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I chew on my lip for a moment, taking in the report. “If we have to sit here for a day or two, we need posts round the clock doubled. The storm we tried to get ahead of when leaving the Luminaries will be heading this way and we need to be prepared to take the brunt of it if we can’t get the sails up before it reaches us.”
“Is there any word on why the Wysterian attacked? They don’t usually mess with us,” Smee says, tapping her pen on the notepad in front of her.
“I don’t know. Scarlet had a theory—”
Smee cuts me off, rolling her eyes. “Of course she did.”
I take a deep breath. She’s just pissed, I know that. She’d grown close to her and my sister has always used sarcasm and anger to avoid feelings. It’s what she does best.
“As I was saying, she thinks the witch possessed it when she stabbed Lorian.” I nod at the druid, who is thankfully in one piece.
“I’d believe that,” Lorian says, his voice low and deep. “She left me right as Scarlet stabbed me. I couldn’t sense her presence before I blacked out. It’d make sense.”
The room falls silent for a beat, but if there’s one thing I’m sure of, it’s that they’ll trust Lorian. And with him backing up Scarlet’s theory, it gives me hope that maybe I can trust Scarlet too. Just that damn mark makes me question myself and every word she says.
“Look,” I say, leaning against the table. “I understand how worried you all must be, but I promise we’ll be fine. We just need to get underway as soon as possible.” My crew nods, understanding the gravity of our situation. As we break from the meeting, everyone separates, doing their part in securing the ship and preparing for the storm.
24
Scarlet
IlayonSebastian’sbed, staring up at the wooden ceiling. I’m not sure what I’m waiting for, but I don’t think I have much of an option. I draw the blankets up over my body, breathing deeply. It smells just like him… I’m not even sure how to describe it, just that it clings to every pillow, to the blankets, and the air in this space—that it wraps around me like he’s here himself.
It feels like weeks since he held me in this bed, but it’s really only been a day. This place had been my personal heaven, and now it’s nothing more than a gilded cage. I’m torn between wanting to stay alive, to live just a little longer, and wanting to make the pain and betrayal I see in his eyes stop. I know I hurt him, but what else was I supposed to do? Had he learned the truth sooner, he might not have given me a chance to explain myself. He might’ve chucked me over the first chance he had and all the moments we’ve shared would’ve never existed.
I didn’t do this to deceive him. It was a means of survival.
It’s been hours since Sebastian left, and I can’t shake the way butterflies swarmed through me when he kissed my hand. I thought for sure I’d imagined it, but healing my palm and endearments like that… That’s not the sign of a man who wants me to burn or drown. He’s conflicted—and rightfully so—but it tells me he still cares, and it means there’s a chance to make it out of this.
I can’t imagine what he must be going through. How torn he must feel.
From where I sit, I can hear men walking across the deck. Occasionally their muffled voices filter through the damaged door from the outside. They’re still cleaning up the ship and making repairs. From what I can tell, we’re going to be stuck here for days. The elements tried to use magic to push the ship, but it didn’t move much. Without a sail to inflate, it’s pointless.
A few words catch my attention. “...it’s getting dark. Are you sure?” one of them says.
It’s almost nighttime… Three days have passed since I watched the dragons during the last moon cycle. I wonder what happens if the ship is stagnant by dusk. Are they worried about something reaching us? My ears strain as I quietly lift up in the bed, as if sitting will make me hear better. It won’t, but I do it anyway.
“Yeah, captain’s orders. The princess goes overboard at nightfall,” another adds. I can taste the hatred in his tone. He thinks I’m a monster, just like that woman. How? How can they all be so short-sighted? I saved their ship. Shouldn’t that earn me something?
My heart stops and my blood turns to ice in my veins. He promised. Sebastian stood there and swore nothing would happen tonight. He told me I would be safe. Why would he lie?
Here, I’ve been ashamed that I’ve hurt him so deeply, pitying everything he must be going through. I was so sure… so naïve to believe him kissing my shoulder when saw my scars and him ensuring my hands were no longer in pain had meant something deep within him cared. But why lie? Why tell me to relax, that I’ll be fine for the night if he was just going to walk out that door and change his mind? Why give me a false sense of safety? Is this some sort of game to him? Is this his form of revenge, making me feel the same betrayal?
I rub the hilt of my hand into my chest, trying to soothe the tightness growing there. I have to keep my emotions in check. I can’t spiral, not now. If I do, he’ll feel it and any chance I have of coming up with a plan will shatter the moment he barges through that door.
Getting up, I start looking through the cabinets and draws, pressing on every plank of the wall to find the hidden compartments. There’s got to be something I can use as a weapon if it comes to it. I might not be able to get off the ship, but if one beast was following them, maybe there’s more. Maybe I could control one and it could take me off this ship.
It’s a shot in the dark. I might not be able to control it long enough to get to land, but it’s better than drowning because I can’t swim, or floating… I pause, chewing at my lip. If what Sebastian said was true, that I could only be marked if I’d done blood magic, will I float? I still don’t know how that’s possible, but as Zephyr said, if my mother had been the one to do it, maybe I was born with it. But would it be enough for the water to reject me?
Shaking my head, I focus my thoughts. I can’t worry about that right now. I have to figure out how to get off the ship. What if I used the rowboat? I could escape and untie it, maybe get a beast to pull me to land for as long as I can if I can find a rope. I doubt Sebastian would come after me. He has his emotions as long as I’m alive, and if I’m not on his ship to be a problem, he might just accept that and move on. I could start over somewhere else, but would need to use magic or something to change my hair. Even on the mainland, I’d stick out like a sore thumb as a Midicious.
I can work with that. I just need to make sure that come nightfall, I don’t get tossed into the sea, that I can get to the boat. It hasn’t been enough time, though… My magic and power are still severely depleted. It’ll take days before I’m back to full strength, but Sebastian doesn’t know that.
I slam the drawer, having searched the room without finding a single weapon. Seeing as he trapped a witch alone in a room with magical objects and grimoires, specifically those for blood magic, I thought he would’ve left something in here. Clearly, he doesn’t see me as much of a threat at this point.
Taking a deep breath, I glance around the room one last time, pausing at the bed. Sebastian doesn’t take risks. He’s always one step ahead of everyone. When he slept beside me, all of his weapons were across the room, which means he felt safe there with me… For him to have felt that way, there would have to be something within arm’s reach.
Looking under the bed, I find nothing but flat boxes of things—things that don’t help me but are likely precious to him. Furrowing my brow, I slide my hand beneath the mattress, feeling between it and the platform it sits on until my fingers touch something metallic.
