Page 52 of Pirate Witch

The siren is the only one who isn’t focused on our woman. Klaus gives himself a quick glance to assure himself she’s okay, then heads straight for the stove.

“She needs something a bit more substantial than a sandwich,” he mumbles.

My jaw locks. “Well, you were sleeping and not all of us can fucking cook.”

A tiny, cool hand touches my wrist, stealing all of my attention.

She touched me. She’sstilltouching me.

“The sandwich was good,” Nilsa says, and I glance down to find that she’s actually finished the thing at last.

“Are you still hungry?” Klaus asks.

Nilsa shakes her head. “Not for much.”

“Just a bit of soup,” he cajoles.

She sighs and nods. “Fine. Only a little bit.”

Klaus heads back to the stove, apparently appeased, and evidently Rysen takes that as his cue to start joining in on the apology train that’s going round.

“Little witch, did Elsie manage to heal all the damage we did?”

Nilsa appears to be getting as fed up as I am with all of the grovelling, because she waves him away with a huff. “I healed. I’m fine. I’d rather forget it ever happened and move on with getting her back for it.”

“Sade said when you’re ready, she’ll call the war council,” Cas mutters. “It sounded…” he trails off, obviously wondering how to break the news to Nilsa.

“What?” Nilsa demands.

“It sounded like she thought the Eagle was going after the witches next,” I finish for him.

Nilsa’s hands turn to fists and she shoves her chair back. “Like fuck she is.”

I grab her arm and keep her in her seat. “I’ve already let Cirio know you’re up.” As I speak, I can feel the signal flags hoisting themselves into place above the ship. Together, they spell out a message that one of Cirio’s crew is bound to see and report back. “Eat some more, let the others get ready, and then we’ll deal with it. You can’t go charging into battle if you’ve lost all your strength because you were too fucking stubborn to take care of yourself.”

Rysen’s scowl tells me that I’ve fucked up, but Nilsa doesn’t get a chance to complain because Klaus sets a bowl in front of both of us at the same second.

“I hate to agree with him,” the siren begins. “But you do need your strength. And I’m sure we’d all like to hear what happened during the ritual.”

Nilsa’s eyes drop, and our mate suddenly seems far too interested in her soup. The rest of us stay quiet, waiting for her to answer him. Eventually, the silence must get too much for her, because she pinches the bridge of her nose and sighs.

“I don’t remember all of it,” she mutters. “The moment you… died, I jumped into the spirit plane. I was supposed to be making sure you were safe, and you weren’t going too far towards life or death. It was only a few seconds later that this blinding light took over everything…” she trails off.

“Go on,” Nos encourages.

“You won’t believe me—Ibarely believe it and I was there.” She tilts her head back so she’s facing the ceiling before she continues. “I saw the Goddesses. All three of them.”

The whole room is silent.

“What do you mean, you saw them?” I demand. “They don’t just show up, right? That’s not how they work?”

As a child, my devout mother always told me the Goddesses never showed themselves beyond their celestial forms. Even the High Priestesses only heard whispers in their prayers. Everyone else had to just believe.

Becausethatisn’t convenient at all.

“IknowI sound crazy.” Nilsa pins me with a glare. “I barely remember what they even said to me. I just know they said it could only be done once, and even then only for a price. They asked me if I’d let Elsie and Reva pay the price of breaking your bargain, and I… I chose you over them. Over other witches. Underage witches at that.”

Her voice breaks and shame turns her expression morose. “I was so selfish, and I’m worse still because I don’t regret it.”