Page 14

Just Betts

What’s one more woman who uses his comfort?

At least my clothes stayed on, right? I hate to add my name to his list of conquests, but I need to feel less alone right now.

It’s my first battle as Captain, and I’m terrified.

I’ve no marriage or sacred hold on my virginity to add to his collection.

If I were like Sabrina, I’d take what he offered and then some.

She didn’t ruin herself before she found Teeth.

He saw her as an exotic, sexual creature that he had to love…

despite the number of men she’d pleasured.

Is Teeth the only man—kraken now—who wouldn’t judge a woman for taking what a man offers?

Why is the woman the strumpet and the man just fulfilling his needs?

A question I must ponder or ask Sabrina when our lives don’t hang in the balance.

Looking at the philosophical paradox is easier than admitting I judged Hybris before meeting him, and I shouldn’t have taken the contract with his father.

Even those sour thoughts are better than the one floating at the root of it all: Can he give me the happiness my sister found, or am I replacing her with Hybris because his wild ways remind me of her?

On a boat full of men of every color, creed, and species—why am I attracted to him?

Yeah, definitely not the right time to tackle that one.

“Teeth and Sabs are doing a number on that boat,” Hybris whispers in my ear. “Do you think it will sail after we leave?”

“I can’t think about that, or I’ll compromise our crew.

Their safety belongs to their captain. I must put us first. If we take the birds aboard, we’ll offer a place on our crew to any who wish to defect.

” My answer is vague, but it’s all I’ve got when my thoughts buzz in my head like a hive of bees.

I’m grateful he’s focused on the mission and leading me to safer thoughts, because his presence at my back is maddening.

As much as I need him to back up so I can concentrate, I crave his strength more.

“Sail ho! Sail ho!” The men in the rigging call out the warning of another ship as if this were the first time they spotted the prize in distress. It adds to the illusion that we didn’t plan our meeting days ago.

“And if they’re loyal to their captain?” I shouldn’t love the way he purrs captain, with his lips against my earlobe, but I can’t help it.

He’s a master seducer. My singular relationship was a lie that I bought.

All my other liaisons were lackluster bed partners I saw once and never again.

I’m outwitted and playing a game I have no business playing.

“I’ll execute them,” I sneer, recovering some of my decorum. This isn’t the time to blush like a virgin sweetheart. “The only way this prize leaves intact is if the birds are too much and we cut them all adrift.”

“That makes this easier,” he replies, but there’s no time to ask him what he means.

“Watch your stern,” calls the captain of the other ship.

He holds his feathered hat on his head with one hand while the other holds his palm toward us.

The pride it takes to wear a hat while under attack doesn’t escape me.

His type is unmistakable. I bet he’s the jackass who whips his crew on the sea and sings their praises on land.

Three of his sailors throw lines to me hearties I have stationed on the rail. They don’t know our sailors are side-show acrobats who stand on the shoulders of larger crew members. Me hearties stand tall and motionless against the tumultuous seas—caused by my tentacled family members.

“There’s a kraken in the abyss. Bastard wants our birds.”

Ha! Not likely. Sabrina was never an animal lover.

“What type of birds?” Hybris says over my shoulder.

He steps around the helm as if he’s the captain.

What’s his game? With his fancy clothes and elegant accent, he plays the part perfectly.

The other captain doesn’t bat an eyelash when I stay at the wheel.

Bastard probably thinks I’m the doxie for Hybris and the crew.

My palms itch for my whip to behead them both!

I see red until I spy the barrel of a long gun between their mizzenmast’s lower sails.

We’re not the only ones with snipers up the ratlines.

With the rocking of their hull, the loose sails wave and reveal the hiding places of the merchants, who aren’t battle-hardened.

Our snipers are tucked into the tied corners on our booms, so no matter how the sails flap, their positions are concealed.

“Kraken have very specific tastes,” Hybris continues. His monologue about kraken, birds, and marine ecosystems would be laughable if the gun barrels didn’t follow his every move. The satyr is an insufferable liar, but our opponents lap up his lies like cream.

Hybris’s laissez-faire attitude takes the captain aback. He never suspected the kraken would find his birds distasteful. Based on his hat’s feathers alone, I know he loves those birds more than the crew who have to manage them. I bet he’s one of the mollies with exotic birds as pets.

“Do you know whether the species of kraken you saw was the species that liked your species of birds?”

Hybris waltzes to the railing, so his head is directly below the less-than-hidden barrel. I understand he’s blustering to give me hearties time to shoot, but does he know he’s in danger? Do the sharpshooters in our rigging? Do they know who to shoot?

No, because they have orders to let him die, as I was too cowardly to do it myself.

I have the signal to start the war, not Hybris.

It’s like he's taunting me with the possibility of these merchants taking him out for me. He doesn’t know about the contract, so why would he stick his neck out like this?

“No—no, can’t say I’ve studied the different types of kraken.

I assumed all tentacled monsters were the same,” The merchant captain stammers.

“Say, we’re Englishmen who sail the lanes to Mexico—for the birds, you see.

While we’re forever indebted to you for frightening away the monsters, I must be loyal to my king and country.

I must know if our nation is your nation.

I’m guessing, from your accent, that you are as English as we are, but your Union Jack was lost in the wind. Shall we give you a replacement?”

Oh, no, thank you. We have a closet full of Union Jacks from ships this boat has sunk.

We keep those flags next to our Jolly Roger.

My smirk at the thought fades as the click of a gun’s hammer rings between the groups.

It didn’t come from our side. Hybris tilts his head at an angle to show the merchant he heard the show of force.

The other captain pulls at his collar as if he’d love to tug open the button buried in lacy frills.

