With every step, Isla took towards the ship she felt the finality of her decision. Though she had said no to Jakks many times before, this time felt different. There was no going back. She had closed off the one escape that she still had left. Now there was only one way out of this situation and that was through.

Isla never once looked back at Jakks but was still aware that he was watching her. A breeze stirred the air but did nothing to cut through the heat. As she lengthened the distance, doubt began to plague her, whittling away at her. Still, she forced herself to keep moving.

Trager was leaning against the railing as Isla boarded the ship. She nodded to him but that was all she managed to do. The deck was silent. Though she knew that men would have been waiting to hear the news, Hawk must have sent them to bed. She was grateful, she wasn't sure she could bear the weight of expressions that held nothing and everything at the same time.

Isla looked to the stairway that led to her cabin. She was sure Hawk would be there, waiting for her. Waiting to discuss what their next plan of action would be. What solution they could try to cobble together. But she didn't want to talk.

Knowing it was weak, she headed away from the stairwell and crossed to the other side of the ship. Her body throbbed with pain, her left side felt as if she had taken a beating. Letting it be her excuse, she descended into the corridor. Faint snoring filled the narrow space as she made her way to a small storage room. Inside, she found a lantern and lit it. The glow illuminated crates and cupboards butted up against the wall.

Isla searched the contents, looking for the healing salve. Frustration grew as she moved from one to the other, and she couldn't find it. With a growl, she slammed one door shut and kicked the wood. Her body was aching and every minute seemed to intensify the feeling.

Behind her, she heard the even rhythm of footsteps. When they stopped, she didn't turn around, instead moving to the crates.

"What are you looking for?" Raif asked.

"The salve."

Raif departed and Isla pawed through the clay jars, the thick masonry knocking and clinking against each other. As she was pounding a lid back on the crate, Raif returned.

"Here," he said. "Sparrow was overeager in a practice fight."

Isla reached for the jar, but Raif pulled it away.

"What happened tonight?" he asked.

Balling her hands, Isla glared at him.

"Raif, either help me out or hand it over."

After a second in which he studied her, Raif unscrewed the top. The earthy scent filled the room. Isla put her back to him and gritting her teeth, eased her arm out of the top of her shirt. The pain flared and she gripped the edge of the crate, her fingers digging into the wood.

Behind her, Raif went still. Then clearing his throat, he closed the distance between them. The moment the salve hit Isla's shoulder she exhaled, a fraction of the pain easing.

"What happened?" he asked.

"I jumped off a balcony."

Raif's fingers paused for a breath before continuing on.

"Did you get what you needed to?"

Isla didn't reply. The answer was painted on her skin. Weary, she rested forehead against the wall. It smelled of salt and a forest in the rain. Raif moved from her shoulder to her arm, relief trailing from his fingers.

Isla barely noticed. She felt as if she were caught in a riptide. Every time she managed to get her head above water and breathe, she was dragged back under, shoved and tossed about until she couldn't find which was up.

She closed her eyes. She was so very tired.

"Isla."

She didn't move. Couldn't find it in herself to have the strength to answer. Even as her pain faded, she felt as if it had left her empty. Alone.

Raif tugged her arm, gently spinning her until she faced him. She didn't look at him. She was too weary to deal with the questions he would hold in his eyes. Standing there, she could hear his breath, feel the heat that he gave off.

When he touched her bruised neck, she opened her eyes. There was concern and sympathy in them. He brushed his thumb over her throat and her body flushed with the caress.

She snatched the jar of salve from him and moved away. This man was dangerous. What she was beginning to feel for him was dangerous. A distraction.

She rubbed the ointment into her skin, angled away from Raif. Reattaching the lid, she stored the salve in a cupboard and redressed.

With her back to him, she said the one thing she knew she needed to. Even if she didn't want to.

"You're free to leave the ship," she said walking to the door.

"What?"

She stopped but didn't look at him.

"You gave us what information we needed, I will not hold you here any longer."

