They start whispering, and the words are lost. I turn to Adiron, who gives me a cheery smile. “See? It’s all good. I’ll keep watch on her, and I’ll teach her how to fight. I’d rather she go with you, Jade, but if she insists, we can make sure she’s safe on the Sister.”
Jade gives me a pleading look, a hopeful expression on her face. But my mind is made up. I love Jade. I love Alice. I love Ruth…but I also love Mathiras and he needs me. “I’m going on the Little Sister.”
“Disaster,” Alice mutters. She looks over at Mathiras. “If she gets hurt, we’re all coming after you.”
“She won’t get hurt,” Mathiras says in a firm voice. “I won’t allow it.”
I smile at him to let him know I like his words, but he won’t look in my direction. Something tells me that he’s not thrilled with my choice, either. It doesn’t matter. He made a promise, and he has to keep it. He’ll be glad to have me along soon enough. He’ll realize just how much he needs me and then maybe, maybe at some point, he might even kiss me.
I can’t wait.
CHAPTER 12
MATHIRAS
Once the meeting is done, my work isn’t over. I meet privately with each of the ship’s captains to ensure we’re all on the same page, as well as Sophie and Jerrok. I transfer credits over to Jerrok’s anonymous account that he keeps for payments, enough to ensure that Jade will be well taken care of no matter how long we’re gone. The Scarlet Gaze is going to swing by to drop Jade off (and possibly Alice, if Kas can convince her) and then head on in search of the slavers.
Everyone’s over there right now, getting in last-minute goodbyes before both our ships leave the Risda docks. I should probably be over there, as well, and instead, I comm the Jabberwock one last time to check in, just to talk to Zoey. I do miss my sister. She’s clearly happy as could be on their ship, and smiles at her mate Sentorr more than she’s ever smiled. It’s loneliness that makes me buzz them again, even though I know Zoey’s got the playbook memorized at this point. My sister is smart and listens well, unlike my two brothers.
“Hey,” Zoey says, leaning in to the comm when I contact them again. This time it’s just her face, round and human and comfortingly familiar. “You micro-managing things up until the very end?”
“Me?” I scoff. “Hardly. Everything’s ready to go. We’ll be launching as soon as my crew is settled and everyone gets a good night’s sleep.”
“Okay, then you’re avoiding someone.” Zoey taps her chin thoughtfully. “Let me guess. You’re avoiding going over to Straik’s ship because you want to punch him.”
“No.” Though she’s not wrong. I am avoiding Straik’s ship. It’s not because I’m angry at him or because I’m frustrated with my brothers. I don’t want to see Helen and Aithar—or Helen and anyone else for that matter—talking about how much they’ll miss her. For some reason, it irks me. I’m the one that’s kept her safe all these months, but they act like they’re the ones that should be in charge of her. It makes me unreasonably short-tempered, so best to avoid it entirely.
“You…don’t want Adiron to yell at you for taking away his mate?” Her expression turns shrewd. “Or you don’t want anyone to talk you out of bringing cute little Helen on your trip with you? Is that it?”
I snort, even though she’s startlingly accurate. “Helen isn’t little. And if she wants to come with, I’ll bring her. When we were stranded together, I promised her I wouldn’t leave her behind. She feels safe with me, so if she wants to come, she shouldn’t be too much trouble.”
“Are you kidding me? She’s a qura’aki. A gorgeous one. How is that not ‘much trouble’?” She looks at me as if I’m insane. “You’re going to have any pirate worth a damn chasing you down trying to steal her from you.”
As if I haven’t thought about this? “You assume she’s leaving the ship. She’s not. She can think we’re going to use her as a decoy or that Adiron is going to train her to defend herself, but the truth of the matter is that she’s not taking one step off of the Little Sister. And as long as she’s on the ship, I can keep her safe.” I’ll just have to come up with some bullshit excuses as to why she has to stay and make them sound legit. “Adiron and I can handle the rest.”
“You’d be better off taking Jade,” Zoey warns. “She’s got a head on her shoulders at least.”
I bristle on Helen’s behalf. She’s beautiful and innocent, yes, but she’s not a fool. “Jade vomits at the slightest movement due to her pregnancy. And have you seen her with Adiron? If she’s around, he gets nothing done. If I want him to be useful at all, I have to keep them apart.” I can deal with Adiron moping. What I can’t deal with is him gazing after his mate with besotted looks instead of working. I need him to pay some attention. Not much. Just some.