“I’m Hybris Astor—”

“Humphrey Astor’s son,” the merchant says, his eyes widening and his color draining from his face.

He thinks for a moment before splitting his face into a wide smile.

He waves at the merchants on deck to connect the two boats with planks.

If he’s preparing to board—or host Hybris aboard—why doesn’t he tell his ratline climbers to lower their guns?

Is he trying to hide the fact that he drew muskets on us sight unseen?

I’ve read about this in Magda’s journals when merchants mistook Chub at the helm for a poor Irish sailor instead of a pirate protecting his she-devil Captain as she hid from the sun.

“One and the same,” Hybris says, lifting his hoof to rest on the railing.

With his hair blown from its confines, I guess the merchant sailors missed his satyr horns.

They are the same color as his hair. Despite the merchant knowing exactly who Hybris is, he doesn’t signal his crew to lower their guns.

Could this bird ferry be a part of the Astor fleet?

My blood runs cold. What if they were stationed to verify that we killed Hybris?

I should be elated. The gunner over Hybris has lifted the sight to his eye.

He’s aiming to take care of my biggest problem, but wasn’t I supposed to be under the gun?

Would I have noticed them if I stood in Hybris’s spot?

How did I lose control of this situation?

The merchant banters with Hybris as if they’re old chums in a tavern.

All the while, more gunners in the rigging load their weapons and aim at our False Captain.

He’s facing a firing squad on my behalf.

I won’t allow it. My heart jumps into my throat.

He’s my guest until I decide to kill him, and the crew loves him.

Some bird-brained merchant isn’t going to shoot down me hearties—even if I’ve been hired to off them myself.

Any merchants we take onto our payroll wouldn’t respect me in the slightest if I allowed Hybris to take a captain’s bullet.

Yeah, I’m saving his arse for respect…not because I want to explore what lending me his strength entails…

Assuming the soft, merchant mollies don’t miss his fat head.

“I’ve sailed the Pacific and dove into the abyss to swim with kraken.

Have you?” Hybris blusters at half volume as he roams the sterncastle deck.

The gun barrels follow until they’re pointed away from the helm.

Is he protecting me? I unhook my whip from my belt and allow the coils to drop noiselessly to the floor.

“No, I can’t say I have—” The merchant captain approaches the railing, leaning over it to hear every lie Hybris spews.

“Then we must give you the chance today!” I shout as I crack the whip over my head.

It snaps toward the merchant and wraps around his neck.

The hooks at the end lodge in his chin. As he grabs at his wounds, he’s too busy to give the signal to shoot.

Hybris has time to hit the deck and crawl behind the sterncastle mast. My elbow bends, and the captain is flung overboard.

I flick my wrists to retrieve my whip before I’m pulled overboard too.

Bits of the merchant are stuck to the hooks when they slap the planks at my feet.

Bullets splinter our booms and mast as the merchants try their one shot to avenge their captain.

I knew those lily-livered scoundrels couldn’t shoot worth a damn.

Our hearties return fire, and I squat behind the helm to protect myself.

With the way both sides shoot, I’m more likely to be hit by my own nutmegs than the enemy.

The merchants drop from their perches like dead birds, and the irony brings a maniacal cackle between my lips. The exotic birds answer me as each thump on the deck frightens the occupants below.

“Are you okay?” Hybris whispers as he crawls over to me. “I saw you crouch and was worried you had been shot.”

“I’m fine, thanks to you,” I whisper. His thigh is warm against mine as he pulls his knees to his chest next to me. “Why did you do it? Why did you step into my place at the end of those muzzles? They wanted to shoot you.”

“Because if they shot you, everyone on this boat would be at risk for death, imprisonment, or worse. Who would mourn me? If I never returned, it would be assumed I joined the sweet trade or moved up in my father’s fleet. But you… If the world lost you, it would end for everyone aboard.”

“Not everyone,” I start, falling into the abyss of his deep brown eyes. “Me hearties would kill every merchant, roast the birds, and elect a new captain. By morning, everything would run as if I had never existed.”

“You can’t believe that. Surely, you must see how unforgettable you are.”

As the merchants reload their single-shot flintlocks, my hearties reach for a second and then a third gun.

It’s less than ten minutes before the shots stop, after which only the bird’s pitiful squawks fill the air.

The next phase of the battle needs to start, but I don’t want to leave the private haven where I collect Hybris’s sweet words.

I don’t care if they are words he uses on every girl.

They give me the courage to do what’s required of Captain Betts.

“Life as a pirate isn’t like life in a town with families and a registry. You write your story with every day you survive the seas. Who you are or what family name you wear doesn’t matter —just the story you leave behind. And my story has just begun,” I say, leaning over to kiss his cheek.

He turns at the last minute, pressing our lips together.

His lips slide over mine in practiced motions that awaken something inside me I thought dead.

His attention is addictive—like an unwelcome addition you can’t shake.

Addictions kill more captains than bullets.

Pox, green livers, the Bube, and relentless search for the high of finding treasure are the most common ailments of captains.

I’m not ready to succumb to my fate yet.

I tear my lips from his and stare at him.

He’s panting, with eyes more chaotic than his windblown hair.

I’m not the only one who got more than they bargained for in that kiss.

Time to put my newly found fire to good use. I jump to my feet and secure my whip around my waist so I can unsheathe my sword.

“Let’s board, me hearties, and show these merchants the devil’s bargain,” I shout to my crew. “Let them join us, or let them decorate our new floorboards with their innards!”

My crew yells in response. Someone throws me a line so I can be the first to swing over the rails to the other boat. The sign of respect isn’t lost on me. I sail through the air with my sword pointing straight ahead. I don’t dare look at Flint…and the dangerous desire flooding his gaze.