Cameron had seen the beast in him. She knew what he really was.
Still she’d hugged him.
Hugged. Him.
It defied all reason.
“Captain!”
Blinking to clear his thoughts, he walked toward the prow, where Sallie was rushing back and forth between the muscled mountain that was their striker, Simon Dewing, and Katashi, who barely cleared five feet in height. Wiry and lean, Kat had black hair and deep hazel-brown eyes. Because of his proclivity for pranks and harassing any sailor not doing their part, half of Bane’s crew was convinced the Japanese sailor was part namahage. A fear Kat played into by the way he dressed and wore his hair in feathered knots around his head.
But Devyl suspected a lot of it came from the fact that Kat had been the youngest of five boys. Something that tended to make him rambunctious and forever into things he should leave alone.
Like a hungry rat ferreting.
Hence his nickname. It was both a play on the fact that Kat was mouselike, and therefore they called him by a rodent’s mortal enemy. And he was curious to a level that Devyl didn’t doubt for an instant Kat would sacrifice nine lives to uncover one truth.
Likewise, Simon, as a former priest of Exú—like the African spirit he served—was an innate trickster capable of being a fierce protector or a vengeful enemy.
Almost even in height to Devyl, Simon wore his hair in a short black Greek style that softened the sharp, angular lines of his handsome features. And while Devyl’s eyes became red under stress or threat, Simon’s dark brown eyes would turn a vibrant gold serpentine whenever he communed with his spirits.
“What mischief are you about?” He eyed them as he saw how distraught Sallie was.
“They’ve stolen me soul again, Captain. Make them hand it back!”
“Si … Kat … where is it?” he growled at them.
“Captain,” Simon chided. “It’s ridiculous for you to humor him so. The man needs to learn his soul’s not in a bottle.”
Devyl felt his eyes turning at their cruelty toward their older mate. “And what harm is it to you if he chooses to carry his soul in a bottle or not? Were you once frightened as a small child by a bottled soul?”
Kat laughed.
Simon’s nostrils flared, but he knew better than to show his anger to Devyl. “I can’t believe a grown man is so ridiculous. You should shatter it now, Captain, and show him how foolish he’s being.”
“And you should both be ashamed of yourselves for tormenting the poor lad over his soul in this manner. Now hand it over and let him have his peace.”
Kat pulled it out of his pocket with a grimace. “It does seem a bit off, Captain. He nurses it like a child with a poppet. I’ve even seen him talking to it.”
“Again, I ask, what’s the harm to you if he does? Would you rather he be talking to you or nursing you?” He gave a pointed stare to each of them. “And I’d like to think the two of you, of all the members of this crew, would be the least likely to torment another over any matter.”
Simon grimaced. “That’s just a low blow, Captain.”
“And so’s stealing a man’s soul.”
“We were just having a bit of fun.” Kat moved to stand closer to Simon.
“Fun at the expense of another’s suffering isn’t fun, Mr. Mori. That bitch is known as cruelty, and her mantle is lasting anguish. It’s the inalienable right of all sentient creatures to sleep in peace. To live lives of dignity and free of torment. To pursue whatever courses they, themselves, choose of their own volition. And no one should ever be beholden to another. Not for their necessities, and damn sure not for their liberty nor for their lives. And never for their immortal souls. Now hand the man his soul that you took before I aid in sending yours back to hell!” Those last words came out as a deep growl that caused them to scamper away the instant they handed it over.
Devyl returned the bottle to its owner.
When he started to leave, Sallie stopped him. “Thank you for understanding about me soul, Captain.”
Devyl inclined his head to the physically older male. However, he had been born long before the man in front of him, or even Sallie’s great-grandparents. “No worries, Mr. Lucas. Though might I suggest in the future that you find a smaller bottle or safer place to be keeping such a precious commodity?”
Absalon grimaced. “I tried a smaller bottle once. Damn thing’s too big to fit in one. Caused all manner of ruckus over it. Sad to say, this is the smallest I could manage and keep him happy.”
Devyl bit back a smile. “’Tis a mighty large rum bottle.”
