13

Sabrina

“You want to talk about him?” She asks casually.

As if I’m answering any of her questions.

“You’ve been on legs for days,” I say with more hurt than sharpness laced in my voice. I wish I could scold her the way she lectures me. She messed up in the worst way possible. I’m angry with her for throwing away her chance at true love while accusing me of doing the same thing. “My soulbeak rests on my navel. Does yours?”

“No,” she says to her lap.

“What to tell me about it?”

“No.”

“No lecture to prevent me from making the same mistake? I’m as surprised by that as I am by your get-up,” I add to lighten the mood. As angry as I am at her, she’s hurting more than me. The rings of sadness haunted her eyes as she entered the show’s tent on Teeth’s arm—not when Richard lost his head.

“Oh, this old thing? We found a trunk of women’s clothes on the ship we plundered before your rescue. I thought it would give Richard impure thoughts when he’s with his wife. Revenge is a sin, but my definitions of sin and purity are upside-down.”

“Wife? What happened? I thought he was the one for you.” I dab her eyes with the corner of the bed’s coverlet.

“I gave him everything…” Her sniffles escalate into sobs.

I peel back the stack of quilts and blankets to invite her to join me. We wrap our arms around one another as she cries in my hair. I let her wails fill the room as she shatters. My soulbeak tingles with sympathy. The heavy, black curtains on the portholes wave as mourning flags signal over a fort. Even the boat slows its momentum to listen to Bettina’s troubles. If Richard weren’t dead already, the crew would rally around her.

Then why am I terrified of them? Bettina huddles under the quilts to hide from her troubles, but I wish to hide from the humans. I trust Bettina and Teeth because my soulbeak links my soul to theirs. If they plotted to return me to a show, my belly would sour. Since Chub seemed to be the brains behind my rescue and Catalina killed Richard on Bettina’s behalf, I guess I can trust them as well. However, there are lots of humans on this boat…in tight quarters…

Will the nightmares of my time in captivity ever allow me to frolic on deck? Have I lost the sparkle that makes me Sabrina? Will it return when I shift into a Kraken and swim away? How can I see Teeth again if I can’t be on his boat? My anxiety begs me to focus on Bettina’s problems instead of breaking my heart with my own. Whether I swim away as a Kraken or live my days in this room, Bettina must be settled in a life she enjoys…without me.

“What did you give Richard exactly?” I ask when she runs out of tears and silence replaces her cries.

“Last month, we put the kids to bed and spread a blanket behind the chapel to stargaze. He told me biblical stories, which became personal stories as the night grew late. I was so overcome with the openness of his heart that I made love to him, but it wasn’t love on his end. The next morning, I broke my soulbeak into his breakfast—hurt like hell, but I didn’t want to wait—and floated the idea of shifters in the congregation by him. He raged in a powerful tableside sermon about the abomination of shifters. He called us demons, Sabrina. ”

“With such a tirade, the soulbond decided you would spend your life on legs. Did you take his plate away and smash it over his head?”

“I should have, but I was stunned. What happened to the inclusion of all God’s creatures and mercy for those less fortunate—”

“Did you see us as less fortunate as Krakens? Are you happier now as a human?” I suppress the hurt in my voice, but I’m proud to be a Kraken. I like who I am and thought Bettina was secure in herself too. If I return to my Kraken form forever, will she respect my choice?

“Not anymore,” she says bitterly. Her fierceness shouldn’t set my heart at ease, but it does. “His hunger for your Kraken broke something in me. He wanted you. Despite his preaching, he desired a Kraken’s touch. On the outside, he acted as the beacon of purity, but his rotten insides held many dirty secrets—including his affair with me. I didn’t know his mission was funded by his wealthy wife, who has spent the last few years on a different island. While she devoted herself to helping the poor, Richard devoted himself to me…and a few other women in the village…and his visits to Maude’s tavern.”

“Oh Betts, I’m so sorry,” I whisper, hugging her closer. I stroke her hair while my brain spins with possible things to say. Do I tell her she’s better off without him? She’s a destitute human. He doomed her to life as one of the helpless people he supposedly lifted from poverty. Do I tell her I can’t choose for us to be humans together? I can’t because of what I endured at the hands of Barnabie, Rufus, Dolbie, and the random men they allowed to touch me during the shows.

