He surges halfway out of the sea, his eyes bulging, his razor-sharp beak snapping shut with a wet crack. His body slams against the trainer deck, sending a tremor through the metal floor below us as we hit it. Bao bounces off the rim of the deck and slips back below the waves, bellowing once before the water closes over his head.

Swift lies paralyzed beneath me, the pulpy remains of the fish stuck to her hand. It’s fallen on the deck in two pieces, cracked in half by the sudden impact. But her hand’s still there, not down Bao’s throat, so at least something’s gone right for a change.

“I said toss,” I hiss through my teeth, my face pressed flat against the deck.

“Sorry,” she groans.

“Do you have to taunt every living being you come across?”

“I think you broke something.”

“At least you’ve still got your arm,” I spit. “Moron.”

Swift claps me on the back with her gut-soaked hand. I elbow her in the stomach and roll off her, landing flat on my back.

And then somehow we’re both cackling. Not the quiet chuckles at each other’s expense that we’ve shared from time to time, but the raucous laughter that comes from sheer relief and the adrenaline in our blood gradually slipping away. A flush fills my face.

Swift catches my gaze, and she laughs even harder. “You look like a tomato!” she crows, trying to wring the slime from her hands.

“At least I don’t snort when I laugh,” I wheeze between breaths.

This only makes her snort harder. She picks up half of the fish and throws it at me. It hits me in the shoulder with a wet slap. “You’re so good at it—why don’t you give him the fish?”

I sit up, ready to leap on her again, but then the second half of the fish comes flying at my face. “Jesus Christ, Swift!” I yelp, swatting it away.

“Yeah, that’s right, here’s your uncivilized pirate wench,” she cackles, rolling on her side and pushing herself to her feet.

A bellow from the water marks Bao’s impatience. I pull a fish from the bucket and pitch it out into the sea, not caring where it lands.

As I sit there, taking in the bright world around me and the damp deck beneath me and the blood that’s rushed to my face, I finally take stock of what’s just happened. I was in a situation where I was completely safe, where Bao couldn’t touch me. And I threw myself headlong into his path, just to save Swift from her own stupidity.

Swift, my captor. But Swift, the reason I’m still alive.

Swift, my guard. But Swift, my guardian.