CASPIAN
The warehouse district is a rough area of De’Vero if you don’t know how to navigate it.
At night its lack of street lighting makes it pitch black in some of the alleys, and the homeless population is more active, making crime higher than anywhere else in the city.
Despite all of that, it’s the best place to go if you don’t want people to know what you’re doing or if you have something to hide.
So that’s where I find myself the following night as I enter the warehouse I own—well, Fox owns—and see Van and Flynt waiting for me.
The minute Van sees me, he’s first to grasp my forearm and pound my back in a rough embrace.
“Captain, we thought you were dead!”
He pulls back, eyes wide with relief. Flynt is right behind him, looking equally happy to see me.
“Come on, you know I’m harder to kill than that,” I grin. “Glad you all made it back in one piece.”
“Yeah—about that, the crew isn’t happy. A lot of them stayed in Verdun—” Van says.
“Some say you abandoned us to go search for the treasure yourself,” Flynt adds.
I scoff. “Without a crew? That’s just silly.”
Van shrugs. “You know how the men can get—what happened? Rumor is Blackwell was going to ransom a De’Vero noble—was that you?”
I nod and Flynt whistles low. “Fuck—how’d you get out of that one?”
“Well, funny you should mention it—” I put my hands on both of their shoulders. “Are you ready to pick up where we left off?”
“You can’t be serious,” Flynt states.
“Deadly,” I chuckle.
“With what ship? What crew?”
“The Tempest .” Both men laugh, but quickly quiet when they see I’m not joining in.
“I’m sorry, I thought you just said James Blackwell’s ship,” Flynt scoffs.
“The very same.”
Van’s face has gone white and Flynt’s smile grows stale and falls off his face when he sees I’m serious.
“This is insane,” Van states. “First you wanted to go after a lost city that most likely doesn’t exist, and now you want to go and try to find that city with the most dangerous pirate out there? The pirate who just had you captured and probably would have killed you? Are you mad ?”
“How are you even going to find him?” Flynt asks when Van’s voice cuts off in disbelief.
“Oh, that’s the easy part,” I grin. “He’s currently detained—”
“Detained,” Van echoes.
“—in the De’Vero dungeons,” I finish smugly.
“I thought that was a rumor…” Flynt mutters in shock.
Van runs a hand over his face with a sigh and fixes me with a resigned look I’m very familiar with.
“You know, being your quartermaster is never dull,” he says dryly.
Flynt barks a laugh. “That’s an understatement. You certainly keep us on our toes, Captain.”
I chuckle. “Good—I take that to mean you’re in?”
Van and Flynt exchange a quick look before they nod. “What’s the plan?”
“I need you two to go to Carmine,” I say. “Find Harrison, Blackwell’s quartermaster, and sail the Tempest to that little cove a ways up the coast—you know the one?” At their nod I continue. “Here’s the Captain’s sword and pistols—that should help appease the brute. I’ll meet you at the cove.”
Van takes the sword and pistols from me. “And you’re sure he’ll agree to this? Blackwell I mean.”
“Oh, I’m sure,” I smirk. “He’s curious enough and he’s not one to pass up a hunt.”
I spend the next twenty-four hours making preparations and avoiding the urge to go down and see Blackwell in the dungeons. Between that and staying away from an already suspicious Aldric, I’m ready to leave this cursed place by the time I get word the Tempest has arrived in the cove.
Van and Flynt row me from shore and the minute my boots hit the deck, Harrison crowds me, a scowl on his face.
“You have some fucking nerve, Fox,” he hisses. “Coming back here like you’re one of our crew now. Giving orders like you’re the Captain—”
Van appears over the rail and takes a step forward as the tension grows and a crowd gathers. I hold up my hand to him, halting him in his tracks.
“I’m not—” Harrison doesn’t let me finish. He lands a solid punch to my face. I straighten, eyes sharp as I spit out blood at his feet. “You want to do this now?”
Rage burns in his eyes and with a growl he lunges for me.
We clash in a flurry of fists and grunts.
I land a few good hits, enough to give him a taste of what he’s getting himself into.
He staggers, catching himself on the mast and I hear the gathered crew murmur.
Unfortunately, I know I’m going to have to throw this fight.
I can’t have him looking like a fool. Humiliating him in front of his crew is not the best course of action if we’re to work together efficiently.
No matter how badly I want to put him on his ass.
Harrison growls and pushes off the mast. His shoulder slams into my ribs and we fall to the deck.
My awareness narrows as everything becomes fists and rage—on his end—he’s sloppy with it and I have to remember not to fight dirty.
I absorb his hits and land a few more to make it look real—but otherwise I let him control the fight.
We roll across the deck and with one last blow to my ribs, he drives his knee into my chest and closes his hand around my neck.
Chest heaving, I sputter at the sips of air he’s allowing me. He leans in close, panting as he catches his breath.
“Fuck Blackwell, I should kill you right now and save us all the trouble I know you’ll cause.”
I huff a laugh, gulping in as much air as I can. “You can try—”
I tap his leg with a blade I have in my hand. Because of how we’re situated, it’s concealed from the rest of the crew but the message to Harrison is clear. His grip tightens as anger overwhelms him.
“This isn’t over,” he snarls.
He shoves off me and gets to his feet while I stash the blade back in my belt. I prop myself up on my elbows, catching my breath. I fix Harrison with an amused look.
“Thanks for the warm welcome, Blondie. ”
“Fuck you, Fox,” he growls. “Stay out of my way.”
I accept the hand Flynt offers me and dab at my cheek where I can feel the sting of a cut. I make a show of brushing myself off.
“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” I shove my hair out of my face. “Why don’t you go get your Captain so we can be underway?”