Chapter 19

CHAPTER NINETEEN

T he lack of fish was a bigger issue than Jerrik and Viktor had let on.

It had been suggested that there was only a slight fish shortage, and Jerrik hadn’t been able to find much these past few days. He had failed to admit that he hadn’t been able to find any fish these past few days, and Gustav had been rationing fish from previous days as best as he could. Unfortunately, the last of that had run out, and if we didn’t catch any fish today, we would have nothing but dried fruits to eat for dinner tonight.

Naturally, as he was the one behind all of this, my eyes drifted to Crosby. When I found him already looking at me, I was quick to avert my gaze.

The last thing I needed right now was to give him the false hope that there could possibly be something between us. That there had ever been something between us.

“ Meow ,” Kis called out to me, rubbing the side of her body against my leg. Unable to resist, I reached down and picked her up, holding her while she licked her paw clean. It looked dirtied with breadcrumbs that one of the crew must have fed her during breakfast. Either that or she had sniped it when no one was looking. The latter sounded more plausible to me.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” I tutted, smoothing a hand down her head, between her ears like she loved. “You won’t like it out on the water. I know you won’t.”

Kis meowed again and looked up at me uninterestedly, telling me that my words hadn’t changed her mind.

“But you hate the water,” I protested.

Her next meow said, “ You hate the water too, but you’re still going.”

“I just want to help, Kis,” I sighed and lifted her to bury my face in her fur. As sassy and troublesome as this creature could be at times, I wouldn’t swap her for any other cat in all of Jorvik.

“This is your last chance to change your mind,” Viktor whispered in my ear, placing his arms on the rail on either side of me, trapping me and Kis between it and his chest.

“I’m not going to change my mind,” I told him, leaning back to rest my head against his chest. “I just want to be of some help.”

“Without the risk of sounding condescending…” He nuzzled his face into my neck and stroked a hand through Kis’ fur. She began purring and moved to lay on her stomach, granting him more room.

Right there, she reminded her of me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. Like mother, like daughter.

Viktor sent me a funny look, but I shook my head.

“Without the risk of sounding condescending,” he repeated. “You’re not a very good swimmer. Or good at fishing.”

“I know, but Jerrik needs help,” I told him, my lips tugging down at the corners as a wave of hesitation washed over me. I wasn’t nearly as confident as I had been moments ago, but perhaps that was just false confidence. “And you never know; I might be able to pick it up after some practice.”

“I hope so, my siren,” Viktor chuckled and pressed his lips to the slope of my neck. “I love you, Astrid,” he exhaled deeply. “Your willingness to help with everything is so beautiful. I really admire that in you.”

“Nearly as beautiful as me?” My lips twisted into a teasing grin as I turned around in his arms to face him, with Kis pushed in between us. Not that she seemed to have any qualms with the position. In fact, she meowed and made a show of getting more comfortable, basking from the warmth that radiated from our bodies.

“Nothing is as beautiful as you, my siren.” He pressed a soft kiss to my lips.

The kiss didn’t last long as Kis meowed in protest, scratching at his chest.

“Let me take her from you,” Viktor chuckled, reaching for her.

Kis hissed at first and scratched at Viktor’s arms. He winced slightly but, other than that, didn’t appear to be fazed. When he settled her in his arms, gently rocking her like one would do to a baby, she meowed and laid her furry head on his arm, getting comfortable. She looked like she belonged there, and he looked like he belonged with something small like Kis in his arms.

And then suddenly, I couldn’t get the vision of my husband holding a baby out of my mind.

My eyes widened before I could control my reaction. It was too early to be thinking like that.

Far too early .

“Why do you look like that, my siren?”

“Like what?” I cleared my throat and glanced over my shoulder, watching Jerrik wait patiently for us to finish up here so I could join him.

“Like you’re spooked.”

“I’m not spooked.” I rose on my tiptoes to press a kiss to his lips, hoping to distract him. I quickly kissed Kis’ head as well. “I don’t want to keep Jerrik waiting. I’ll see you both later.”

“See you later, my siren. Stay safe!” I heard Viktor call after me, sounding somewhat confused. I couldn’t blame him for sounding that way. My thoughts were a jumbled mess, and I knew I needed to get away from him if I wanted to stop thinking about him with a baby in his arms.

