Page 17 of Hooked by a Hero (Tales from the Brotherhood #4)

Nine

E lias had spent enough time at sea now to know when the ship was in trouble.

It wasn’t just the threatening skies they were clearly sailing into, though the storm would be just one more thing that could kill them all.

The Fortune had already weathered everything from patchy rain to what had felt like a hurricane.

Elias could see that the darkness ahead of them was dire indeed.

But an even greater problem was the enthusiasm with which the disheartened crew broke into the ship’s rum supplies.

“We’ll have a grand old time in this storm!” one of the younger convicts, who was quiet and kind most of the time, but had quickly turned rowdy after his first few drinks, slurred, throwing his arm around Elias’s shoulders. “Drink up, doctor! Join us!”

Elias had no intention of doing any such thing.

Not when Caspian was clearly suffering from some sort of malady.

Elias shrugged out of the drunk man’s hold and staggered away from him along the bobbing deck to where Caspian and Ruby sat in the corner near the forecastle.

He had no idea what sort of illness was trying to take his beloved friend.

He’d never seen anything like it before.

Caspian had no fever, he was not wasted or wan per se, but his strength was deserting him at an alarming rate.

“You’ve no reason to worry, truly,” Caspian insisted weakly as Elias reached him with the flask of fresh water he’d gone to fetch from the stores below. “I will be well in just a few hours.”

Elias frowned, concerned about what his sweetheart was implying. “You do not look as though you will be well anytime soon,” he countered, handing Caspian the flask. “If you would only allow me to give you a thorough examination?—”

“No,” Caspian cut him off, though not unkindly. “You have more important things to concern yourself with.”

Elias huffed and sat back on his haunches.

If he did not know better, he would have been convinced Caspian did not want him to touch him.

In one regard, that seemed ridiculous. They had done quite a bit of touching in the days after the last storm, when they had huddled together in his cabin, praying they would survive to the next day.

They’d touched weeks before that, when Caspian had had his cock in his mouth.

But they had never disrobed in front of each other before, and Elias was suddenly suspicious of that.

“Stop fretting,” Caspian said, sending Elias a sly grin, as if he could see his thoughts.

“I will most certainly fret where you are concerned,” he said. He peeked sideways at Ruby, then continued with, “I care for you, Caspian.”

“And I care for you,” Caspian said warmly, reaching up to cup Elias’s face, even though Ruby watched them. “But I am well enough, I can assure you. I know what ails me and how to ease it.”

“Then cure yourself,” Elias said, losing his patience. “Or tell me what is wrong so that I might cure it.” He held his hand over Caspian’s against his cheek.

Caspian did not reply immediately. He glanced warily to Ruby, as though she were involved in whatever had made him ill.

Elias’s mind raced. Had Caspian contracted some illness from Ruby?

It seemed impossible, as Ruby was as hale and hearty as ever, perhaps more so since she’d donned her masculine disguise and begun working alongside the crew to maintain her secret.

“Isn’t this a pretty sight,” Dick’s thick, drunken voice sounded from behind Elias. “Two little love birds perched in a tree. Or is it three?” he suggested, leering at Ruby.

Elias tugged away from Caspian and pivoted so that he could shield Ruby. The movement was made clumsy by a sudden dip as the ship sailed into the trough between two large waves. “You will not touch her,” he said stiffly.

A second later, sense took over from his bravado and his need to protect Ruby.

“Her?” Dick asked, his voice rising to a sharp pitch. “Is that what you call boys like him now?” He clumsily raised an arm to point at Ruby while almost sloshing rum from the bottle he held in his other hand as the deck pitched once more.

“Leave us alone,” Caspian said, pushing himself to sit straighter, frowning at Dick with unusual ferocity. “Do you not have enough to keep yourself occupied with your rum ration?”

“It’s more than just a ration,” Dick said, wiggling his eyebrows, then taking another swig from his bottle.

He had more trouble than he might have liked as the ship bobbed harder. They had yet to reach the curtain of rain ahead of them where the storm began, but the seas were already rough and quickly getting rougher.

“Leave us alone,” Ruby demanded, struggling to her feet and managing to hold her ground, despite the unsteadiness of the ship under her. “None of us has ever done anything against you. You are holding us prisoner against our will.”

Dick laughed sloppily, nearly falling over with the motion of the ship, and wiped a hand across the back of his wet mouth. “Aren’t you a spritely lad,” he drawled.