Raif took a step forward. "I said I would help you find the emerald. I gave my word."

Isla closed her eyes, wishing he were still the defiant nobleman she had kidnapped.

"I release you from your word. You owe nothing."

Before Isla could make her escape, Raif held onto her arm, but she still didn't look at him. Didn't want to look at him.

"I'm not leaving."

"Why not? Isn't that what you've wanted this entire time?"

"Once, yes. Now it's different."

At this, Isla spun to face him. He was closer than she imagined and she was staring up into his gray eyes. He held her gaze, his look steady.

"Why?" she asked.

Raif answered by trailing his hand down her arm, finally letting go of her at her elbow. Isla fought the trickle of emotions that accompanied his touch.

"Why is it so hard for you to accept help? You are not alone."

Isla stiffened. "I know that."

Raif cocked his head. "Do you?"

Time stretched between them as Isla tried to deny his words. She had Hawk. The crew. But even as she thought about it, she was aware of a divide. One caused by Jakks' presence. The knowledge that someone was selling off pieces of information.

She crossed her arms, but there was no defiance in the action, only a resigned tiredness. She had no fight left in her. Without saying anything, she turned away.

"I know who your spy is," Raif said, stopping her in her tracks.

Isla stood frozen, not sure she had heard him right.

"What?"

"I know who your spy is," he repeated.

Though it should have brought Isla relief to know there was one problem solved, all she felt was disappointment. Here was one more thing that she hadn't managed to handle.

Before she could ask for a name, there came a loud snort from down the hall. It reminded her of where she was.

"My cabin," she said.

Snuffing out the lantern, Raif followed her. As Isla had predicted, Hawk was waiting in her quarters when the pair entered. He eyed Raif, his curiosity at the man's presence obvious but Isla said nothing.

Instead, she moved to the line of windows, staring out on the clear night. The silvery moon washed the world in a glistening pale light, the darkness of the ocean turned into a shimmering black landscape. Isla watched as the water undulated, wishing her father stood beside her.

She felt trapped in wanting to know and not wanting to who the spy was. Not wanting to hear which crew member she had trusted all her life, whom her father had trusted and had now betrayed them.

But there was no way around it. She had to know.

"Raif has something to tell," Isla said, not facing the men.

Without looking, Isla could imagine Hawk's interest piquing. Her interest was dead, weighed down by exhaustion and hurt.

"Before I give you the name, I want to ask that you wait before going after him," Raif said.

"Why?" Isla asked, her voice dull even to her own ears.

"Because I believe you'll agree that this offers an opportunity to use the knowledge to our advantage."

Isla was silent, it wasn't lost on her how Raif looped himself among them. It was a sentiment she could almost feel herself joining in with before she reminded herself that he didn't belong with them.

"All right," Isla said. "Tell us."

A heartbeat moment expanded around her and Isla wished that it would go on, leaving them in a world where their only thoughts about betrayal were speculations instead of reality. But her own heart beat again and the world moved on.

"It's Trager," Raif said.

Where Isla expected to feel fury, she only felt sadness. She didn't move, didn't react at all.

"How are you certain?" Hawk asked, voicing both their thoughts.

"I saw him tonight," Raif said. "Meeting with Jakks. About an hour before you returned. I've also had the chance to interact with him and out of all the members of the crew, he was the only one who didn't hold the same sense of pride and loyalty to Isla as the others did."

Isla said nothing, only gazed out on the water. It made sense. Where most of the men had more than twenty years of loyalty built up for her father and her, Trager had less than eleven.

She remembered their first meeting. She had been a spirited ten-year-old who had challenged him to a duel upon their introductions. Trager had joined in with the crew as they laughed. From then on, he had viewed the crew from the sidelines, his quiet manner making him slip into the shadows unseen.

She shook her head, wondering what he had seen in her. A determined, stubborn child who fought back and gotten herself into trouble. Where the crew had helped raise her, Trager was a man that only saw a rumbustious girl who would then later run the ship.

