When Whitley winds up on the top of a pirate hit-list thanks to her con-artist father, she must hide her identity and board another pirate ship, trusting in one shape-shifting pirate named Bluff to help her escape. Too bad you can never, ever, trust...
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Rosemera shouts to the crew to toss me a rope the second she spots me in the open water. The climb back on board is a difficult one. The barely healed wound over my heart burns, but I manage it in a few minutes time.
She grabs me under my arms and helps with my last heave to fall onto the deck, waterlogged. Then she smacks me against the head.
"The hell are you thinking?" she asks.
I laugh, coughing and gasping. "You're the one that told me to fight."
"Well I didn't mean to fight an entire army of sirens by yourself, dummy!"
"I wasn't going to fight them. I just wanted to find her first."
She sighs. "I suppose that didn't work?"
I shake my head. "Not yet. But they don't have her either, and I have a plan."
"Do you?"
"Crew won't like it," I can't help a smirk despite the acid stinging in my stomach. "But yes."
***
Rosemera is on board with my plan, but we elect not to tell the crew—or the captain.
"I must admit, I'm surprised you'd accept my insane plans." I raise my eyebrows, waiting for a response. I know she said she wanted me to be happy, but to this extent? Risking the crew for it? I'd anticipated needing to do this my own. Regardless, I'm relieved to have an accomplice.
I can just make out the silhouette approaching from across the dark ship. She's on crow's nest duty, and everyone else has made themselves scarce. We only have an hour or so of quiet, though, before we'll very likely have a visitor or two. Wordlessly, we grab the longboat and put it into place through strenuous effort.
My plan was just to dive straight into the dark water and figure out a way back aboard later. But Rosemera wouldn't have it.
"You're not getting in the water with those vicious things!" she whispered-yelled at me in the galley while we talked through our options. She's right to think it's riskier if I'm in the water, but only marginally. It would be all too easy for Azelea, or any other siren, to tip the boat over if they wanted me. She must realize this, but I pass up the opportunity to point it out.
I almost wonder if Rosemera doubts my self-control around a siren I've had...history with. I pray that's not true. I wouldn't ever consider touching her.
Coming face to face with any siren is unpleasant; this one even more so—but it's worth it. She's the only one I might, possibly, be able to pry a bit of information from.
Rosemera doesn't speak as we work, which makes sense given the situation, but there's still tension here that feels wrong. She's more nervous than I am, and I suppose I can't blame her. No one likes sirens. Calling one sounds like insanity. Talking to one... even stupider.
