Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Bowen

AFTER GETTING EVELYN’S THINGS INTO MY CABIN, I leave her to get settled and go in search of Dia. Unsurprisingly, I find her near the stern, smoking. I prop my elbows on the railing next to her and exhale slowly. “You were there when they voted me out. How likely is Miles to pursue branding me a traitor for letting the dragon flee?”

She blows a smoke ring. “He will want to do it for spite, but a brand-new captain is in a precarious position. The crew might not like what you did with the dragon, or how you handled the witch, but you have many years of goodwill built up, even if their confidence in you waned in recent months. When they voted you out, they were very clear in their wishes. They don’t want you dead—they just don’t want you as captain anymore. Miles is too smart to push something that might turn them against him.” She pauses to inhale deeply. “I wouldn’t go handing him a knife and turning my back, but I don’t think you have anything to worry about.”

It’s what I wanted to hear, and yet it makes me feel so empty. “They just … sailed away.”

“Yep.” Dia offers me her joint and shrugs when I shake my head. “That’s one thing Ezra failed to teach you. The C?n Annwn may paint themselves in crimson and importance, but at their heart, they are a fleet of pirates. Pirates look out for themselves, Bowen. It’s time you do the same.”

I want to push back against what she’s saying. But it feels like another set of scales falling from my eyes. How many times have I looked at captains like Hedd and hated how they gave the C?n Annwn a bad name? They bully the locals and use the mantle of protectors to take what they think is owed to them. It’s not straight-up thievery if it’s a gift, even if that gift was the result of intimidation and underhanded threats. Sometimes they even hurt people, though any rumors or accusations I’ve heard have died quiet deaths before reaching the Council.

Or maybe they were snuffed out by the Council themselves.

The growing suspicion makes me sick to my stomach. “There aren’t many ships that are run the way Ezra and I ran the Crimson Hag, are there?”

“Nope.”

I nod. “Thank you for always being honest with me, even when I didn’t want to hear what you had to say.”

Dia snorts. “There you go again, being the best of us. Return to your witch, Bowen. No matter what course she takes, she’s going to need you before the end of this.”

I plan on doing exactly that. But I have one more stop to make first.

I find Nox at the helm. They look tired, but then, by my best guess, they’ve held more shifts on than off. Hedd isn’t a good captain, and if he’s not careful, he’s liable to be voted out. But then again, his crew embraces his awfulness. It paves the way for them to act the same way without recourse. Something that wouldn’t be true if Nox held the position.

I can recognize that and appreciate it, even if part of me still wants to wring their neck. “Stay away from Evelyn.”

They glance at me. “Just a bit of harmless flirting, Captain. Except I suppose you aren’t captain anymore, are you?”

I bite down on my instinctive need to throttle them. “I don’t want trouble, but I’ll happily wade in it where she’s concerned. Do you understand?”

Their amusement never leaves their blue eyes. But their smile does fall away. “I don’t go where I’m not wanted. If I’m not mistaken, she just moved into your cabin. That makes her preference clear, don’t you think?”

I could stand here talking in circles and get nowhere. Ultimately, they’re right. It’s not that I think they’re an active threat to this thing Evelyn and I have going on, but watching them flirt with her drove home the fact that I truly have no claim. She might have shared my bed, but she’s not mine. Not in any true way.

Even if she stayed in Threshold, how can I ask her to stay with me? I was her captor. I forced her into taking a vow that will cost her life if she tries to reclaim her freedom. Neither of those things is forgivable on its own. Together? We have no chance.

If Evelyn were standing beside me right now, she would point out that I’m making decisions without consulting her. Again.

I leave Nox at the helm and head down to my cabin. Inside, I find Evelyn with several small bowls emitting colorful smoke and strange scents. I close the door softly behind me. “What’s going on here?”

“It’s all a little hocus-pocus.” She doesn’t look up from her mixing. “I have expelled a number of my tattoos, and since they are my heaviest-hitting ones, I don’t feel comfortable getting off this boat without having them recharged.”

All of my earlier concern and stress falls away, replaced by curiosity. Obviously I knew her tattoos were magic, but getting to witness her set them up feels like the closest sort of intimacy. Or maybe I’m reaching for stars.

She pricks her thumb and holds it over the first bowl. The moment her drop of blood hits the contents, she speaks a single word. My skin prickles at the magic that rises in response. It’s gone just as quickly, pulled in by her spell. She quickly repeats the process with the other bowls.

“There.” She sits back and puts her thumb in her mouth. Evelyn winces. “That shit always stings more than it has the right to.” She holds up a small stick with a needle attached. “Since you’re here, how steady is your hand?”

“Steady enough,” I say cautiously.

Evelyn smiles. “Then get over here, big boy. Tattoo me!”

I know how it works, but I can’t pretend I have any skill at it. “Surely there’s someone else who’s better suited.”

Evelyn waves it at me. “Maybe, but I trust you more than anyone else on the ship. All you have to do is follow the lines that are already there. It’ll be fun.”

“Fun,” I repeat. “You have a strange way of viewing things.”

“I would think you’d stop being surprised by that after all this time.” She rolls her eyes. “Look, technically I can do it myself, but it’s a pain in the ass and I need a mirror. It will take me twice as long as it would take you. Please, Bowen.”

