Page 97 of Ship of Shadows
“What is this for?” I asked as Bastian approached.
“To protect you,” he said.
My brows furrowed as Ollie unlocked it and opened the door.
“Me?” I asked. “How is this going to protect me?”
Bastian took a step forward, that stone mask slipping over his face. He reached out a hand. “Do you trust me?” he asked.
“Of course I do.” I slowly placed my hand in his, and he reeled me to him, whispering in my ear, “Then you’ll know I’m doing this for your own good.”
He pushed me into the cage, and Ollie quickly locked it behind me.
Shock rippled through me, and for a moment, I couldn’t move. Then I snapped out of my stupor and grabbed the cage bars, rattling them. “Bastian!” I yelled.
He didn’t look back as he grabbed onto a rope ladder and disappeared over the side of his ship, the crew members following his lead.
“Bastian!” I screamed. “Don’t you dare leave me on this ship! Those are my brothers out there! Bastian!”
He was already gone. I reached for my magic, but as hard as I pulled at it, I couldn’t get it to surface. Then I realized what kind of prison they’d trapped me in. Iron. The cage was made of iron.I felt for the pick in my hair before remembering how Bastian had removed it last night and put it on his desk. The pirate lord had truly thought through every detail. Unbelievable.
Of course he wasn’t going to let me onto that island. He’d spent almost a year away from me, getting sicker by the day, just to protect me from the shadow king. The idiot was still trying to protect me.
I groaned and my head thunked against the bars.
Bastian’s intentions might have been pure, but he’d been wrong to trap me like this. I would find a way out of this cage and onto that island. No matter the cost.
Chapter Forty-Five
“Excuse you, get your dirty paws off my shirt!”
I looked up to see a few of the crew members dragging a bound Driscoll and Leoni toward us, both of them with iron cuffs around their wrists.
They sat my friends down, linking their cuffs to chains connected to the floor of the ship before departing and joining the waiting rowboats. There went any hope of either of them rescuing me.
“I don’t really know if Bastian thought this through,” Leoni said and gestured to the cups of water sitting next to her and Driscoll.
I had my own water in my cage.
“What if they’re gone longer than he expects?” she asked. “What if we die on this stupid pirate ship from dehydration?”
I let my head thunk against the back of the cage.
“You two really do deserve each other,” Leoni said.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked.
“He’s just as reckless as you. He acts without thinking.”
“Technically, he was thinking with his heart,” Driscoll said. “It’s kind of romantic in a twisted sort of way.”
“You have to help me get out of here,” I said quietly.
“Why? So you can run off to the island and save your brothers?” Leoni asked. “Go ahead with your plan to try and make Bastian king?” She snorted. “Or you’ll run away again and become some pirate queen?”
I cut a sharp look at her. “Why are you acting like this? I told you everything Bastian said. He’s under the shadow king’s control. He’s not the villain we thought he was.”
“I’m not blaming him. I’m blaming you.” Leoni turned her head, jaw set.
