Chapter 19
Tink
The room spun. Something drummed a soft but steady beat at Tink’s temple and refused to let up no matter how hard she squeezed the pillow over her head and willed it away.
“Ugh! Stop!” She flung the pillow, sitting up in bed.
Mistake. Still spinning. She pinched the bridge of her nose and scooted to the side table, grabbing at the cup of water there.
Blessed, sweet water. It had never tasted so good. Nothing ever had.
Strong floral scents filled the room. If she closed her eyes she was almost at home, sitting in a glade in the vale, dust on her wings. Dust! Her wings twitched. She’d made dust! The witch hadn’t lied. She could do it. She leaped to her feet, stretching, relishing the looseness of her body.
And froze.
Durin’s beard! She was almost completely naked and—
“Oh, shit.”
Heat raced across her cheeks and up to the tips of her ears. She grabbed at the sheets, covering herself and searching the small room for Hook, but he wasn’t there.
He’d…they’d…oh holy revered elders, they’d almost…
When I fuck you, and I plan to, I want you sober, eager.
Her thighs clamped together, but she couldn’t escape the delicious feeling of him there. The stroke of his thumb across her clit, the thrust of his fingers… She flopped back onto the bed, ignoring her pounding headache in favor of more delightful reminders of the night before.
Hesitantly, her fingers wandered below her underthings, sliding through the moisture there. She bit her lip…hard. Hook could return at any moment. Would he still want her?
Holy Flora, she wanted him. She’d wanted to forget, to escape. Dice, it had started with dice. And too much ale. Had he carried her up here? A deep breath filled her lungs. He had. Then that kiss. And oh—
She covered her face with her hands. She’d begged. Oh no. Oh no, no, no. She’d practically begged a filthy, no-good pirate to fuck her.
And he hadn’t. The thought loosened the anxiety twisting in her chest.
If she were honest with herself, he wasn’t filthy, and perhaps not even no-good, not with all she’d seen, all he’d done. Or not done, in their case. How poorly she’d misjudged him. All of them.
Titania had forced them to ally with one another, but it wasn’t because of the mermaid queen that she wanted to help them now. She owed them for the curse she’d placed on them. And their captain…
Even if it were only for a few days, only until they retrieved the scale of Leviathan and removed their curse, she wanted to be with him no matter whose ring he still wore. Today, tomorrow, the next. She’d been with him as long as she could.
He had to know it wasn’t just strong ale fueling her desire.
Tink cleaned herself up and dressed in a hurry.
A few benign motes of dust glittered from the sheets, the table, even the floor, but those weren’t the good stuff, just a byproduct of its creation.
The real pixie dust still clung to her wings, as it would until she chose to shed it.
What was left in the room wouldn’t be useful to her or anyone else, so she let it lie.
Most humans would never know it from normal dust anyway, and there was plenty of that around too.
She flung open the door, only for it to crash into something on the floor that groaned. Not something—someone.
She slid out the open crack to find Smee sitting on the floor outside the room, rubbing his head. “I’m up…I’m up.”
“What are you doing?” She braced her hands on her hips.
“Just took a little nap is all.”
“Outside my door?”
He rolled his neck before pushing to his feet. “Outside the captain’s door.”
The tips of her ears burned.
Smee didn’t seem to notice, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “He asked me to make sure you weren’t disturbed.”
That was kind of him, and Smee. Sleeping against the door couldn’t be comfortable. “Thank you.”
“Always happy to help.” A sheepish grin spread across his face.
He was—that much was obvious, and loyal to a fault too. Hook couldn’t have picked a better first mate. Tink smiled. “Do you know where the captain went? When he’ll be back?”
“Didn’t say.”
A sigh caught in her chest. Of course not.
“I think…I’ll go look for him.”
He stretched his arms above his head. “Bed calling me back. So soft.” He stifled a yawn. “We’re to meet here before noon.”
She nodded. “I’ll be here.” Hopefully sooner than that.
The hopes she held of finding Hook in the downstairs common room were dashed. It would have been so easy to drag him back upstairs and spill her heart. She was ready, prepared. But nothing was ever that easy, not for her.
The streets were busy that morning. A storm was coming, she overheard someone say.
