Page 45 of Pirate Witch

Klaus sighs, scrubbing a hand across his face. “We got here and found Cirio’s whole fleet here. He was in Sade’s palace, along with Pierce, some of his men, and Princess Amelia.”

“What the hell is a human princess doing with him?” I growl.

Amelia and her sister never did anything to us, but they’re the nieces of the Eagle, and that makes them guilty by association in my mind.

“She claims she’s been held hostage since her sister was executed for treason. Apparently, she escaped her aunt’s prison when Nilsa blew it up.”

“They don’t put spoiled little princesses in the Claw,” Cas objects. “That’s got to be a lie.”

Klaus shakes his head. “I would’ve said so too, but the shackles on her wrists are awfully convincing.” He pauses, then shrugs it off. “Nilsa seems to believe her, anyway.”

Val remains obviously unconvinced, but none of us pay him any attention.

“And Nilsa just convinced them to help?” I frown. “Vampire queens don’t often care much for matters outside of their nests. I can’t imagine Sade loaned her cellar to the witches out of the kindness of her heart.”

“She has you earmarked for her fleet,” Klaus admits. “But Nilsa refused to sign you over. Our mate essentially told her where to shove it…” He trails off, deep in thought.

“What?” I demand. “Why have you got that look?”

Klaus hesitates, but answers. “Nilsa made it seem like… like she had something up her sleeve we don’t know about. Somethingbig.”

“Something bigger than a hydra?” I scoff.

“If she’s been keeping something from us, it will be because we were a liability,” Nos begins, voice quiet in comparison to the others.

“Or because she knew we wouldn’t approve,” Val scowls.

I sigh internally, because I thought we were past this. “I trust her. Whatever her reasons are, they’re probably solid.”

Kier nods, and so do the twins. Do any of us like that Nilsa might be keeping secrets from us? Fuck no. But it’s understandable. Now that the bargain is broken, it’s our job to make sure our mate never feels like she needs to keep things from us again.

“Why is there a Castleman Mage here?” Val demands, breaking the heavy silence.

Klaus shrugs, clearly unused to Val’s deep distrust of other mages. “He showed up with Elsie and Reva. He’s a bit young and naive, but he seems harmless.”

“No mage is harmless,” Val grunts, slinking back into his chair.

Klaus looks about to argue, but almost everyone else at the table shoots him alookand he wisely decides to keep it to himself. Val might not be objective about mages, but he has good reasons to be.

The captain stiffens and launches to his feet, capturing all of our attention once more.

“She’s up,” he announces, striding through the wall instead of bothering with the door.

The rest of us don’t hesitate. We slam into one another as we all try to shove through the door at the same time.

NILSA

I’m not sure what I expect to wake up to. Or that I expect to wake up at all, really. I feel like I’ve been run over by a herd of trolls. My head is still ringing, and my eyesight—though improving—is still blurry.

“Go back to sleep,”Opal mutters, drowsily.“You’re thinking too loud.”

“Where are we?” I mumble, pushing myself up onto my elbows.

But the faint rocking sensation of being on a ship makes itself clear as soon as I’m semi vertical, answering my question.

“Your pirates wanted you home.”

That’s unexpectedly sweet of them. I blink and scrub at my eyes, still trying in vain to make out something beyond the blurry, foggy mass which has taken over my sight. It’s got to be day, if the amount of light is anything to go by.