4. Chapter Four

"We"ve got seven souls, captain," Alaric announced as he leaned against his cutlass, the tip digging into the deck. A triumphant nod dipped his chin to his chest. "Tied them all up right here."

"And the eighth?" Rahmi asked, sweeping his eyes along the shivering and trembling men restrained to the main mast, the sharp edges of daggers and swords pinning them further in place.

"Already below, as are the rations and barrels of fresh water."

Rahmi made a noise of interest from the back of his throat as he began to walk toward the captives. His boots fell heavy against the deck, the clunk menacing amongst the otherwise silent crew and captured. He could almost taste their fear. Seven souls— eight total if he counted Karim— and he doubted he would take more than two.

Pity.

He halted before the first sailor, a stout, redheaded man with a pallid face and tight shoulders. His crew member, Thomas Kennedy, removed the dagger tip from the man"s chest and took a step back, a jeer curling his lip. The captured man didn"t look up at Rahmi; instead, he kept his head bent forward and his eyes fixed on his feet.

One of Rahmi"s favorite pastimes was guessing the emotions of the captured crew. He reveled in being right and had taught himself the art of reading people through it. This man? Fear— that was a given. They were always afraid. Sadness— perhaps a bit from the sag of his chest, though still unexpected. Anxiety— indeed unavoidable considering the man"s current circumstances.

Rahmi shook his head. He didn"t take men who died bowing to others. He had no need on his ship for that. "Thomas? Return him to Samael. Death requires a soul." He had already stepped in front of the second man by the time the first let out a cry of panic, followed by a shriek of pain, then nothing.

The man"s body hung limp against the ropes binding him to the mast, blood steadily dripping from the slit in his neck, dousing the air with a tang of metallic.

Rahmi turned his attention to the second man, who was still eyeing the dead one with wide-eyed horror, his brow slick and clammy. Fear— well, that seemed to be the theme. Dread— his downward gaze was a giveaway. He did watch his crewmate die, after all. Guilt— ah, there it was. There was always a telltale sign of guilt. Sometimes, it was in flustered stuttering; other times, it was in the unnatural stillness of the body. All had the pain of it mirrored in their eyes—a pain they desperately wanted handled before they died.

It was like a shadow hanging over them, one that Rahmi could spot a league away.

The second man let out an involuntary whimper as Rahmi leered, hinging at the waist to lean toward him. "What"s your name, sailor?"

"C-Cobden, s-sir," he managed to stutter.

"Are you ready to join a ship crewed by the guilty and captained by the cursed, Cobden?" Rahmi asked, wrapping a hand around the hilt of his dagger and unsheathing it. The clouds, lit from below by the setting sun, were shifting from soft pink to golden orange, and those colors were reflected off the metal.

"I—I—" Cobden began, his gaze drifting to the dagger now positioned at the rope around his wrists.

Rahmi slipped the sharp edge of the dagger underneath the knot and snapped the rope in two with a quick tug upward, where it fell to the deck between their feet. Cobden lifted his hands to brush his fingers over the area where the rope had rubbed his skin red and raw. Rahmi flicked his dark locks from his forehead, surveying Cobden"s calloused palms, strapped muscles, and freckled face.

"Do you work the sails?" Rahmi kicked the ropes to the side, and they collided with the dead man"s ankle. "I need men who can work the rigging."

Cobden opened his mouth to speak, and the mast"s shadow lengthened with the new set of clouds, casting half of his face in darkness.

"Don"t do it, Cobden."

Rahmi"s head tilted with interest as his eyes snapped three men to the left. A challenge? It had been quite some time since he had one of those. He was keen to see if the man would keep his vigor in the face of death. Rahmi began a slow, calculated walk down his line of prisoners, dragging the tip of his dagger along the bellies of the men as he went. The one who spoke out gulped when Rahmi halted directly before him but still squared his shoulders.

"Something to say?" Rahmi asked, placing the dagger under the man"s chin and forcing it to lift. There, in the spot behind his navel, a shiver of pleasure began to coil. He wouldn"t give himself over to the joy of fear, not yet.

"Don"t join his crew," the man said, doing his best to side-eye in Cobden"s direction without turning his head. "He can"t take us without our permission. I"ve heard of him. The Specter—"

Behind him, Rahmi heard Alaric snort. He couldn"t wait until the likes of Devlin fucking Cato was long forgotten. He sent an irritated glance over his shoulder, locking eyes with his quartermaster. "When do you think they"ll realize I"m not Captain Devlin Cato, and this isn"t The Phantom Night?"

Alaric shrugged, a humored grin tugging at his mouth. "Couldn"t begin to tell you, captain. They"ll learn soon enough, I suppose."

