We wait out the rest of the afternoon, me on Bao’s back and Swift in the Splinter, until the Minnow appears on the horizon again. I stay on the pup while Swift jets back toward the ship, but Bao can’t resist his imprinting. He swims after her, nose pointed directly at the boat he’s come to identify as his home and charge. I watch from his back as claws on tethers descend from the ship, scooping the Splinter back up into its resting place. Swift gets out to meet Code and Chuck, who wait for her on the deck with packages in hand. She snatches the goods roughly from their grasps, and something clenches inside me as she moves out of sight.

17

17

I always knew the Minnow kept its looted treasures locked up somewhere. What I didn’t know—at least until today—is that the place doubles as a training ground.

“Welcome,” Swift says in that half-baked tour guide voice, “to the Slew.” She claps me on the back, and a jolt runs up my spine. Recently, she’s been trying to make up for the way she treated me in the days after we hit the unescorted bucket. Most of the time, it’s by inviting me along whenever the lackeys do something dangerous. It’s sort of unnerving, but I can’t deny that these little excursions past the trainer deck make me feel … well, at home.

It’s weird to say that about a pirate ship, but embracing that sort of weirdness is the only way to keep going around here.

The curve of the ship’s hull bows out around us as we descend the steps to the mats, which have been nailed in haphazardly amid stacks of cargo. My gaze fixes on a bright floral suitcase tucked behind a crate, and on the wads of cash stuffed in its pockets. It’s child-sized.

The hold is packed with crew. Swift makes for a corner, where the four other lackeys are gathered in a knot. As we approach the wall, I spot a familiar face among the crowd—the girl who was in Swift’s lap the night we sunk the bucket. For a moment, I fear that we’re headed for her, but then she spots Swift and glares. And Swift glares back.

And something triumphant lifts inside me before I can stop it.

As we reach the lackeys, Code taps Chuck on the shoulder and a feral grin curls its way across her face. “Fists?” she asks.

“Anything for you, princess,” Code simpers.

Varma’s lip curls, and Swift jabs him in the ribs as she takes her place next to him. I hang back, a nervous energy humming through me. When Swift invited me to see the best show on the ship, I didn’t anticipate anything like this.