Page 43 of Virelai’s Hoard (The Dagger & Tide Trilogy #1)

Sable wanted replies to all of those questions, too, but it took one look at Riley to realize she was in no state to give them any answers. Hunched shoulders and vacant eyes, Riley drew in on herself at the onslaught of questions.

“That’s enough!” Sable snapped and drew Riley behind her. The hand gripped in hers shook, and Sable gave it a reassuring squeeze. To the others, she directed a thunderous look. “Give them some space to breathe , for fuck’s sake.”

The crew shuffled on their feet, cowed. Their mouths clamped shut.

“We don’t need to worry about the mist anymore,” Eryx said in a small voice, now sitting up and plastered against Kit’s side.

As soon as they mentioned it, a wisp of sunlight fell on the deck at their feet. The crew gasped, then they all looked around. The mist had retreated from the deck, from the ship. A green haze still surrounded them from the waters, but it was–

“It’s retreating!” someone said, rushing to the railing and gripping it tight as they peered past. “It’s going away, look!”

Soon pirates lined up at both sides of the railing, Eryx and Riley forgotten at their backs as cheers erupted around the ship. Relief flooded through Sable as Nivros’ gentle light fell on her face, and she tilted her head up at the sky, closed her eyes under the warm caress. Just for a moment.

“Holy shit, I thought we were gonna die here.”

It was Kittredge who asked the question that should’ve been first out of Sable’s own mouth. “Are you ok?”

Eryx gave her a weak smile. “Yeah, yeah. It was… uh…”

“Weird,” Riley said with a sigh, withdrawing her hand from Sable’s. “It was weird.” Her gaze was fixed on the rat in Eryx’s lap as she wrapped her arms around herself.

“You both look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Nyxen said from the side, voice gentle.

Both Eryx and Riley laughed at that. The rest of them frowned.

“That’s because we did .” Riley looked at Sable then, uncertain.

Her lips parted, as if to say something, then she startled.

With a confused frown, she slipped her hand into her pocket, and came out with a brass compass, plain and old and battered.

After a moment’s internal debate, she held it out to Sable. “They gave me this. I think.”

“They?” Sable asked as she took the compass and inspected it. The needle swung wildly. She frowned. “It’s broken.”

“The ghosts,” Eryx said. “All of them have left their homes and families in search of the Heart a long time ago. Now they’re guarding it. They… they let us through, I think. We must’ve passed some sort of test.”

“Yeah. What Eryx said.” The sour note in Riley’s voice made Sable look up from the compass. She was still staring at Patch. The rodent ignored her.

Sable had a lot of questions, but before she could get started on any of them, another ripple went through the Moonshadow’s crew.

“Uh… Sable?” Venn called from the railing, not tearing his gaze from the open water. “I think we’ve got company.”

The ripples quieted down into a deafening silence. It was the kind of silence that made Sable’s hairs stand on end. The kind that spelled trouble.

With a last long look at Riley and Eryx, Sable approached Venn by the railing.

At first, she didn’t see it, blinded by the vast expanse of water laying out in front of her.

Unobstructed, free, theirs for the taking.

The Moonshadow’s sails gently rippled in the wind, letting them know she was finally ready for the last leg of the journey. That she was impatient.

But then Sable spotted it. A dark speck near the gently curved line of the horizon, where the sea met the sky.

The fucking Stingers, there was no doubt about it.

They were back to finish the job, now when the Moonshadow was at its lowest. Even from this distance, Sable could infer the sheer size of their ship, guess at the manpower needed for her to function.

Bigger than the Moonshadow, and the Moonshadow was nothing to scoff at.

And she was approaching. Fast.

On pure instinct, Sable tore her gaze away and looked at the helm of the ship.

Where Calla used to stand. Where Calla would’ve known what to do, her orders clipped and precise and inviting no arguments.

Sable was no Calla. Instead of getting a grip on herself, she kept staring at that empty space.

She nearly crumbled under the weight of a whole crew of pirates looking to her for guidance.

She couldn’t move from under it. Her boots stuck to the planks beneath her feet, her hand glued to the railing beneath her fingers, her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth.

Because, suddenly, she saw the Moonshadow’s deck for what it was.

Empty. Full of the echoes of all the people they’d lost.

Pip, who should’ve been up on his toes with his telescope, relaying in his high squeaky voice just how much trouble they were going to be in once that ship reached them.

Draven, who should’ve been jabbing teasing remarks at his brother about being a scaredy-cat, starting a shoving match to distract Venn from being so evidently terrified.

Thorian, who should’ve been at their side, tall and solid and unshakeable, load-bearing and reliable, like the wood beneath their feet.

Calla, who somehow had never made Sable feel the sheer weight of leadership, even though Sable had been her second in command for many years.

Maren, who would’ve been hiding somewhere under deck until the fight was over and then tried to pretend he’d been at their back the whole time. Or maybe he would’ve surprised her and pulled his weight, for once, except Sable would never find out because he was dead. Just another ghost.

There was going to be a fight.

They’d known that. They’d prepared for it. But the knowledge still struck her all at once, and Sable looked at the people that were there. She couldn’t change the past, but she would do anything to protect the ones still left alive.

“What are you waiting for?” she barked at the pirates, making them jump.

A solid start, right? If she pretended she knew exactly what to do, maybe they would fall for it.

“Gadrielle, Nyxen, get the deckhands and lay out the sails. We’re gonna try to outrun them.

Kittredge, climb to the crow’s nest and see if you can get an idea of their numbers and their firepower.

Ignatius, ready the cannons, and instruct the other gunners to double-check our weapon stash and keep them at the ready. ”

No one moved.

“Are we just gonna run with our tail between our legs?” Ignatius spat, his face contorted in an offended grimace. “Forget about fame and glory, we’re gonna become a laughingstock.”

Sable ground her teeth, shooting him a glare. He was immune to it. “Better that than die by the end of today, don’t you think?”

“You don’t think we can take them on?” Venn asked, frowning. He looked worried before, but now he visibly paled, and the others exchanged uneasy glances around him.

Fuck. Low morale was as dangerous as the Stingers stalking them. Sable knew that.

“Of course we can take them on,” she snapped. “But not without losses, and I gather we’ve had enough of those lately. Don’t you ?”

Venn’s features set in hard lines. It was a low blow, but it was effective. For now. He gave her a sharp nod.

The pirates still didn’t move, and Sable could feel a vein pulsing in her neck. How had Calla managed all this by herself? How had she stayed so composed, with Sable making things hard for her at every turn? Fuck.

With a frustrated sigh, Sable gripped the railing tighter, her jaw locked as she looked at the pirates who hadn’t wanted Calla as their captain anymore, but clearly didn’t want Sable either. She took a deep breath, wondering what Calla would do in her shoes and coming up with nothing.

“Do any of you have any better ideas?” she asked in the end, relenting. “Because I’m all ears.”

I never wanted this.

Pursed lips, heads shaken, shuffled feet. In grudged silence, the pirates finally moved, and Sable stood there, deeply aware that the crew only followed her for now, because they had to. Because they had no better choices.

Which meant they were in deep, deep shit.