Elias frowned. It was as clear as day to him that Ruby was a woman.

Her masculine clothing and shorn hair couldn’t hide her true appearance when she stood so boldly in front of Dick the way she did.

But whether it was the rum or some other distraction, Dick did not seem to be able to see what was right in front of his face.

No sooner had that mystery gripped Elias than Caspian slumped to the side, sprawling over the damp deck boards just as the rain began.

“Caspian!” Elias gasped, lunging toward him.

Dick laughed and pointed, staggering as he tried to remain standing. Elias only spared him a brief glare before giving all of his attention to Caspian.

“I am well,” Caspian insisted, ridiculously. He pushed against the deck, trying to sit again, but couldn’t manage it without Elias’s help.

“I’ll fetch Dr. Hunt,” Ruby said, distress clear on her face. “Together, the two of you might know how to heal him.”

Elias would have told her he did not require Hunt’s assistance, but he recognized that Ruby likely merely wanted an excuse to get away from Dick. He nodded, sending her on her way.

“So you’ve let Hunt in on your sordid little games now, have you?” Dick asked, then snorted messily. “I should’ve known.” He took another swig from his bottle.

Elias’s patience snapped. “If you have nothing of any import to add here, kindly find yourself another part of the ship to enjoy your rum.”

Dick’s eyes went wide. “Be like that, will you?” he asked. “When I’m only trying to be nice?”

Elias scowled at him, then turned his attention back to Caspian. “You are not well,” he told his friend, frustrated beyond measure. He felt as though the two of them were spinning around and around in the storm, and as if everything might be resolved if Caspian would merely be truthful with him.

“I see how it is,” Dick said, then stumbled off with surprising speed.

“This storm is turning worrisome too quickly,” Caspian said, sitting with surprising ease.

Elias frowned. Had Caspian feigned being weaker than he was so that Dick would leave them be? Elias could practically see his strength returning. It was maddeningly puzzling.

“What is happening with you?” he demanded, his impatience getting the better of him. “I do not understand, Caspian. One moment you seem as though you are on death’s door and the next you are relatively fit. What kind of illness is this that seems to rise and fall like the tide?”

Caspian laughed humorlessly and nodded to the side of the ship. “That is not, perhaps, the best analogy for this very moment.”

Elias huffed and clasped his hands around Caspian’s face. “What secret are you keeping from me?” he asked directly. “And do not pretend that you have not been concealing something from me since the moment we met. Who are you, Caspian?”

For a moment, something emotional and longing filled Caspian’s eyes. He reached for Elias, sliding a hand around the back of his neck as if he would bring Elias closer for a kiss. Elias would have adored that kiss, but he wanted the truth more than momentary satisfaction.

He got neither. Just as Caspian opened his mouth and said, “I—”, the sound of footsteps approaching across the deck forced them apart.

“You see?” Dick demanded. “Carrying on like two catamites in broad daylight.”

Elias whipped around to find Tumbrill and Dick striding toward them with uneven steps as rain began to lash the deck harder.

“What is the meaning of this?” Tumbrill demanded. It was clear to Elias that Tumbrill was just as much in his cups as Dick. “I thought I warned you about sodomy on my ship.”

Elias wanted to argue, but it absolutely was not the time. “Caspian took a turn for the worse,” he explained, standing with some difficulty and bringing Caspian to his feet with him.

“Filthy sodomites,” Tumbrill growled, as if Elias’s words meant nothing. “I warned you.”

He jolted forward, grabbing Caspian by the front of his shirt.

“What are you doing?” Elias gasped.

Caspian seemed to have a far clearer head about the interaction. He stared Tumbrill down calmly, as if daring him to do his worst.

“I will not have perversion on my ship,” Tumbrill said, tightening his fist in Caspian’s shirt and shaking him.

“It’s my ship as much as it’s yours,” Dick slurred, then laughed and pitched to the side, crashing against the ship’s railing.

“Tumbrill!” one of the seasoned sailors, a man named Brunning, shouted, making his way up the deck towards the confrontation. “Tumbrill, we need to take immediate action for this storm.”

“Quiet!” Tumbrill demanded, lurching around to glower at the man while still holding onto Caspian. “I am the commander of this ship. I say what we need to do and when.”

“But the storm,” Brunning persisted. “We are at full sail. No one gave the order to furl the sails or to secure the deck.”

“I give the orders!” Tumbrill repeated.

A roll of thunder ahead of them gave even more gravity to the situation.