"Where do you think you're going?"
"You were paid," Alaric said, his voice a deadly low growl. "Stand aside."
Brinson's grin widened. "Aye, we were paid. For the goods you came for. But these lot?" He jerked his thumb at Emma, Sarah, Samion, and Jaefel. "They're our property. Bought fair and square."
"Property?" Salviana spat, her whole body shaking with rage. "They are citizens of Wyfn-Garde! Loyal members of the House Velthorne!"
"They're ours now!" one of the pirates barked. "Finders keepers!"
Lucius stepped forward, fangs peeking out ever so slightly. "I suggest you rethink this."
But then, another voice called out from the quarterdeck.
"Wait!" a scrawny pirate, who'd been rifling through some papers by a crate, yelped, running toward the captain. He was waving a crumpled parchment above his head.
"What is it now, Riggs?" Brinson snapped impatiently.
Riggs, panting and red-faced, thrust the paper into Brinson's hands. "Look! Look at the bounty!"
