Chapter 25
Chapter twenty-five
No More Pirates
Rose
The Mysterious Deep reminds us that there is always more to learn, which is perhaps the most exciting thing of all.
— The Mysterious Deep: A Comprehensive Understanding
This was a disaster in so many ways, and yet I had absolutely no regrets.
This was our second attempt at redoing the buttons on my dress since the first one ended in Bash getting frustrated and tearing it off again, just to take me from behind, just as he said he would.
In fact, every wicked thing Bash had teased me with was now well and truly done.
Which begged the question, how much time passed while we were consummating our marriage several times over?
Bash grunted in frustration, and I so much wanted to take it from him. It wasn’t fair that he’d lost his arm, and while I thought no less of him for it, I knew he couldn’t say the same.
“It’s fine, Bash, just go find Ruby and she’ll fix it and my hair,” I said.
Lord knew I’d tried a hundred times over to wrangle it back down, but it also didn’t help that my rouge was gone now, and the charcoal around my eyes was smeared.
Though Bash didn’t say as much, I looked like I was well and truly fucked.
While that may have been true, I didn’t need all of London knowing it.
“I’m not going to get your sister. She already threatened to kill me once,” he said.
“You're Captain Sebastian Flynn, you aren’t scared of anything except a cat.”
“A cat and Bailey women. All terrifying in equal measure,” he said.
Despite our predicament, I choked out a laugh. Though Blackbeard was an odd fear, he was probably wise on the other account.
He’d made it more than halfway, but from the way he sucked in air from time to time, I could tell his thumb was sore. Voices down the hall were both horrifying and liberating all at once. I would recognize those anywhere.
“This is worse than a kraken,” Bash murmured.
I shrugged and went to the door, opening it a crack.
“Oscar!” I whispered.
“Rose?” my brother answered.
Bash groaned behind me. At least he was dressed appropriately.
Sure enough, Oscar’s face appeared in the crack of the door, and he wore a wide grin.
“People are wondering where the happy couple is,” he said.
Behind him, Oliver swore and whispered a prayer to some deity who was clearly not listening to him.
“I need Ruby,” I said.
“Why is your eye black?” he asked.
“Excuse me?” Oliver said, pushing Oscar out of the way and filling the crack.
He took one look at me and whispered a curse before turning and facing the ceiling while pinching his nose, taking steadying breaths.
“You are so dramatic,” I said to him,
“Rosamund,” Oliver said, whirling towards the door. “Do you have any idea how you look right now?”
I cringed. “Not the full name. Can you please just go get Ruby?”
Thankfully, Oliver listened, and a few minutes later, Ruby was there with a small purse. I’d expected her to be as offended as Oliver, but when she saw me, her lips pursed in a way I knew meant she was fighting back a smile. Though when she saw Bash, she shot him a glare worth the Bailey name.
“Out,” she ordered, waving a hand at him.
The corner of his lip twitched, and he pressed a kiss to my forehead.
“Terrifying,” he murmured.
I could hear Oliver down the hall as Bash joined him and could only imagine how frazzled my older brother was. At least we were married, and I didn’t have to worry about Oliver challenging him to a duel.
A very Oliver thing to do.
“You look terrible,” Ruby said.
She circled her finger, and I turned, allowing her to finish my buttons.
“Aren’t you going to chastise me?” I asked.
It would be better to get it over with.
“I’m sure you know people are whispering, but I’m equally sure you don’t care. I know I didn’t on my wedding day,” she said.
“I can’t imagine you not caring,” I said.
Ruby spun me back around and clicked her tongue at the state of my face and hair.
“I spent so much time on that. Oh well, but yes. After my wedding ceremony, we were the first back to Bailey House. Though I will spare you the details, I had Anne just nine months later.”
I wrinkled my nose. That was a good reminder to ask Emille for one of his potions. The last thing I needed was to get pregnant before completing my bargain with Edmonds. A mysterious mark probably wasn’t good for pregnancy.
“Rose?”
I grinned at the familiar voice I’d missed the past few weeks.
Ignoring Ruby’s instructions to ignore it, I rushed to the door and found red hair and freckles grinning up at me.
Dilly rushed me, throwing her arms around me like we’d been apart for ten years.
I laughed and pulled her into the library, shutting the door behind us.
“Ruby, this is Dilly, Dilly, my sister, Ruby,” I said.
“More pirates.” Ruby sighed, gesturing for me to return for hair fixing. “Delightful”
“Be nice.” I chastised.