Our baby .

What better way to clear my mind than to spend the day at sea, fishing on a little rowboat?

I smiled apologetically to Jerrik when I reached him. “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting long.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he dismissed. “I’ve already loaded the rowboat with everything we need for today. Including some bread if we end up staying out later than planned. Once we get in, one of the others will help lower us onto the water.”

I nodded and climbed into the boat, choosing to sit on the middle plank so regardless of where Jerrik sat, I would be close to him. With the both of us out on the sea together for so long, it was an excellent opportunity to get to know him better.

“Who’s going to lower us?” I asked, turning my head to glance around the top deck.

“Hammond and Latham,” Jerrik told me. “But we’re just awaiting one more person…there he is now.”

I twisted my neck to see who it was. When my eyes landed on Crosby, walking toward us with a nervous smile and playing awkwardly with his fingers, my eyebrows shot up in surprise.

I turned back to face Jerrik. “Crosby?” I gaped.

“Don’t ask me how,” he groaned. “I turned him down several times, but he wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Sighing, I pursed my lips and waited for Crosby to join us in the small rowboat.

True to Jerrik’s word, Hammond and Latham wandered over to turn the mechanic wheel that Chip had installed. It controlled the chains that the little rowboat was attached to. Once we landed in the water, we pulled on the chains to indicate they could stop turning the wheel.

“Go get us some fish!” Latham grinned, leaning over the railing to unclip the rowboat from the chains to set us free. To keep them from getting damaged, Latham and Hammond turned the wheel the other way to retrieve them. They would drop the chains once again when we returned, hopefully with some fish.

I smiled and waved at them before tightening my grip around my oar. Crosby and I followed Jerrik’s lead as he rowed us away from the ship, further east, in search of some fish.

Jerrik usually went swimming, but as there were three of us today–and the fact that I was a poor swimmer and would no doubt drown myself in these deep waters–we had opted for the rowboat.

“What happened to cleaning with Roscoe and Manny?” I asked curiously, throwing the question over my shoulder at Crosby as we rowed.

“They said they didn’t need my help,” he told me, but I didn’t quite believe him.

Roscoe and Manny definitely needed help. If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have bothered bringing it up during the meeting after lunch. Something told me the three of them had had a little falling out.

“Besides, I know that I played a pretty big part in the food shortage we’re experiencing, so I thought I’d help with the fishing.” Jerrik snorted at that, and I felt Crosby shift uncomfortably behind me. “I also wanted to go fishing because I heard that you offered to help as well, Astrid.” It was now my turn to shift uncomfortably in my seat. “You’re the only one that’s nice to me, Astrid. Everyone else mostly ignores me. Sometimes, it’s like I don’t exist.”

“They’re just upset,” I tell him, hoping to brush the issue under the rug. “I’m sure all of this will blow over in time.” That was a full-blown lie from me. Not for a second did I believe that this would blow over soon, and it was only confirmed when Jerrik snorted again.

“I hope so,” Crosby murmured, sounding forlorn, but I struggled to bring myself to feel bad for him.

When we arrived at a spot Jerrik was finally satisfied with, my arms ached from all the rowing, and we switched the oars for spears.

“First rule: don’t point the spear at me. Second rule: don’t point the spear at yourself or each other. Third point: always, always, always point the spear at the water.”

I nodded and did as instructed, immediately pointing the sharp edge of the spear toward the water.

“When you see a fish, pierce it with the sharp end of the spear. Killing it isn’t your objective, but it’s not a problem if you do.”

Jerrik wasn’t finished speaking, but Crosby got too excited and threw his spear into the water. I couldn’t see the fish he had spotted, but the water splashed where the spear landed. Instead of reaching for it, he watched in horror as it floated away from us.

Jerrik winced as he reached to retrieve the spear before it was lost to the waves. “Not quite like that, but good attempt, I guess.”

I turned my head to stare at The Serpent. We were close enough that I could still see it, but they wouldn’t be able to hear us even if we screamed at the top of our lungs and vice versa.

This was going to be a long day.