“It means we have to get ready.” He lowers himself down to the beam underneath the crow’s nest.
“Ready for what?” I say as I peer down through the hole in the platform.
“Get ready to go to the beach, Little Lennox.” He grins up at me, reaching out to take my hand. “Someone found the waters.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
My boots slam into the deck as I jump down from the final crossbeam, Jorn hopping down more gracefully a second after. The high of being at the top of the ship mixed with the excitement of what is coming with a new Voyager joining the crew has me grinning, forgetting all about the grumpy captain I know I’ll have to calm down now that I’m back on solid ground.
“Captain!” Jorn yells before turning toward me and reaching for my belt. He steps closer, invading my space and making this feel way more intimate than it should as he grabs hold of the rope that kept me safe during our lesson. I start to step back when his grip tightens, holding me in place, then sends me a wink before looking back down at his task.
Angry footsteps stomp across the deck us, and I hear Jorn snicker under his breath as his fingers fly over the knot, loosening the loops.
Is he taunting Weston? Does Jorn know something more that I don’t?
If looks could kill, Weston’s face would strike someone dead, but it isn’t me that has to worry since all the fury is directed right at Jorn.
“What?” Weston snaps. He stops a few paces away from us and crosses his arms over his chest, his glare falling to Jorn’s hands at my hips as he finishes untying the rope.
Jorn chuckles softly, so only I can hear it.
“Little Lennox has my stamp of approval for climbing the mast.” His focus remains on his task until the knot falls away, and he pulls the rope out from my belt. He winks at me again and I can feel tension seeping off of Weston’s body. “She’ll still need a couple more times with my supervision, of course.” He reaches out and musses my hair, the gesture completely platonic, but Weston’s jaw looks like it might crack if he clenches it any tighter.
“Is that all?” Weston growls, his anger not seeming to affect Jorn one bit.
“Yes,” Jorn says as he wraps the rope around his hand and elbow into a ring of loops. Weston turns to walk away just before Jorn speaks again. “Oh, and we got a signal.”
Weston turns back to us, rolling his eyes. “Why didn’t you just say so?”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Jorn says, his eyes sparkling.
“Go get Sig,” Weston commands. “Tell her to get the collection crew ready.” He turns away again, stomping back toward the entrance below deck without even a glance at me.
I guess I escaped the wrath of the captain.
“What’s the collection crew?” I ask Jorn once we are alone.
“The aggressors,” he says. He starts off toward the stairs and I follow. “It’s pretty much the oldest and strongest crew. We never know if the greenhorn is going to put up a fight.”
We descend the steps to the second deck, and Jorn calls out, “Sig! Collection crew!”
“Really? Already?” Stassia says as she sits up in one of the chairs in the lounge. “How are there so many coming so close together?”
I shrug. “I didn’t tell anyone my methods. Maybe it’s the island?”
“Could be,” she says. “Maybe it wants things to change around here.”
I feel a small twinkle of hope within me as my mind drifts back to my thoughts in the crow’s nest. Maybe the island does want things to change. Now that I know Dane has been lying, I agree with it, and something more needs to be done.
I need to talk to Sig, but now, with all the commotion and excitement, it isn’t the right time. We need to come up with a way to convince Weston to let me go back, and that is going to take some planning time that we don’t have.
“You’re coming, right?” Stassia asks. She lounges back down, not looking at all like she’s about to leave to fetch a new Voyager.
“Yes, she’s coming,” Sig says as she strolls down the stairs toward the mess. “Collection crew! Get prepped!” she yells into the room, followed by various forms of acknowledgment.
“I’m not allowed to leave the ship, remember?” I say. I haven’t left since Weston forbade it, after I returned covered in blood from Mara’s knife.
“I’ll handle Cap. If he doesn’t agree, I will convince him.” Sig plops down into a chair next to Stassia and I take one as well. “If the Voyager is hostile, you might be the best person to get through to them. Having you there will be more helpful than hurtful.”
