Page 27 of Tell No Tales
"You don't think you're good enough to be his friend." Vadim's revelation was barely a whisper, but his heart soared to recognize one of his own personality traits in Klaus.
"I was never good enough," Klaus admitted. "Niall has always been something special, and I'm nobody."
"That's not true," Vadim countered. "You're one of the most powerful seekers I've ever met. You can distinguish Hugo from any of the lookalikes Coryn has in the palace, even his relatives with the same element."
Klaus shrugged. "So? What good is being a seeker when the only one paying for our services is an evil bitch?"
"You're working for me."
Klaus shook his head. "I'm helping you out of the kindness of my heart, Vadim. Some could even say I owe you after you saved my life. That won't pay my debts in Landale, and it won't find me a place to stay this winter."
"I paid your debts in Landale before we left." That earned him an incredulous look. "And you can stay with me on Aquarion." Vadim thought it went without saying, but apparently not.
"You're joking, right?" Klaus scoffed. "You live in a one-room shack that will keel over in a stiff wind."
Vadim couldn't argue with that. It was the reason he'd asked Petri to build him something new on his plot of land, though it was closer to Efren's two-story house than he liked. He'd bought the property while they were still together, before Empress Delilah had died, and Vadim's life had ground to a halt.
"We'll have a new place when we return," he said.
"We?"
"Petri is building me a new place," he backtracked. "You're welcome to stay there. I thought you liked Aquarion."
Klaus blinked. "I do. I didn't think that was an option."
"You said it yourself. You're not safe until Coryn's dead and the navy's disbanded. Until then, we pirates will keep you safe."
Klaus's cheeks flushed pink, and he sank to the mattress with a sigh. "Thanks."
"It's settled, then. You work for me, you'll take a cut of my earnings from this trip, and then you can stay on Aquarion until the war is over."
"War?" Klaus frowned. "You think it will come to that?"
"It already has," Vadim said. "We're on the way to liberate our emperor from a military tyrant. If this isn't a declaration of war, I don't know what is."
Klaus nodded. "Fifty. I want fifty percent."
"Done." Vadim would gladly give him more.
Klaus studied him. "I should have asked for more."
"I don't need the money." He hadn't paid for a single meal, service, or item since he'd returned to Aquarion. Petri had taken Efren's coin to pay for everything, including Vadim's new house. "If you need something beyond fifty percent, say the word and I'll buy it for you."
Klaus smirked. "You mean Efren will buy it. I've seen the way things work on the island. You aren't technically a member of this crew for this trip, either. How are you getting any money?"
"We're rescuing Emperor Hugo." Vadim's indignant tone faltered when he laughed. "Gods, Klaus. Trust me for once, will you? Coin won't be a concern once we return to Aquarion."
The difficult part would be returning alive.
∞∞∞
Klaus
Vadim curled up on the sail bed with a blanket and the strange letter and journal he'd brought back from the hold. Klaus had thumbed through the journal and tried to read the letter, but neither of them made any sense to him. They were both written in a form of high formal language meant to obfuscate more than communicate.
There was no room to pace inside the crate, and the hold made Klaus feel even more claustrophobic, thanks to the heavy spices used to dry their meat, so he headed for the deck.
Milton wasn't at his station. It seemed the weather was with them, anyway. The wind whipped at the sails with Niall barely exerting any of his wind element to send the ship on her way.