Rahmi turned back to look down at the man, the top of his balding head meeting just under Rahmi"s nose. Disdain. Hatred. Determination. An interesting trio of emotions were echoed in the man"s blue eyes. Rahmi let out a huff of amusement just before removing the dagger from the man"s chin and thrusting it into his side. The blade scraped against his ribcage, the hum of metal scraping against bone reverberating up Rahmi"s forearm.

"If it needed repeating, and I will not do so again, I am not The Specter, and this isn"t The Phantom Night," Rahmi murmured in the dying man"s ear as he yanked his dagger back, feeling the flow of warm blood coat his fingers. "And men on my ship don"t get a choice."

The man grunted, blood bubbling in the corner of his mouth. He took a wet breath, and death rode on the gurgle that escaped with his exhale. "At least…I won"t…live long…enough to…see." He chuckled before coughing, and a spray of red dotted the front of Rahmi"s tunic. "You won"t…be able to…take me…not if I"m…dead."

Rahmi contemplated the man for a moment, his focus narrowing onto the stream of blood that trickled from the curve of the man"s bottom lip to his pointed chin. Letting this man die would be easy, and he didn"t fuck with things that came easy. "I don"t normally take sailors like you—" he said, sheathing the dagger into the leather belt at his waist.

"Captain—" Alaric started, and warning marred his tone. Rahmi ignored him.

"Elman!" Cobden cried out, attempting to wrestle past Thomas but coming to a grinding halt when three more cutlasses crisscrossed in front of him.

"I prefer ones who are hurting," Rahmi went on, lifting his hand to thumb the blood away from the man"s lip. "You aren"t in pain, Elman, not in the way I like them to be." His hand shot forward, fingers wrapping in a fist around Elman"s neck. Elman tried to swallow, his throat bobbing beneath Rahmi"s grasp, but Rahmi only closed his grip further. "I think you"ll learn today that I"m not a man who steps away from a challenge."

Power pulsed from within Rahmi, a thrum deep in his chest…a place where he knew his shrunken heart lay. That power bloomed, hot and greedy, against his sternum. It beat like a drum up his shoulder and ricocheted down to his elbow before blasting like a cannon through his hand and into the man. The air crackled around them as the man let out a gasping shout.

"What did you do?" Elman cried out, his voice growing stronger as his leaning hunch straightened. The blood from his side slowed to a stop as the skin that peeked out from beneath the torn tunic began to knit together. "What did you—"

"I"m Captain Rahmi Abada, collector of souls and proprietor of power from Liddros, God of the Sea," Rahmi seethed through gritted teeth as he began to withdraw the magic that had latched onto Elman"s soul, tearing away pieces of it as though it were an owed pound of flesh. "Many would consider it a curse, and perhaps it is." Elman let out a scream as Rahmi let go of his throat, and he collapsed against the ropes still binding him to the mast. "But let me tell you a secret, Elman. It"s not a curse to me."

Rahmi stepped back to survey Elman, the newest member of his crew.

"I"ve found my two," Rahmi said. "Send the rest to Samael."

Rahmi whistled a song he faintly remembered learning as a child, aiming his walk toward the hatch leading to the underbelly of The Mark of Malice. The remaining men pleaded for mercy as the crew lifted their cutlasses and daggers, but none received it.

The path leading to the brig was one Rahmi took a fair few times a month, as many of the people he forced aboard his ship needed time to process. It wasn"t uncommon that they needed to process more than once. There was no better place to sit with one"s thoughts than behind the iron cell doors, surrounded by nothing save for the lantern fixed to the far wall and the sound of wood creaking as The Mark of Malice carved her way through the sea.

It was dark and musty, and the stale air did not help those with mold issues. Pooled water slipped into the cracks between the floorboards. If one yelled loud enough, which they often did, they might be heard in the berth if the water was calm and the sails weren"t snapping in the wind.

Rahmi paused at the doorframe of the brig, surprised to see that Karim was quiet as he sat on the dirty floor, his legs bent and his forearms resting on his knees. His head was tilted back to rest against the wall, eyes closed. He almost looked peaceful. It was unnerving enough that Rahmi briefly considered sending Tennant in if only to rough him up further. He needed to get this over with. He had other things to tend to.

Rahmi crossed the threshold, the wooden planks squeaking beneath his boots. Karim opened his eyes at the sound and took a deep breath before lifting his head from the wall to plant his sight on the captain. Rahmi stopped at the door to the cell, leaning a shoulder against the cool metal bars.

"I"ve been told you"re ready to talk," Rahmi said, glancing at Karim, who had stood and was busy brushing the dirt from the back of his breeches. Rahmi reached into his pocket and pulled out the parchment, unfolding it carefully. The map crinkled between his fingers, and the ink had dried where it smeared. "It"s interesting you"ve been carrying this around, even amid a storm."

