Page 98 of Crossbones
“Get out.”
Harrison’s jaw tightens but he heads towards the door. He pauses on the threshold and looks at me with disgust in his eyes.
“I’ve followed you loyally for years,” his voice is tight with emotion. “But this is the first time I don’t believe in you.”
His words should have hurt, and maybe they would have if I were sober. He slams the door and I’m left alone. My anger overwhelms me. I raise the empty rum bottle and throw it forcefully at the back of the door. It shatters, raining glass down across the floor.
Three days.That’s all I have to find this lost city. Three days to make the impossible happen. Three days before I could lose the best thing to happen to me in a very long time. That thought alone is what moves me to action. Broken glass crunches under my boots as I leave my cabin and head up in search of Caspian.
I find him where he’s been all day, on the foredeck. The nights up here are below freezing. Ice builds on the ropes, and fog creeps among the icebergs like the spirits of the dead. And still Caspian is standing at the rail.
“Come below deck,” I touch his arm. His skin is like ice.
“It’s here, I know it is,” he mutters.
“You won’t find it if you freeze to death,” I snap.
He pulls his gaze away from the pitch black of the sea and peers at me.
“Are you drunk?”
I frown at him.
“Fuck, you don’t believe it’s here, do you?” He runs both hands through his hair and turns back to the rail.
“You can’t even see anything in the dark,” I insist, although the words kind of string together.
“You didn’t answer my question.”
I sigh and shake my head. “Don’t make me answer that right now, Caspian.”
His shoulders tense and he grips the rail hard.
“Come down and get warm for a bit,” I demand.
“No.”
“Caspian—”
“Go away, Captain.”
I stare at his profile but I can see the stubborn set of his shoulders and thedisappointment in his eyes and decide to drop it. I can’t answer him—because I don’t know what to believe right now and while I believe in Caspian, I also know enough about him now to know he sometimes can be impulsive—What if he was impulsive about going after a treasure that doesn’t exist? I head back down to my cabin, planning on drinking until I pass out because on top of all those thoughts, I feel doubt creep in—if he was impulsive about the treasure, what if he’s being impulsive about whatever is going on between the two of us too?
The door bursts open, hitting the jam so hard I startle awake. My head hurts from all the rum—I had in fact downed enough to pass out. Apparently I’d had the foresight to take my shirt off but not my pants or boots. Caspian strides in, the urgency bleeding off him.
“It’s behind the ice,” he says.
I swing my legs over the edge, squinting at him like he’s crazy. “What’s behind the ice?”
“Grythmoor,” Caspian says. His excitement is palpable. “Think about it—the icebergs are probably blocking it. If we can get to the other side—” He starts to pace, muttering to himself. “—that must be why ships haven’t been able to find it before. It must be on an iceberg or glacier or something. And no one thinks to go around the ice. No one thinks that it could be moving—” He stops in front of me. “Did you?”
I’m trying to follow him but my brain feels heavy. I shake my head. “We’ve tried to find an opening but one never surfaced, and we were running out of supplies.”
Caspian’s eyes glisten with excitement. He steps over and stands between my legs, his attention traveling over me in appreciation.
“It’s behind the ice,” he says firmly.
His hands snake around behind my neck. “I know it is. Come on—Blondie won’t listen to me; you need to give the order.”
