Chapter 27, Roberts

  Sarah opens the door and takes a long step out, but she’s stopped mid-stride. Quill’s hand presses into Sarah’s chest, her tattooed arm barring the way. Quill’s eyes are sharp and alert as they meet mine, awaiting an order.

  I hold up a hand and shake my head slowly. “No.”

  Quill nudges Sarah backward into the room, closing the door behind them. Sarah turns to look at me, eyes wide with alarm.

  “Who is coming, Sarah?” I ask.

  “An enemy… ship,” she says, tripping over her words. “I saw it beneath the North Star. It must be headed… south? Toward us.”

  I turn to Harken, “Who’s on the lookout?” I ask.

  “Silas.” He says, his brows arched in question. “And what does she mean, she saw it?”

  “The dragon magic gives Sarah premonitions.” I pause, trying to think of a way to sign it for Quill, but nothing comes. Instead I spell out dragon and premonitions, then point to Sarah.

  Harken looks at Sarah, then at me. His breath pushes out hard through his nose before he drops into the nearest seat.

  Quill’s jaw is set, waiting. I turn to face her, spelling Silas with my hand.

  “Tell Silas to keep a sharp eye to the north.” I form a V with two fingers and push it forward from my eyes. Then I make a fist with the thumb pressed between my middle and ring finger, and drag it upward. Watch North.

  Quill studies my hands and my lips, filling in the gaps for what I can’t sign.

  “I want to know if there is so much as a speck on the horizon.” My fingers shape each motion carefully, pausing here and there while my mind claws for the next. Quill's steady gaze tells me I've made myself clear.

  She knocks one fist for yes then folds her forearms across her chest and bows. Her long black braid whips over her shoulder as she turns on her heel and disappears out the door.

  “How much time do we have?” I ask, meeting Sarah’s gaze with urgency in mine.

  Sarah digs a thumb into her temple, like she’s trying to hook a memory. Then she shrugs, shaking her head.

  Harken’s boot taps against the floor as he rakes his fingers through his hair.

  “Alright.” I sweep charts and ledgers aside, uncovering a map on the table, then take two miniature wooden ships from the drawer. “We are here, traveling west,” I say, placing one of the figurines on the map.

  Sarah moves to my side, her shoulder brushing mine, eyes fixed to where I’ve marked.

  “Can you place the other ship?” I ask, handing her the other wooden piece.

  She grips the piece tight in her fist, eyes narrowing as she looks at me. “I don’t think I—”

  “Don’t think. Just feel,” I say, closing my hand over hers.

  The moment our hands touch, I’m filled with a steady warmth, as if she’s the one grounding me. I guide her hand slowly across the map.

  She draws a breath and closes her eyes. When I let go, she keeps moving, her hand circling once before stopping.

  “Here.” She opens her eyes, and places the second ship down on the map.

  “Good,” I give her a gentle smile and snap the dividers open, setting one point on the Hellcat, the other on the piece Sarah placed to the north. “Call it ten miles…. Now, tell me more. What else did you see? Any flags?”

  There’s a pattern of knocks at the door, Quill’s signature. Then she opens the door and finds my eyes signing nothing yet.

  She steps back but I motion her forward. Help, I sign. “Stay, I need you.”

  Quill shuts the latch and comes to stand where she can see both the map and the door. Her stance is wide, arms folded.

  I look to Sarah for an answer. Her lips are pressed thin, a subtle wince in her eyes.

  “What else can you think of?” I press.

  Sarah’s shoulders rise and fall with a heavy breath. “A battle. On this deck. So many bodies, blood everywhere. And one more thing… ” She hesitates, her voice softening.“I’m not sure it was real.”

  “Say it, whatever you saw,” I tell her.

  Her eyes flicker between the three of us. “A pirate with three arms.”

  “Did he have a right arm and two left arms?” I ask.

  Sarah’s head jerks back as she raises a brow. “Yes, how did you know?”

  I glance at Harken. He looks back at me, worry carved into his face. Sarah looks around at us, frowning. “What? Tell me what that means to you.”

