Page 44 of Return of the Vengeful Quee

“I’m not a nurse.” Holland put his palm against her face.

“No, use the back of your hand. Didn’t your mother ever check your skin for a fever?” Tal asked.

“I had the good sense to never get sick.” Holland reversed his hand and smacked it gently against her forehead. “Seems warm.”

“I’m fine. You two are going to be the death of me if this keeps up.” She paused as her words struck something within her, echoing into the abyss where she’d pushed her grief. The echoes felt like fresh wounds, and she frantically reached for the willpower to focus on her duty instead. “Actually, the Rakuuna are going to be the death of me, but not before we have a plan in place to take them down.”

“Stop saying things like that.” Holland glared at her. “It isn’t set in stone just because some stupid Rakuuna said it was.”

She shrugged, because arguing with him was pointless. “Fine. Now, Holland if you can try to pay attention to what I’m saying instead of just watching Tal, we can continue.”

“You were the one watching Tal and forgetting to speak, not me.” He sounded offended.

The concern in Tal’s eyes softened into something warm and knowing. Something that used to send butterflies through her stomach. She glared at him. If anything, her stomach was still nauseous from the few bites she’d eaten of the cold fish stew they’d been served for breakfast. Not a butterfly in sight.

A tiny, crooked smile played at the edge of Tal’s mouth as he returned to the center of the room and scooped up his sword.

“We have very little moriarthy dust, and we need to figure out how it’s most effective,” Charis said sternly, as though Tal’s movements weren’t distracting in the least. “That means we need to find a way to make a Rakuuna ingest it, we need to wipe some on a Rakuuna’s skin, and we need to put some into an open wound.”

“Several of our crew members are helping in the kitchen since the food these monsters serve is about as edible as licking the bottom of my boots.” Holland brushed his hair out of his eyes and mimicked Tal’s motions, watching closely. “We can have them put the poison in that fish stew they like so much.”

“We don’t have enough to poison the entire thing unless they’re really sensitive to it, so let’s sneak it into two individual bowls. Then we can see how effective it is.” Charis turned to the porthole to admire the way the clouds scudding across the sky created gray, green, and muted violet-blue shadows in the water below. It was certainly preferable to admiring anything or anyone inside the cabin.

“I can wipe some on a Rakuuna when I’m on deck stretching my legs,” Holland said.

“If you do that, and they react, they’ll know it was you,” Tal said as he held the final position, sword guarding his chest, feet ready to lash out at an opponent.

“What if we just wipe it on something we know the Rakuuna often touch?” Charis turned back to the porthole when she found herself staring too long at Tal. Her traitorous body might respond to the sight of his, but her heart had learned its lesson well.

“The stairwell railing?” Holland raised his arm, checking to see that his elbow was even with his shoulder.

“The one who dragged me down the stairs took them three at a time. No railing needed.” Charis tapped a finger on her chin as she thought. What did the Rakuuna often touch that the humans could easily access without raising questions? “The helm is impossible for us to get to. The rigging? The door leading into the mess hall?”

“The portrait of their queen.” Tal nudged Holland’s back until he was satisfied with the position. “It hangs down the opposite corridor where the Rakuuna sleep.”

Charis met Tal’s gaze. “They touch it?”

“They bow and then press the back of their first two fingers to her collarbone every time they walk past.”

“You really are a good spy.” Her words were needle-sharp and tipped with venom.

“I’ve learned to be.” His shoulders dropped as he turned away from her to examine Holland’s next attempt.

“Have you seduced any of the female Rakuuna yet?” She hadn’t meant to say it. The words rushed out, an arrow shot from the wound he’d given her.

He stiffened and turned to face her, devastation on his face. Instantly, she realized she didn’t want the answer. Didn’t want to open the door to a discussion she didn’t think she’d ever be ready to have. Better to spend her final days focused on what she could accomplish, rather than on the pain that had stitched itself to her as though it had always been there.

Quickly, she said, “Never mind. It doesn’t matter. What’s important is finding a way to test the poison on an open wound. That’s going to be more difficult because we can’t actually wound them.”

“I bet their skin slices open if you get close enough with a sword.” Holland tried the complicated footwork between five and six and nearly fell on top of Tal.

“And then they know you’re the one who did it, and they learn about the poison. Plus, they’ll kill you for it.” Charis blew out a breath and searched for other options. “Everything we try has to seem like a fluke. A strange accident that can’t be traced back to us. And since we can’t even get very close to them—”

“I can do it.” Tal’s voice was quiet, but there was a note of resignation in it.

“How?” She forced herself to meet his gaze.

“The sick Rakuuna.” He swallowed and looked away. “They have open sores.”

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