Chapter 24

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

I t had been four whole days since we caught any fish, three days since we finished the last of our bread for breakfast, two days since we had been living on anything but filtered seawater, which was still a little too salty for my taste and one day since I last felt hopeful that we would make it past this alive. Viktor said they had marked the unnamed island on the map the last time they sailed past it, but we were either unable to read the map properly because we were so hungry and not thinking straight, or it had been mismarked because the island was nowhere to be seen.

I was starving yesterday and the day before, but today, I felt sick to my stomach and tired— oh so very tired . And dizzy.

I hadn’t been able to sleep all night because I was so hungry, and neither could Viktor, though he kept assuring me that we would find food soon. I truly wanted to believe him, but the more time passed, the quicker my hope diminished.

“Do you want some water?” Viktor whispered from behind me, curling an arm around my shoulder.

“No,” I whispered back and shook my head. “If I drink any more water on an empty stomach, I’m going to be sick.”

“Drink a little, my siren. I don’t want you to fall sick.”

“I don’t want you to fall sick either,” I murmured, too hungry to make a sassy remark like I normally would have.

“Don’t worry, Astrid. We’re nearly there. By my calculations, we should be docking at the island first thing in the morning,” he tried to assure me. “You’ll be able to make it till the morning, won’t you?”

I nodded and smiled for his sake so as not to worry him more than he already was, but I honestly wasn’t sure. My stomach felt like it would cave in within itself from how empty it was.

“As soon as we get onto the island, I’ll climb the highest tree for you and pick the juiciest piece of fruit it has,” he promised me, and this time, even though it took more effort than I had, I smiled.

“Things might be easier if you just climb the shortest tree,” I told him and smiled wider when he chuckled.

“Even when you’re half-crazed with starvation, you never fail to make me laugh, my siren,” Viktor chuckled and leaned down to nuzzle the tip of his nose against mine. “I knew there was a reason I married you.”

I cocked a teasing brow at him. “You only married me for my humour?”

Viktor opened his mouth, most likely to tease me back, but whatever he was going to say was soon forgotten when shouts of anger sounded out from behind us.

“What is wrong with you? Can’t you see where you’re going?” Dagfinn growled, and we turned just in time to see him push Laurence out of the way, making him stumble back.

“What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you?” Laurence frowned, catching himself before he tumbled to the ground. “Why are you getting so angry over something so simple?”

“Because you’re getting up in my personal space,” Dagfinn huffed, a sour expression on his face. “Just because that girl you’re in love with won’t let you come near her doesn’t mean you have to impinge on everyone else’s personal space.”

Laurence’s jaw dropped, and he looked like he was about to blow his top. He probably would have if Gustav hadn’t stepped in, stretching his arms out to keep Dagfinn and Laurence from ripping each other’s throats out.

“There’s no need for this.” Gustav sent Dagfinn a warning look. “Everyone is just temperamental because we’re hungry. You don’t really mean any of this so let’s calm down, okay?”

“Calm down?” Dagfinn scoffed and rolled his eyes. “We would all be calm if only you could do your one job.”

“That’s not fair,” Gustav groaned, his face growing hard. “How can you expect me to cook a dish out of nothing? I’m a Chef, not God! I can’t just whip up food from thin air.”

“Gustav would have something to cook if Jerrik caught some fish,” Hammond piped up, fuelling the already blazing fire. He was sitting in the same spot against the rail as this morning, refusing to move as if to preserve his energy. It was a good idea, but adding to an argument was not.

“Don’t try to turn this on me,” Jerrik scoffed, defensive. I didn’t blame him. I had gone fishing with Jerrik these past few days and experienced first-hand the frustration of returning to The Serpent day after day empty-handed. “If you all sailed the ship faster, maybe we could get into waters that actually have some fish for me to catch.”

“Caspian is always at the wheel,” Latham frowned. “I always tell him I’m better at the wheel, and he should let me take over, but he never does. His ego won’t allow him to admit I’m better than him.”

“Why is this suddenly being turned around on me?” Caspian shot up in his seat, his eyes fiery and accusatory as he glared at Latham. “I steer the ship because no one else likes doing it for a long time. If you’re a better sailor than me, why did we hardly move last night when you were on night duty?”

“There was low wind! How is that my fault? I can’t control the wind!” Latham growled, looking as if he would reach for Caspian and shake some sense into him if they weren’t standing on opposite sides of the ship.

“Odin could have told us about the wind,” Dagfinn muttered under his breath, but we all heard him. “Maybe we could have done something about it if we knew about it earlier.”

“What would you have done if I did?” Odin asked, annoyed.

“We could have planned accordingly.”

“How do you plan for no wind?” Laurence laughed.

Dagfinn shrugged. “I don’t know. Garth could have played around with the sails or something.”

“Don’t look at me like that,” Garth snapped, an unpleasant scowl on his face. “I may have the most experience out of us all, but I can’t control the weather.”

“And since when was it necessary for me to provide daily weather updates?” Odin huffed, matching Garth’s expression. “We can prepare if there’s a storm coming. But how are we going to prepare for no wind?”

I tugged on Viktor’s sleeve to get his attention. “They need to stop arguing,” I huffed and tuned out the argument. All the back and forth was starting to give me a headache. “Everyone is just hungry and are getting riled up for no reason. They’re wasting their energy. This will only tire them out quicker and make them even more irritable.”

“This was bound to happen sooner or later,” Viktor groaned. “This job is hard enough on a full stomach, but it’s even harder when none of us has eaten anything in two days.”

“Thanks to Crosby,” I snarled. We would have never been in this mess without Crosby and his selfishness and pettiness.

“Yes, exactly!” Manny spoke louder than we had heard before, demanding our undivided attention. “Why are we blaming each other when Crosby is at fault here? If it weren’t for him, we would have the dried food and flour for bread to eat while we sail into waters that actually have fish for Jerrik to catch. Don’t you see that turning on each other only hurts us when the man truly at fault here is locked away in the bottom deck?”

“Manny’s right.” I agreed with a nod. “There’s no point turning on each other when we’re not at fault. Crosby is.”

“It’s still not too late to make him walk the plank,” Caspian grumbled under his breath, and we all laughed.

“We just need to make it till morning when we reach that island, and then we’ll finally be able to get some food,” I said, trying to stay positive.

All everyone needed right now was a little bit of hope.

“The morning, did you say?” Roscoe called out, speaking up for the first time. Something in his tone caught my attention, and I turned to look at what he was staring at.

“Yes,” I murmured, using the same mystified, disbelieving tone as him.

In the not-so-distant distance, I could see the shadow of an island about half a day earlier than we expected.

“Is that what I think it is?” Jerrik whistled under his breath as he walked closer to the rail where Roscoe was standing, trying to get a better look at the mound in the distance.

“It sure is!” Caspian grinned and pumped his fist into the air. Everyone else was quick to follow in his celebrations.

I felt sick as I continued staring at the island, but that could very well be because I had consumed only water for the past two days. Regardless, I pushed the gnawing feeling away and focused on the positives, choosing to be hopeful.

This mystery island, which the crew had marked on the map in passing on their last mission, was our only chance of survival right now.