Page 23 of Tell No Tales
Stan led him in the opposite direction from where he would have gone. "You really don't remember, do you?" he said under his breath.
"I think there's a damn good reason," Vadim answered. "I'm almost afraid to involve you."
"You said that when you brought it to me." Stan turned to him, shoulders slumped once more. "You asked me to find a new hiding place. I almost opened it and burned the contents when you betrayed us."
Vadim deserved that. "I probably would have thanked you. Whatever we're about to find is dangerous, Stan. So dangerous I wiped my memory of it."
Stan nodded. "You did it to keep Hugo safe."
Gods, what hadn't Vadim done in the last five years to keep Hugo safe? He'd abandoned his family, his friends, his crew, and his only home, all for Hugo.
"It's over there." Stan pointed in the direction of the far starboard-aft corner of the room. Stan stumbled off into the darkness, but he quickly returned with a pry bar. "It's not as easy to get into as the last one. That's another reason I didn't open it and burn the contents."
Stan pried a board from the side of the ship. This was nothing like what Vadim remembered or expected. "How are we not taking on water?"
"This is where the navigation wheel connects to the rudder. It's dry so I can keep it repaired. This part of the ship takes a lot of wear and tear." Stan reached into the compartment and pulled out a square package wrapped in pitch paper and lined with string. "Here's your letter, and the book that came with it."
"Book?" Vadim removed the string and unwrapped the paper, ignoring the dull black marks on his gloves. He found a journal much like the one he'd kept at the time, except the front cover had a thick red wax seal pressed into the leather. The seal of Emperor Hesse.
He remembered receiving the letter, the book, and a hastily scribbled note, also in Empress Delilah's hand.
"This notebook contains the answers we need. I will see you soon."
Instead, she was dead by the time he got it. At the same tavern, he'd also received a letter from Coryn. She'd called him to the palace for new orders. He'd wiped the memory to give him more time to investigate Delilah's claim that Hesse was murdered. Unfortunately, the next time he returned toStarlight Specterhad been after he'd killed Willamina and her crew, when Coryn was following behind them on her aptly namedDeath's Vengeance.
Now, he was five years behind.
"Well, fuck."
∞∞∞
Klaus
Klaus woke to Vadim's voice in the hallway. He didn't remember falling asleep, but he'd had the best dream. Vadim had been on top of him, holding him down, kissing him and rutting against him.
Gods, would he ever stop dreaming of the death weaver's cock? Now that he'd had two orgasms to Vadim's one, the death weaver was supposed to be vanquished from his thoughts.
That had not been Klaus's experience, not at all.
Waking to an empty crate wasn't as alarming as it had been earlier, either, not with Vadim's raspy baritone filling the small space in the hold.
"We can't tell the others." Vadim's voice was nothing more than a harsh whisper as he inched the crate door open. "Not until we have Hugo safely on board."
"Tell us what?" Klaus asked.
Vadim visibly startled, and Stan laughed.
"If you can tell your boyfriend, I can tell mine." Stan's sing-song sounded a lot like cat calls outside the pleasure houses.
Vadim glared over his shoulder. "Pretty sure neither of us have boyfriends at the moment."
Stan stuck his head in the crate's door and waved. "I wouldn't be so sure of that." Stan slapped his hand on Vadim's shoulder so hard he winced, and then the big man was gone.
Vadim closed the door behind him and sank to his knees on the mattress. "I didn't expect you to be awake."
Klaus shrugged. "I don't need to sleep as much now."
"That's good." Vadim's smirk wasn't as deprecating as usual. "How are you feeling?"
