“Are you coming?” Nod called. The moonlight shone off a strange pendant around his neck. A bone. Possibly human—like a finger bone. She shuddered. He literally wears the bones of his enemies. He and Lir stood knee deep in the waves, and Fiona tentatively approached them.
These two would be her new family—at least until they threw her to the sea demon. She’d been studying the two Picaroons on their march to the ship. While Nod had laugh lines around his eyes, Lir gave the impression that smiling was something that might seriously injure him. She could tell by the rigid set of his shoulders that he carried sorrow with him like an albatross around his neck.
Apart from their personality differences, their kinship was unmistakable. It was apparent in their broad builds, the fullness of their lips, the bronze skin, and the deep green of their eyes that they were brothers.
In the dark waters, the two Picaroons leapt into the skiff. At the water’s edge, Fiona paused. Sea foam rushed over her feet, freezing her toes and stinging a cut on her ankle. She shivered, almost gagging. The ocean was cold and unforgiving. The ocean was faceless men and buried secrets. She wanted to go home.
But there is no home.
“Are you coming?” Lir growled.
She stepped further into the water, gasping at the lingering winter chill.
Lir gripped two oars, glaring at her. “Sit in the bow.”
She gathered, by the tilt of his head, that the bow was the pointy part of the boat facing the ship.
Nod, oarless, sat on a bench opposite his brother.
She climbed over the edge, and the boat wobbled as she slipped past Lir. Chilled by the sea wind, she hugged herself as she crouched on a small, triangular strip of wood spanning the bow.
Lir turned, glowering at her as he pulled off his doublet. “At least you’ll be useful as a counterweight.”
She rubbed her arms, watching as Lir, his white shirt hanging loose around his neck, leaned forward and plunged the oars into the water. The boat glided away from the shore, cresting a wave. They passed a cluster of old wooden posts that jutted from the water like fingers clawing from a grave. Salty spray soaked her dress when the boat plunged downward.
Gripping her wooden seat, her knuckles whitened. At least she’d spared Thomas.
At the other end, Nod reclined against the boat’s edge. He peered around his brother, smiling faintly. “Don’t have your sea legs yet, eh?”
“Never got them, sir.” She had no idea how to address him.
The lines around his eyes crinkled. “You can call me Captain. Captain Nodon. And this sweet young man here will be your first mate.”
Did he expect her to join his crew? Maybe Cadonia’s rumor was true, about the Picaroons looking to fill their ranks.
Fiona straightened, trying to ignore the nausea welling in her stomach. If she joined the Picaroons, that meant she could gain their god’s power. And that meant she could kill the Purgators before they got to her. Though unless Lir improved his attitude, maybe he’d be the first to go.
“People say you sacrifice your tributes to Dagon,” she said, her voice wavering.
Nod stared at her, pulling a pipe out of his jacket.
It was Lir who spoke up, shouting over his shoulder. “It’s partly true.”
Her stomach turned flips in the bobbing rowboat, and she suppressed the urge to vomit. When you were seasick, you were supposed to stare at one spot, and Lir’s back was right in front of her. She fixed her eyes on the shifting muscles in his neck as he plunged the oars again into the sea. A curling tattoo snaked up the top of his back. The man was at least twice her size, and each stroke of the oar sent them hurtling closer to the ship at an incredible speed. Were the Picaroons all like this? No wonder Lir thought she was useless.
Nod whispered to his pipe in Angelic until smoke rose from the bowl. “You don’t seem like the other recruits. I hope you have something other than dresses in that bag of yours.”
She squinted into the ocean spray. “I don’t, really.” Her teeth began to chatter. “What do you mean, the other recruits? I don’t understand—am I joining your crew?”
Nod puffed his pipe. “First you must undergo the trials. There are six candidates, though you’re the only one who seemed willing to come. The rest were kicked out of their lands, probably for raping or murdering.”
Fantastic. It wasn’t a certain death, but the company she’d be keeping made it sound like a floating prison. Had Nod and Lir come from some kind of prison?
Sea water ran down her cheek, dripping into her mouth. “Did you both come as Picaroon tribute?”
Lir leaned forward, resting his hands on his knees. “First of all, we don’t call ourselves Picaroons. We call ourselves the Guardians. And no, we weren’t tribute. Most of the lowlifes we recruit don’t make it past Dagon.”
Nod blew a puff of smoke into the air. “Don’t scare the girl. I have faith in this one.” He jabbed his pipe at her. “She’s different. Anyway, we’ll find out during the trials what everyone’s made of.”
Monster’s blood. She was made from monster’s blood.
15
Tobias