Hamish lay in bed and held the egg up above himself with both hands. “What if it’s a human baby? Or, well, not a human baby exactly, but something like it. I’ve been joking, but that would be… a lot.”

Duran leant his face against Hamish’s shoulder and watched the egg sparkle in the light given off by his magelight. “Are you reconsidering your choices?”

“Well, no,” Hamish said. “If it is something like that, and it would have died without someone to keep it warm or take care of it properly when it hatched, I don’t regret taking it. I couldn’t. Sure would complicate things, though.”

“There’s always adoption,” Slone pointed out. 

Hamish laughed. “Good point. I’ll just give it to Simon and Danya. They’re good at adopting children.”

There was a rattling at the window and Duran looked up to see Skye’s face pressed against the glass. He got up to open it.

Hamish sat up in bed as Skye climbed in to perch on the windowsill. “Did you bring my sweet potato back?”

“No, I threw it into the ocean,” Skye said before turning his attention back to Duran. “Can I borrow your knife?”

“My… knife,” Duran repeated. “Why?”

Duran had expected Skye to either ignore the question entirely or answer in a way that raised more questions than it answered, so he was surprised when Skye drew a deep breath in and actually gave a cogent response. “A girl followed that man you were talking to earlier back to his ship and then I heard her scream. I want to go and check on her, but I need a weapon just in case.”

The entire tone in the room had instantly shifted. Hamish got up and grabbed his shirt. “I’ll lend you a knife, but we’re going with you.”

“Oh, okay,” Skye said. “I’m sorry I threw your sweet potato in the ocean.”

“Are you sorry you stole it?” Hamish asked as he sat on the edge of the bed to put his boots on.

“No.”

“Fair enough. I would have given it to you if you’d asked, you know.”

“It was too hard to eat. Give me something better.”

Hamish let out a quiet laugh. “Okay. Once we make sure this girl is okay, we’ll get you some food.”

They finished getting dressed, except for Slone who left his shirt and shoes off. Skye then dropped down from the window onto the street below, landing silently, and left the rest of them to take the stairs. He was waiting for them outside, lurking in the shadows. They followed as he led the way down to the docks.

As they walked, Hamish had given Skye a knife, and Skye practised making stabbing and slashing motions with it. While he clearly had the potential to be dangerous with it, it remained to be seen if that danger would be directed solely at Declan.

They reached the ship that Skye had led them to, and there was a ramp placed down from the side of the ship, making it easy to board. The four of them had just made it onto the ship when Declan climbed up from below deck.

“Oh!” Declan exclaimed upon seeing them. "Duran, this is a surprise. When I invited you to come and fix the sails, I didn’t expect you to bring all of your friends with you."

Skye had already begun to wander towards the gap in the deck that led below, but Declan stepped in his path.

“I’m not here about that, I’m afraid,” Duran said. “Skye said you brought a girl on board and he heard her scream.”

“Skye?” Declan asked.

Duran nodded at Skye.

“Oh,” Declan said as he shot an unimpressed glance in Skye’s direction. “Well, I suppose that did happen. I brought a homeless girl back here to give her some clothes and she made a bit of noise when she tripped on the stairs, but that was all. Let’s be honest, Skye, she was hardly screaming her head off, now was she?”

Skye didn’t even look at Declan. He was busy playing with the knife.

“Could we talk to her for a minute and make sure she’s okay?” Hamish asked. “Just for our peace of mind.”

“She’s not here anymore,” Declan said. “As I said, I was only giving her some clothes. People might get the wrong idea if she hung around for too long.”

“He was pretty worried something wasn’t right,” Hamish said.

“Look at him,” Declan said, gesturing to Skye, who had accidentally — or possibly intentionally — cut a hole in his shirt while playing with the knife and was now wiggling his finger though it. “I’m sure he has nothing but good intentions, but he doesn’t have much going on upstairs, does… uh?”

As Declan spoke, Slone had begun to strip out of his pants so casually that Declan hadn't even noticed until they were mostly off. He tossed them aside, got down on all fours, and shifted.

“A werewolf,” Declan said as Slone started sniffing around. “I’m becoming very uncomfortable with this situation. I think it’s time for all of you to leave. You have to realise that you came with next to no justification.”

Slone ignored him and moved towards the hole in the deck. When Declan tried to block his path, Slone effortlessly shoved him aside and kept sniffing.

“Relax,” Hamish told him. “We just want to have a quick look around and make sure nothing weird is going on, and then we’ll be out of your hair.”

“I’m asking you to leave,” Declan said. “If you don’t, it’s trespassing.”

“Oop!” Hamish said as Slone tipped face first down the hole that led below deck, stumbling on the stairs until his whole body was through. “Hold that thought.”

As Hamish followed Slone below deck, Declan hesitated for a moment and then quickly started making his way towards the ramp that led off the ship.

“I think you should stay here,” Duran said as he stepped to the side to block Declan’s path.

Declan pressed his lips together. “Let me pass.”

Duran watched as Skye crept up behind Declan, fiddling with the knife.

“No,” Duran said.

Declan pulled out a knife of his own that had been hidden in the band of his pants. “Last chance.”

Duran summoned a ball of magelight and let it hover in front of his hand as he raised it above his head, wielding it like a weapon in the hopes that Declan would think it was one. Skye’s eyes caught on it and the knife he’d been holding clattered to the ground. As Declan lunged, Duran reached for his own knife, but he knew he wouldn’t be fast enough.

Skye grabbed Declan by the back of his shirt, shoved him forward, and before Duran could process what was happening, Declan was struggling on the floor of the deck and Skye was sitting on his back, pinning his arms down with his hands. Duran stepped forward and kicked Declan’s hand until he let go of the knife.

Duran picked up Declan’s knife. “Mine now.”

Hamish’s head poked up from below deck. “Fuck. Everyone okay?”

Duran nodded. “Skye saved my life again. No big deal.”

Skye gave them a smile. Declan was struggling beneath him, but he seemed to be having no trouble keeping him pinned. “I’ve discovered that stabbing people is a difficult thing to make yourself do.”

“Looks like you found a less messy way to resolve the situation, anyway,” Hamish said. “How are you so strong?”

Skye shrugged.

“Uh, guys,” Slone called out from below deck. “Might need some help with this.”

As Hamish disappeared back below deck, Duran hesitated. He turned to Skye. “Do you think you can keep him held down?”

Skye nodded, his gaze wandering. He looked like boredom was a bigger challenge to him than Declan’s struggling.