaiden and Kelwin worked to get the remaining sails in order so that the crew would get to Stonemouth quickly.
Kaiden had navigated them out of the perilous Splinter Point through the night and was now veering them in the direction of the warrior island he once called home.
“I thought you might crush us in your exuberance.”
“I am to be an uncle!” Finn exclaimed in defense. “How else should I show my excitement?”
“By not getting blood and brine on my wife?” Castien mused dryly as they hauled another pile over.
Finn cringed at the reminder. He had indeed forgotten his injuries for that short moment. Thankfully, Wren was too tearful and happy over their survival to mind very much. Castien, on the other hand, had scolded Finn, as he was known to do.
“Excuse me, Your Highness,” Petals said in his deep baritone.
Castien glanced at the muscled brute.
“I’ve told you before, Petals, you may call me Castien,” Finn’s cousin reminded their crewmate. “We are equals.”
Petals seemed to balk at the notion, but he nodded.
“I apologize, Castien. It felt appropriate given I intend to make a request of you.”
Castien’s brows rose. “Yes?”
Petals scratched the back of his neck, then pushed up his glasses and cleared his throat.
“Will Lucianna and Wren remain in the captain’s quarters this evening as they do now?” He gestured to Finn. “I know that Finn stayed with his wife, but she is awake now, though recovering.”
Castien dipped his chin. “Yes, it is my intention that they share the room this evening. Why do you ask?”
“Well, I worry for Miss Cora,” Petals stated, then glanced over his shoulder as if the alchemist might appear.
“She says she is unharmed, but I have seen her discomfort. She is unaccustomed to life at sea, to hard labor and the elements. I wondered if she might be permitted, or rather, encouraged to rest with the women, if there was room enough.”
Castien ran a hand over his chin and the light scruff that had begun to grow there. Finn smiled, though the expression faded as a wave of dizziness hit him. He drew in a few measured breaths and swiped at the sweat beading on his forehead.
“I don’t see why that would be a problem. There should be room enough for the three of them to rest comfortably until we get to Stonemouth,” Castien answered.
Petals looked relieved.
“And you will instruct her to stay there?”
A small smile tipped Castien’s lips. “Yes, Petals, I will insist upon it.”
“Thank you, Pr—Castien.”
The brute lumbered off as quick as his tree trunk–sized legs would allow. Castien let out a huff of amusement.
“I would not have paired them together.”
Finn smirked through the odd feeling that had taken hold of his body.
“I did. It’s why he came, because I told him there was a woman he could fall in love with.”
Cas shook his head.
“Of course you did. Only you would promise a man true love in exchange for joining a heist crew.”
Finn shrugged, though even that small movement sent pain shooting through his body.
“You needed a strong man. I got you one. I am nothing if not resourceful.”
Castien gave him a dry look and returned to cleaning up the deck.
“You are a great many things, cousin, but yes, I would deem you resourceful.”
Finn sucked in a fortifying breath before bending to help Castien. He knew he had sustained several injuries, but he was beginning to wonder if he wasn’t worse off than he anticipated.
“You will sleep without Wren?” Finn inquired.
It was unlike Castien to be apart from Wren for more than a few hours at most. The two were inseparable, and Finn admired that about them. They did not love each other in halves.
“Though it pains me, yes. She should sleep in a true bed, not on a pallet as she did last night.”
They had taken Finn and Lucianna’s old bed beneath the deck.
“She will not complain, but I saw how it wore on her,” Castien continued. “And with Lucianna still recovering, it is best she remain as well. A night or two is bearable if it means the well-being of our wives, don’t you agree?”
Finn clenched his jaw, and not just because of the ever-ebbing pain pulsing through him.
Castien did not realize that Finn and Lucianna wouldn’t have shared a bed last night if she had been conscious and uninjured.
He thought back to their argument in the crow’s nest. Perhaps their surviving together had brought them closer, but nothing from that night was resolved.
Finn did not think his wife was one to ignore such monumental issues, either.
It was only a matter of time before they returned to how they were before the storm and lothyda attack.
“Yes, of course,” he gritted out, wiping more sweat from his brow.
“You said she was well when you saw her?” Castien inquired.
“She seemed in good-enough spirits, but I do think continued rest is necessary. Hopefully the stubborn woman doesn’t try to get up before she should.”
Castien chuckled. “You two are alike in that way.”
Finn hummed, not wanting to acknowledge how true his cousin’s assessment was.
A smirk pulled at his lips as he thought of how Lucianna would protest the idea of them being similar in any capacity.
He would have to tease her about it once she was better.
Or perhaps before, so she could not run away so easily.
He did so love how she blushed earlier when trapped under his attention.
The memory sustained him through the rest of the work that day.