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“I think I need to let go of your hand.”
“Bad idea.” A pause. “But I can wait here if there’s no other choice.”
“Wait for me. I promise I will be back.”
They timed it until no pirates were passing the hall and she could jump safely inside a ventilation duct, which was so big that she could half kneel and still have space to navigate. Again, she followed Pan’s voice until she was crouched beside the room’s ventilation filter and could hear the other voices.
“That’s not what we negotiated. We negotiated a dozen crates and nothing less. Why should it be our problem that you lost a few at sea? Shouldn’t your boss be here apologizing to us instead of sending his lackey?”
“Watch your mouth, Manzano. I know all your business deals, and I can easily ruin them if you speak about our pirate lord that way again.”
“I should have just gone with a more reputable dealer. Then I won’t be having these idiotic problems—”
There was a gurgling sound before the smell of blood hit her hard. She held her breath and listened to Pan sigh.
“Who’s next? Is there anyone else who would like to complain about the pirate lord or their deals with us?”
“I have no complaints,” someone said. “Can we move on?”
The others murmured in agreement, and Pan’s irritation lessened. The discussions went on, enough that she got a gist of what was going on despite her disbelief. Was the pirate lord who openly despised pirates-turned-traders secretly dabbling in it, too?
“Oh, Mr. Kamala, please stay for a few more minutes. I wanted to ask you about something.”
The scent of blood lessened, indicating someone must have been cleaning it. Footsteps shuffled away, and the door was shut again.
“I’m a busy man, Pan, so please don’t dilly-dally. What is this about?”
“You must have heard Isaiah the Great is here…not that we consider him that, of course, but I’m curious…”
Their voices turned hushed, but she heard the words ghost ship and map uttered with clarity before Pan’s voice raised once more.
“I hate liars, Mr. Kamala, so you had better not be lying to me.”
“I wouldn’t dare, Pan. I didn’t hear anything.”
“Very well. Let us know immediately if you do hear something. Just us. I mean it. You know what the consequences are if you don’t.”
And that cemented her suspicion that this hadn’t been their first time asking around—and that they would probably either realize that Isaiah had been lying or perhaps just think that he kept his sources secret. There were some slamming and grumbling sounds before Pan stormed off. She needed to warn Isaiah. She needed to ask him to reconsider getting close to the pirate lord again. The idea of him getting caught in another trap had her shivering. Then comprehension dawned that her back was riddled with ice.
Nicola rolled just as an icicle shot her way and shattered against the duct. She kept rolling as the black-scaled, slit-eyed creature crawled toward her with a speed that belied its size and a glint that meant only one thing. More icicles whizzing her way confirmed that, and she didn’t stop until it registered that the creature was trying to corner her into a trap.
No way,her mind screamed before instinct kicked in. She exploded into motion, a switch from prey to predator as she ducked the next round of blasted icicles before catching one. She hissed when a smaller one grazed her shoulder and had blood trickling, but continued her sprint until she could soar above the creature. When she spotted a bald spot with fresh injuries, Nicola plunged the icicle and slashed until she heard the sickening sound of flesh being torn.
“Did you hear that?”
She froze.
“It’s probably those two again. I knew those wildlings were bound to kill each other. I don’t get why we keep so many of them in the first place….”
Nicola reached the exit in no time, where her hand was taken and Ruby’s familiar magic came back into play.
“You are bleeding.”
“Not as badly as the other guy,” Nicola joked until the earlier words sobered her. “There’s more of them.”
“What?”
“Those creature assassins.”