The sky was still clear, but far on the horizon dark clouds gathered.
Tink wrinkled her nose as she caught sight of them.
Hook wanted to get back to the ship as soon as possible, but being stuck here with him a few more days wouldn’t be all bad.
Quick shopping in the market yielded new clothes, which she stored away in the backpack she carried.
Finally, she’d have a shirt that fit, though she’d grown fond of Hook’s.
At least that was one chore done. She’d gotten so thoroughly distracted by her meeting with the witch yesterday that new clothes had been the very last thing on her mind.
The trill of a pipe drew her attention as she wandered back toward the inn.
People clapped along to the lively tune, a small crowd forming in the cobblestone square.
The musician was good, and she’d know. Pixies loved music almost as much as nature.
They all had an instrument they favored, usually several.
Applause rose as the song finished. A few well-clad citizens cheered in appreciation.
Tink caught a flash of red hair as she wove through the gathered people, aiming for a better look.
She squeezed between two large men—Gamoreans, by their uniforms—coming to the front of the circle of onlookers.
A boy, standing on a box, raised a wooden pan flute to his lips and began a new tune.
Tink sucked in a breath. The tune was familiar, one she’d often played in the Crow’s Roost back on Tortuga, but it was the boy who made her eyes widen. She hadn’t been seeing things yesterday. Peter, the boy who stole her treehouse and handed her over to Hook, stood before her.
How in the scared plains did he get here? Why was he here?
She scanned the crowd for the rest of his gang.
It’d be just like them to distract these people with a song while the little ones picked pockets.
Though if they did, the kids did a great job of keeping out of sight.
The only child in the crowd was a little girl with ribbons in her hair who stared at Peter in a gleeful trance.
If he’d torched her treehouse… Her foot tapped on the ground, completely out of rhythm with the song.
Not that she’d need the treehouse anymore if their quest was successful.
She could finally go home. And leave the captain behind?
A traitorous voice whispered in her head.
She swallowed. Well, there was time to figure that out later.
Tink stared at Peter, waiting for him to notice her. She was the only one not smiling after all. Shouldn’t be too hard for him to spot her.
His gaze floated over the crowd as he bobbed along to the melody. Finally, his attention snagged on her.
Then moved on.
What the—
The music faltered. His focus snapped back to her, then away.
Oh yes, he’d noticed.
Moments later, he ended the song and bowed to the crowd. “Thank you, thank you.”
Onlookers called for another, but he smiled and hopped off the box. Peter snatched the little jar some people had tossed coins into and headed in the opposite direction from her.
Tink stalked after him. “Hey, wait!”
He didn’t even look back, just picked up his pace, aiming for the buildings on the far side of the square.
“Peter!”
He stopped, going completely stiff. The boy twisted around to face her and shoved his flute into a belt around his waist. “What do you want?” he demanded.
“Why are you here?” she asked. “What did you do with my treehouse?”
“It’s fine,” he said. “Right where you left it.”
She couldn’t stop the eyeroll. “You take over my home, ambush me, then sell me off to a bloody pirate just to leave and come here?”
He crossed his arms. The coins had already disappeared from the now-empty jar. “Yep.”
Something wasn’t right. It just didn’t make sense. “And the rest of your boys? You left those little kids on their own?”
“’Course not. They’re around.”
Picking pockets, probably. Tink sighed. What a great role model he was for these boys. Still… “You couldn’t play music in Tortuga?”
“I did.” He shrugged. “Coin we got wouldn’t last forever, and the boys needed to eat. Got a better offer to come here.”
Tink pinched the bridge of her nose. Why was she wasting her time with this kid? She glanced toward the sky. More of the day had passed than she realized. “Stay out of my house,” she said, determined to have the last word.
A shadow fell over them. “There trouble here?”
Great, just great. Tink squinted up at the shaggy man. “I was just leaving.”
“Nope,” Peter said at the same time.
“So long as there’s not.” A beefy hand landed on Peter’s shoulder.
Tink forced a smile. “Farewell th—” The words stuck in her throat as the man’s one eye widened.
Oh, fuck.
Oh, fuck. Shit.
He was one of Captain Blackbeard’s crewmen. She hadn’t realized at first, but that eye patch with the little skull on it was unmistakable. He’d escorted her below deck to meet the captain. Worse, he remembered her too.
