Page 46 of Tell No Tales
Hannah shrugged. "Intuition? I didn't see them, and I can't feel them the way you can, but … it's like I can feel a storm coming. Do they have a water weaver on board?"
"They have a water weaver with some lightning," he said.
Hannah grinned. "My intuition paid off, then. I'm better than a seeker, for once. A grand seeker, even." They stuck their tongue out at him and slapped his knee.
"You'd put me out of a job with the empire." Klaus grinned. "Thank the gods. I never wanted to work for Coryn, anyway."
"You're not alone," Hannah said. "Besides her loyalists, I don't think many people want to work for Coryn, but they do like to keep breathing."
Hannah and Klaus had each sat to the side of the ladder facing the mast and each other. A dark shape popped up from the fog between them. The apparition materialized into Vadim.
He didn't slow until he was seated on the platform beside Klaus. There was just enough room for the three of them when Hannah scooted over.
"I thought you said he hates it up here," Klaus said.
"He does," Hannah and Vadim said at the same time. Hannah rolled their eyes at him, but Vadim looked unconcerned.
"How long will we have the cover of fog?" Vadim asked.
"Until nightfall." Hannah pointed at the light gray spot dipping closer to the horizon in the west. "We've got a couple of hours before we can whip up a storm and leave this area."
"I'd like to give Klaus a tour ofWildfireafter I speak with Yvette, if you'll come with me."
Hannah almost clapped their hands together but thought better of it at the last second. "Oh!" They dropped their voice to an excited whisper. "They have kittens, and we need a deck cat! Please? You'll bring me one, won't you?"
Vadim frowned at them. "Come get your own cat."
They grabbed his knee and gave it a squeeze. "Yes! Thank you! I've been waiting for this day for so long! Nola never invites me."
"You don't need to wait to be invited," Vadim said. "If anyone questions why you're there, remind them that all of Aquarion own that ship."
"We do!" Hannah was still trying to keep their voice down, but more excitement seeped through with each word. "Let's go!"
They had to wait for Vadim to find the ladder in the fog. Klaus didn't make them wait any longer, sending them racing after him.
On his way down, Klaus almost lost his grip on a rung slick with condensation. He was close enough to the bottom that Vadim caught him by the waist and lifted him to the deck. His hands around Klaus's middle had no right to feel that good.
Too soon, Vadim was gone, vanished into the fog. Klaus followed the strange swirl of mist through which he caught occasional dark shadows until he found Vadim and Hannah standing at the railing next to Stan. With a grunt, Stan hefted the gangplank into the air and set it down with a muffled thud. From their vantage point onStarlight Specter, it looked like it vanished into a wall of fog.
Hannah hopped onto it and waved them to follow. "Come on!"
Vadim took Klaus's hand and helped him onto the gangplank, but then he released him and turned back toward the aft. "I'll catch up."
Hannah grabbed Klaus's arm and led him to the ship hiding in the fog bank. They jumped down, landing on the deck ofWildfire, the dark wood glistening with condensation beneath their feet.
"Welcome aboard," Nola said. "What are you doing here?"
"We're residents of Aquarion." Hannah's voice was still a whisper so it wouldn't carry over the open water.
Nola grinned and slapped their arm. "One of us." She glanced at the gangplank. "I never said I'd let him aboard, though."
"I need to speak to Yvette about Martiz and some of these journal entries."
Nola caught the red symbol on the journal's cover, and she grimaced. "I wondered when we would see that again."
"Emperor Hesse gave it to Yvette, then? Not to me?"
"He didn't do shit," Nola said. "Fucker died in Yvette's uncle's care, and then Coryn blamed him. Yvette has waited a long time to share the full story with you. She thought you would come to her after Empress Delilah died. She's pissed you didn't, to be honest."
