Page 52 of Take No Prisoners
"What?" Niall asked. He leaned in when they motioned for him to come closer.
"Keep him in your sights until he's alone, and then slit his throat." Petri drew their thumb across their throat.
Niall choked on a surprised laugh. "I'd forgotten the pirate code."
"Aye, you're an island boy?"
"He's Willamina's," Efren said, "and the pirate code doesn't apply when we're at home."
"Willamina's, eh?" Petri's eyes sparkled as they grinned. "Heard he was yours now. You content with the master bed, or want me to make up the guest room?"
Niall opened his mouth, but Efren cut him off. He was the one with more experience in matters of the heart, after all. "Make up the guest room. It's closer to the library, and Niall will have plenty of assigned reading, if I know his grandmother."
Niall studied Efren and then smiled brighter than the morning sunlight. "Thank you."
Petri bowed their head with a sage nod and handed them each a bread bowl filled with thick chicken gravy. "You're welcome back for seconds, as well," Petri said. "Magical exhaustion can hit without warning. Remember when Vadim put himself in a coma for three days?"
Efren remembered when the death weaver put himself in a coma for three weeks. Then, they'd been on open waters, wrapped in a storm of Hannah's making to keep the navy at bay.
"Vadim has never taken care of himself," Efren admitted. He wondered if that would change, now that he was responsible for Klaus's wellbeing, as well. "I'll take another bowl to go, Petri."
Petri shook their head. "Two more. I've seen Vadim's pet. He needs food, too."
"That's very kind of you," Efren said.
"Not a kindness, my dear," Petri reminded him. "As your housekeeper, I have access to your coin."
Efren shook his head and stuffed the first spoonful of chicken gravy in his mouth to stifle a laugh. He could take the thief from Hearthstone, but he couldn't break the thief's desire for coin.
He'd caught Petri trying to break into his room at one of the inns in Hearthstone when they were a child no bigger than Jasmine. He'd put them to work onStarlight Specterfor the return trip, killing rats and helping Codger Tim with meals. They liked cooking so much, they continued to study with Elder Beatrice and the other cooks on the island after putting in long hours to learn their air element. Efren had hoped to make them another of his wind crew, but they didn't like sailing, and cringed at the sight of sharks. Luckily for them, they made a good living on the island by feeding everyone and repairing their homes when needed.
Cooking hadn't surpassed their avarice, though. Efren couldn't complain about Petri's proactive attention to his home, and he probably saved money over the folks who had to rebuild after every storm, but Petri's services weren't cheap.
As Efren and Niall found a bench under a coconut tree to enjoy their breakfasts, Efren remembered Petri's drunken offer on a night seven or eight months ago.
"You could always add sex to the list of services you want from me."
Efren couldn't see past the child he'd rescued to the adult Petri had become. The thought had sobered him after too much rum shared over a game of cards.
He wondered now, as he had then, if Petri had developed feelings for him over the years. He reached the same conclusion after seeing the easy way Petri smiled at Niall and accepted him as Efren's. As they had with thieving, Petri saw sex only as a business transaction. With stealing outlawed on the island, Petri wanted as many other income streams as they could get. They had a decent body, Efren had to admit.
"I'd be interested, if I weren't still tied up in that monster,"Efren had drunkenly slurred.
For their part, Petri had taken his rejection by withdrawing an extra coin for their company, almost the same amount they would charge for sex, and Efren hadn't minded in the least. He had money. What he didn't have was casual sex.
With Niall, Efren was already doomed. As they ate, he imagined ways they could enjoy each other's company when they returned home for the evening. He would give Niall a tour of the island before sunset, and then they could sit on the balcony in Efren's deck swing and watch the stars rise over the water.
Efren wasn't a romantic person, really, he wasn't. But Niall had given so easily, his body, his joy, even his first times, and Efren felt like the thief who needed to pay it back in starlight and grand gestures.
Their bench wasn't far from the training grounds. As Niall continued to slurp at his bread bowl with the most suggestive noises Efren had ever heard outside the bedroom, he saw Elder Beatrice approaching from the west. He met her at the training grounds.
"What are your plans for today?" she asked.
"Stan and I need to update the island's main maps and distribute the rest of the coffers with the crew. Then, we're all yours."
She nodded. "I'll come find you when I finish the morning session. Martiz is taking the afternoons with Niall and Vadim. I think it's best to leave Vadim home for our trip to Equis. Do you think his seeker would sail without him?"
"Without Vadim?" Efren shrugged. "He has a healthy fear of Vadim, from what I can tell. He seemed happy to help us look for stragglers. I think he'd be amenable again."
