Page 44 of Wicked Tides #1

Vidar

It is when we cease seeing with our eyes

that ugly things transform into diamonds

~Mother Anne Stillington

It was midday before we returned to Port Devlin, but it was overcast. The season of storms was earning its name and I could smell rain in the air.

Once we anchored, no one stayed aboard the Rose.

Not after the sons had devoured Collin’s entire crew.

They were voracious beasts and they wanted Dahlia as much as they wanted humans.

As soon as we were in the shallows, Meridan took Dahlia’s partially conscious body into the water without even a warning and disappeared beneath the dark waves.

We came to the docks and headed inland, eager to gain some distance from the shore.

All the while, David kept his head down like a beaten dog.

I hadn’t said a word to him during the entire journey back.

He knew he’d made mistakes. I knew I had, too.

I was at fault as much as he was and neither of us wanted to admit it aloud.

Coming to the inn, I immediately walked in searching for Gus and the girls. They were down in the tavern sipping on warm broth and nibbling some bread when we arrived. Gus got a look at my torn ear and the dried blood on the side of my face and shook his head with a sigh.

“What happened then?” he asked.

I skimmed the girls, catching the little one’s distressed gaze as she scanned for the young lady that had been taken. Knowing she wouldn’t find her among us made my heart sink a little.

“Gone,” I muttered to Gus. “The lot of them.”

“Don’t look like it was an easy fight.”

I touched my stinging ear and shrugged. “It was easy enough.” I glanced over my shoulder at David and gestured toward the girls with my head. “Can I trust you to look after them while you get a bite to eat?”

He nodded silently and dragged his tired feet to one of the tables as Thelasa brought out a fresh bowl of broth.

“Got the boy back looks like. What about the girl?”

I shook my head. “Haven’t asked what happened yet, but I didn’t see her when we boarded. And Dahlia looked mad enough.”

Gus lowered his head with a grumble and scratched his scruffy chin.

“Sakari, her name was. Was the little one’s aunt. And where’s Dahlia?”

I shrugged again, stepping over to the bar and pouring myself a mug of water from a wooden pitcher. I took a few sips to wet my dry throat before I spoke again.

“She was hurt. Meridan said she needed the water, but she had to wait till we got to the shallows.”

“Why’d you have to wait.”

I took another sip. “Because those slimy creatures showed up. Whole crew saw ‘em this time. Devoured whatever was left of Collin’s men. Tried to take Dahlia, too. We had to sail inland before Meridan would risk going in the water again.”

He scrubbed his face with another groan and leaned an elbow on the bar beside me.

“Why did I ever think our days of sailing would become simple? ”

“When have they ever been simple?” I snorted.

“Go out, hunt, bring back heads. Simple. Now we’re making alliances with sirens, fighting other crews, and being attacked by creatures from the deep.”

“First, what we have with Meridan and Dahlia is hardly an alliance. Second, Collin was a prick. I was bound to kill him out here or in a tavern back home sooner or later. And…” I paused to shake my head with defeat.

“The sons are just in the middle of it all. As far as I’m concerned, they’re just something else to kill. ”

I glanced at David as he carefully sipped warm broth from a bowl. Across from him, a few of the girls were quietly huddled together, heads down and eyes closed as if in silent prayer.

“How’s he doing?” Gus asked.

“Don’t know. Haven’t spoken to him yet.” I took a couple breaths before continuing.

“Agnes took a leap off of Roger’s Point, according to him.

Just after I left the harbor. That’s why he joined Collin’s crew.

Boy’s as lost as I was at his age. I just didn’t want him to find the path I did. It doesn’t lead anywhere good.”

“Ahh,” Gus huffed. “Woman was having a hard go at it since Jack. Don’t blame yourself.”

“It’s hard not to, Gus. I was trying to make good on promises to myself and I failed at that.”

“What promises?”

“I promised I would protect them.”

“Too much weight on one man’s shoulders will break even the strongest back.” He slapped me on the arm and then turned back to the table. “I’ll talk to him if you like.”

I nodded. “Might be best. Don’t think he likes me much right now.”

“Thelasa says Oscar Keith has a few hunting cabins inland he’d be willing to rent out for us since the inn’s getting a little full. I, uh, I promised the stock of furs to them as payment.”

