Page 105 of Stilettos & Secrets on the 7 Seas

“And when Marco sent the map in the treasure chest, you knew he was close.”

“I did.”

“But you still kept it from me.”

He dropped his head into his hands. “I’m sorry. Ye deserve better than me.”

I moved closer, knelt beside him, and met his eyes. “I want to help. I want to be with you.”

He wrapped an arm around me and pulled me in tight, kissing the top of my head.

“My grandfather gave me his piece when I gained my power. He told me the map wasnae any good because he had already tossed the eye. I can only assume Marco’s grandfather did the same.”

I knew from his grandfather’s journals that he had found the eye after he had taken Lidiya from Rogue. “Why didn’t James try to find the King’s key? He had the eye for a short time, right?”

“I assume he searched for it, but withoot all the pieces of the map, came up empty. He told me the four who held the other pieces wouldnae unite, but I should keep it in case the eye resurfaced.”

“And you hoped to find Marco and Sasha together.” I sat in the chair across from him. It was my turn to help devise a plan.

“Aye, pool our pieces of the map. See if it gave us a clue to the location of the King’s key. I didnae count on Vane holding Marco prisoner. I didnae count on Vane having a piece of the map. I thought Sasha had the map Lidiya stole from the Mafusos.”

“Did you find her?”

He nodded. “She’s still on board, but now that the crew knows she’s a woman, she’s hiding. She passed by my cell. Her disguise is disturbing. It took me a minute to realize she wasnae a cabin boy. She was scoping oot the bars. No sure if she was deciding they would hold me or if she could break me oot.”

“Yeah, tough decision.” I joked, hoping to change his mood. I needed the guy who saved the world, not this brooding pirate who talked like the game was over.

“’Tis aboot a day’s sail from where Marco told Vane the treasure exists.”

I leaned back and raised a cynical eyebrow. “Does the treasure exist?”

“Aye, but our ability to retrieve it might be more difficult. We don’t have the proper equipment to locate treasure at the bottom of the ocean. We can swim down, scrape around in the sand, and see if we come up with anything, but the ocean is vast. Finding even one piece of eight weel be a challenge.”

“What will happen when we arrive at this Bone Island and find no treasure?” I knew one thing for sure, Charles Vane was not gonna be a happy camper.

“Could be veera bad news.” He stood, grumbled, and clenched his fists. “We’re so close. If the map ’tis truly a map to the King’s key, we need all the pieces.”

“What if you don’t get all the pieces? Are you going to put the three you have together and hope to connect the dots?”

“Aye. I need to see Marco’s map, hope Sasha will share Rogue’s. Then get my hands on the one Vane holds.”

“The only reason we’re here is because Marco was following Sasha. He didn’t give a rat’s behind about that map.”

“He thinks Sasha is here for the key, but now we know she was looking for Lidiya.”

“She might have been looking for her mother, but don’t underestimate her. She’s got her eye on the prize.” I leaned forward, tapping the wood with my fingers, contemplating sharing my map news.

“We’re going in partially blind.” He leaned back and huffed his doubt at completing the mission. “I believe Marco drew his map from memory, but I have no way of knowing until we can speak to him. Sasha’s like the wind, and I dinna ken where Vane keeps Lidiya’s map.”

“He keeps it in his coat pocket.”

Caiyan’s eyebrows raised.

“Sasha told me. She saw him unroll it but wasn’t close enough to see the details.”

His shoulders slumped. “Weel be more difficult to obtain if he has it on his person.”

“Do you think Mortas has seen it?” I asked.

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