  Harken answers, his voice grim. “Tobias.”

  “Who’s Tobias?” Sarah asks."

  “A pirate who wants me dead,” I say.

  Quill looks at me with a quizzical brow. Who wants you dead? She signs.

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  Tobias, I spell the name and Quill lets out a long, harsh exhale. Her boots strike the deckboards as she paces. Her eyes flick to Sarah, then to me, then back to the door.

  “We’re holding four knots. Figure he’s making six on a southerly run in this wind.” I mark Tobias' southbound line, recalling my days on his ship, and the route he’ll be taking, if he’s returned to slaughter and extort his way through the western seas like he did before.

  Quill stops pacing and leans over the table, eyeing my measurements and watching me speak.

  “He needs to eat this gap.” I tap the distance with the dividers. “Ten miles at five knots puts him on our latitude in about two hours.” I slide the dividers to our west bound line and tick off the same two hours for us. “In that time we’ll make twelve miles to the west.”

  “Here is where our lines cross.” I move both pieces until they’re side by side. “Two hours to contact if neither of us alters course. Plenty of time to prepare.”

  Harken rubs his jaw. “Or we take our chances in the Southern Isles. Stay long enough to dodge Tobias’ path. I know you want him gone, Captain, but maybe we wait until we’re at our strongest.”

  “No.” I say, leaning in. “We face him now. Stalling only prolongs our starvation, and changing course leaves us open to whatever else the sea throws at us. With Sarah’s warning, we hold the upper hand.”

  “Maybe.” Harken’s fingers linger in his beard before his gaze moves to Sarah. “But do we also have your dragon? We know where Tobias is…why not send your pet to burn him where he stands?”

  Sarah shakes her head. “I don’t know how to summon it. Until I do, I can’t trust it to come when we need it. I have a feeling this fight is ours.”

  Harken turns to look at Quill, speaking clearly so that she can see what he’s saying.” I don’t doubt she saw something Captain, but… the crew is shaken. Half of them are calling the dragon a blessing, the other half are calling it dark witchcraft. Now you want them to prepare for a battle on her word alone?”

  Quill points two fingers to her eyes, then at Sarah, then makes the sign for danger. She is saying the same, that it’s a risky move.

  I press my palm flat on the map. “I meant to take my time easing the crew into all of this.” I lift my head and wait for Harken’s eyes to meet mine. “But not now. If Sarah is right, and godsdamned Tobias is back for revenge, we have to be ready for anything. We need a plan, and we need the crew with us.”

  “How will you convince them that this vision is to be heeded?” Harken asks.

  “I’ll tell them the truth. Sarah has had a premonition on this ship once before. And I ignored it. That is why we hit the shards.”

  Harken and Quill stare at me, eyes wide. Harken’s mouth opens and shuts again.

  “Holy fucking shit.” Quill says, the words coming out rough and muted. She must be rattled, to use her voice.

  “It wasn’t deliberate,” Sarah says. “She didn’t—the Captain didn’t have much to go by. All I told her was to turn around, I didn’t say why. I didn’t know I could have premonitions, and neither did she.”

  “Right, but if I tell the crew that I made the mistake of not trusting you once before, maybe they will trust both of us now.” I say.

  “That could work,” Harken says. “Fall on your sword and admit to keeping this from them. Say you knew she was the Dragon Queen all along.”

  Quill holds up her fist and moves it up and down in a knocking motion, signaling her agreement.

  “She should stay here when you go to address them. The minute she sets foot on the deck it’s going to be a shit show,” Harken says.

  Quill signs Bring her. Less threat.

  “I agree with Quill,” I say. “If I bring Sarah with me, they can see she’s not a threat, still human.”

  Quill's hands move quickly and I squint trying to keep up. “Make her one of us. Sign the paper?”

  “Paper?” Harken asks, rubbing his chin. Then he throws open his hand. “The articles! Not a bad idea. But it’s going to eat up the time that we could be using to prepare.”

