Page 90 of Tempest

Ryman’s breath came hard and fast, nostrils flaring like a bull loosed from a pen. Again, his eyes raked over her, catching on her bare collarbone.

“What else did you offer the captain, you wanton bitch?” he breathed.

Before Cat could open her mouth to protest her innocence, Lieutenant Fell rounded on Lord Rose. Their difference in height was never so apparent, the navy officer towering over Ryman not just in stature, but confidence. The kind of confidence that came with knowing one’s way around a sea battle.

“Lieutenant,” Lord Rose sneered, flicking his eyes over Fell from head to toe. He licked his fleshy lips, looking like an overgrown toad. “This is a private matter between a lord and lady. It is not the concern of common men like yourself.”

Despite the circumstances, he seemed to relish the rank he held over the naval officer.

Cat swallowed hard, eyes darting between both men. Fell was an officer but lowborn, bound to duty. In Meridia, he would have to scurry away from men like Ryman Rose.

Fell heaved a sigh, his shoulders rolling like a ship on a wave.

“I’ll not suffer this,” he muttered, lunging.

We are not in Meridia anymore, Cat thought, her jaw falling open.

In an instant, Ryman dropped to a knee, one leg kicked out from under him. His howl of pain was quickly stifled as Fell shoved the gag back into place, far more forcefully than the pirates ever did. While the lord screamed into the wadded rag for gods knew who, the officer pushed him back on the bench, bound fists raised in warning.

Lord Rose’s whining died in an instant, his eyes fixed on Lieutenant Fell’s closed hands and bone-white knuckles.

“Touch me and I’ll make you wish the pirates left you in the water,” the officer said, his dark hair spilling loose around his face. It shrouded him like a hood.

Thoroughly cowed, Ryman nodded, drawing his knee to his chest to rub at the growing bruise beneath.

Cat watched it all without blinking, entranced. The ease with which Lieutenant Fell subdued her husband was enviable at the very least. She knew he was a navy man, an officer in wartime. And an orphan before that, certainly hardened by the cold streets of colder cities. She was not surprised he could handle himself in a fight, nor was she surprised her soft-handed husband folded so quickly beneath Fell’s fists. But it was still something to witness after all her life in a birdcage, watching the world between the bars, the lines of rank and aristocracy so deeply carved.

She found her voice shakily.

“I bargained the captain down as best I could,” she said, trying to offer some kind of explanation. It was a foolish price to agree upon, and she did not want to seem foolish now, not in Fell’s eyes. “There is no money, nothing liquid at least.” Desperation wormed through her words, hoping to make him see. “There was nothing else I could trade.”

Behind the bars, Fell held her gaze too harshly, as if willing himself not to follow the implication.

But there is no implication to make, Cat knew. She remembered how awkward Captain Kane seemed in his cabin, offering her a coat to cover herself. Somehow, she doubted he would trade his golden ransom for one made of flesh, even if she had offered.

“Nothing he would take, at least,” she said, a little more forceful.

Fell gave a sniff.

“He is a pirate. Taking is all he knows,” he answered. But he narrowed his eyes, his thoughts clearly racing. “Hold the ruse. They will have to sail for Archenport to collect payment. Those waters are heavily patrolled by the fleet. It is a great prize you have offered this ship, Lady Rose.”

Then a small but true smile split his face.

“And an even greater trap,” he murmured.

Cat’s heart leapt in her chest, and she shot to her feet, reaching for the cell. The bars felt cold beneath her palm, her fingers curling on the iron.

“You really think so?” she said, matching Fell’s grin.

Triumph rushed through her, an unfamiliar feeling. She had few victories in this life, all of them fleeting, if not defeats in disguise. Doing something right, doing something useful, felt like lightning in her skin.

Tossing his black hair out of his eyes, Fell leaned closer to the bars, their faces only inches apart. “With any luck, you’ll lead Captain Kane to his death,” he whispered.

Cat gripped the bars tighter, until the iron bit into her skin. But the pain felt better than the twisting sensation in her gut. She told herself it was just the ship and the rocking waves of the sea. Not the thought of luring pirates to their well-earned doom.

“Hold the ruse,” she echoed, for herself as much as the other two. Her eyes flashed over Fell’s shoulder, finding Ryman on the bench. “Can you do that, at least?”

His brow tightened, a sullen look in his eyes. But Fell was threat enough for him to behave. Stiffly, Ryman nodded his head.