Isla closed her eyes, she found she couldn't blame him for not being loyal. All she could see where the paths she had led them down that pushed them further into ruin.

"Isla," Hawk said, drawing her out of her thoughts.

She raised his head. "We won't do anything. For now, knowing is all we need. Since we don't know our next plan of action neither does he. Once we set a new course, then we will trap him."

Hawk murmured an agreement. There was nothing in his tone that spoke of his emotions over the betrayal. Like Isla, he held everything inside.

"Thank you, Raif," Isla said.

"I'm sorry I had to be the one to bear the bad news."

Isla nodded. She leaned against the wall, facing them.

"We need to decide what our next step is," she said, bottling up her emotions. "Pascal will be on his guard now. If we go after him again we'll need to bring at least seven men."

"If he's on guard," Hawk said, "he will also have alerted the city watch and patrols. We would have to travel in pairs not to attract suspicion."

"His defenses on his lodgings will also have been improved, taking out any subtly we would have in our entry."

"The chances of capture would be higher because of it."

Isla dropped her gaze to the floor, feeling each barrier staked against them as if they were physical weights on her shoulders. Again the notion of whether she had been foolish to reject Jakks crossed her mind. She shoved the thought away, knowing there was no way to change the decision now.

Raif cleared his throat, making Isla glance at him.

"If force is not a way we can get the information needed, then there is another way," he said.

"Such as?"

Raif took a step forward, bringing himself further into the circle of light cast from the candle on the desk. Even with the scruff along his jaw and the clothes thin from wear, she saw the strong baring growing up with a title had instilled in him.

"Let me get the information," he said. "You might have forgotten but I do what you do, simply with more finesse."

Isla and Hawk exchanged a look. This was one avenue they had not thought of venturing down. They had trusted Raif once before with Lord Sutherland. Could they trust him again with something as equally important? Hawk held Isla's gaze and she could see that he thought the risk worth the price. She wasn't sure. It was one more way in which he would be entangled in their lives. She didn't know if she wanted that.

When the silence had gone on too long, she spoke.

"I'll decide in the morning," she said.

Raif didn't seem at all surprised by the decision while Hawk nodded once.

"You should get some rest," he said, standing.

"As should you," she said, her eyes wandering over the markings of the night's events.

Hawk crossed the door and opened the door wide enough to allow Raif to follow, but Raif didn't move. After a pause and a glance between them two, Hawk retreated down the passageway.

"I will consider your offer," Isla said.

"I hope you do. Because despite everything, I've come to care about you...this crew, this ship. I want to help you."

Isla said nothing, uncertain how to bear the truth and assistance that was so freely given. Raif was at the door when he turned back.

"It's okay to need help. It does not make you weak, Isla."

And with those words, he left her.

**********************************************************************

There's a change in the winds, says I!

I'll say! Weigh anchor! Raise the top sail! Hoist the flag! Close that porthole! Move that rope! Throw that barrel overboard! Do it all because OUR SHIP IS SAILING!!! Come on! Add your thoughts and your own nautical lingo! 💬💭🗯⚓️🌬⛵️

Goodness gracious it feels go to know that we are moving forward! Of course, right as Isla is realizing she likes Raif she would do the stupid thing and send him away. 🤦🏽‍♀️

Jeez girl! 🙄 Don't you know that's what you're not supposed to do! Some other common bar maid could come snap him up! So lock up your man, girl!...Oh wait, you already did that, didn't you?? Okay, so maybe don't do that, but at least trust him. That's a step forward. 

I have to say this. I'm sorry major_dice I know you were committed to Trager but let's face it you just fell into the trap that all girls have, you fell for the bad boy. It's okay, we've all been there done that. I know you'll be strong enough to get through this.

otázka kapitoly (Czech) What is your favorite fantasy book? 📚📖

My list is ridiculously long so I'll spare you.

Vote cause let's face Isla likes Raif and that's something we should celebrate! Comment because again celebration time! Follow because if you don't I might sink this ship.

Haha I'm not that mean...

Or am I?? 😏