Page 92 of Liar Witch

But I can’t focus. The small pile of spherical metal casings in the corner distracts me a few moments in, and I find myself lowering the detector without meaning to. A dangerous thought surfaces at the back of my mind, and I crush it before it can fully form.

A rope snakes down from the ceiling and grabs the casing while another takes a fuse from a drawer, bringing both to me.

Do I dare?

I’m only making this for me, I chant in my head as I carefully start etching.I’m making them for myself. As a precaution. I will never use them against the Eagle.

If I focus hard enough, maybe I can do something to help after all.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Nilsa

The island is a grey smear on the horizon. Ash billows from the peak, lending more gloom to the already dark sky.

A volcano, of course. It couldn’t be somewhere easy like the balmy, white beaches of Mirna.

The flags on theDeadwoodstart to shift, new reams of coloured cloths appear seemingly from nowhere, shifting up the lines.

“It’s so they won’t fire on the ship,” Klaus explains. “We tried to steal the combination and sneak through, but it changes every trip and they never use the same colours twice.”

Now that he’s mentioned it, I can see the tiny silhouettes of other ships forming a perfect line across the bay. A blockade that we’ll have to pass to even get close to whatever is on that island.

My stomach sinks at the sight.

I never considered they would have a blockade around it. I can get into the facility and cause all kinds of damage, but if I free the sirens, only to have them run straight back into the hands of their captors…

I need to destroy the ships as well.

Klaus can feel how overwhelmed I am, and he grips my hand tightly.

“You have me too.”

“I’ve prepared a few explosives for emergencies,” Val mutters from behind the wheel. The Captain pointedly keeps his body facing away from us as he addresses Rysen in a voice just a touch louder than normal. “I left them on my desk with the detonator for now, but they’ll need to be moved to a secure location by this evening.”

I don’t even dare meet Rysen’s eyes as the implications of his words sink in.

Val’s been distant for days. I put that down to him being less of an asshole than usual and deliberately not crashing my slow-going swimming lessons with Cas and Klaus.

The nightly sessions are making some progress, but it’s frustratingly incremental. I can just about dip my lower half into the water as long as Klaus is there, singing to me. Otherwise, I’m still paralysed with fear.

If Val’s been making bombs this whole time, it’s no wonder that I’ve been too preoccupied to notice.

The rest of the crew are busy, leaving just Klaus and me on the deck, staring into the distance at the foreboding silhouettes of the ships that are defending Ignira.

“If those bombs were to end up close to the powder reserves of a few ships before the detonator went off, it would create enough of a diversion to keep their attention off any escaping sirens,” I murmur.

“You’re not thinking…”

“One of us takes out the boats, the other Ignira,” I confirm. “If we plant the explosives and then go after the prisoners, there’s too great a chance of them being discovered while we’re still inside the facility. If that happens, they’ll just be recaptured.”

Klaus opens his mouth to object, but snaps it closed as he considers my plan. He knows I’m right.

Powder reserves are one of the greatest weaknesses of large warships. They’re usually buried deep in the bowels of the ship, locked up tighter than the Claw and checked regularly.

“I’ll take out the blockade,” he eventually concedes. “But you can’t take any risks while you’re in there. You won’t have anyone watching your back.”

Opal scoffs in my mind.“You haveme.Honestly. Did he even see how magnificent I was in that Arena? And I rescued your vampire from the Pits, which I had to do all by myself.”