Tink bolted, racing across the cobblestones.
“You! Stop!”
The gruff words only fueled her steps as she raced down a busy street, weaving around carts and people.
One quick glance showed the man a few cart lengths back, pushing through a couple and spilling their goods on the street.
Shouts and exclamations continued as she sped down an alley stinking of human waste.
Several blocks later, she finally slowed her steps.
Her chest rose and fell as she sucked in heavy breaths.
Sweat trickled down her skin, causing her clothes to stick.
No shouts arose behind her. She couldn’t spot the pirate or Peter, but she was far from safe.
If there was one, there were more, and now they knew she was here.
The Kraken hadn’t been docked in the port this morning, but neither was the Jolly Roger.
She swallowed and ducked down another alley. Hook needed to know. They all did. She glanced at the sky. And Merrin’s teeth, she needed to find her way back to the inn—quick.
Hook and his crew lounged in the inn’s common room, eating an early lunch, when Tink barged in through the main door. She’d never been so happy to see pirates in her life.
The captain set down his fork, looking at her with an expression she couldn’t quite place as she made a beeline for him.
“I need to talk to you. Now.”
“I’m all—” he started.
“Upstairs. Quick.”
Sage nearly spat out her soup.
Tink groaned. “All of you.” She glanced between them, lips pursed. Leave it to pirates to think without their heads.
Hook pushed back his plate and rose. Others grumbled, but Tink didn’t wait for them as she bolted up the stairs.
No sooner had the door closed behind them, sealing them all in Hook’s freshly cleaned—thank all the elders—room than Tink spilled her news. “I saw one of Captain Blackbeard’s men. Here. In town.”
Smee nearly dropped the bowl he’d carried upstairs.
“Already?” Francis groaned.
Hook slammed his fist on the table. “Bloody hell.”
Conversation flooded the room, filling it with the same thoughts that had chased her back to the inn.
“The Kraken’s in port?”
“Not that I saw.”
“Where are they hiding?”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. I recognized one of them, and—” She ducked her gaze. “He recognized me too.”
“Shit,” Sage replied.
Hook said nothing, emotions flickering across his face that she still couldn’t place.
“That’s not the worst of it,” Tink continued.
That had them all sitting up straighter.
“Peter, the kid who stole my treehouse. You know, the one you bargained with to hand me over in exchange for a few coins?” She stared Hook down.
“The hell?” Sage said.
She could have sworn he flushed before he looked away.
“Well, he’s here too, with Captain Blackbeard’s men. And he saw me. If he tells them about our little encounter on Tortuga, then he’ll know you’re all here too.”
“Home…” Francis turned ashen. “If the Kraken’s not here…”
Shit. She hadn’t considered that. They could already be in trouble.
“We gotta go,” Smee said, eyes wide. No doubt, he worried for his sisters.
“We can’t.” Hook hung his head.
“Captain?”
“We have to meet with the witch first.”
Sage reared back. “But Coconut Cove. The ship, the crew, our families—”
“May be completely fine,” Hook said, his voice eerily calm.
“We came to see the witch, and we’re not leaving without direction from her.
” He sucked in a breath. “Tink, Smee, we go to the witch now.” His voice rang with command and confidence once more.
His back straightened, the uncertainty from moments ago vanished in an instant.
“The rest of you, pack and wait for us by the blue shack near the forest path. We’ll meet you there as soon as we’re done. ”
“Aye, sir.” Sage’s reply lacked her usual spark.
The heaviness in the room weighed on Tink, making her wish she could slide through the floorboards and escape. This was so not how she expected today to go, but they had to know. It was better they knew, right?
Hesitantly, she glanced to Hook, who gave her a nod. Were her thoughts so obvious? She flushed and looked away.
“Let’s go.” Hook gestured to the door.
Off to see the witch. The witch. Oh, Merrin’s teeth. She’d never told him about the witch’s offer. There hadn’t been time. And now…
The stiffness of Hook’s shoulders and hard set of his jaw were as unwelcoming as a turbulent sea. Not to mention the storm going on behind his eyes. He didn’t need another burden, not when she wouldn’t be taking the witch’s offer anyway.