“Good. They’ll make use of it better than we would. Might be best for me to sleep elsewhere tonight anyways. ”

“Hmm. Sensing some restless nights ahead?”

“They’re always restless, Gus,” I smiled tiredly.

“That they are.”

I stood off the bar and set my mug down, rolling my sore shoulders.

“Take care of the girls.”

“Aye. And David. You have my word.”

“Aye, and David. Thank you.” I turned to Thelasa as she walked behind the bar with a few empty cups. “Doors locked tonight, Ma’am.”

She snorted. “We lock our doors every night here, sir. And bolt them. We’ve had our fair share of conflict on our island, believe you me.”

“I’m sure you have,” I smirked.

“Get some rest,” Gus interceded, shoving at my shoulder.

I shrugged off my coat and headed for the doors, swiping an almost full bottle of rum from behind the bar on my way.

I was in great need of time alone. Before I reached the exit, I turned to David, placing my fists on the table and leaning forward.

His eyes met mine like he was a little boy about to get a spanking.

“I don’t care if you hate me,” I said to him. “I hate me. But these girls here just lost someone because Collin wanted to have some wicked fun. You want a job? You look after them because they need us.”

His eyes scanned over the girls once and then returned to me.

“Who are they?”

“Scared, unlucky girls is all. They just want to go home.”

It was a vague answer, but it was all I had for him. Subtly, he nodded and something in my gut said he was being honest. I saw the guilt radiating off of him, and if he truly was like I had been at his age, he was eager to redeem himself.

I slapped my hand against David’s back and then continued to the doors, coat in hand .

“I tried to fight them,” he blurted out, stopping me. “That… woman. She tried to help her. And then they put me in the hold for speaking up. When the ship was taking on water, she got me out. I… why did she do that?”

My eyes lifted to see Gus listening in on every word. He looked just as conflicted as I felt hearing about what Dahlia did.

But I was too damn drained to think about it all just yet. I nodded and continued toward the door, brows furrowed.

“Up the hill and then down again into the valley where the trail narrows,” Thelasa called to me. “The cabin with all the overgrown ferns is where you’ll be staying. Oscar already done it up with sheets. You want a bath, you’ll have to take it in the lake.”

I waved at her over my shoulder, lazily exiting the tavern and making my way along the damp street toward the hills.

Port Devlin was a small part of the island.

Once I got to the top of the null, I could see the rest of it.

Most of the island was groves and fields with a few cabins and houses peppered throughout.

They were mostly self-sufficient but traded for warm clothing and food from time to time when winters grew harsh.

Descending the hill, I watched a green landscape pass me by.

There were tall trees, small streams, and pens full of sheep, and in the distance, I could hear crows cawing as if to mock all of my recent losses.

Farther from the small town, the silence engulfed me. The breeze was there, but it was bearable, even with the biting chill riding it. I reveled in the lonely walk, fighting an onslaught of invading thoughts.

I’d lived with guilt my whole life. I’d always dealt with it by putting a bottle in one hand and my cutlass in the other. If excessive drink and a blade didn’t finish me and I saw morning, then it wasn’t my time because it was beginning to look like nothing else was capable of killing me.

Death had a sick sense of humor. He took the ones who cherished life too soon and spared those who desired to see the end of it.

Rubbing my tired eyes, I noticed the path narrowing just as Thelasa said it would.

And as if it appeared out of nowhere, I saw the cabin in an overgrown patch of weeds and ferns.

I trudged along, feeling sticky with salt and grime, and came to the door.

Not far from the cabin I saw the muted sunlight glinting off the surface of a placid lake.

I supposed that was my bath if I found the energy.

But I didn’t have it. Not yet. My mind was too burdened and my body too tired. I lifted the latch on the door and headed inside, finding a pile of wood already stacked by an iron stove.

Oscar’s cabin was full of luxuries I didn’t expect. I would have taken a pile of wool blankets under the stars if it came to it, but instead, I got a bed and a fire.

Immediately, I stacked a few logs with some kindling into the fireplace and ground the fire steel I found sitting on top of it until a spark caught.

As the flames grew, I sat back on a thick wooden chair against the wall and released a breath, letting the tension in my muscles trickle away.

Across from me was a bed with a wooden headboard made of curved beams. There were two small windows and a small, round table, but otherwise, the cabin was vacant like no one had used it in ages.