Meant to Be Exploited

POV: Third-Person Limited (Rhea Locke).

The air on the wooden deck turned frigid, carrying a sharp, unnatural chill that stripped the residual warmth from the ocean breeze. Inside the waterlogged barrel, the pale blue mist finally settled deep into the porous, yellowed bones. For a long, breathless moment, nothing happened. The ship rocked gently over the rolling waves, the silence heavy and expe