Page 26 of Extraordinary Quests for Amateur Witches

Kieran kept a stiff upper lip—whimpering only a tiny bit—as Delilah finished applying the salve and bandaged the wound.

Sebastian, meanwhile, looked terrible. His hair was matted with dried blood, and while he’d been able to wipe most of it off his face, dried copper-red stains remained around his mouth. He kept his face down, not making eye contact with anyone.

Kieran frowned. Seeing him so disheveled was like a kick in the stomach.

“So,” Ariel started. They spoke through a yawn, adding, “What happened? Why is this kid covered in blood? Better yet, why is there blood all over the top deck?”

“All over?” Santiago repeated, the color draining from his face.

“Didn’t have time to clean it up after I threw the dead mercenaries overboard,” Briar said casually as she took a seat across the table from Kieran.

When all heads snapped to her, jaws agape, she held up her hands.

“What? We passed a lake back there, so they landed in water. That way I didn’t accidentally kill anyone out for a late-night walk by dropping a corpse on them from the sky. ”

While Sebastian nodded as if he completely understood, everyone else still just stared.

Briar sighed. “Would you rather I had left them there for a sky burial?”

Delilah waved her hand. “I suppose what’s done is done. Kieran, you’re the only one who saw everything. What happened?”

Kieran chewed his lower lip. He wished he’d had a chance to speak to Sebastian alone before this.

He sensed that he knew him better than everyone else on the ship, and it might have been a bit easier to understand what had happened without an entire jury sitting around to judge.

In a strange way, Kieran wanted to protect him, even though Sebastian had been the one ripping someone’s throat out in front of him.

With a sigh, Kieran took them through the evening—how he’d gotten up to get tea, found the dead gull on the deck, and then been ambushed by mercenaries.

“Sebastian saved me,” Kieran added, making sure to emphasize the statement. “If he hadn’t thrown a knife in that mercenary’s neck, I’m not sure my head would still be attached to my shoulders.”

“Sure, but he also looked ready to drain you dry,” Briar pointed out, making Sebastian flinch. When he did, Briar cocked an eyebrow at him. “You know, it would have been nice to know about your diet before we decided to share close quarters.”

A muscle in Sebastian’s jaw twitched. “Generally speaking, creatures who subsist on blood aren’t thought of as trustworthy or likable. I wanted the job, but if Kieran thought I was liable to eat you, I doubt he would have offered it to me. I…thought I could keep it a secret.”

“Subsist on blood?” Santiago repeated. He seemed as if he was going to laugh, the concept was so absurd. “What, are you some kind of vampire?”

“No,” Sebastian said. He paused. “Well. Maybe, in a sense.”

Kieran’s eyebrows shot up. He’d read books about vampires before—but those were just stories.

Anything supernatural like that in the real world had some kind of magical root, like a curse.

It wasn’t as if there were storybook immortal, undead vampires running around draining virgins in the dead of night. Right?

He felt his face drain of color. Does Sebastian know I’ve never slept with anyone? Is that why he’s been so keen to get to know me? To lure me in and drink my delicious virgin blood?

“It’s a curse, isn’t it?” Delilah asked softly.

Sebastian nodded, voice quiet. “Yes. I…hope you won’t think less of me for it.”

Everyone at the table exchanged a look. It occurred to Kieran that Sebastian didn’t know everyone’s history. He probably assumed they thought of curses as an unspeakable taboo, as most people in Celdwyn did.

Kieran didn’t particularly enjoy thinking of his own former curse—not only because of the social taboo but because if he dwelled in the memories too long, he’d start to remember the feeling of his body wasting away day by day.

And that didn’t even take into account how it had turned Briar into a literal monster every few nights.

If anyone could understand an ounce of what Sebastian was going through, it was them.

“Curses are familiar territory for us,” Delilah said simply. She gestured to everyone at the table. “Other than Ariel and Santiago, we’ve all had one. We…get it.”

Sebastian’s eyes immediately went to Kieran, who whispered, “I’ll tell you later.”

“What exactly is your curse?” Briar asked, barreling across the unspoken social boundary with her usual grace and delicacy. “You drink blood and have extra eyes sometimes?”

Sebastian’s only reaction was to pause and stare, as if he’d never heard it put so plainly.

“Simply put, yes. I still feel regular hunger and thirst, but food and water are never enough. If I don’t consume blood, I can’t control whether I turn into what you saw on the top deck.

Generally, animal blood is enough. I’ve been catching birds on the top deck the last few nights—like that gull you found before the attack—and that’s been fine.

But when that mercenary cut your neck, Kieran, I…

lost control. I’m so sorry you had to see that. ”

Briar scoffed loudly, and Delilah immediately shot her a burning look. Briar whispered, “Come on, I’ve seen worse in the mirror.”

Delilah just sighed.

“Oh.” Kieran blinked. “That’s…good that animals’ blood works. Better than people’s.”

“So we have another curse to deal with—that’s all fine and good,” Ariel said, yawning loudly behind their hand.

They shook their head, as if trying to get the sleepy fog out of their brain.

“But it’s also the middle the night, and I’m exhausted.

I can change our route again before bed to try to shake off any more potential attackers, but how do I know I’m not going to get drained in my sleep? ”

“Ariel, come on—” Kieran started.

“No, they’re right. I understand.” Sebastian sighed. “If it makes you all feel better, you’re welcome to lock me in my bedroom until you decide what to do. I should be fine for a few days after draining that man. Plus, the doors are hickory—even in my other form, I can’t break them down.”

“You know what kind of wood the doors are made of?” Briar repeated, wrinkling her nose.

Kieran nearly snorted. “Oh, he knows a lot about wood, trust me.”

Everyone at the table stared at him in horror.

“I—I mean literally! He whittles! Goodness, get your minds out of the gutter. Anyway, locking him up feels wrong—”

Despite the situation, Sebastian managed a small laugh at that. “It’s okay, Kieran. Really.”

“We could always vote,” Briar offered. “Everyone in favor of locking Sebastian in his room until we figure out what to do next?”

Everyone at the table other than Kieran and Sebastian raised their hands.

Kieran crossed his arms. “Fine. But let the record show, I think this is overkill.”

“I guess we can decide that if we get to the Mirrorveil Woods in one piece,” Ariel said. “Now, I need to go to the control room and change our path. The rest of you should get to bed.”

With that, everyone nodded, and Kieran worried at his lower lip with his teeth. It was wrong to imprison Sebastian, wasn’t it? He’d made it this far without hurting any of them—why would he now?

As if reading his mind, Sebastian shot Kieran a soft look. “Really, it’s okay, Kieran. I’ll be fine.”

Kieran pursed his lips, frowning. But after a moment, he realized he had no other choice but to agree.

Even if he hated it.