"I couldn"t risk it falling into the wrong hands," Karim replied, though his gaze dropped to the map. "I could use it as leverage if I held onto it."

"And now?" Rahmi asked as he quirked a brow.

Karim darted forward, thrusting his hand through the cell bars to snatch the map. Rahmi was quicker. He grasped Karim"s arm, pinning it against the crossbar and putting just enough pressure on the elbow that Karim let out a yelp of pain.

"Tell me where you found that coin," Rahmi said as the ship rocked against a wave. Karim stumbled, though his arm remained hooked through the door.

There was a pop followed by a scream as Karim"s elbow dislocated. Rahmi only leaned further on the arm, bending the joint to an excruciatingly impossible angle.

"I can"t…tell you…" Karim rasped through a clenched jaw, his lips whitening as they pressed together. Rahmi watched with interest as Karim"s nostrils flared with his next breath. "If…you don"t…let me…go."

Rahmi stepped back, and Karim fell to the floor, cradling his arm to his chest. Impatience tore through Rahmi, igniting a tightness that tugged at his chest. He could do this all day, but did he want to? Not particularly. Pure interest kept him fixated on Karim, and that alone made him change tactics. He crouched next to the cell, draping his forearms over his thighs and letting the map dangle between his knees. "You talk, and I"ll find you a healer. You remain silent, and I"ll unlock this cell door and find more ways to injure you until you do."

Karim whimpered, a trickle of sweat dripping down his temple. He swallowed thickly as though trying to bypass a large lump in his throat and took one more inhale before leveling Rahmi with a murderous stare. Rahmi almost grinned.

"I"ll tell you…as much as I can…" Karim breathed out. "But…I"m going…to need…that healer."

Rahmi said nothing and merely waited for Karim to continue. The ship rolled again, and the framing of the hull groaned. Down the passageway, the new barrels of fresh water from the merchant ship pulled against the ropes holding them in place, the sound echoing down the narrow hall.

Karim took another steadying breath. "Almost two years ago, I was in Sha"Hadra, living in the alleyways of the marketplace. I was looking for a way to get to the coast when I was approached by a thief named Draven, who needed help stealing that map—" He paused to tilt his head in gesture toward the parchment. "From a temple in Sha"Hadra. He heard through a string of friends that I knew intimately about the city"s layout."

"That certainly doesn"t explain this…" Rahmi trailed off to tuck his hand into the pocket of his tunic and retrieve the coin. Karim"s face paled, if possible, even further at the sight of it.

"The third man I was with," Karim pressed on as Rahmi rose, planting his shoulder against the iron bars and hooking one ankle over the other. "He was a scholar during his prime…a map reader for the king. He interpreted it for us, and we used some extra funds Draven and I stole to hire a ship."

Rahmi flicked the coin into the air and caught it as it began to fall. "And the map led you to this single coin?"

Karim scoffed as he shifted from his knees, grimacing when the movement jostled his elbow. "Not a single coin. An entire cave filled with them. It was a— a hall fit for the king"s palace in Mistral"s Bay. Treasure beyond your wildest imagination." He leaned forward, grimacing again. "The map is a set of islands nearly a ten-day sail from the coast. Hundreds of islands. We searched for months and—"

Rahmi was quiet for a long minute as he stared at the map. A set of gentle footsteps passed the threshold of the brig, and he looked over his shoulder to see Elodie, one of the galley workers, breeze by with a crate of root vegetables in her arms. He held his gaze on the empty doorframe, focusing on the steady beat of his heart, before finally turning back to Karim.

"You expect me to believe that?" Rahmi asked, a slow smile splitting his mouth. He lifted the parchment, shaking it in the air. "You expect me to believe this map leads to a cave filled with treasure beyond my— what did you say? My wildest imagination?" He snorted, letting his hand fall to his side. "I"ve been sailing the Aeglecian Seas for three hundred years—"

"The islands aren"t there all of the time—"

"Well, isn"t that convenient?"

"They appear with the light of the crescent moon," Karim said, shuffling backward as Rahmi approached the cell door. He reached toward the set of keys he had tethered to his belt. "I"m not lying to you! The Luminaria!"

Rahmi paused at the door, the iron key floating just above the level of the lock.

"You asked me about the Luminaria," Karim rushed out, tightening his grip on his injured elbow. Rahmi could see it had begun to swell, the sleeve of Karim"s tunic tighter than it had been a few minutes previously. "Soren, he was the scholar. He came across a legend when he was doing his research on the map. It was a legend that had been associated with the Luminaria. He convinced the ship"s captain that we would allow him to have it if he gave us passage."

"My patience is wearing thin," Rahmi said, his knuckles whitening as he tightened his grip on the key. Stifling the urge to break Karim"s other arm was becoming much harder.

