Page 51 of Ship of Shadows
Her eyes bulged. “He told you how he became a pirate?”
I reeled back. That seemed like a bit of an overreaction. “Well, yes. He told me a lot about his life during our time together. You don’t have to talk about yourself if it makes you uncomfortable.”
She tugged at her short brown hair, gelled into a cute pixie cut that framed her face so well. Her brown eyes flashed with a familiar look. There it was again. That sense that I knew her. “No, it’s not that,” she said slowly. “Bastian just doesn’t talk to anyone about that time in his life, his, you know...”
“Fear of the ocean?” I asked.
She nodded, eyes darting around the tavern like she was afraid someone might overhear.
“Anyway,” I said, “I don’t want to talk about Bastian either.”
She pursed her lips. “Do you need to make a list of topics we are allowed to talk about?”
I peered at her. “Why do you dislike me, exactly?” I waved my hand to the table. “Why does everyone dislike me so much?”
Her mouth went agape for a moment, then she closed it and paused like she was choosing her words carefully. “I don’t dislike you,” she said. “I’m wary of you and your friends.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re a threat to everyone I love,” she snapped. “Your presence, your hold over Bastian, almost destroyed us once already.”
I straightened at that, shock rolling through me. “What do you mean? Is this about your boss?”
“Um.” She cleared her throat, hands twisting in her lap. “I just meant that Bastian was never the same after he met you. Started getting ideas about being a better pirate, being something we could never be. It put our business, even our lives, at stake. I’ve had a hard time forgiving him for that.” Her voice quieted. “Though I suppose I really shouldn’t blame you.”
“Oh,” I said, not expecting that answer at all. “Well,” I said finally, “if it makes you feel any better, I hate myself, too, for falling for him.”
She was quiet at that, contemplative. Then she took a deep gulp of her ale and said, “I grew up with Bastian, actually. In Aramis.”
“Grew up with him?” That was a strange way to word it.
She gestured at her face. “I know he’s got the black hair, and I’ve got the brown hair. He takes after Mother, while Kara and I take more after our father.”
I spit out my drink. “Your mother? Your father? What, exactly, are you saying?”
Mia let out a heavy sigh. “I’m saying that I’m Bastian’s sister.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ialmost fell out of my chair. It made so much sense now.
“And Kara is our other sister. She’s the youngest. By a minute. She’s also the angriest, in case you didn’t realize it.” She nodded her head to the end of the table, where the other brunette sat. I didn’t think my jaw could drop any lower. “After the pirates kidnapped Bastian and killed our parents, Kara and I fled, moving to other islands where we could find work. We tried to track Bastian over the years, keeping an eye on him as much as we could, getting glimpses of him whenever the ship he was on rolled into town. We wouldn’t see him for two years, then suddenly that familiar ship with the bright yellow flag would sail to our docks, and he’d be half a foot taller. We survived on the streets, doing our best to stay alive, to figure out how to rescue him. Years later, when Kara and I were grown and running our own little business, we heard about a fearsome pirate and his crew called the Lost Boys. The more we heard about this pirate, the more it sounded like our brother. We sold everything and left town so we could track him. Eventually we found him and the Lost Boys and joined their crew. Bastian was so angry that we’d come after him. He hadn’t wanted that life for us. But we had no one else. The rest is history.”
I wrinkled my nose. That entire story—I couldn’t believe Bastian had never told me about this. He’d also never told me where he was from. I hadn’t heard of Aramis. Then again, there were many human towns I hadn’t heard of. Aramis must’ve been a small coastal village.
Mia tucked a short brown strand behind her ear. “He finally got over us becoming pirates and got his head out of his ass enough to make me his quartermaster.”
My head was still reeling from the revelation that Bastian had two sisters. No wonder they disliked me so much. They were protective of their brother, just like I was of mine. They viewed me as a threat. I wondered why he’d kept them from me. Maybe because he knew they hated me, and if I’d found out about them, I would’ve insisted on meeting them.
“Bastian probably won’t be happy that I told you,” Mia mumbled. “Then again, he’s never happy these days, so what does it matter?”
“So why did you tell me?” I asked.
She looked up at the ceiling, made from palm tree fronds, all woven together. “I just thought you should know. And my brother can be such an idiot sometimes.”
That was an understatement.
She raised her glass, and I clinked mine against it.
