All the Stars and Teeth(54)
I turn to Ferrick, whose sharp face is turned from me as he rows. His shoulders are slumped as though an anchor is pulling him to the sea. My smile falters.
“The two of you were about to drown yourselves chasing after a mermaid,” I tell them, sharper and more defensive than I mean to be. “I had to kiss both of you, Ferrick.”
He balls his hands into fists and stuffs them against his sides. “Both of us. Right.”
I’m spared having to say more by the shifting water on my side of the dinghy. I lean over to spot the mermaid, who peers up at me with large, enchanting golden eyes. Crimson blood stains her lips.
“Did it work?” she asks.
I nearly laugh, but the sound catches in my throat. “It worked.”
“Good. Then help me up.” She stretches her hand up, and my body tenses as I try not to stare. Somewhere in the ocean she’s lost her rags. I hand Bastian my oar and make both him and Ferrick turn away before I pull Vataea into the dinghy and offer her my cloak. The scales of her fin shed away and separate into two bare, scarred legs.
“That,” she says, “is the most fun I’ve had in years.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
I’ve never been happier to see Keel Haul. I drag myself aboard and collapse onto the deck. I’m a suffocating fish, wet and quivering as I struggle to regain my breath. Every muscle in my body aches or throbs. My ankle is red and swollen while my biceps and hands burn. I’d ignored the searing pain in my arms to help row the dinghy, but now that I’m safe and aboard, I feel everything.
Ferrick is quick to crouch beside me, warm hands wrapping tight around my ankle. I brace myself as the injury flares, just for a second, then fades, leaving my skin warm and tingling.
“Thank you,” I tell him, but he turns away without looking me in the eye.
Though Bastian staggers as he walks, he hurries to draw up Keel Haul’s anchor and get the ship moving. “While I’m glad we’re alive, I’m pretty sure that could have gone a lot smoother.” He peels off his coat, grimacing at the splattered blood it’s painted with. Some of it’s his own, though Ferrick makes no move to heal him. His voice is still a bit thick, but ultimately Bastian appears to be stabilizing.
I clamp my jaw and turn to look at the mermaid, still wrapped tightly in my cape. Her eyes dance with delight as they dart around the ship. She reaches toward a ledge and smiles at the wood beneath her fingertips.
Bastian follows my gaze, and his expression darkens into one I can’t decipher. He clears his throat and the mermaid turns to him. Her smile is unwavering.
“Welcome aboard Keel Haul,” he says. “Would you mind sharing a bit about yourself? Age? Where you’re from? Why you didn’t change the tides so we could get away from Kerost without having to kill a man?”
“Back off,” I growl, dragging myself to sit up. “There’s a difference between murdering for fun and protecting yourself or others, and you don’t get to talk to her like that. The only reason we got off that beach alive is because of her.”
Bastian’s lips press together in a grimace. It’s clear he’s still angry as he pushes up his sleeves and jerks the sails free from their binds, letting the wind bloat them. In his gut, however, I hope he knows he’s wrong. I don’t want to be thought of as a soulless killer, and I doubt Vataea does either, despite her words when she got out of the water. The mermaid wraps my cape around herself tightly, not shrinking back as she stares at Bastian.
“Mermaids are supposed to have an arsenal of songs,” Bastian argues. “She could have made the ocean protect us, or altered the tides to move us quicker. Or, I don’t know, summoned a giant whale to knock everyone away! The point is that we could have been long gone by now.”
“Perhaps you should have used your magic,” I snort. “Oh, wait, you don’t have any.”
Vataea breaks her glare only when Ferrick walks out of the cabin and offers her a small armful of clothing. He’s been so quiet I hadn’t noticed he left.
Vataea takes the pile with a grateful nod and shimmies into a pair of oversize pants beneath the cape. I make a mental note to gather some of my clothes for her, too. She’s taller and slimmer than I am, but they’ll fit better.
“The sea is a fickle beast,” Vataea announces as she buttons the pants. “Anyone can enchant a man who does not think with his head. Calling upon the sea, however, is a skill that few can master. Besides, I was hungry.”
I nearly snort again, but now isn’t the time. Bastian slams his fist against the edge of Keel Haul and the ship groans in protest. Only then does he look partially apologetic.
“Great,” he growls. “We came all this way for a mermaid, just to get one that’s defective. We don’t have the time for this.”
Vataea’s eyes narrow to dangerous slits, but she’s not the one who acts first. It’s Ferrick who steps forward, thrusting an open palm into Bastian’s shoulder. The pirate blinks down at where Ferrick hit him. It takes a moment longer for his anger to set in with a sneer.
“What’s your problem?”
“What’s your problem?” Ferrick snarls. “Last I checked, you can’t do anything on your own. You’re a useless pirate who has to borrow magic because, somehow, you were stupid enough to lose your own.”