Lira pressed a mug into Cali’s paws before she’d even managed a proper greeting. “This will warm you up after your journey.”
“And this will fill your belly.” Pip Brambleheart pushed through the group from the direction of his bakery with a paper bag in tow. “I don’t suppose you’ve had much to eat on the road.”
“We haven’t,” Cali admitted. The scones Thrain had brought barely counted since they’d devoured them hours ago.
She took the bag and opened it, breathing in the heady aroma of lemon sweet rolls. Marvella might have come close to Lira’s scone recipe, but her rolls weren’t in the same league as Pip’s heavenly pastries. She’d barely closed her paw around one of the sticky rolls when Thrain tugged the bag from her grip.
“Don’t be stingy, Cal.”
Cali shook her head as Thrain wasted no time stuffing a sweet roll in his mouth, moaning with pleasure and mumbling his praise. “’Ells ‘n ‘inders, I’ve missed these.”
Fenni and Tinpin bustled up together, with the gnome straightening the points of his houndstooth waistcoat and the halfling trailing the pungent scent of cheese.
“Any luck finding silks?” Tinpin asked. “Any luck?”
Cali gave him an apologetic smile. “We found mermaids and sirens, but silks weren’t for sale on the outlaw island.”
The little cheesemonger’s eyes widened. “Outlaw island?”
“Bless the stars,” muttered Pip, pressing a hand to his flour-encrusted apron.
Thrain didn’t wait to cross the tavern’s threshold before launching into a tale about their adventure as he headed inside with the bakery bag in hand. “The mermaids were nothing compared to the sirens, I’ll tell you that much…”
“And you wanted to jump in with them,” Cali called out, but he was too far gone in his own story to hear her.
Vaskel caught her elbow before she could follow the others inside, drawing her a step away. “What happened with Marina?”
Cali had almost forgotten the purpose of their journey in all the welcoming greetings. “We found her and her crew. Well, the one who wasn’t dragged to the bottom of the sea by the sirens.”
Vaskel’s jaw dropped, but he didn’t interrupt.
“We saved Bonnie’s jolly boat, turned Marina’s remaining lackey over to another pirate, and dropped Marina off on a remote island run by yodeling nuns. She won’t be leaving there anytime soon.”
She patted his arm and headed inside the tavern. A moment later, he hurried behind her, his dark slash of brows pressed together. “Did you say yodeling nuns?”
Cali grinned as she imagined Marina surrounded by the penitent yodelers. “That’s right. It was Bonnie’s idea. Fitting punishment, don’t you think?”
“Both cruel and unusual,” the hellkin said, a smile twitching the corners of his mouth, “so I think it’s very fitting.”
The tavern door banged open before they could say more, and Iris swept in, her patchwork skirt swishing and a stoppered bottle of pale green elixir still clutched in one hand, as if she hadn’t even bothered to drop whatever she’d been mixing the moment she’d heard the news. A few silvered curls dangled in her face, and her half-moon glasses clung valiantly to the end of her nose. She crossed the room in several quick strides and pulled Cali into a hug that smelled of herbs and bergamot.
“Well?” she asked, pulling back just far enough to study Cali’s face. “Was it a success?”
“It was an adventure,” Cali said. “More of one than any of my previous quests.”
Cali caught the flicker of worry in the apothecary’s expression and shook her head before Iris could ask. “It didn’t tempt me to become a pirate. If anything, it helped me realize I’ve been chasing the wrong thing. My next chapter in life has nothing to do with a new crew or a new quest.”
Iris tilted her head, and her glasses almost slid off her nose. “And what is your next chapter?”
“Thrain gave me the idea, but don’t you dare tell him. It’ll only go to his head.” Cali swung her knapsack onto the nearest table, reached into her knapsack, and drew out her journal. “I’ve been recording my adventures since the beginning. It’s about time I wrote my stories into a book.”
Iris sucked in a quick breath. “Cali, that’s wonderful. You’re such an avid reader that you’ll make a splendid writer.” She pulled the pantheri into another hug. “Of course, I expect a signed copy for my shelves.”
“You’ll get the first one,” Cali promised as Iris released her.
Rog appeared at her elbow as Iris headed for the bar and the hellkin behind it. He held out a jug of brandy. “Drink?”
Cali waved him off. “No spirits for me for a while. I’ve had enough rum and brandy to pickle my insides.”
