He nearly groaned.Bloody, terrible timing.
“I should get some rest,” Tink muttered.
Hook reached for her, but she’d already twisted away and slipped between his crew members. He could do nothing as those gossamer wings disappeared around the corner.
Chapter 15
Hook
Ahandful of his crew accompanied Hook and Tink when they left after dawn, trekking into the hills behind Coconut Cove and traversing the worn paths toward Rochland. The rest stayed behind to tend to family and ship repairs. The first hour was full of yawns and weary sighs. Since then, though, they’d never shut up.
“Still can’t stop laughing at Reya’s face!” Sage said behind him.
“Hey now,” Smee warned.
“Yeah, yeah, but seriously, the look she had when Rell told her she was in charge?” Sage cackled. “If she wasn’t so pregnant with my future niece, she’d have probably tackled her to the ground.”
“Your…wait, what?” Tink said.
“My niece. It’s going to be a girl. You’ll see.”
“B-but…” She sputtered. “You’re one of Smee’s sisters?”
Almost there, love.Hook grinned.
Sage’s burst of laughter likely scared off any wildlife for miles. If it didn’t, Smee’s guffaw surely did.
“Barley is my brother,” Sage said when she recovered.
“Oh.”
He could almost picture the flush creeping up Tink’s cheeks as she and the others followed along the path after him.
“She might as well be my sister, though,” Smee said. “Been hanging around since we were young.”
“Ouch!” Tink yelped.
Hook whirled around, ready to run to her side. But Sage already helped her up from the ground where she’d stumbled over a tree root on the path.
“Merrin’s teeth, that hurt.”
“All right back there?” he asked. His fist squeezed around the machete he used to hack away pesky branches.
“We’re fine,” Sage assured him and waved him on.
It took effort to turn his back on them and focus on the path ahead. Times like these were some of the few he resented being captain. Command meant duty, leadership. Not stalking near the back of the line to watch Tink as she hiked with his crew through the jungle.
“Been meaning to ask,” Smee started as they continued on their way. “Who’s Merrin? And the other ones…”
“Durin. Oh, and Flora, I think,” Sage supplied.
Aye, he had half a mind to know too. But Tink would never have told him. His crew, however…
“They’re our revered elders,” Tink said. “They watch over us from the spirit plain and bless our way of life. Durin is the elder of weaving and tinkering, Merrin of farming, Beryl of flight…”
She rambled on, listing off various names and things about them. Oh, to be able to write them all down. Perhaps then he’d understand even half the unique curses she loved to spout.
“So Durin’s beard…” Sage began. “It’s…unique?”
