One of the women behind Cressida leaned forward and whispered something in her ear. From the corner of her eye, Tink caught other members of their crew coming near. It was becoming a standoff, Cressida’s crew versus them. They had the numbers, but her crew was healthy, rested, and mostimportantly, armed. All theJolly Rogerscrew’s weapons had been stripped from them aboard theKraken.
“You have a point,” she said at length. “But theSirencan’t take theKrakenalone, and I assume you don’t have an extra ship floating anywhere around here.”
“No.” Smee rubbed the back of his neck. “But we—”
Tink sucked in a deep, fortifying breath. “Yes.”
All eyes turned to Tink.No turning back now.Cressida was right. One ship alone couldn’t beat theKraken, even if they caught it unawares. But two…they might have a chance. She reached in her pocket and pulled forth the black pearl.
“No.” Smee wrapped her hand back around the treasure. “Captain wouldn’t want that.”
She’d underestimated him, thought him a bit slow. Maybe he was, sometimes, or just distracted. But he’d known exactly what she planned when he saw that pearl in her hand.
“He’d understand,” Tink said. “’Til death, right? Besides, a person can have more than one home.”
His chest swelled. For the briefest moment, she thought she saw a sheen of wetness in his eyes. “Aye.”
“Care to explain to the rest of us?” Cressida asked, her boot tapping in the sand.
Tink glanced at the captain. “Watch.”
Water lapped at her calves as she waded into the sea and, for once, didn’t fear it. It’d be giving her something today, not taking it away.Merfolk never lied, right?She held up the pearl, watching it glisten in the sun. Well, she’d put the claim of their treasure to the test.
Please, fix the Jolly Roger. Good as new. Let us save James.
At first, nothing happened. A hard ball of doubt started to form within her chest before the air around her pulsed, rippling out through the sea. Tink gasped, nearly dropping the pearl. Exclamations rose behind her, but she dared not look away.Merfolk who’d lingered just offshore sped off. The pearl began to glow, shimmering gold and silver, brighter than any shiny new coin.
The ground rumbled. The sea bubbled like a pot of boiling water. Then, the water offshore swelled like a great wave that would wash them all away.
Curses and accusations filled the air, but she ignored them. Suddenly, a mast stabbed through the wave, accompanied by sails that puffed and billowed as if dry. Seconds later, the rest of a ship emerged, spit out by the sea. It blocked out the sun, bobbing on soft waves.
“TheJolly Roger!” Smee exclaimed, wading into the water beside her.
A pirate ship had never looked so beautiful. Had anything? Tears of joy slipped down her cheeks unchecked. James’s ship was reborn. They could save him.
“Damn,” Barley whistled.
“Look at that,” someone said. “No patch in the hull!”
“Like she’s good as new,” Smee whispered in awe. He turned back to the shore. “Well?” he asked Cressida. “Will she do?”
Tink looked back over her shoulder.
Cressida nodded, an easy smile on her face, accompanied by something perhaps like wonder. Her attention moved from the ship to Tink. “Aye. She’ll do.”
Chapter 38
Hook
Darkness stared back at him, his only companion in the bowels of theKraken. He rubbed his mother’s ring, Blackbeard’s ring, between his fingers.
Endless as the seas.
How long had it been since Blackbeard shattered him completely? A day? A week? Eternity? He ached worse than when the bastard had taken his hand. Lying there, bleeding out in the cell, would have been preferable. At least then he could give in this time. But no. Not yet. He still had one thing to do, a spark of vengeance he kept burning in the ruins of his heart.
He wouldn’t sail for that bastard. The least he could do was rid the world of him, or die trying. Finish off that cursed bloodline for good.
Except your brother, his thoughts taunted him.
