Page 36 of Tell No Tales
"No, you can't."
"A bit for your thoughts, then?"
Klaus smiled up at the sail above him. "Make it a silver, and I might tell you."
"I won't have any silver until we reach the palace," Vadim said. "I'll have to make it a gold piece."
"A gold piece will get you a lot more than a few thoughts. I might want to act on them, instead."
"Sex." Vadim snorted. "You were thinking about sex."
"Most people think about sex," Klaus countered. "You don't?"
Vadim was quiet for a long time. So quiet, Klaus wondered if he'd fallen asleep.
"Not the way you do," he finally said. "Your thoughts were … educational."
Klaus laughed at that. Only Vadim would consider Klaus's obsession with sex a learning experience. "How so?"
"I don't even have names for all the things you wanted to do with the pleasure workers that first night you woke with our link."
"In Landale? I don't even remember." Klaus laughed. "You could see my thoughts, then?" Klaus had only heard Vadim's voice in his head. He was grateful he hadn't seen Vadim's memory of Martiz with the same clarity. The sounds Vadim made in his sleep broke Klaus's heart.
"I can't unsee it now," Vadim muttered. "I wish I could."
"I really wish I could remember." When Klaus had woken from his fever dream of almost dying, he was already tethered to Vadim, who had taken him to his former employer to find the healer. That must have been the place Vadim was talking about, but Klaus couldn't remember much beyond the blood loss, only the cold dread that morning when Vadim was thinking about what to bring him for breakfast.
"You'll have to show me, and I'll tell you what it's called."
Klaus lay awake, waiting for any sign that Vadim would take him up on his offer. He gave up when he heard snoring instead.
The next morning, the sail was already empty above him. His blanket was securely tucked around his shoulders, holding his arms inside. The suffocating feeling had dragged him from a dream he didn't remember. At least he was warm like this. He slipped one arm above the cover and fell asleep again.
He woke to a shout, sitting up so fast he brushed his forehead along the bottom of the empty sail.
"Land ho, you fools! Turn! Turn!"
Klaus hurried to dress. He scampered on deck just in time to seeWildfireslide to a stop on a reef just below the surface.
Chapter 9
Vadim
Vadim took Hesse's journal and the pen light to the deck at first light. Olivia was content to share the navigation deck with him, as long as he sat behind her with his back to the rail and only spoke to her when spoken to. She was a lot like him in that respect. He hated being distracted from his work.
This morning, he wasn't the one supplying the distraction.
"My sister's first mate is a showoff," Olivia said, pointing to where Wildfire was drifting too close to an island off the starboard side. "Always has been."
Vadim didn't know many of Nola's crew. He knew their healer, Yvette, from the academy. He'd been avoiding her since then. Nola spoke her hatred loud and clear, but Yvette had always been spiteful and devious with hers. Still, they were pirates, and he was grateful Coryn hadn't caught up with them.
"What are they doing now?" Vadim asked.
"Heis going to ground them on one of the reefs if he's not careful."
"Sheneeds a better first mate, then. Why didn't you apply for the job?"
"I would have put my name in to replace him after our last trip. Efren seemed to think I wanted to captain my own ship, but that's never been what I want."