"There"s a legend that the Luminaria was a gift from the gods, but it was lost, along with the treasure we found in the hall. It"s a gemstone—a ruby, almost, but…more refined." Karim"s gaze dropped to a pool of water on the floor of his cell. His eyes went distant, faded, as though he were lost in a memory.

The glazed expression gave Rahmi pause, and he leaned to the side to better peer at Karim through the bars. "And what does this gemstone do?" He would entertain it. The story might give him something to ponder before dinner, anyway.

"Its powers are rumored to be unlimited. The captain who gave us passage, Captain Nasir Al-Mahdi, was interested in it when we told him. He had gotten in a bad way with the king. He allowed Nasir to stay out of prison as long as we found him the stone. We drew up an accord with the king himself."

Rahmi narrowed his eyes and, in a sudden flash, shoved the key into the lock and pushed the cell door open. Karim shuffled back, seemingly torn between protecting his injured arm and getting as far away from Rahmi as quickly as possible. Rahmi crouched in front of him, reaching out a hand to grasp Karim"s elbow. "Why does the king seek the gem?"

"I—" Karim said, but he clamped his lips shut, and Rahmi watched as his face turned a shade of green usually only reserved for extreme seasickness. Rahmi tightened his grip. "I don"t know! For the love of the gods, I don"t know!"

Rahmi released him, and Karim collapsed against the framing of the hull, chest heaving as he sucked in deep breaths. In the next moment, he leaned to the side and emptied his stomach onto the floor. It splashed back up, coating the front of Karim"s tunic and the toes of Rahmi"s boots.

"You will lead me to this Luminaria," Rahmi said, the statement not posed as a question. He stood, lifting his boot to wipe the vomit onto Karim"s breeches.

Karim shuddered as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I—I"ve spent the last year trying to find it again."

"You said you found it with your associates," Rahmi pressed him, crossing his arms over his chest and tucking the map between his arm and ribcage. "Where can we find them?"

Karim shook his head, and, for a moment, Rahmi thought he would be sick again. "Dead. They…they died at the cave. I was the only one to get out alive." Rahmi raised his brows, but his expression alone must have been enough to intimidate Karim because he flinched back again. "I"m telling the truth, captain. That is all I know."

Rahmi surveyed the man huddled in the corner of the cell, covered in his own sick, pale, and clammy. He nodded once before pivoting and exiting the cell, locking the door behind him.

"Wait! I need a healer!" Karim began to scoot himself forward, accidentally smearing his pile of vomit across the floor with his hip. "Please! A healer! Please!"

Rahmi clicked his tongue against his teeth as he reached up and snuffed out the lamp with a quick pinch of his fingers, pitching the brig into black. "I"ll get you a healer," he said as he began the familiar walk toward the passage, quickly navigating the room despite the darkness. "I just didn"t say when. Maybe your time down here will help you remember further."

"No! No!" Karim screamed as Rahmi stepped into the hallway, shutting the thick door of the brig behind him. The screams dulled to a muffle.

Rahmi turned toward the stairs at the ship"s bow and was unsurprised to see Alaric leaning against the wall. Alaric"s one blue eye studied Rahmi as the captain pushed past his quartermaster.

"Pennley and Elodie caught enough fish that they are making fresh stew for supper," Alaric said, following Rahmi down the passage. By Alaric"s tone, Rahmi knew that he was skirting around what he wanted to say.

Rahmi shot him a look over his shoulder, marching up the stairs as the ship surged forward with a sudden gust of wind that caught the sails. "Speak plainly, Alaric. From the look on your face, you overheard, at least, some of that."

"We have to inquire about it further, captain," Alaric replied as though he had never mentioned fish stew. "A gemstone with unlimited abilities? We can—"

"It"s a farce, Alaric," Rahmi said with a shake of his head.

They passed through the berth, half of the swinging hammocks filled with softly snoring men scheduled to crew overnight. The stench was acrid and eye-watering. From Alaric"s rapid blinks and the curl of his lip, he must have smelled it, too. They would have the men wash out their hammocks and clothes during the next rain.

"You are a pirate captain cursed to a ship for over three hundred years, and you can only go on land once every seven years," Alaric replied, logic threading his tone in a condescendingly slow way that made Rami want to throttle him. "And you don"t believe in a gemstone that could potentially break that curse?" He sighed as they climbed another set of stairs, exiting onto the quarterdeck. "If only there were a way to verify it."

Rahmi stopped in his tracks, and Alaric ran straight into his back. "Maybe—" He lifted a hand to stroke the stubbled beard on his jawline. "Alaric, set course for the ice caves north of the capital. There is one person we can ask— one person who studied the curse long enough to break it."

Alaric"s brows knitted together. "Who?"

"Devlin Cato. The captain of The Phantom Night."