Page 33 of If I Go Down with This Ship

I stand frozen as a crew takes me in, hands reaching for pistols and knives with grim smiles.I have the terrible sense that I’m about to be murdered, but Jack pauses to assess them, mutters something about “newcomers,” and urges me on with a gentle shove.

The people we pass speak of their next treasures, about their recent hauls and raids, and the things and people they’ve encountered on the water.And when they see Jack, they talk of a betrayal, one that I’ve only heard hints of.Jack pauses, hand reaching for his own pistol, but this time I urge him onward.

We see a man passed out in the sand—he might be dead, but it’s impossible to tell from where Jack and I are.Someone else begs for more time to pay back a loan, and someone else purrs niceties in a captain’s ear.I push on after Jack, ducking my head low with a blush, listening in quietly as we continue past.

Jack leads me toward what I can only assume is a tavern,though it’s hard to make out in the darkness.All the buildings on this island seem to be falling apart piece by piece under the effects of the heat and storms and… well,pirates.The paint is chipping, the colors faded by the sun, but the crowds inside are lively, making up for the facades.

Women with breasts spilling over their corsets lounge against men and women alike, and pirates and local merchants are seated at tables scuffed with the marks of fights gone physical, ale in their hands as they speak in low, hushed tones.The crowd is about as colorful as I expected.A woman at the bar has a hand up another’s skirt, and as we pass, I hear her whisper obscenities in the other woman’s ear.

I blush again and hurry ahead, catching up to Jack with a huff.I try to ignore the stickiness of the floor, the way I have to pry my boots up for each step as they cling to god knows what in an inch-thick layer of grime.I feel dirty.More than dirty; I feel like whatever innocence I might have had before coming here—if I had any to start with—is gone.

This is not a place for peace; it is the home of pirates.

“Wait here,” Jack says, pressing a hand to my shoulder as he dumps me at the far end of the bar, disappearing down the hall and to the right into a room.

With a sigh, I lean against the bar and scan the tavern, surveying the crowd.There are two men in the back with their hands wavering over their pistols, fingers twitching for their triggers.Their faces are bent close, features twisted into snarls.It appears someone is going to die tonight.

How quaint.

Others are passed out from drink, faces pressed into tables as they snooze despite the noise.There’s a small crew circledaround a table, heads pressed close as they survey a map, ale sloshing over the parchment.

When one of them catches me watching, I turn my attention to the ceiling, crossing and uncrossing my arms nervously.It’s a strange place, large leaves and plants snaking through and over the walls, sand everywhere.In a matter of minutes, it has wormed its way into mybody, and I mean, the stuff is alreadyeverywhere.

I reach down to nonchalantly adjust my pants when a hand slithers up my side, making me jump.Startled, I spin around, blinking down at who I can only assume is a sex worker.I laugh awkwardly, looking past her to the tavern full of people.The woman a few feet down the bar moans as her companion hikes her skirts up even farther, and oh my god, I need to get out of here.

With an apologetic smile, I pry the woman’s roaming hands from my torso before they can slink even farther down my body.

“I’m not interested,” I say.

She’s pretty, I can’t deny that.With round brown eyes and dark curls, she looks up at me from beneath fanning eyelashes, a coy smile on her lips.“You would deny yourself for what?”She straightens, standing on her tiptoes to wrap her arms around my neck and whisper in my ear.I shiver, and her hands tighten around me as she says, “You’re new, no?”

“I-I’m really not interested,” I stammer, trying to push her away gently.I am tall and lanky, and I know I’m not very strong, but already my body has changed on the ship, and even still, it takes effort to pull her arms from around my neck.How do I tell her that I’m more into men?Not that I haven’t hadthe passing fancy for a few women over the years, but right now I have a very particular type, and the image that’s flashing through my mind is scruffy and tall, with a scar across his chest and long, billowing sleeves revealing bits of ink poking out from beneath them.

“Already found yourself a friend,” a deep voice says from behind me.

My head whips back in surprise, taking in the towering figure.Captain Night leans languidly against the bar, legs crossed at the ankles.He frowns, tracking the woman’s hands as they rake across my skin and through my hair.

“It’s not what you think,” I start, gently nudging her away.I don’t know why I said that.I don’t need to explain myself to him, of all people, yet I did it out of instinct.

Because I worry about what he thinks.Even if he doesn’t think of me like that.Even if it’s not possible in this time.

He raises a brow, looking past me.“Be easy on him, Molly.He’s new.”

The woman smiles and drops her hands to her hips.“Oh, I know, Silas.It was obvious the moment he walked in here.I can always taste fresh blood.”

I jolt at her use of his first name, but he doesn’t seem alarmed by it.How well do they know each other?Have they… No, you know what, that’s none of my business, and why would I care, anyway?He’s my captain.I don’t care what he does in his free time.Just like he doesn’t care what I do in mine.

He beckons me.“Come, we’re ready for you.”

“For me?”

He smirks.“Unless you’d rather I leave you with Molly?”

“I’m coming,” I say, pushing off the bar.

I move to follow him, but Molly catches my arm, squinting up at me.“Careful with him.”

“What?”