"Lindsey! Sweetheart, you've done it!" I hear K.O. shout triumphantly from behind me.
I turn around happily to face both of them, but my enthusiastic grin fades when I see that Lindsey is doubled over, breathing heavily with exhaustion. She gives K.O. a weak thumbs up, her eyelids drooping.
"Linds? Are you alright?" K.O. asks, moving quickly to her side and placing a hand on her shoulder. No sooner after the contact, Lindsey collapses, and K.O. catches her with a gasp. "Princess?"
A brief moment of silence falls over the ship, with all of us seemingly holding our breaths.
After a terrifying moment, Lindsey begins to cough. "I'm...I'll be fine," she sputters, trying but failing to stabilize herself. K.O. doesn't let go, and does his best to keep her upright.
"I don't know if it's safe for you to--"
"No, I'll be okay. Really," Lindsey says, forcing a weak smile and urging K.O.'s tight grasp off of her. "Let's...let's go get the captain."
"Are you sure, Linds? You could stay here with Avi," K.O. offers.
"How do you mean, 'stay here with Avi'? I'm going too," Avi grumbles from his stool behind the wheel. "Why do I always get left behind?"
"Because you always get yourself hurt, that's why. You can barely walk across the deck without falling over, you're never going to last against Kirstin," K.O. explains, not taking his eyes off of Lindsey.
"I can help," Avi argues, but I can tell that even he is beginning to grow skeptical of his basic motor abilities with his hurt leg.
"Nope, you're staying here. And that's final. And you can keep Lindsey with you."
"No...no, I'm going," Lindsey says, panting, but standing upright for the first time. It might be my imagination, but it appears as though something has changed in her face, though I can't put my finger on it.
"I don't know if it's a good idea..." I offer half-heartedly, though I'm not sure why. If she's not listening to K.O., she sure as hell isn't going to take orders from me.
"Do you have magic?" She asks, looking accusingly at me.
"...No, I don't, but--"
"Exactly. I'm going," she says with a huff. "My magic might be our only chance of finding Mitchy. Now, come on, let's go."
"Oh sure," Avi says, his tone obviously sarcastic. "Leave the injured one alone on a ship, right next to her lair? Brilliant."
"Here," Lindsey says, waving her hand a bit and conjuring up some sort of spell that gently rocks the ship. "She won't see you. No...no one will. Shit." Lindsey bends over, placing her hands on her thighs to brace herself. She's breathing heavily again, presumably from the excess use of magic.
K.O. winces. "Lindsey, I--"
"I'm fine. I'm...fine. Let's go get the captain," Lindsey says, standing to her feet and trying to conceal her pain. K.O. and I share a concerned glance, but then he shrugs, and follows the princess as she begins to limp off of the ship deck.
"It'll be quick," I promise Avi. "Just in and out, and we'll be back in twenty minutes."
"If you survive," Avi scoffs.
"Thanks for the optimism, Av. Really appreciate it," K.O. says over his shoulder. Avi says nothing in response, but he folds his arms grumpily and slouches in his stool.
Lindsey's magic put the boat right on the shore. The entire front half is on the sand, in fact, and there's no need to lower the rope ladder so we can wade to shore. We just jump off of the bow of the ship, landing on the nearly white sand. The landing doesn't really hurt, but K.O. is still cautious of Lindsey, and insists on catching her when she jumps.
YOU ARE READING
The Clockmaker and the Pirate - EVERMORE BOOK 1
Fanfiction"The only thing I've wanted my entire life was to die, to die, to die. But then -- by a twist of fate you found yourself onboard my dinky little ship and you flashed your stupid smile and you gave me the opposite," he tells me. "What's that?" I...