What does this mean for Teeth and me? How can I ask her what to say to his proposal when she’s ruined and needs my support?

Knock, knock.

“Come in,” I shout, hoping it’s not Teeth. He can’t enter this chamber of sorrow with his flowery promises of love. It would rub Bettina’s nose in the filth of Richard’s sins.

“I must say you will be the easiest person to serve on the boat,” Catalina chirps as she enters the room. She carries a large tray that contains two heaping plates of flopping fish and three tankards. “The guys caught the fish and dropped them onto the plate. I didn’t have to lift a finger beyond pouring the grog. Seems too late in the day for tea—especially after the thrilling evening we’ve had. If you don’t mind the company, I thought I’d join you for a drink and answer your questions on the sweet trade.”

“The least we can do is share a drink. I owe you one,” Bettina says, climbing from the bed to the wardrobe. She grabs a long, threadbare coat and tosses it at me. Hmmm, it smells of Teeth…err, Milton…I just can’t call him that horrid name…Teeth’s scent. The worn leather is buttery soft against my skin.

“Owe me one? How do you know?” Catalina splutters as she sets Teeth’s table with our meal. I breathe a sigh of relief when the door closes behind her without adding more visitors. Beyond an eyebrow quirk, she doesn’t ask me about the reaction.

“I saw you stab Pastor Richard. If you hadn’t done it, I’d find a way to stab him,” Bettina says, wrapping her arm around Catalina in a brief hug.

“Oh, that,” Catalina whispers, blushing fiercely. “I thought you meant mending the shirt you tore in the battle. The buttons weren’t recovered from the ship we sank, but the new lace panels should cover your dairy. I brought it as a peace offering in case you were mad my Chub killed your friend.”

“That cheating, rotten, self-righteous son of a biscuit-eater is no friend of mine. And any woman brave enough to stab him while her man beheads him is the type of woman I want in my circle of friends.”

“Hey, I recognize that lace,” I say, scrambling out of bed to the table. I wrap Teeth’s duster around me, but the hem drags on the floor, and the shoulders hang off my elbows. At the table, I finger the fresh panels on Battina’s blouse. “That pattern has Pintarro rosettes. Half the women in the Caribbean would give their fingers to weave lace in those rosettes—makes the shirt skyrocket in value.”

“Because I’m Catalina Pintarro, or at least I will be until I marry Chub.” She releases the blouse to my care and points her wrist at me. My eyes bug out like a grouper’s when five thin lines burst from the spinnerets under her skin. A swirling pattern of waves weaves Teeth’s buttonholes to the rusty buttons, closing the duster around me. The masculine garment is transformed with feminine finery so delicate, it resembles the foam that caresses the beach.

If Teeth is attached to this duster one iota…he will hate it.

I beam at my spidery new best friend. A deluge of warmth, calm, and security surround me. I’m as safe in this coat as I am in Teeth’s arms.

“If you are the owner of Pintarro Textiles, you must shite money. Why are you a pirate?” I don’t know what’s funnier, Bettina’s question or listening to a curse cross her prissy lips. She pulls out a chair and joins Catalina at the table, leaving two chairs empty.

“Because your dinner companions have found the secret to living happily ever after. Their futures are best compared to fairy tales,” says Teeth from the doorway. He leans on the frame with a fire in his eyes as he scans the duster adorning my body. While the lace closes the coat, its open weave allows him a forbidden glimpse at my dairy and cunt as I move.

“Oh really, Captain, please enlighten me. Since I failed at love, tell me, what’s the secret to charming a prince into my bed like in the fairytales?” Bettina shoves a small fish into her mouth and chews as the tail flaps along her lips. Silly sister thinks she can disgust Teeth. I’ve kept the sordid details on his manners from her…or she wouldn’t make such a mistake.

“Why bed a charming prince when you can have a dirty pirate?” He reaches down his leathers to adjust his erection. Catalina and Bettina laugh, but I can’t help the familiar hunger growing between my legs. I sit to squeeze my thighs together. As much as I wish to learn about my soulmate’s personality, I’d rather study his relentless arousal in my presence. “Seriously, Betts, if you are sick of the constricting island towns, you’d make an excellent pirate.”

