Chapter 19
“ L et’s move,” Hook said, pushing his way through the whooping crowd.
The room grew suddenly tense as Paddy’s opponent closed in on the smaller man, gripping him by the collar of his shirt.
“Call me a servant again, you slippery fucker. See what happens.”
Paddy stared up at him, his easy smile slipping away as his hand inched toward his belt. “You lost fair and square. There are no rules, now get that hand off me if you’d like to keep it.”
Andrew was already creeping up behind the man, unbeknownst to him, and Jacob was stirring as well, positioning himself to the man’s side. I chewed at my inner lip. The bastard was about to get himself killed.
“A threat now, eh?” He shoved Paddy back, sending him crashing to the ground, right over his chair.
“Now!” Jacob spat, a glint of steel flashing from his belt as he charged the larger man. I winced as Andrew did the same, brandishing his own blade.
“Stop.” The word of command cut through the air as cleanly as any knife, silencing even the cheering crowd, and the two brothers lurched to a halt as Hook strode forward.
The brute of a man who’d been attacking Paddy whirled, arm pulled back as if to strike him, then stopped, eyes wide. “I?—”
Hook raised his hand, cutting him off without so much as looking at him. “Out.”
The vein on the man’s temple throbbed as he stared back at the captain, but, incredibly, wisdom won out in the end. He flashed a final scowl toward Paddy, then stomped off, shoving through the crowd as he made his way to the door.
I let out a breath, hearing Moll do the same at my side. “Seems like the crew has quite the reputation.”
I nodded, scanning the now-silent crowd. The looks of joy and excitement over the impending fight seemed to have been completely overwritten by fear. The tension was thick as smoke on the air, and they began dispersing in waves. What did they know that we didn’t?
Scotty strode forward, hoisting Paddy to his feet as the other two O’Donnellys sheathed their blades and moved over to him.
“Thanks, Captain,” Paddy said, wincing slightly as Scotty cuffed him on the ear.
“You have business with us, I assume?” Jacob ventured, eyes darting around to look everywhere except at Captain Hook as he took a half step forward.
“Something like that. Let’s find somewhere more private.”
The brothers led us over to the far corner of the tavern, where a lone table sat empty. A cluster of throwing knives jutted out of a nearby wall, and a cluster of open locks lay strewn over the tabletop.
“This is our spot,” Andrew said, stating the obvious.
Not obvious if you didn’t already know them, I reminded myself.
They hadn’t shown even a flash of recognition when they saw me.
And, like Cissy, they weren’t completely identical to Alabaster’s O’Donnellys.
They looked a little harder and walked with a swagger that’d been absent in their counterparts in the other world.
Or, in the other story.
I suppressed a shiver. No matter how many times this happened, I doubted that I’d ever get used to it. Gods, don’t let it happen too many more times. How many stories would I have to leap into, to find my way home? To my real home?
“So, what can we do for you, Captain?” Paddy asked, taking a seat on a rickety-looking chair and waving his hand for Hook to do the same.
“We’re heading to The Weeping Fen,” Hook answered gruffly, ignoring the invitation to sit. “Looking for people who know their way around to help us get to the second layer.”
A lock dropped to the floor as Andrew looked up, eyes wide. A surprised look flashed across Paddy’s face, too, but Scotty interjected before he could reply. “Folks say that only a handful have ever made it out alive after goin’ there. What makes you think this’ll end up different?”
I tensed, glancing over at a nervous-looking Moll. I’d known it’d be dangerous, but this was even worse than I’d thought.
“Call it intuition,” Hook answered, meeting the heavier man’s gaze.
“Ain’t no one that knows The Fen better than us, but it’s gonna cost you a pretty penny,” Scotty answered.
Hook raised an eyebrow at him. “Name your price.”
“Well,” Jacob cut in, stepping forward. “We’ve heard the news about you…succeeding Davy as Captain of the pirate alliance. Perhaps you could use your new influence to?—”
“You heard wrong. Davy’s out of the picture, but there’s no new Captain of Captains. We’ll deal in gold.”
Jacob frowned at that but nodded. “Can you give us a bit more information about what you need from us?”
“We’re searching for a certain monster, and have reason to believe we can find it, if you get us close enough.”
“Well, the Beast Bane Boys are at your service,” Paddy said, spinning around to reveal the three sloppily-dyed ‘B’s on the back of his shirt. Hook rolled his eyes, and I bit back a laugh, but Paddy’s expression was more serious when he turned to face us once again.
“What kind of beast are you searching for? Serpent? Saber-toothed tiger? They got ‘em all over there.”
Hook raised one brow and gave it to him straight. “Noru.”
The single word brought a gasp out of Jacob and sent a collective wave of tension rolling through the O’Donnellys. Even Paddy’s swagger faltered a bit.
“You want to hire us to kill Noru?” Jacob asked, incredulous.
“My crew and I’ll be the ones doing the killing,” Hook answered, brandishing his iron hook. “You get us there, and we’ll take care of the rest. All I need now is your price.”
“Ten thousand pieces,” Jacob shot back, crossing his arms over his chest like a challenge. Even his own brothers shared a glance of surprise at the amount.
Paddy sat up straighter, opening his mouth to speak, but broke off as Hook nodded.
“Done. Ten thousand gold pieces. Half up front, and half upon completion of the job.”
Paddy leapt up from his seat, holding out a hand, reservations fading fast. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
Hook reached out to shake it, but Scotty batted Paddy’s arm down a moment before they could seal the deal. “Wait, there’s one more thing.”
Hook looked over at him, withdrawing his arm and waiting for him to speak.
“We’ve been to the first layer many times in our day, but the second layer is a different story. We know how to get you in—it’s the getting back out that’s gonna be difficult. Every time we’ve met someone halfway sane who says they’ve been there; it turns out to be a lie.”
“Cut to the chase.”
Scotty’s face wrinkled in annoyance, but he didn’t let it into his tone. “We want a map. Or at least a chat with someone who we can confirm has actually made it out of there with an idea of how to get in and out.”
Hook grunted. “I know a man like you describe. Have already spoken to him about it. What do you need to know?”
Scotty shook his head. “We need to meet this fella, face to face. No disrespect to you, Cap, but it takes a Seeker to know one. And, if he’s legitimate, he’ll be able to answer the questions we ask.”
Hook paused for a long moment, then dipped his head in assent, holding out his hand. “Agreed.”
Paddy nudged Scotty out of the way, reaching out to shake Hook’s hand. “What’s the lucky bastard’s name, by the way? The one who got out of deepest part of The Weeping Fen alive?”
“Garth.”
“ Garth ?” I asked, all eyes shooting over to me as I spoke up for the first time in the conversation. “The old man we met the night of the meeting?”
“I didn’t realize you knew him…” Hook said, eyes narrowing.
I groaned. “You could say that.”
We were headed to the apparently-horrifying second layer of The Fen, and our only source of knowledge about the place was a crotchety old man who seemed far more interested in tea and gossip than hunting monsters.
Perfect.