Page 129 of Liar Witch

Cirio knows the bare basics of our bargain. Enough to take pity on us by sending one of his own ships with a fae crew member to deal on our behalf.

It’s been too long since I visited his Cove. The seat of the self-styled pirate king is a haven for anyone who makes their living plundering others, especially me. Cirio and his favourites always do their best to make me feel like I’m part of the place, even though I can never actually set a single foot in it. They’ve gotten pretty good at bringing the party to me over the decades.

I grin. Maybe a night at Cirio’s is just what I need to purge the strangeness of the last few days.

While they were gone, I fuckingnapped. I haven’t managed to sleep without effort in recent memory, and I just dozed off at my desk like nothing was wrong. I even woke up feeling rested rather than drenched in my own sweat.

That alone is enough to set my teeth on edge.

With any luck, Cas will be back by the time we get to the Cove. He hasn’t reappeared since the others left, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little bit concerned by this point.

“How far is it to the Cove?” Nilsa asks, and it takes me a second to realise she’s asking me.

In fact, we’re the only two left on deck. Where did everyone go?

“With a good wind… four days,” I reply, keeping my tone level.

She nods, thoughtfully. “What’s the court of a pirate king like?”

I snort and lean over the wheel as I consider the answer to her question. “Chaos. It’s one of those things which has to be experienced.”

“And Cirio is a mage?”

I shake my head. “Shark shifter. He’s been known to make those who fuck with him walk the plank so he can eat them in his shifted form.” The memory makes me grin. “Why are you asking me this?”

I’m not certain, but this might be the first civil conversation we’ve had since she’s come aboard and it’sstrangenot to be yelling at her.

“It seems like you know him the best.” She shrugs. “Rysen said you were old friends.”

I roll my eyes. “There are no friends among pirates, Witch.”

No, the history between him and me is far too deep to be called friendship. Cirio was the one who showed me how to survive after my aunt—I cut off the memory savagely. The sail snaps wildly against an invisible wind, theDeadwoodmanifesting my agitation.

“He’s a bloody good captain,” I finish, lamely. “If there has been a mutiny, he’s probably eaten whoever was responsible by now. But I don’t think many would dare.”

We lapse into an awkward silence, both of us unsure of what to say without breaking this strange truce we never meant to create. No matter what I just said, the word mutiny has made my blood chill slightly. Cirio isn’t the type to be caught off-guard by something like that. His seconds are loyal.

What if he got complacent, my mind whispers,What if he trusted the wrong person?

“I’ll go and see if Klaus needs any help with the food,” she mumbles, breaking my train of thought as she heads for the trapdoor.

The moment she’s gone, Titan—who’s been snoozing in the late afternoon sun on his back behind me—flips over and stares at the water off the starboard stern with his ears pricked.

It only takes a second for the object of his attention to become apparent.

The man who comes flying out of the water looks ragged. Cas’s limbs flail in the air as the glimmers of his transformation follow him onto the deck. He lands face-down, and I grimace at the knowledge that, yet again, his junk is touching my ship.

A rope helpfully retrieves a pair of loose shorts from the cupboard and drops them at his feet, but Cas doesn’t thank me or even meet my eyes.

He looks tired, haunted, almost.

“Were you waiting for the witch to leave, or was that just a happy coincidence?” I ask, coolly.

His guilty look is all the answer I need, and I huff out a sigh. “She’s not angry with you. She actually misses your ass.”

“She doesn’t have to be angry at me,” Cas grunts, pushing to his feet and dragging the clothes over his nakedness. “I’m angry enough at myself for the both of us.”

“So you lost control of your beast. You can’t tell methatwas unexpected.”