The Hunter's Pursuit

25. Reparations

Jacob lost track of Viviane for almost twenty minutes. She'd vanished as soon as she left the Captain's quarters and he'd been scouring the deck ever since. But soon enough, the sound of clinking gears caught his ear and he followed it to the crow's nest.

Stars glittered overhead as Jacob made his way up the rigging. A few clouds drifted across the moon, but not enough to rouse concern. There likely wouldn't be another storm for a few more days.

Jacob hopped over the side of the nest and spied Viviane sitting against the siding. She held a pocket watch in one hand and a tiny tool in the other. Jacob watched curiously while she twisted the gears. At last, he spoke. "Shouldn't you be resting?"

"I've been asleep for three days. I'm not exactly tired right now," Viviane answered.

His brows lifted. He'd been expecting a bite of sarcasm in her tone, but it wasn't there. Jacob sat a healthy distance away from her and swiped the leather canteen off his belt. He popped the lid off and took a drink, letting the rum's familiar warmth soothe his fraying nerves.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked. She barely inclined her chin. Jacob was dying to question her further about the cause of her fainting, but something warned him against it. Instead, he diverted his attention to the pocket watch. "Is that Lester's?"

"Yes. I remembered you said it needed fixing, so I asked him if I could take a look at it."

"How did you become interested in fixing things?"

She was silent long enough that Jacob began to doubt she would answer. Then, she spoke. "It's a skill I picked up when I first moved to Port. I've always been fascinated by mechanics, especially in clocks and wind-up toys. They were the first things I worked on."

A smile tugged at Viviane's lips, though it didn't quite form. "It took months for me to be any good at it, but once I got the hang of things, it became a lot of fun and people even paid for my services."

"Why did you switch to monster hunting?"

"It paid more and kept me close to the sea."

"Oh." Jacob took another drink.

Viviane's gaze flitted to his canteen. "Are you going to offer me a drink as well?"

Jacob let an amused smirk surface. "Are you going to accept it only to throw it on me?"

Viviane rolled her eyes and swiped the canteen from him. She took a long draught and wiped her mouth on the back of her hand with a satisfied gulp. When she next looked at him, there was something almost shy within her foamy green gaze. "Why did you put me on your bunk?"

Jacob looked away, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. "I don't know. I suppose I figured it would be better for you to roll off my bunk than your own."

Viviane snorted. "Really?" She set Lester's pocket watch aside and drank some more.

"You probably shouldn't have too much of that." Jacob cast a pointed glance at the canteen. "Not after you've been unconscious for three days." He frowned, another thought occurring to him. "Have you even eaten anything yet?"

"Yes. What do you think I was doing after I left Caspian's quarters? Emilia would've force fed me otherwise." Once again, Jacob caught himself before he would've asked about her fainting.

As if sensing his thoughts, Viviane said, "I'm prone to fainting spells. It used to happen a lot when I was a child, but I mostly outgrew them as I got older. They're nothing to worry about. I've spoken to Witches about them and they said the same."