Page 5 of Take No Prisoners
"If the seeker found him, that makes him a weaver, too, most likely."
She nodded. "Vadim said as much. The apprentice denied it, and I believe him. I don't think he's been formally trained, not even in earth weaving, which would have made the most sense for pottery. I sensed something else, too, but it could be Vadim. His power has grown since he last sailed with us."
Olivia was the only crew member who could get close to Vadim without his ever-present seeker knowing.
"You were close enough to hear them. Could you see them?"
"I hid in a packing crate. I saw the young man with the seeker. The moment I heard Vadim's voice, I closed the crate. Good thing, too. He tapped the side of it as he walked by. You know how he's constantly touching things."
Efren bowed his head and remembered a time when Vadim had needed to touch him to know he was real. "It's the damn gloves he wears all the time." They locked his power inside with a magical weave. The emperor's own glover had made them for him after his first naval battle had driven him nearly crazy. The gloves deadened his sense of physical touch, though. Even with the promise that Vadim wouldn't hurt him, letting the death weaver touch Efren's bare skin had been a test of loyalty and trust, one Vadim hadn't returned.
"It was him. I'm sure of it. I'd know his voice anywhere."
Efren met her gaze and wondered what he'd done to make her think he doubted her. "I agree."
"His ship's bigger than any other in the emperor's navy. Goes by the nameImperial Fool. The ship is as ridiculous as he is."
"Where are they headed?"
"Hearthstone, of course."
"Raise anchor!" he shouted.
"Aye, Captain." Stan was nearest the anchor. Instead of using his earth weaves, he threw his whole body against the crank to get it moving and pulled the anchor aboard.
"Set sail for Hearthstone. A ship that large should be slow. We'll get a head start and wait for her at the Quadrilles."
"A good plan, Captain." Olivia's smirk returned. "We could have left sooner if you'd raised anchor the moment I asked if you were ready."
He glared at her, hoping he looked angrier than he felt. He was losing his touch. "Next time, you could give me a report of what everyone else learned before asking me about some old fool losing his life's savings on craps."
She shook her head. "Where's the fun in that?"
He grunted in response. She wasn't Vadim, that much was true, but she could hold her own with the crew while keeping Efren on his toes. She'd gotten him thinking and talking about Vadim, too, something that usually sent him off to his quarters to grieve quietly without another word. Perhaps the tides were changing on his grief. Perhaps it was time to move on.
∞∞∞
Niall
Niall woke with a pounding headache and stinging in his wrists. First, the left throbbed as he was shoved against it. Then, the right ached as he was tossed in the opposite direction.
"I'm awake, Master Othelio. I'll have the shop open in a moment. Just let me sleep a little longer."
"You'll open nothing but your eyes and shut your mouth."
There was that voice again, the one he recognized from his parents' false trial and conviction. The one who gave the order to drop the platform out beneath his parents' feet, leaving them to dangle and die.
"Good. You hate me. Remember that. You're going to need your hatred, where we're going."
"Fuck, if that bastard Efren doesn't intercept this ship, I'll have to think of another plan."
"Who's Efren?"
"Fuck! How can you hear my thoughts?"
"I don't know! How can I hear your thoughts?" Niall had never heard another's voice in his head, not even the last time they'd met.
"Stop answering me, fool! You'll get us both killed! We are on a fucking naval vessel!"