  Worth it. Quill signs. And I agree, the best case scenario would be to settle our differences before the battle. But Sarah hasn’t given me an answer yet. I feel her eyes on me, but I avert my gaze.

  “I’ll do it,” Sarah blurts out.

  I look at her, surprised.

  “I’ll be your navigator, too,” she says.

  “So, you really did have a plan forming,” Harken says.

  Quill holds both hands out as if steering an invisible wheel. Then she presses a flat palm beside her head and pushes it forward. Her eyebrows lift as she looks at me, and she claps softly.

  “A navigator who sees the future,” I say, grinning back. “Impressive, I know.”

  “Or another overly ambitious choice,” Harken mutters. Then he looks at Quill and speaks more clearly. “Alessa was supposed to be our ‘gifted’ navigator, and look how that turned out.”

  Quill answers at once, hands sharp with emphasis.

  “That’s right. I don’t shrink away from risk,” I say, patting Quill on the shoulder.

  Harken nods at Quill. “I’ve seen her doubling down and getting what she wants enough times.” Then he looks at Sarah. “Speaking of risk, you should know the one you’re taking.”

  Harken opens the drawer and pulls out the red leather bound ledger, branded with the words The Articles of Hellcat. He sets it on the table, flipping to the first page. “You’d be signing these, if the vote passes.”

  Sarah leans over the ledger, and begins tracing the first line with her fingertip. Her frown deepens.

  “And losing the vote could be a death sentence, so we need a backup plan,” says Harken.

  “I could use article thirteen to buy us three days, by then we would have reached sanctum and she might be able to escape.” I say, glancing at Harken.

  He pins me with a stern glare. “If they catch onto the idea you let her escape, you’ll face mutiny,” he says.

  I break away from his gaze and look back at Sarah. “I think I can sway the crew to vote in your favor tonight. And if it comes to it, I’ll risk mutiny to help you. You have my word.”

  Quill signs something, her eyes flashing with distress. Harken doesn’t have to know how to sign, to understand what Quill is saying. “You’ll have my right of defense too, we won’t let it come to that Captain,” he says.

  I meet Quill’s eyes first, give the smallest nod, then let my gaze shift to Harken. My shoulders ease, a breath slipping out before I can catch it. “Thank you,” I say.

  “Let’s hope it won’t come to that.” I pull a thumb forward from under my chin, then make a hook with my index finger.

  Quill signs “I trust you.”

  Sarah finally looks up from the ledger, and her gaze finds mine.

  “I’m ready.” she says, with steel in her voice.

  I turn to Quill. “Go with Harken to assemble the crew, then come back to escort Sarah and me when it’s time.”

  Quill signs agreement, and the two of them step out, the latch falling shut behind them.

  The silence that follows is heavy, pressing in from the walls. “Are you ready?” Sarah asks. Her voice is confident, powerful.

  My heart sinks in my chest. I pause, as if the time I take to respond might somehow give us more time together.

  “I trust you, Sarah.” I say. But I can’t help the lowered tone in my voice, the tightness in my throat almost choking out the words.

  Sarah moves closer, standing shoulder to shoulder, her hands on the table next to mine.

  My pulse quickens and my fingers grip the table as I wait for her to say something. I hear her breaths coming steadily and my own start to falter. I grit my teeth and sway on my feet but the urge to break the silence is too strong. “What made your decision? You’ve been sitting on my offer for days, why now?” I ask.

  I catch Sarah’s head turning toward me in the corner of my eye. “In my vision I knew I was one of you, a Hellcat,” she says, her breath warm against my cheek. “And it just felt right.”

  My pulse stutters. I set my jaw and brace my shoulders, but I can’t stop myself from turning, from finding her lips with my eyes. Gods, how I want to meet them with my own. Instead I tear my eyes away, and search for her gaze. This time it's her that's lingering on my mouth. My heart slams once, twice, like a battering ram. My eyes grow heavy, my resolve begins to melt.

  A knock at the door shatters the silence and rebuilds the walls of reality. I pull back, my spine stiffening.

  Quill opens the door. “It’s time,” she signs.