“I’m aguest.”
Kit’s disbelief was written across his face. Nick recalled the interest Kit and his partner had taken in the symbols tattooed across his arms. “I can’t do magic. Or spells.”
There was a thump against the door. Kit rose to his feet and opened it to exchange words with whoever was on the otherside. He then shut the door and approached Nick, stopping just in front of him. “We are transferring here.”
Nick didn’t budge, glaring up at Kit. Kit met his eyes, and his tail swung side to side in agitated sweeps.
“Fight me, and I’ll be forced to knock you out again,” Kit warned. He grabbed Nick under his armpits and lifted him to his feet with ease. They were the same height, Nick broader, Kit stronger. Standing, the manacles seemed to weigh a tonne, pulling at agitated shoulder muscles. Nick rolled them, and Kit’s eyes latched on to the movement. “I apologise for the discomfort. I will remove them once we are aboard my ship,” Kit promised. “But not before.”
Kit clasped Nick by the shoulder and corralled him out ahead. Nick felt claustrophobic climbing uneven wooden steps with sides so narrow his shoulders only just fit. Kit passed through the same narrow passage with ease.
They emerged onto the deck of a small jetty.
Sailors moved around them, and Kit pushed Nick down a gangway leading to an empty pier on the edge of a city. Nick turned away from the city, twisting in the opposite direction. He spotted Vi’s estate across the bay, faint light from the stone pier glowing in the dark. The sky had lightened, but the sun hadn’t yet breached the horizon line. Had it been two hours, maybe three, since Nick had been grabbed?
Kit’s comment about the late night would probably prove true. Nick guessed it would be noon before his absence was noticed. But maybe that knocked-out guard would wake up and raise the alarm before then? If, that was, Kit wasn’t lying about what happened to the man.
Kit pushed Nick forwards, and they walked across the empty pier to where a small rowboat and a child waited. The child’s eyes brightened when he laid eyes on Kit, and intelligent eyes slid up and down Nick in an assessing manner.
Kit pulled Nick to a stop just before the boat. “Don’t try anything. Your hands are tied, and you’ll drown if you tip us over.”
There wasn’t a plank leading to the little boat, and Nick refused to step onto it. Which left Kit in an awkward position because if he just shoved Nick, he’d likely end up in the water or end up tipping the boat over.
Kit growled at him. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I will. I won’t endanger my crew because you’re dragging your feet.”
“Maybe you should have thought about that before kidnapping me.”
“Just smack him with your tail,” the child suggested. “Like you did with that sailor who stole the lantern oil.”
Kit’s tail lashed. He stared hard at Nick. “Don’t make me do this the hard way.” And though his eyes were gritty with determination, his voice softened. “Please.”
Nick glared. He’d dally here as long as he could. He wouldn’t go along with it because his abductor saidplease –
Heat seared Nick’s hip, and he yelped, stumbling. Kit caught the motion, turning it into a controlled fall onto the rowboat. Nick landed hard against his ribs, the vessel rocking beneath him. Air hissed through his teeth as pain throbbed sharp and hot. “I’m going to strangle you with that tail,” he spat.
He blinked back furious tears as he awkwardly manoeuvred himself into a sitting position. Kit nimbly hopped on board, managing not to disturb the balance of the boat in the slightest. He sat, smoothly took both oars in hand, and they set off. The child at his back hummed a greeting to Kit, the end of his tail swishing above the black water.
The child leaned forwards to peer curiously at Nick’s face, and he met the boy’s eyes. How mad was he allowed to be at a child who just got him hit?
“I would have struck you anyway,” Kit said, voice edged with worry. “Do not blame Mini.”
A tense silence fell on the rowboat as they passed between the shadows of moored, silent ships and ventured out into the open ocean.
Chapter Five
The large ship sat heavy in the water, black weathered boards a looming wall that blocked the foreign moon and cast them into shadow. Three masts reached up into the sky, stripped like lightning-struck trees, sails furrowed in lines of harsh white. Dozens of sailors raced across the deck, calling out to one another, moving with brisk efficiency.
The rowboat’s prow thudded against the ship with a nerve-wracking jolt. Ropes came down. Mini caught one and looped it through a metal ring at the rear of the boat while Kit secured the front. Cold ocean water sloshed against their hull, churning violently. Nick imagined falling between the two vessels and getting crushed.
A ladder unrolled; a lifeline to climb the slick wall.
Kit stood. “Would you rather I tie a rope around you and haul you up, or unlock these so you can climb up yourself?”
Nick forced down the fierce outrage that wanted him to fight every second of every minute. “I’ll climb.”
Kit unlocked the chains, and the heavy weights fell away from Nick with aclankthat echoed across the ocean. A soft sound caught in Kit’s throat. “I will get you warmer clothes soon,” he murmured.
Nick looked down at himself. A thin shirt. Shorts. He was shivering; he hadn’t noticed.
