Page 75 of Wicked Tides
“Well, we’re not here long,” he continued. “The hunt never ends, but my men deserve a drink.”
The new crew began to make themselves comfortable around the tavern as Thelasa and her sparse amount of employees began to deliver drinks. Vidar turned to Gus, saying something to him that I could not hear over the noise, and then marched clear across the tavern toward the young man. Collin let out a guffaw of amusement as Vidar took the boy by the arm and led him out like a disobedient child.
Gus moved gradually to my side, watching the newcomers as vigilantly as I was. Mullins moved inward, taking a place near Sakarias if unwilling to leave her to the wolves that had crowded the space. I watched them with as much caution as I did the sailors.
“Boy’s like a son to the captain,” Gus said, slouching onto a stool beside me. “Fucking Collin has no business bringing him into his crew.”
“Vidar was younger than he was when he slaughtered my mother,” I said, my eyes on Collin as he propped his feet up on a table and drank from a wooden mug.
“We all know how that turned out. Which is why he doesn’t want David on a ship.”
I turned to look at him, finding it strange that he felt it necessary to even speak to me let alone tell me who David was.
“Why do you think I care to know this?”
“I don’t,” he shrugged. “I personally don’t think you’re even capable of caring about anything at all. I think that’s what makes us so different.”
I wanted to argue that, but what did it matter? The more anyone knew how much I actually cared, the more I was stripped of the armor that had been keeping me alive.
“Perhaps I don’t care,” I said.
“See, that’s where we’re different. You know, after we left that damn island, first thing the captain did was report the loss of his father’s men. The next thing he did was make sure the families of the men were taken care of. A fourteen-year-old boy did that. Then, he learned to fight with his left hand since you damn well bit off his fingers on the right. Now?” He laughed. “Now, you best fear the man. We call him Bone Heart cuz the bastard just don’t die. Death favors him. Won’t take him, no matter what he does. And you? What did you do after that day? You kept killing. You kept eating.”
I would have turned and sunk my thumbnail into his other eye were I not distracted by the tavern’s activities. Gus, nor any of the men from the Rose, knew a damn thing about me.
“You can think what you like, Gus,” I said. “Doesn’t make a difference to me.”
Glancing at Sakari, I noticed one of the other men approaching her with eyes that could only portray one thing. Hunger. I narrowed my gaze, watching and waiting for a reason to hurt him when Mullins stepped in and nudged himself between them. Sakari inched behind him, side-eyeing the stranger.
I knew sailors and I knew hunters and I knew men. It would not take long for drink to loosen their control. I glanced at the counter and the two bowls of stew sitting beside the bread and cheese. The rest had been forgotten with the new arrivals.
But I needed to get Sakari upstairs, food or no food.
“You have a look,” Gus pointed out.
“I have no look,” I countered, watching Mullins and Sakari again as another man joined the pursuit of the young woman.
“Oh, yes you do. It’s the same look a snake has when it’s coiled in the grass about to sink its fangs into something.”
I took in a deep breath, catching the scent of the room. So many filthy men. So many filthy souls and dirty hands. The crew of the Rose was well into their leisure time, their bellies full of drink and their ears full of conversation. No one but Mullins and Gus was paying attention to Sakari or anything else for that matter.
I was growing increasingly uneasy as time passed. I was itching to slaughter the lot of them for no other reason than to lessen the number of threats in the room. Suddenly, one of the men snuck a hand past Mullins and slid it between Sakari’s thighs, gripping her firmly. Mullins shoved the man away and immediately, men were standing from the tables, ready to brawl.
It was sickening. All over one young woman. They were no more civilized than a pack of wild dogs. I stood, about to intervene before Gus gripped my wrist. He stood instead and walked over to the altercation.
“She’s with us,” he said.
“Who says?” one of the strangers barked.
“We do, you rat,” Mullins spit.
“Practicing a little skin trade, are we?” Collin spoke up, laughing in that obnoxious manner again.
“Not your business,” Gus argued.
While everyone was distracted by a battle of dull words, I saw another man sneak around, his fingers twitching to touch Sakari. The moment the doors opened and Vidar walked in with the young man, everyone’s attention scattered in two different directions. Mine was the only one on the man going for Sakari. He rushed up and wrapped his arms around her, lifting her with a playful yet sickening laugh. One hand slid over her modest breast and she squealed, kicking her legs.
“Hey!” Vidar roared.
