Vice obeyed the cat’s unspoken command and stroked her. “I’m not cheerful. I’m just normal. This is normal me.”

Perry narrowed her eyes, trailing them over Vice’s face before shaking her head. “Nooo, you’re definitely glowing. And I’ve seen you sneaking out of your old quarters when FitzRoy’s not looking.” She twisted her mouth to one side and tapped her chin with her forefinger. “What could possibly be the link between these two things?”

Scoffing, Vice folded her arms. “It’s just sex. And he’s good at it.” She shrugged, ignoring Barnacle’s miaow of complaint at the movement. “I’m always cheerful after a good lay.” All true.

“Yes, but I’ve seen you after FitzRoy, Aedan, that delicious young man at Kayracou, those women at Kaiman, but never have I seen you like this.”

The back of Vice’s neck prickled, the sensation creeping across her shoulders and down her back. That wasn’t …

She’d just been smiling. She did that. A lot. Small wonder, after all, since Knigh had kept her well-satisfied over the past few weeks. And yet she still desired his nearness, his touch, the sound of his voice much of the time they were apart. How strange to be gratified and craving at the same time. Was that even possible?

Perry was still looking at her with that smug smile and cocked head. Like she was right.

“What do you mean like this, anyway?”

“Well, I don’t think I’ve seen you snap at anyone in weeks... except when you’re pretending to make Blackwood help you find something in his cabin—very convincing, by the way, well done.”

Vice rolled her eyes. “Thank you for the excellent review of my performance—I hope you’ll send it to all the newspapers in Lunden.” She scanned the clear sky, the rolling sea, let the spray dust her face. “The weather’s good without me having to put any energy into it. We have a Hesperian treasure ship. We have silver. And we are the Queen’s own privateers. What’s not to be cheerful about?”

One eyebrow raised, Perry nodded. “Mmm-hmm.”

Wild Hunt take her.

Irritation needled across Vice’s scalp. Perry was bloody insufferable. Just because she’d told her Knigh had called her wise and, yes, Perry did sometimes get things right, but right now she was acting like she was the fae’s own seer who knew some great secret the rest of the world, especially Vice, was blind to.

Cheeks hot, Vice’s nostrils flared. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I told you.” Perry raised her hands with an exaggerated shrug. “Because you’ve had just sex with plenty of others, but I’ve never seen you have this reaction to it. At least not since—”

“Don’t.”