Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Cruz just chuckles and takes a swig of his rum before passing the goatskin canteen to me. “You mean, your asset, since you claimed her as yours.”
I consider the rum for a moment then wave it off, needing a clear head for tonight’s attack. “Aye. My asset.”
“You are still planning to trade her off for ransom, aren’t you?” he says, scrutinizing my expression.
I give him nothing. “I am.”
“It’s just that when you first brought dear Sedge aboard this boat you never had any intentions of letting him go, not after you branded him.”
“You knew why we couldn’t let him go.”
“He can’t talk, Bones,” Cruz says. “No one would have known what goes on here, and no one would have believed him anyway.”
“You can’t be too careful. At any rate, Sedge has proved himself valuable. The princess will do the same. But the real money-maker is the prince. Unfortunately. I really would like to kill him.”
“I’m sure you will at some point,” Cruz says with a laugh, slapping me hard on the back. “I know your temper.”
“Aye, it’s almost as bad as yours.”
He just grins at me and tips back the canteen, more rum pouring into his mouth. Most of the crew drinks rum before we get into any battles and skirmishes because it helps with courage and, in their words, makes things more fun. But even though we have battled the skeleton crew before, it’s not always easy. Our crew may be inhumanely blessed, but we aren’t the undead. You can kill us, but you can’t kill them. Our only luck in this situation is the fact that even if we’re taken prisoner, we won’t become doomed to their fate. The curse can’t touch us.
Well, most of us.
Cruz turns and surveys the crew. It’s the calm before the storm. Normally Cruz would start up the violin—he’s a talented musician in his own right and music always gets the crew ready and excited for a fight. But tonight we need stealth and quiet if we are to have an actual ambush.
“Quartermaster!” I call out once I spot Thane on the deck below talking to Sam and Lucas, probably reminding Lucas to stay below and out of trouble and for his wife to do the same, even though he knows she won’t listen a whit.
He comes up the stairs to join us on the aft deck. “What’s the word?” he asks, sounding grumpier than usual.
“Just figuring out our plan of attack. What’s gotten into you, brother?”
He lets out a deep grumbling noise. “I don’t like this.”
I frown. “What do you mean? Did you see something in the ball?”
“No. But after the attack from the navy ship, I feel things are a wee precarious at the moment. If you want to trade your prisoners for money from the king, I am all for that, but to detour to these blasted islands, no,” he gives his head a stern shake, “I feel it’s becoming too complicated. We need to stick to one task at a time.”
“The navy attack was nothing,” Cruz says. “Lothar did all the carpentry and repairs in a day. Nightwind was never in any danger, you know that.”
“But our food supply sustained damaged during those hits.”
“That’s why mermaid blood is the answer.”
“Mermaid blood is only the answer because you want your revenge, not because you want us all to survive.”
I glare at him. “You know I would do anything for this crew. My revenge is everyone’s revenge. You were Hilla’s uncle.”
He glances away, only a hint of shame on his face. “It’s not just about Hilla. It’s the book. You need to let it go, Ramsay. You’re holding onto the past too much. Venla, she—”
“I have made my peace about my wife,” I sneer at him, taking a menacing step toward him. “I have let go of the past. But that book has magic, magic that we need if we wish to survive in this world. You said so yourself, how long can we keep doing this? How long can we go on? We need this to survive. All of us. Now if we get the mermaid, we get the blood, then we can destroy that sea bitch once and for all and get all the magic that Venla created for us. And at the very end, if we end up fetching a high price for the prisoners, then that’s just the icing on the cake.”
He raises his chin, peering down at me with amber eyes. “I don’t think you understand, brother,” he says. “It’s the prisoners that are proving to be the complication. So far the prince has rendered Drakos incapable, and the princess, well you’re spending time with her that you shouldn’t be. I just hope I’m wrong about all of it.” He punctuates that with a scowl.
“Look at you, with a face only a mother could love,” Cruz says jovially to him, always there to defuse the tension between us. He pats Thane on the chest. “Now that you’re done telling off the captain, perhaps we can turn our attention to the plan of attack so that there aren’t complications.”