Page 28 of Take No Prisoners
"You can stay here and sleep."
"Not a chance." Niall stifled a yawn before he continued. "I'm coming with you. I'll keep your hours and keep you company while you sail."
Efren kissed the top of his head. "I would like that very much."
Once again, Niall had expected an argument, and he was relieved to broker none. Efren's simple acceptance filled him with energy for the evening ahead.
Chapter 7
Efren
Efren was still tired after the excitement from earlier in the day, but he felt far more relaxed, thanks to Niall. Niall's presence on deck after dark calmed him, much like his water magic did. Efren had needed the distraction with Vadim on board, and Niall had been so much more than a distraction. Efren couldn't take his eyes off the young man as he worked with Hannah on deck.
"You look rested."
Efren startled at the sound. Vadim must have been in the head below deck to sneak up behind him like that.
"Thank you." Efren couldn't say the same. "Rough day?"
"Klaus talks in his sleep."
"You could have taken a sail bed during the day."
"Klaus is death-touched," Vadim said. "There's nowhere on the ship I wouldn't hear his thoughts while I'm trying to quiet my mind to sleep."
Efren had heard of the bond between death weavers and those near death. Efren had mistaken Klaus's illness for exhaustion. Perhaps the young man suffered from something internal that would drag life from him. Niall said they'd grown up together in the orphanage. That made Klaus far too young to die, in Efren's opinion.
Vadim's gaze dropped to Efren's neck, and he smirked. Perhaps Niall had marked him. It didn't matter, either way. Vadim was nothing but an inconvenience now.
"His marks look good on you." Vadim tapped him on the shoulder as he passed him on the way to the stairs.
"It's nothing." Efren didn't know why he felt the need to dismiss their actions, especially to Vadim. Being with Niall had been special. Sweet. Efren didn't want to cheapen the experience by giving it a name, nor did it deserve to be called "nothing." He also didn't want to discuss it with Vadim.
"Do you have someone?" he asked, hoping to turn the tide on his former lover.
Vadim halted at the top of the stairs, his gloved hand tracing the top of the railing. "Not in the way you mean, no. I have my sights on someone. Until today, I was certain he would have preferred to die by my hand than let me touch him. Now, I'm not so sure."
"Someone on the ship, then?"
Vadim turned and grinned at him. "Not your loverboy."
Efren halted the denial on his lips. Niall didn't belong to him, and they weren't exactly lovers unless Niall wanted more, but Efren couldn't deny he liked the man.
"I could navigate for you tonight," Vadim continued. "Let you get back to railing him."
"We'd end up halfway to Coryn by morning. I'll stay where I am, thanks."
"I have no desire to return to the general until I can pry Hugo from her dead fingers."
Efren wanted to believe Vadim, he did, but the ache of betrayal still rankled in his heart. "Is the emperor in immediate danger?"
Vadim hopped back to the top of the stairs and leaned against the railing. "I wish I knew. Coryn's become even more paranoid over this last year. I took action when she demanded all weavers either join the military or be conscripted. She never gave Niall's parents that choice."
Efren shivered in the balmy breeze. If Coryn was no longer hanging pirates, she had something larger in mind.
"Do you know what she's planning?"
Vadim shrugged. "I have an idea, but I want to know what the elders think before I spread any rumors." A bolt of lightning sizzled out of the clear night sky above the deck railing, and Vadim yelped.
