Page 42 of The Withering Dawn
I made my way toward the others, grabbing a rolled leather pack out of the boat as I passed. Cathal had one, too, and I planned to have them both stuffed full of provisions when we returned.
As we headed into town, I could feel an unsettling chill wash over me. I glanced at the water, the things Aeris said echoing in my mind. From the shore, the ocean looked like it was waiting for something to walk into its maw so it could swallow it whole. Even the Amanacer in the distance looked as if it was trembling on the deceivingly gentle tide, eager to sail elsewhere.
“Not the most inviting place, is it?” Aleksi commented.
“We’ve been worse places,” I said.
“Seems rather fitting that Antonio would have settled here. It don’t seem like the kind of place an honest man would be.” He cleared his throat, scrubbing his face with his hand. “I meant to ask. You’re actin’ a little cozy with her. What’s that about?”
I groaned, trying to think of a way to put it into words. “I just… feel like she needs me.”
“Right, but I know how you are with women. Are you two…”
He trailed off like I was supposed to finish that sentence. “Not your business,” I smirked.
Cathal chuckled on my other side. “She’s not your type. I know ye. Ye like the biggest, strongest lookin’ whores. What’s gotten into ye, cap’n?”
“Whores are for fucking. Aeris is…” I struggled again to think of the words and felt my pulse quicken even trying.
“Don’t say it. Don’t say she’s not like other ladies. That’s what men say when they’re fallin’ for a girl. Nazario Bacilio doesn’t fall for women.”
“We’re here to find Antonio and gut him. Why are we talking about Aeris?”
“Because I’ve never seen you covet someone like you do her.” His tone lowered, becoming more serious. “Whether you’re under a spell or not, caring about her looks good on ye. And dammit, I don’t like the idea of anything happening to her either. Makes me sick the thingsshe’s been through. Reminds me of… well, you know what it reminds me of.”
“Aye, I do. But right now she’s safe on the beach and our job is to rid the world of one monster and one monster only. The rest we’ll figure out another time or we’ll leave it to hunters.”
We walked on until the sun started to cower behind the clouds, leaving the coast shrouded in a gray, muted light. When I began to hear the sounds of tavern music and voices, I knew we’d made it to the port. As the first lantern lights of the docks came into view, it almost felt like a normal town, but as we ventured further, the smell of decaying seaweed and ale filled my nose. The faint odor of fish was in the air, like any port, but there was a filth to it that didn’t sit well with me.
As we cleared the corner leading to the dirt road that cut through town, I realized the precise reason the smell of decay was so strong in that foul place.
On the docks was a thick, wooden post surrounded by old, molding fish nets and salt-crusted coils of rope that didn’t look to have been used in months. And hanging on the post was a figure, thin and frail and long dead by the odor. Her pale body was glistening with the sweat of decomposition. Thin strings of black hair hung over her gaunt face and above her head, her wrists were bound in bronze cuffs and nailed to the wood. The only thing covering her body was a fragile white shift that was clinging to her damp figure.
“Holy hell,” Cathal said, pressing his fingers under his nose. “What was that about being worse places?”
“That a siren?” someone asked.
I didn’t have to answer. A few more steps and we all saw the wooden plaque nailed to the post next to the body with a charcoal message scribbled on the surface.
Sirens are obedient or dead in Dornwich
“God,” someone else said, coughing at the stench.
And yet, with the body rotting in front of town like a trophy, the taverns were still full and the people still lively.
“Fuck,” I cursed, unrolling my leather pack. “Let’s get this over with. Ben and Kristoff gather supplies. Aleksi and Cathal, we’ll start asking questions.”
The other two men nodded, smiles on their faces like they hadn’t seen a town in years. Of course, I knew that wasn’t true, but not everyone was as cut out for exceptionally long periods at sea. As they walked off, Aleksi and Cathal closed in in front of me, brows raised in an almost identical manner.
“I hope your redheaded friend is right about this,” Aleksi said.
“How do we want to go about it?” Cathal added.
I took a deep breath and rested my hands on my hips. “Antonio will want his riches. I say the best way to find him is to make it known that we have it. Start talking. Go to the brothels. The taverns. Anywhere you think scum like him would show up.”
Neither of them asked questions. They tossed each other a fleeting look and then the three of us split up, taking to different establishments.
The town itself was almost pleasant if I forced myself to forget the decomposing welcome at the docks. The streets smelled of baking bread, ale, and the occasional stink of piss, but that was like any town. I first walked around, getting a feel for the people and the buildings. It wasn’t hard to find the brothel, a two story building with red velvet curtains and two scantily clad women on the second-floor balcony eyeing the men walking past. One of them set her gaze on me and batted her lashes and on any other night, I might pay her a visit, but if Henry was right about anything, it was that Aeris had her claws in me, whether she was trying to or not.
