Page 44 of If I Go Down with This Ship

“But you need to be careful around Nassau, do you ’ear?Can’t have word getting ’round ’ere that ’e’s got a weakness, not after tonight.”I grind my teeth.“Come on,” Jack mutters under his breath and tugs me after him and through the lively crowd.

Captain Night pauses at the bar, motioning to Astra asAdelphine shoots him a look before she disappears down the hall leading to her office.Astra’s nose is red and bruising, but they don’t seem to care as they hold out a scrap of paper to Captain Night.Jack and I stop a few feet away while he reads it over.His head whips up and he flashes a smile at us.

“This is it.”He nods to Jack and me, and the man he was before is gone.From his stature, the way he holds himself, the captain is back.He is no longer the man who told me that he’s terrified to dream, the one who climbed into my lap and kissed me, the one who lets Sir sleep in his bed, nor the one who pressed a cool cloth to my forehead when I was sick.

This is a pirate captain.

Pocketing the paper, Captain Night beckons us forward.“Ready the ship.We leave at first light.”

Jack motions to me.“Come on, Laszlo.”

“That’s not a lot of time,” I say as I stumble after Jack.

“No, but it’s possible.”

“What was the lead?Is it about the ship he’s on?Do we know where Willie Taylor’s docked?”

I want to grab my journal, to scribble these thoughts down for later, but Jack surveys me warily.“Keep your voice down,” he hisses.

With the ale already sold off, the crew has lugged the fresh supplies onto the ship already.Half of the crew is in the tavern; a few are scattered and asleep on the beach.The rest wait aboard the ship, keeping watch as Jack and I gather up the last of them.

“How do we know the lead is good?”I ask Jack as we ready the longboats on the beach.

He shakes his head, tossing the rope into the boat as the last person climbs in.“It’s a risk we take.Not every lead isgood, but considering Adelphine got it less than an hour ago, we ’ave a decent chance, I think.”He and I push the boat into the water before leaping in.“Leads are never promises.”

I nod silently before accepting one of the oars.My hands still ache, but my body and mind are wide awake as I row.The kiss flipped something in me, and while the coat lingers in my mind, my gaze drifting to it thrown over Captain Night’s shoulders mere feet from me, it’s second to the memory of his lips on mine.

When we reachShe Deceitful, I climb up the ladder on wobbly legs and throw myself over the railing, dropping to the deck with anoomph.A hand extends for me, and I take it numbly.I try to hide my disappointment as I glance up to find Mick.

“How was the shore?”he asks as I straighten.His gaze goes to what must be a monstrous hickey on my neck, his brows shooting up.

Teeth grinding, I scratch my neck, scanning the ship as crew members haul up the longboat and pull the last of the supplies down into the hold.

“It was about what I expected,” I say, not looking at him.

“Looks like you got more than you were expecting,” Mick says, a bit of laughter in his voice.His gaze slides to someone over my shoulder.“And what happened to you?”

I turn as Astra sniffs.Their left eye is blackening now, swelling shut.Their nose looks worse than before, red and blotchy, bruising.

“Ran into Peter,” they say before spitting over the side of the ship.

That’s an understatement.

Mick blanches.“Peter?”

Astra scrunches up their nose and winces, pressing fingersto the tender skin.“Don’t worry.Captain Night took care of it.”

Silence settles across the deck, and the crew stares.They seem to understand what “took care of it” means in pirate terms.No one asks any questions, instead returning quietly to their work.Mick nods in understanding, and Astra turns and hurries toward the helm, where Clancy is waiting.

One thing’s been clear since I joined the crew: Captain Night would do anything for them.It feels like days since I saw him slice a man’s throat, weeks since I heard the gunshot on the merchant ship, and both of those things happened because he caresthat much.

But I’ve barely even been aboard this ship for a week.

“Come on, come on,” Mick says, dropping a line into my hands.“No time to waste, Lasz.”

The thought of doingmorework after everything makes me want to cry, but I wrap my tired hands around the rope with a sigh and join him, unraveling the jib and securing the lines.

By the time the first bits of light are cast over the water, the last of the longboats are here.Our stores are full, the crew is tired but excited, and there’s a strange buzz in the air.I take a break from hauling lines to help Pip with food, and I hold out one of the large plates to Mick as he leans against the mainmast.