"They're afraid of me and they hate me in turns," I admitted, shaking my head as I still carefully watched the pirates. They were staring at me and Elio, but they seemed to be considering what I had said about needing help and fleeing from Peter, and that was a good thing.

"It was the smartest thing you could have done, I think," I said, looking to Elio. I smiled a little, then put away my knife before I reached out and squeezed his arm. I was so glad to see him, to see that he was safe, and I exhaled shakily, trying not to let the past several days overwhelm me now that we were here.

"I don't know what they might have done. They're... a lot of them are Peter's boys. I recognize them. Things are so different now for me than they were before. It's very strange and very confusing."