I reached down, grabbed Pearl to my chest with two hands, strode past the captain, and climbed the steps to the quarterdeck.
“Hear me, and hear me now!”I yelled into the bright morning sunshine, gazing about me at theArrowand the ocean surrounding her.“Enough!I’ve had enough of your bloody games and your fucking foolishness!”
I waited to see if there would be any response.The captain and the crew gazed at me with astonishment.Pearl licked my chin and wagged her tail against my leg.
Seabirds cawed and theArrow’shull slapped against the waves.In the far distance, I could make out what might be the hazy shape of land.Thank Christ.
“Leave us be, or I shall smite you into oblivion, you fucking menace!”I yelled as loudly as I could.
I waited a few more moments, and when nothing happened except for Hillier coming up on deck and declaring that all was good in the hold—the worms, holes, and water gone—I stomped down the steps with my dog and made my way to our quarters, fury and conviction coursing through me.
I stalked into our room and slammed the door shut with my shoulder, checking the walls and the floor to make sure the worms were gone.I bloody hoped they wouldn’t make a reappearance because the entire debacle had been unsettling in the extreme.I looked out the windows at the expanse of sea, wondering what lurked under her depths.What ancient and evil phenomenon had felt so threatened by me and my magic that the monster was trying to drive me mad and disable the ship?
If I wasn’t able to put a halt to these torments, we would all lose our hold on reality.
Dinesh came into the room quietly and shut the door, as I lowered Pearl to the floor.
“That was inspiring.”
“I’m sick of the bloody games.”
“So am I.”
“The monster has gone from toying with my imagination, to affecting things in the real world.”
“Yes.That’s worrying,” he said.“I’m trying to decide if we should lay anchor and spend some time in Port Royal.Perhaps getting off the ship would help.”
“Yes, I thought of that too.But would that change anything?The creature would only be waiting for us when we returned.”
Dinesh nodded.“You’re probably right.”
“I sense…the battle is close.I can feel the…creature, or whatever the beast is, becoming more desperate.The mass hallucinations.The sleepwalking.My possession the other night.”
“It worries me how hard this has been on you.”
“Perhaps that’s because I’ve been cowering in fear and simply waiting for the monster to do what it will.”
Dinesh cocked his head.“I’m listening.”
I shrugged.“That’s the thing though.I don’t know what I’m fighting and I don’t know how to fight.Iwantto fight.Shouting at the monster made me feel so much better.Did Hillier say if the water had gone?Or only the worms and holes.”
“Everything.As if nothing had happened at all.”
“That’s good.Although I could have done without the fright.Nasty trick.”
“Yes.”
I gazed at him.“I feel rejuvenated now I’ve decided I’m not fucking afraid of this vile beast.”
“I’m glad.You are strong, Rooster.Men who enjoy being subjugated to the will of another in private are often some of the strongest people.This I’ve learned from—” he smiled with an expression that was partly smug and partly embarrassed.“—my sordid past.”
“Sordid, eh?”
“Quite.”He grinned.
We spent the rest of the day lounging in our room, although the captain had to leave to check on the crew once or twice.The men were shaken and confused by what had happened, and they needed Dinesh to reassure them as well as he was able.
In the end, we spent the evening with the men on deck, the distant shore of Jamaica more pronounced on the horizon.We passed around a few bottles of rum and whisky, and Darcy played his fiddle.The world felt good again, and the festivities were exactly what we needed.