“I said it was delightful,” Ruby said.
“Yes, but you said it like it was in fact not delightful,” I said.
Ruby pulled my hair a little tighter, and I winced, giving Dilly an apologetic smile.
“If you had told me a year ago I was going to be standing in London watching Bash get married, I would have summoned a selkie and asked it for three wishes,” Dilly said.
“What does that even mean?” I chuckled.
Dilly ignored me.
“Only you would be late to your own party.” Dilly grinned. “Val went to prep the ship for tomorrow.”
“I can’t see her enjoying a ball,” I said.
“She said she’d rather cut her eye out than suffer in a dress one second more,” Dilly said.
Ruby muttered something about pirates before patting my hair down.
“Do not, and I mean do not, mess this up the rest of the night, Rosamund Beatrice Bailey,” Ruby said.
What did she think I was going to do?
Sneak out every ten minutes to fuck my husband?
Actually, it wasn’t a terrible idea.
She spun me and pointed a finger at me.
“Don’t make me kill your husband and make you a widow,” she said.
Dilly snorted. “Husband.”
I turned and gave her a wide smile.
“Husband,” I preened.
“Lord, give me strength,” Ruby said. “Let’s fix your face.
By the time Ruby deemed me ready for public viewing, my head was sore, and I really needed a drink. Dilly threaded her arm through mine while Ruby followed close by.
“This is such a dreary place,” Dilly said, scanning the brown hall.
“It certainly doesn’t feel warm.” Ruby agreed. “But neither does Lord Smith.”
I wrinkled my nose as I thought of the crotchety villain.
“I can’t believe that’s Bash’s father,” Dilly said.
“Edward.” I corrected.
We didn’t need any slip-ups.
Dilly waved a hand. “Fine, but I reserve the right to call him that when he’s being a moody asshole.”
“You must have a death wish,” I said.
She shrugged.
A few more feet, and the man in question stood with his back against the wall. Oliver stood stiffly beside him, jaw clenched, and hands shoved into his pockets. When he saw us, his face softened, and he blew out a breath.
“Finally, thank god,” Oliver said.
“Where’s Oscar?” I asked.
I threaded my arm through Bash’s.
“With Inu,” he said.
“She’s…” Oliver cleared his throat.
“Unexpected.” Ruby finished for him.
“She’s grumpy, but she’s not the worst,” I said.
Bash wisely kept his thoughts to himself, even though his lip quirked up. Inu and I started off on the wrong foot, but a few months forced to work together made for a decent truce.
“Are you ready?” Oliver asked me, ignoring Bash.
Maybe that was a Bailey thing to instinctively hate your sibling’s spouse, with the exception of Ruby’s husband. Or maybe it was the pirate thing.
I gestured to the wooden doors in front of us.
“Feed me to the wolves,” I said. “Let’s get it over with.”
Oliver nodded before giving what I thought was an attempt at a side eye to Bash. Poor guy looked like he was having a stroke. He went through the doors, no doubt preparing the room for our grand entrance.
“He seems like he really likes you,” Dilly said to Bash.
“He’s just mad he can’t duel him now that my honor is restored through marriage,” I said. “He was really looking forward to it.”
Ruby shook her head.
“You and Oscar are aging him rapidly,” she said.
“He’s kind of cute,” Dilly said. “I like the always on the verge of a meltdown vibe.”
Ruby turned to her.
“You seem very nice; however, we have enough pirates with the name Bailey,” she said.
“You can marry him if you want,” I said. “But it won’t be very much fun.”
Dilly shrugged, her lips pursed in consideration.
“You never know,” she said. “I’ll test his enthusiasm for mysterious creatures.”
With that, she followed Oliver through the doors. Suddenly, I was looking forward to this ball a lot more, if only to see Dilly tease my uptight brother.
Ruby turned, pointing a finger at me.
“No more pirates.”
She said it like I was bringing home too many cats.
“Just one more?” I squinted my eyes.
She ignored me and left, likely to enforce her harsh no more pirates rule.
With only the two of us left, I leaned in close to Bash, smelling him. It was too much of a city scent and nothing of the sea salt and liquor smell I preferred.
“Did you just smell me?” he asked.
“Mmhm,” I said. “We need to get you back on the Wraith.”
He chuckled, and I felt it deep in my chest.
God, I loved it when I made him laugh.
The doors opened, and for the first and hopefully only time, we stepped into London Society together.