Page 33 of Tell No Tales
"Tell me about it," Klaus said. "Did you and the good captain have sex right here?"
"The foredeck," Vadim said. "Can't navigate from here."
"How did you do it?"
Vadim shook his head. "We're not talking about this. Not now, not ever."
"Why not?" Klaus stepped closer, so that his body was pressed firmly against Vadim's from shoulder to knee. "Is it because you want me instead? Tell me what you'd do to me, Vadim."
"All I want is to keep you safe."
That had been his reason for building a bunk in his cabin onImperial Fool. That had been why he'd assembled the rabble of wind weavers, knowing what assholes they were to seekers and mundane folks alike. That had been why he'd tethered Klaus to him with a life link after that air weaver had almost ended him, knowing the link could kill them both if something awful happened.
"I can take care of myself." Klaus snorted and turned on his heel. His boots clacked against the wood deck and all the way down the stairs into the hold.
The boat's wake churned the water well into the sun's reflection, marring the pristine image. Vadim crossed the aft deck and leaned against the railing facing the main deck, instead. Hannah was high up in the crow's nest, their hair whipping in the wind. Stan and Tovey shared a sail below, and Niall and Milton shared the other. They all seemed comfortable sharing their power, while Vadim had hated it.
Most often, his partner had been Coryn, which wasn't sharing at all. She was a siphon, a thief. She demanded his power whenever they'd scuffled with their own sailors. He wondered what she would do without him. Would she find another death weaver, or would she try to use Vadim's powers against his will, same as Martiz?
He forced Coryn from his thoughts, along with speculation on what might happen when they faced each other again. It would happen soon enough.
"Ship ho!" Hannah called. They turned toward the aft and waved at Vadim. "Get Olivia."
Vadim could think of only one reason their first mate would be needed on deck before her time. They were about to be boarded.
Vadim almost collided with Klaus in the hallway outside their crate.
"What's going on?" Klaus asked. "There are more weavers nearby, and I heard shouting."
"Lock yourself in," Vadim ordered, not caring that he wasn't the ship's captain and Klaus wasn't under his command. "Don't come out until I come get you. Do you understand?"
"Why?" Klaus frowned at him.
"I don't think the approaching ship is friendly to seekers." Or death weavers if he were honest.
He shoved Klaus into the crate and shut the door. Then, he rushed on through the hold to the galley. Tim was still cleaning up after dinner.
"We've got company."
Tim nodded. "I know what to do." He scurried to cover the hole into the true hold with a large barrel of flour.
Vadim continued through the next door, into the hold where most of their cargo was stored for the trip. The food smells didn't do much to counter the awful stench from the head. Why Olivia wanted a cabin so close to the ship's head was beyond him. The place always stank of urine and decay.
He knocked on her door. "Olivia, Hannah's spotted a ship."
"Here?" Olivia's muffled voice was still sharp enough to make Vadim cringe. "I'll be right there."
He climbed the ladder outside her door and flipped the hatch open, grateful no one was standing on it. From the main deck, he could see the shadow of a ship racing toward them in the dim light. Her wake was twice as long as she was. He recognized the name across the prow.Wildfire. At one time, he would have been grateful it wasn't an enemy ship. Now, he wasn't so sure.
"What the fuck is Nola doing here?" he asked.
"Hard telling," Olivia said as she came up beside him. "I bet she's here for Martiz." She smirked. "Or you."
Vadim had stayed as far as possible from Nola throughout his travels. She'd never liked him much, even when they were children. She still wasn't as bad as the mundane children, but she had been the loudest of the weavers to disagree with his very existence.
The wind weavers had stopped feeding the sails, but they were still speeding into the dark sea ahead. "We're not slowing," he said.
"If she wants to talk, she'll need to keep up," Olivia said.