She’s asking me for help. More, she’s trusting me to ink her spells onto her skin. The very things to keep her safe and allow her to fight and protect herself. If I was smart, ruthless, I’d force her to drain all of her spells so that she’d stop being a threat.

But that’s the C?n Annwn way of thinking.

Without Evelyn’s magic, the cat-sìth likely would’ve killed me. Lizzie, too. And her shield gave the necessary time to really think about what we were doing with the dragon. The chain of events might have lost me my ship, but the more time that goes on, the more I wonder if that wasn’t a blessing in disguise.

There’s no one relying on me right now. No one except Evelyn. No crew to weigh in the balance of my decisions. No dozens of lives who might pay the price for my questions.

I could no more leave her defenseless than I would toss my sword into the sea.

“Show me how.”

Her smile lights up the room. “You’re the best.” She hands me the first bowl and tattoo instrument, takes off her shirt, and lies down on the bed on her back.

I stop short, all of my attention narrowing on her breasts, shadowed with marks from my beard and mouth, her pretty pink nipples practically begging for another round of pleasure. “Evelyn.”

“Oh.” She blushes a deep red. “Right. I can cover up if—”

“Absolutely not.” I drag the small table over and set the things on it. Then I take the time to kick off my boots and shrug out of my coat. It takes several attempts to find the best position. After a bit of frustration, I end up straddling her torso. I’m careful to keep the majority of my weight off her, and there’s no help for the hard length of my cock making its presence known. Other than raising her brows, she doesn’t comment on it. So I don’t, either.

It’s not until I’m dipping the needles into the ink that I realize what I’m about to do. “This will hurt.”

“Tattoos always do.” She points to the glyph just under her collarbone. “That bowl goes with this one. We’ll have to clean the needles before you switch to the other bowl.”

“Okay.” I press the needles to her skin. She tenses beneath me, and I almost ask her if she’s sure, but she’s right; tattoos always hurt. The very least I can do is ensure her pain has purpose—and that it doesn’t last longer than necessary. Even so, it’s slow going. The glyph is more complicated than it first appears. To distract her, and myself, I ask, “Where did you get all these materials?”

Evelyn carefully sets her hands on my thighs, which would be a distraction all its own if not for concern keeping my thoughts in order. She winks. “I bought it off one of the crew. I don’t know if they were a witch, or just had an apothecary worth of supplies, but they had everything I needed to restock.”

I consider that as I keep inking. “Do I want to ask where you got the money to make these purchases?”

“Probably not.” She somehow manages to laugh without moving. “But I didn’t steal from you or Dia, if that’s what you’re wondering. Or Nox, for that matter. They’re too perceptive and their hands are even quicker than mine.”

With how often she lifts things off me, I probably should have been wondering if she’d done it again to serve her purposes. It never crossed my mind, though. I don’t know if that’s naive … or progress. Still, if she’s creating enemies on the crew, I need to know. “Tell me.”

“Okay, fine. I stole a tiny little ring off the captain. But it’s not like I have it anymore, so no one can prove it.” She grins. “Easy peasy.”

I don’t comment that the crew member she sold it to could use that as proof of her thievery. I suspect if they were going to do that, it would’ve already happened. There is no honor among this crew, and Hedd has no one to blame but himself. “Do you think you can manage to restrain yourself until we get onto another ship? Hedd is a bastard, and he’s vicious when he’s crossed. I wouldn’t lose sleep over killing him—if I’m even capable of it—but it would complicate things and draw further attention to us.” Evelyn is silent for so long that I pause and look up to meet her green eyes. “What?”

“Bowen,” she says slowly. “Did you just offer to murder the captain for me? How did you know that was my love language?” Before I can come up with a suitable response to that—if there even is one—she points to the second bowl. “Clean that off and then start on the next one.”

I finish inking the first glyph and sit back. “I mean to keep you safe. No matter what that requires.” I quickly wash off the tool and settle back to start the second glyph. “I know you’re joking, but it’s the truth.”

“I know.” She strokes her fingers lightly over my thighs. “I appreciate you and the lengths you’re willing to go. I know I came into your life and dropped a bomb. You’ve been adapting better than I could’ve expected, and frankly, I’m a little surprised you don’t hate me.”

I frown, concentrating as I work along a trio of fine dots. “It would be incredibly unfair of me to hate you for asking questions. You didn’t create the C?n Annwn, and you didn’t create their laws. You certainly didn’t have anything to do with how Threshold itself is set up.”

“Of course not. But there’s that old saying about shooting the messenger, and all that.”

“I can infer what you’re talking about, but I have no idea what you’re referencing.” I pause. “I think it would be best if you stop stroking my thighs. It’s incredibly distracting and I don’t want to do this incorrectly.”

Evelyn’s smile takes on a mischievous lilt. “You’re so blunt. I love that. Maybe next time you can practice with paint and we can see just how much distraction you can handle before you start making a mess.”

“Evelyn.”I have to pause and take a long breath to still my shaking hand. “Please.”

Her laugh is music to my ears. She bites her bottom lip. “Okay, okay, fine. I’ll be good so you can finish the job. But unless I’m mistaken, we have a few free hours after this. I think we both deserve a reward …”