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“No. But after the attack from the navy ship, I feel things are a wee precarious at the moment. If you want to trade your prisoners for money from the king, I am all for that, but to detour to these blasted islands, no,” he gives his head a stern shake, “I feel it’s becoming too complicated. We need to stick to one task at a time.”

“The navy attack was nothing,” Cruz says. “Lothar did all the carpentry and repairs in a day.Nightwindwas never in any danger, you know that.”

“But our food supply sustained damaged during those hits.”

“That’s why mermaid blood is the answer.”

“Mermaid blood is only the answer because you want your revenge, not because you want us all to survive.”

I glare at him. “You know I would do anything for this crew. My revenge is everyone’s revenge. You were Hilla’s uncle.”

He glances away, only a hint of shame on his face. “It’s not just about Hilla. It’s the book. You need to let it go, Ramsay. You’re holding onto the past too much. Venla, she—”

“I have made my peace about my wife,” I sneer at him, taking a menacing step toward him. “I have let go of the past. But that book has magic, magic that we need if we wish to survive in this world. You said so yourself, how long can we keep doing this? How long can we go on? We need this to survive. All of us. Now if we get the mermaid, we get the blood, then we can destroy that sea bitch once and for all and get all the magic that Venla created for us. And at the very end, if we end up fetching a high price for the prisoners, then that’s just the icing on the cake.”

He raises his chin, peering down at me with amber eyes. “I don’t think you understand,brother,” he says. “It’s the prisoners that are proving to be the complication. So far the prince has rendered Drakos incapable, and the princess, well you’re spending time with her that you shouldn’t be. I just hope I’m wrong about all of it.” He punctuates that with a scowl.

“Look at you, with a face only a mother could love,” Cruz says jovially to him, always there to defuse the tension between us. He pats Thane on the chest. “Now that you’re done telling off the captain, perhaps we can turn our attention to the plan of attack so that there aren’t complications.”

Cruz pulls out a rolled-up chart from his back pocket and unfurls it out flat for us to read. “Now, we’ve been to Los Pintados before,” he says, slipping into his role of navigator with ease. He points to the crudely drawn chart with his canteen. “They will most likely anchor in the bay here where they are protected. If we come up on the other side of the island, where the ruins of the Reef City meet the sea, we’ll have the cover of the island. We can go across land.”

I’m nodding. “And then slip into the water on the other side, swim to the ship, crawl up the sides and the anchor. Get the captain and dispose of him.”

“They’ll be on the lookout for anyone approaching by sea, not by land,” Cruz adds.

“But what about the sea witch, Nerissa?” Thane asks. “If she’s not below the water then she lives near those ruins, does she not? She won’t let us pass.”

“Why not? She doesn’t have any business with us and we don’t have any business with her.”

“But we’re stealing a mermaid from her cursed crew,” Thane points out.

“Yes, but that mermaid gives her cursed crew magic. Believe me, she would want the mermaid gone.”

“In fact, the mermaid might already be gone,” Cruz says quietly. “If Nerissa finds it on board before we get there…”

“All the more reason why we need to do this as quickly as possible,” I tell them. “Quartermaster, inform the crew of the plans. We’ll need at least five others to come with me to secure the ship. The rest will bring theNightwindaround so we can bring the mermaid aboard.”

“You’re making this sound too easy,” Thane grumbles.

“That’s my job, isn’t it?” I snipe. “I make it sound easy, you make it sound impossible.”

He runs his hand over his jaw, the stubble scratching audibly. “Fine. I’ll tell the crew and get the teams together.”

He walks off toward the rest of the ship.

“Going to get the mermaid are we?” Crazy Eyes says to us from the helm.

I turn and go to him. “Aye. We’ll need you to bring the ship around the moment you drop us off at our starting point.”

Cruz comes over with the map, showing the bosun the plan.

“What are we planning to do with the mermaid?” he asks with a waggle of his bushy brows after he glances at the chart. “Will ye let us all have her or will she belong to ye like the princess does?”

“She will be evenly distributed amongst the crew,” I assure him.

“I can’t wait,” he says excitedly. “I’ve heard they have the tightest holes imaginable.”

I give him a look of disdain. “Bosun. You know that’s not what she’s for.”