“What are—”
Hook shot Lily a glare, silencing her question. The pixie flinched.
Tink frowned but kept her mouth shut.Good. “Spare a minute, Captain?”
Now it was his turn to frown. Nothing good ever followed his title. “Fine, come with me.” He gestured toward the tree line opposite the shore. “Lily, stay with Sage.” He pointed for the pixie’s benefit.
Sage’s eyes glittered with mirth. Oh, she’d keep the girl in check all right. Wouldn’t hesitate to knock her out and tie her up if needed either, not like one of the men might.
“What’s going on?” Tink said in a screechy whisper as they neared the trees stretching up toward the sun over the grey beach.
“I don’t trust her.”
She gaped.
“I know. She’s your cousin. The one you saved. But out here?” He gestured around them. “You can’t tell me that makes any bloody sense.”
Her wings fluttered in what could only be annoyance. Color raced to her cheeks. She glanced back at Lily, who walked with Sage down the shoreline.
“She shouldn’t be here, love. We can’t risk our mission, lifting our curses, my crew. Give us time to see what she’s about.” His hand settled on her waist, and she relaxed a little. “We’ll keep her safe, just…protect us too.”
Tink glanced up at him, her gaze softening. “Bloody pirate.”
A laugh burst out with his grin. “You’re starting to sound like me, love.”
She rolled her eyes. “I wonder why. But she…” She glanced back at her cousin. “Itisher. She’s okay,” her voice cracked, and she shook her head. Fighting away tears?
“She is.” He gave her a light squeeze. For her benefit he’d say it, even if he didn’t fully believe it himself.
Tink sighed. “Let’s just find this scale and go home.”
Home. The word cut at him and forced his grin to falter. Her home…or his?
Chapter 26
Tink
Okay, he’s right.It was weird that Lily was on the Shrouded Isles of all places. On the beach near the bearded man, near a fire that she wasn’t trying to hide... And a mermaid telling her? It didn’t feel right. But itwasher. She’d seen her face every day for pretty much her whole life. Tink knew that voice, the way her eyes crinkled, the shade of her wings, her smell. It was all too real to be an illusion. Her story checked out too, much as it hurt to believe it.
Captain Blackbeard and his men hadn’t hurt her, not physically, but they weren’t the kind she’d have gone off with on her own—no way. They were the epitome of wretched pirates. Why would Lily go with them? And without telling her? She couldn’t ask. For some reason, the words just stuck in her throat. A heavy feeling in her chest told her she wouldn’t like the answer. But this was Lily.HerLily.
She shook her head. Later. They’d get the scale, then figure it out. “Where are we supposed to find this trident anyway?” Tinkgestured to the heavy-laden palms leaning overhead. Her hand swiped some of the strange moss, and she shivered. Wiping her hand on her breeches wasn’t enough to totally remove the lingering soiled feeling.
They were supposed to find a wooden trident on an island made of trees covered in this terrible stuff? It could be anywhere. Any size. Any wood. Probably hidden behind more of…whatever the horrid stuff was. The witch had not been specific, not at all. The bearded man was totally different than she expected, so it stood to reason the trident would be too.
“Aye, that bloody witch wasn’t worth the gold we paid her.”
No, the bitch wasn’t.Tink sighed. Yet another person who wanted her dust. Sunlight slanted through the palm fronds casting dancing shadows across James’s strong jaw. Funny, the one person who inspired her dust told her to keep it for herself. She’d offered it to him on the journey to the Isles—compensation for the jewel she’d stolen. He’d just laughed and said he’d stolen a better treasure instead.
Her cheeks flushed, and she turned away. Oh, the effect he had on her. “Yes, well, that trident. Where in all the—” She blinked, stunned into silence.
“Love?” James was at her side in a heartbeat.
Just down the beach, an odd palm split into three about two feet off the ground. It couldn’t be seen from the beach, not with the angle of the trunks, but from where they stood it was visible between its brethren and the mossy drapery. “Look at that.” She pointed to it. “Do you think…?”
She hurried down the beach, as fast as one could in the mix of grainy sand, small rocks, and old fronds that littered the ground. James ran a few steps ahead of her.
“There’s a path!”
