Page 32 of Of Magic and Rum
An ethereal headache forms in my temple, and I let my knees flop to the ground, plopping my hands in my lap. “Mary, I wouldn’t know where to begin. But I can tell you I stole away on Jack’s ship because, though I have powers, there’s not much I can do to get back home with the Charybdis after me. It’s a vast ocean out there.”
“And where’s home?” Mary, eyes blazing wide, hangs on to my every word now.
Atlantis. But I can’t say this—one step at a time.
“The Mediterranean Sea,” I whisper. And for once, this isn’t a lie.
Mary’s bushy brows furrow, and she taps a finger on her thigh. “This can’t be a coincidence. Jack has never proposed going outside of the Caribbean. And when he does, it so happens to be to the Mediterranean, andthatis whereyouneed to go?”
My chest swells with something more than heartache—hope.
I sit up straight. “And I was in the tavern…”
“And you were in the fucking tavern.” Mary drags her hands down her face. “Am I part of some divine happenstance here or something? Because I’m not sure this is what I signed up for.” She cracks a gooey smile.
I want to hug her, cry on her shoulder, and wish to go back in time to try it a different way.
“How are you so calm? How are you not furious with me?” I dig my nails into my thigh to keep from crying.
“Oh, I’m mad. You lied to me. Hid this from me. But strangely, I’m also proud. I thought you were naïve and too quick to trust, but here you are, outwitting the entire crew. Even—Jack.”
I hug my knees again and rest my chin on them. “I feel like I was just starting to earn his trust, and now—I’ll probably never get it back after this.”
“Bullshit,” Mary quips, making my gaze snap to hers. “He has to be wary of you right now because he’s got an entire crew to protect. There’s something you gotta understand about a crew. We’re closer than family. It goes deeper than blood.” She presses her fingertips together. “We’re loyal. We sail together. Kill together. Shit together. And with a captain like Jack? Webleedfor each other.”
Not knowing if I’ll ever see my family again has me yearning to be a part ofthisone more than anything. But I wonder if I’m worthy of their trust because there’s still so much about me they don’t know and that I can’t share.
“You’ve sworn to the code but now need to commit to it, darling, if it’s what you want. Because if you do, it won’t matter to us what you are.” Mary rubs my arm. “But now comes the hard part. Convincing Jack of it. And for that, I don’t envy you.”
“Read, will you give us some privacy?” Jack’s gruff voice says from the shadows as if he’s been waiting for the right moment to announce his presence. “And lock the door.”
My stomach flutters, my heart thunders, and my throat goes coarse. Mary sighs and backs away, closing the metal door with an ominous clang before locking it with a rusted key from a ring with several more.
The lantern illuminates only Jack’s hand as it reaches out to take the keys, and Mary disappears. “Starttalking.”
I peer at Anne through the bars, struggling between disappointment and admiration for what she’s done. Her scales and ridges have disappeared, that fiery red hair falling in damp tendrils over her shoulders and face. She’s still so goddamned beautiful.
“Jack, I’m so sor—” Anne starts, leaping to her feet from the floor and moving to the bars, grabbing them.
I hold up a hand, forcing my expression to remain stony. “No. No apologies. No lies. All I want to hear is thetruth.”
Anne wrings her hands together after dropping them from the cell door. “Where do I begin?”
Great question.
“Why did you need my ship when you possess—” I make flapping gestures with my hands because I can’t bring myself to sayfinsdespite my fascination with them.
Anne sighs and backpedals until her ass hits the far wall. “I got lost and ended up here somehow—” Defensively, she fans her palm at me. “—honestly. I don’t know how I got here, but my home is in the Mediterranean, and when I heard in the tavern that you were headed there, I thought it was as good of an opportunity as any to get out of Nassau.”
I can’t say I would’ve done much differently. But having the tables turned on you is still just as irritating as being the table-turner.
I let my eyes roam her forehead where blue luminescent ridges and scales had been only moments before. Her eyes have returned to their emerald hue, and her hair has regained its vibrant fire. It’s a conundrum trying to decide which version of her is more gorgeous.
“And what exactlyareyou?” I pick at the worn leather on my belt with a thumb.
Anne’s slender hands wrap around the bars, fingers idly caressing the rusting metal. “A sea nymph.”
The skin beneath my right eye spasms.