“Oh Sabrina, you should have seen your sister,” Catalina chimes in. She flinches when I slurp the tentacles of a baby squid between my lips. “I watched her fearlessly jump into the battle on an enemy’s deck. One flash of her dairy, and they were stunned into submission—”

“You? You flashed your dairy at enemies?” I sputter the questions at my sister. She stops yanking the spine from a second fish on her plate to nod at me. “Is that how you lost your buttons?”

“I learned from you,” she says quietly. “I misjudged you, badly. I’m sorry, Sabrina.”

“You were fooled by a rat who got his comeuppance…thanks to Catalina.”

“A toast to Lady Catalina!” Teeth shouts into the hallway.

Cheers blast through the entry as the crew shows their love for her. She blushes a delicate pink, at odds with the bloodthirsty lady who strangles men with her spider webs.

“What’s next on the agenda, Captain? Can I get married tonight?”

“First light in the morning, my love,” Chub says, pushing past Teeth to enter the room. Catalina bounces from her seat to embrace the short, red-bearded man. He swings her off her feet as he buries his face in her cleavage. Her squeal of delight warms my heart…and paints a green expression of envy across Bettina’s features.

How did this room become so full? Surrounded by my new family, my heart pounds in my throat. This is the happily ever after I’ve dreamed of since Teeth jilted me years ago. Why can’t I be normal and enjoy the camaraderie? I want to throw myself overboard.

“The happy couples must make some decisions before we set sail the following day,” Teeth says, entering the room with a lazy swagger. He twirls the remaining chair on one leg before straddling it. His fingers poise over my plate to steal a morsel… then retracts his hand when he finds my lunch moves on its own.

“Couples?” Bettina asks, shooting me a look of confusion.

“Chub and Catalina must decide if we will take the job promised to our last prize before we drop them off in Mexico or if it’s full sails west.”

“Captain, Catalina and I are at your service. We will stay aboard while you fill our crew’s coffers with honest work. Maybe it’ll be a spark of inspiration,” Chub says with a twinkle in his eyes. He sits in Catalina’s chair and pulls her onto his lap.

“What’s the honest work?” I ask, ripping a shiny, spotlight parrotfish into bite-sized pieces. All eyes are poised on the fish as I casually dissect it. Several of my companions gulp their verbal hash, but unfortunately, not Teeth.

“A wealthy family in Boston wishes to dispose of a troublesome family member. Seems the eldest son is a satyr, with a satyr’s appetite for quiffing high society’s virgins. His human-presenting parents claim they want him to disappear not because he looks other but because his reputation tarnishes theirs.”

“Do you believe them?” Bettina asks.

“Not in the slightest,” Chub replies with a rumbling laugh. “This is a rescue staged to look like an execution. While you ladies were recovering in here, the crew voted to give the satyr a chance to learn the sweet trade and earn a spot on the boat.”

“You are very kind to accept those who are other so readily,” Bettina says softly to her half-eaten plate. Oh, I can hear the waves churning in my sister’s head. On land, she’d be destitute and alone. However, on Patricia’s Wish , she’d be one of Teeth’s hearties and able to earn a living wage. She’d explore the world from within a group of supportive friends.

But where do I fit in?

“Sabrina must decide if she will accept my marriage proposal, too,” Teeth declares, grabbing my hand where it rests on the table. He kisses my knuckles as my sister gapes.

“You must marry him!”

“She hasn’t answered,” Teeth answers in a frosty tone.

“Only because you don’t know what marrying me entails,” I say, dangling a slimy sand diver in front of his nose. I maintain eye contact as I suck the fish between my lips and crunch the bones as I chew. To Teeth’s credit, he doesn’t flinch.

“Please excuse my sister’s vile table manners,” Bettina scolds me with a swat under the table. “She’s not used to eating at a table…because she’s usually dancing on them. Her foul behavior is to scare you off—”

“Dancing on tables? Foul manners? These two deserve each other,” Chub quips.

“Yes, we do,” Teeth replies with his gaze focused on me. I shrink into his giant coat as he leans forward. He plucks a wiggling fish off my plate and dangles it between our noses. The words are stolen from my mouth as he drops the fish between his lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows it whole. Without breaking eye contact, he swipes my tankard and drains it. “I won’t let anything tear us apart.”

“Really? So, what will it be—Kraken or human?” I ask as I feed him a second fish.