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“Look, it could be months before we have another opportunity. We know they have the compass, and they’re alone with no fleet to protect them. It’ll be an easy grab,” she says, standing her ground.
“Exactly.” Continuing down into the skin of the ship, I hear her pattering footsteps keeping pace.
“That doesn’t answer my question.” Smee grips my arm, forcing me to halt or risk pulling her off her feet. Again.
“What is a merchant ship doing outside royal waters on its own? They always travel in fleets or squadrons outside the Solarian Bay. That’s a trap if I’ve ever seen one.”
Smee rolls her eyes hard enough to crack a socket. “Please. There’s nothing wrong with the ship. You’re just too chicken to board it.”
“Chicken? Really? That’s what you got?” When she doesn’t answer, I twist and continue through the passageway.
“Sebastian,” she groans, using the same tone a mother would with their child. “You need that compass. It’s the one thing that can lead us to Pan. Do you want your shadow back or not?”
Smee skirts around me to stand in the middle of the passage. Something tells me she’ll cling to the walls if I try to move her, and when Smee puts her mind to something, she doesn’t stop until she gets it.
I wish I could say my will is stronger than hers, but she’s the only person that can make me cave. Call it sibling love, but it’s impossible to resist her when she bats those long eyelashes. I hate it.
Her lips twist as she pokes my sternum. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’re scared to find it–to be whole again.”
Of course, I want my shadow back, but Pan is hiding out on the mainland. Even with the compass, we’d never reach him without risking capture and execution. We step foot in Solaria and all it will take is someone to recognize us. They’ll turn our whereabouts in for the price on our heads. We might put up a good fight, but one crew won’t last against the entire king’s guard.
“There’s never going to be a more perfect time to get that compass. It’s either now or never,” Smee says as a hand clamps onto my shoulder—one I know far too well. I’d recognize those tattooed knuckles anywhere.
“She’s right, son.” My father moves to stand beside us, scratching his dark beard with his metal hook. “No better time than the present. Who knows when we’ll see that ship again, and from the rumors circulating in the Lunaries, I’d say our ticket to the mainland is coming sooner rather than later.”
If that’s so, then it’s news to me. We’re pirates, criminals of the seven realms, and wanted for a whole list of crimes by the Solarian crown. Porting anywhere on the mainland is asking for trouble.
My father, the captain of this ship, brushes past us, surfacing on the deck. He doesn’t waste any time barking orders, and the crew scurries topside to prepare for the ambush. They’re beyond eager, not that I blame them. It’s been weeks since we’ve taken a ship, and our pockets are growing thin. Then there’s everything we could take back home...
Merchant ships are always packed full of food, supplies, clothes, and goods to trade with other ports along the Arcadian coast, not particularly gold or treasure. Though ones like this tend to have some precious items on board, like the compass I need. Our people rely on these heists, and if our stores are running low, I can’t even imagine how those back on the island are wavering.
Smee meets my gaze with fire in her eyes as she smirks and climbs the stairs back to the top of the ship, leaving me in the passage. She lives for this, and normally I do too, but something settles in the pit of my stomach. It’s as if the shadows around me have grown weary of what comes next just as much as I have.
As I let out a long exhale, I climb the steps and surface in time to see my father take the helm. His red leather coat swishes around his legs and the lapels flip in the wind. Taking my place beside him, I catch the corner of his lips tip up.
“Come to your senses, have ya?”
“I suppose,” I say, looking out at the sea.
The merchant ship looms closer now, seemingly oblivious to our presence. It does little to settle the unease building in my chest, but I’m steadfast. The black sails with the red skulls unfurl just as figures appear on top of the enemy deck. Our men take up arms, gearing up for the approach.
“Brace!” I roar as we careen into their side with a mighty crash. My legs jolt, but I maintain my footing.
Grappling hooks fly and our men swing aboard, steel singing as it meets steel. I leap off the deck and onto one of the ropes, gripping hand over hand until I clear the rail of the merchant ship and drop down onto the metal surface near Smee.
She slices and jabs, leveling the men with lethal grace. I wish she’d use more when she walks, but I suppose if she was going to have it, now is better than never.
Pulling my cutlass free, I lunge into the thick of the chaos, matching Smee stroke for stroke, two entities bound by blood. As we fight our way across the deck, the shrill battle cries echo out, only to be swallowed by the roiling sea around us.
“We gotta get to the cargo hold!” I shout to her over the metallic clatter of swords. The nod she gives is the only response I need.
The merchant crew is skilled, but they’re cut down faster than I anticipate, and before Smee even makes it to the door, that leads to the companionway, the deck falls eerily silent. The six crewmen who came over with us await orders, their chests heaving as they catch their breath. Something about this isn’t right.
There are fifteen bodies littering the ground. It would take ten times that to smoothly operate a ship this size. Where is everyone?
I give the signal for the others to board before finding Smee waiting with her hand poised and ready to open the door to the companionway. Blood splatter and sweat beads on her dark skin.
“Go ahead.” I step closer, and she wretches it open.
