Page 98 of Pirate Witch

“Sophie?” Elodie looks shocked.

The other Mother Solar just shrugs at her. “We are relics of a bygone age, El. I believe it is time we step back and allow the young to rebuild.”

Sophie turns back to me and bows low. “I apologise for snapping at you, and I will take my leave now.”

Elodie is left gaping like a fish as the other Mother Solar leaves her alone, standing amongst the others. Eventually, she snaps her jaw closed and pins me with a dark glare.

“I do not like you, Shadow. I never have, and I will not apologise for that.”

“You don’t have to like me to respect me,” I growl back.

“I will stay out of your way as long as you do me the same courtesy. Take that as you will.”

She stalks off after Sophie, posture still rigid with aggression.

“We need to do something about her,” Danika muttered.

Rachel and Elsie exchange a look. “What did you have planned?”

Everyone looks at me, and I sigh.

“I’m going to do fuck all, because we’re in the middle of a Goddess-damned war and we don’t have the luxury of infighting.”

Danika nods. “And after?”

“After?” I shake my head. “After, I’m going to say fuck her. I plan to read Petra’s notes so I’m not blindsided again, and then sail away with my men and only return to Coveton on the new moon when the Goddess apparently will hand me a contract.”

Danika nods. “For what it’s worth, I didn’t know either. I vow to the Goddess never to conceal the truth from you.”

I stare at her, shocked. “That’s a dangerous line to walk…”

“You are and have always been my equal,” she responds. “I have no secrets I value more than your friendship.”

I tug her towards me, enveloping her in a hug that she returns just as tightly.

Thank you, Goddess, for Danika.

“But we do now have a problem,” she continues.

“We still need numbers,” I admit. “I can call the sirens. Their Empress owes me a favour. That might even things up a little bit if the mages do abandon Catherine’s side, but the royal treasury runs deep, and armies can be bought…”

Even with a full army of sirens, we will never have a guaranteed victory like we would with the wraiths on our side. And what Alletta said before, about facing both the Eagle and the Alchemist, has been weighing on my mind for days…

ChapterThirty-Three

NILSA

Ican’t sleep. It’s not just because we’re sailing for Cawshome on the next high tide. It’s because the meeting we had a few hours ago is playing on a loop in my head.

The one where we learned how many witches are still able to fight.

Too few. Far too few.

So many Solars and Lunars were injured in the fighting at Coveton. With the losses at Sanctum, we’ve lost more than three quarters of our fighting force, and almost half of our healers.

It’s an astounding number, so I didn’t blame any of the high priestesses when they begged me to allow their people to recover in safety. I couldn’t, in good conscience, drag half-healed witches back into battle—and likely to their deaths—in Galmere.

They’ve suffered enough.