Page 46 of Moist!
chapter one
SERAFINA
“I hope you’re not trying to fool us, girl.”
I don’t try anything, I do . And what these men don’t know is that I’ve already been fooling them for the last two hours.
A flicker of light, a trick of the eye, and what looks like an ace suddenly becomes a three once it hits the table.
I would almost feel sorry for them if they had enough respect to at least remember my name, Serafina.
But since they don’t, I couldn’t care less.
I sip my drink and meet the glare of the burly captain across the table with a smirk.
“I wouldn’t dare,” I say demurely. I shuffle my cards and continue my I’m-just-a-woman-I-couldn’t-even-begin-to-outsmart-you act.
The humans always eat that up, especially the men around here.
In fact, that’s the only reason they ever let me play.
If they had any inkling that I might be able to deceive them, their frail egos would’ve shut that down immediately.
Unfortunately for Captain Serchist, just because you don’t know something exists doesn’t mean it can’t hurt you, and I’ve been stringing him along all night just to watch him crumble.
I’m about to lay my cards out in a winning blow when a tall, lanky man pushes through the crowded barroom, making a fuss of grabbing my little plaything’s attention.
“Captain! Captain, I’ve found it!” The energetic blond seaman thrusts a rolled parchment in front of his boss and leans down to whisper in his ear.
Serchist seems to be listening but his eyes roam his playing hand over and over, his fingers hovering over which card to choose.
He’s losing in front of all his men and he knows it. I love this game.
I take another sip of the brandy in front of me, enjoying the drama unfolding around the room. Men nearest the captain and the seaman start whispering to each other, then to the next men around them, and so on until the whole room is filled with hushed words in sharp, astonished tones.
Map. Treasure .
My ears perk up and a flush creeps over my neck.
If there’s treasure somewhere, I have to have it.
My sisters never listen to my feats of adventure on land or how fun it is to play amongst humans.
They think it’s a waste of my time and magic.
But if I come back with treasure, maybe they’ll finally see the real me.
That map is mine . The voice inside my head will not be dissuaded.
The captain nods his head and the man slides what must be the map into his back pocket.
I weigh my options quickly and decide I don’t really need to con Captain Serchist out of house and home tonight.
Besides, if I make a habit out of it, someone’s bound to notice eventually.
I switch gears before he can pick his next card.
“I’ll play you a full round in exchange for that map.” Playing another round will allow him a chance to win his money back and not lose his dignity amongst his crew.
Serchist’s hand stops mid-motion and his eyebrows furl in mock-confusion. “What map?”
“That map.” I point to the man still standing at his side. Serchist turns his snarl on the man before facing me again.
“How’d you hear that from way over there?”
“Will you continue asking silly questions,” I counter, “or play another round?”
Captain Serchist grunts in agreement, and so our decks are reshuffled and the night grows colder as we continue the game.
With no funny business this time, I let him win and the new game ends soon enough.
With his money back in his purse, Serchist’s shoulders finally drop from his ears for the first time in hours.
The seaman pushes through the crowd once more to hand over the map from his back pocket. I make a show of stuffing it in my bra and throw back the remainder of my drink, clunking the glass on the table with flair.
“Not so fast, young lady.” Another one of the captain’s men stops me when I stand from my chair. “What’s a girl like you going to do with a map like that?”
Other men around the room join in, telling me the gossip about the map and its dangerous destination and how I couldn’t possibly make it alone.
Not to mention, no men would dare have me on their boat; especially since I’d scare away the mermaids.
Their feeble attempts to intimidate me out of taking the map only work to fuel me more.
My sisters will have to accept my love of land and sea once they hear about this.
The voices begin to die out with my growing silence. It isn’t a good look for Captain Serchist to have his men behaving this way. He scratches the scruff at his jaw, likely trying to choose his words wisely before he speaks.
“What use do you have with that map, anyway?” he asks.
I smile and move my hand in a “shoo” motion to the men standing next to me. “You’ve won money tonight, Captain Serchist, not my secrets.” And with that, I exit the old barroom swiftly, ignoring grumbles between men about how they’re going to get the map back.
The fresh air hits me in soft waves when I step out into the night.
It’s been a hot, dry day, even so close to the ocean, so I’m happy to feel the weather calming down.
A beautiful way to end a successful evening.
And by the sound of the men pouring out of the bar, likely looking to have a “friendly little chat” with me, I know that what I have in my possession is priceless.
A bottle of gin lies on its side at the corner of the street I usually take towards my secret spot and I grimace at the smell that I’ll have on my skin for the rest of the night.
But I’m a mermaid, not an octopus; there’s no way I’d be able to fight more than two of the men following me off at once.
So I crouch down, dip my fingers in the clear liquid, and disappear into the night.