Page 21 of Pirate Witch

Cirio’s one good eye is fully black, just like his shifted form. The other is covered with a patch and surrounded by fine white scars in a starburst pattern. His hair and beard are an unremarkable brown, and his clothes are simple and neutral coloured.

Tucked under his arm is another vampire with the same honey eyes as the queen. That must be Pierce, the mate Val mentioned.

“Queen Sade of Isablis, Captain Cirio…” Fitz offers the lady at the head of the table a small half bow and Cirio a wink. “This is Nilsa av Coveton, Shadow of the Moon, and her mate, Prince Niklaus Sirenae Regis. They’ve come to meet with the captain.”

The queen inclines her head ever so slightly, and I do the same. It’s not a bow, not really. More an acknowledgement of strength between two powerful women. Behind me, Klaus presses his fists to his chest and dips his chin as well.

“Interesting, that a Lunar should wear the mating mark of a vampire as well,” Sade begins, her eyes roving across my neck.

“Balderdash!” The final man, sitting at the other end of the table, jumps to his feet, dropping his mate, who’s forced to catch himself on the table or fall to the floor. “You’ve mated Rysen as well as the twins?”

Several of the other vampires look at him with barely concealed contempt for speaking over Sade, but Pierce just snorts. The corner of the queen’s mouth twitches, but it’s too quick for me to determine if it’s in amusement or distaste.

I reach for my bag, only to find a spear levelled at my throat. Right. No sudden moves.

I flick the pointy thing away from my face and glare at the guard who literally appeared from nowhere with his vampire speed.

“If my Goddess wanted your queen dead, I’d have done it by now and you’d be none the wiser,” I growl, before turning back to the table and Cirio. “I have a letter for you from Val.” I open my satchel and fish out the piece of paper before holding it out like an offering. “He’s explained everything.”

Cirio chuckles, grabbing the letter from me with impatient hands.

“Goddess, his grammar is atrocious,” he bemoans, sinking back into his chair. “See what I have to endure, Pierce? Pirates just don’t comprehend the proper use of the apostrophe.”

His mate just shakes his head, smiling. “That’s not what’s important here, and you know it. Read the damned letter.”

Cirio hums and puts his arm back around the vampire, his thumb rubbing absent circles across the side of his mate’s neck. Despite only having one eye, he seems to read faster than anyone else I’ve ever known. Flicking between the sheets like they’re not full of Val’s cramped scribbles, his brows drawing deeper into a frown with every line.

When he finally looks back up at me, his eyes are more assessing. “You’re mated to the whole crew.”

I nod. “And we desperately need your help.”

He gives his mate a sideways look, waiting until Pierce nods before continuing. “Aye, you really do.” He turns to Sade. “I believe, my queen, we have found ourselves a new ally.”

Sade’s eyes flash and she leans back in her chair, steepling her fingers beneath her chin. “How so?”

“This is the witch who obliterated the Claw and disembogued the sirens from the facility on Fior.”

His mate elbows him. “Plain words, remember?”

Cirio winks back. “She freed the sirens and blew the place to smithereens.”

When he puts it that way, I sound like a one woman wrecking ball. And it seems like Val didn’t even mention what happened to Cirio’s Cove.

“So you’re an enemy of Queen Catherine?” Sade asks. “Even though your men sail the seas at her command?”

“The Moon charged me with her death,” I reply, evenly. “But even if she hadn’t, I want the bitch dead. She’s got my mates trapped in a fae bargain, and she’s working to kill what few witches remain.”

Sade stares at me for a long time, judging me. I don’t look away, and it becomes a game of who will break eye contact first. It isn’t until the rest of the table starts shifting that she nods, looks over my shoulder, and beckons at another guard.

“Tell Amelia it is safe to return.”

Her mate’s eyebrows fly upwards in surprise, but he doesn’t question her.

“Tell us what you know about the bargain that ties your mates to the Eagle,” Sade continues as another, younger vampire runs forward and places maps on the table in front of the vampire queen.

We’ve stumbled into a war meeting, I realise, as the vampire carefully lays out model ships across the surface.

And the surprises don’t stop there. Opal’s voice chimes into my mind a second before she joins me in the garden, followed shortly after by a woman dressed from head to toe in black.