Lost at Sea Bk. 01 Ch. 09

"I was. I guess I'm not anymore," Will shrugged, taking a sip.

"Not many people on the 'forever' list. Even fewer to come off it. What's the secret?" Caine wasn't the sort for idle conversation. His tone was casual, but he wanted to know.

"Bring a cute boy for Chance?" Will shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know."

"Chance does like cute boys," Caine chuckled. "You'd think he'd have all he could handle with the ones who work here, but he's got a thing about not mixing business and pleasure." Caine took a pull from his tankard.

"Must be frustrating for him, surrounded by all the willing lads, but not letting himself get involved," Will said, his respect for Chance going up a bit.

"It's something about professionalism. Also, he's a romantic. Wants it to be 'real,'" Caine shrugged. "Hasn't figured out that everything real starts as two people just trying to figure out what real is."

"I'll drink to that." Will brought his glass to his lips. Out of the corner of his eye he saw a slightly paunchy fisherman who had one of the working girls' wrists in his hand. She was trying to pull it back gently, maintaining her charm, but to Will it looked like she was trying to get free. He was about to say something to Caine when the bald man turned in his stool and leaned back against the bar, watching the tug-of-war. The movement caught the fisherman's eye. He locked eyes with Caine. Confusion, then worry washed over his face. He looked down at his own hand and then let go of the girl's wrist like it had burned him. He looked back up at Caine who nodded to him and turned around again.

Will heard the fisherman mutter an apology to the girl. She took it in stride, clearly relieved, but treating it all as though it were a misunderstanding. She said her goodbyes and then walked like a cat across the room scanning for a new mark.

Will shook his head, impressed with the whole scene. He'd seen it before, but it was always fun to watch. That was the power of reputation. The locals knew Caine's law. He made a big show of complaining loudly any time he had to get up from the bar to do his job. Will guessed it was an act, like just about everything else about Merry Mary's, but all good lies have a grain of truth to them. Caine hated to do his job. Not because he was lazy, but because that meant things had already gone too far. So if Caine had to get up, someone was getting tossed out.

Some of the other security guys had tried to adopt Caine's law, but none of them had the reputation or the presence to pull it off. They often ended up escalating things. Apparently being able to stop a conflict before it started wasn't something just anyone could do.

That was why Caine was the only member of the security team in the Lounge. It wasn't because Caine was so tough and incredible that he never needed help. Sometimes he did. It was because having other security around actually increased the number of incidents Caine had to deal with.

Will finished his drink, enjoying the warm, floating feeling as the alcohol started to kick in.

"I hear you're going on an adventure and taking our fortune teller with you," Caine said, wiping the beer from his mouth.

"That's the plan," Will nodded, pushing his drink forward for a refill. "You folks going to be alright here? I know she does a lot more for you than tell fortunes."

"The new apothecary is pretty good with tinctures," Caine said nodding across the room to the woman selling drugs and potions. "She thinks she can handle getting rid of any kind of scratch the girls pick up from the sailors. They all have those hex bags now, so that's not a worry. Should be fine. We'll miss her though. Bella's good people,"

"That she is," Will agreed.

"You take care of her, a'right? She's pretty tough, but the ocean's tougher, an' I know the kind of scrapes you get in," Caine turned to look in Will's direction.

Will was instantly anxious. Caine could have that effect. "I'll do everything I can to keep her safe," he said.

"No you won't," Caine said, raising a silver-streaked eyebrow. "Doing everything you could would mean not taking her with you. How many people have left with you and not come back?"

Will's brow knitted. He liked Caine, but the craggy bastard wasn't exactly a diplomat. "Now that's not fair..." Will started. Caine held a hand up.

"I'm not blaming you for anything. Everyone knows you're cursed. Hell, I've seen it, stuff just goes wrong around you. That's why I'm talking, alright? You sometimes leap before you look. All I'm saying is be more careful than usual," Caine took another drink. "Call it a favor to me. She comes back in the same condition she leaves in, we're even."

Will let out a single laugh, "That sounds fine to me."

Caine grunted and pushed his tankard over for a refill. Then he got up from his stool. The whole room quieted. Caine let out a grumbly breath. "I'm just takin' a leak, ya nervous bastards," he said loudly. There was a small ripple of laughter and the noise rose back up to it's usual cacophany as Caine vanished into the games room.

Will stared into his cup. Caine was right. He'd decided to haul Bella along on the journey on a whim. He hadn't put enough thought into it. His instincts were usually good, and he trusted them, but that didn't mean he didn't still have to consider the details.

Was this really a good idea? He always cautioned against taking inexperienced people on expeditions. Treks into dangerous, isolated areas were something people needed to build up to. Everyone had to rely on everyone else so it was important for everyone to have the necessary skills under their belts first before they put people's lives at risk from lack of experience. Bella was a competent witch, but she had no sailing or wilderness survival skills whatsoever. He was breaking his own rules, and he was doing it for selfish reasons. She might be able to hold his bad luck at bay, but what was in it for her? Was this good for Bella?

He looked over at her alcove. The curtain was open again. She had her feet up on the table. He stood up and walked across the room. It was swaying slightly. Or he was.

Bella noticed him coming and smiled, sliding her skirt a little higher up her thigh. He grinned.

"Well hello sailor, come to hear your fortune?" she said, her tone tinted with mocking charm.

"Yours, actually," Will said. "Have a few minutes?"

"I'm working..." Bella tapped the table with her finger.

Will fished a pair of coins out of the pouch on his belt and set them on the purple velvet. She pulled the curtain.

Bella swung her feet off the table, stood up on her toes and wrapped her arms around his neck. They shared a hug for a moment before Bella asked, "What's going on?" as she set her heels back on the ground.

"Caine... he got me thinking," Will said, looking down at her, trying not to be distracted by her revealing blouse. He rested his hands on her hips, not wanting to let go.

"You poor thing, I know how much you hate that," she teased.

Will pinched her. She giggled and hopped back, then sat down in her chair, instantly composed.

Will sat across from her. "Seriously, we need to talk about this whole 'you coming on an adventure' thing."

Bella grinned and bounced a little in her seat. "At first I was worried and apprehensive, but now I'm excited."

"Worried is the right response. I should have been more worried than I was. This is going to be dangerous, and me being along is just going to make it more likely that things will go sideways," Will tried to explain. "That's why I quit. I make things more dangerous. I shouldn't be going in the first place, and I definitely shouldn't be taking a rookie with me."

"So you're telling me I shouldn't go," Bella said. She didn't seem mad. She was thinking.

"Yeah. I know it isn't up to me, but if I were giving you advice from the outside, I'd say don't do it," Will shrugged. "I was being selfish to drag you along in the first place."

"Your reasons for wanting me along make sense. It was me that got you into this in the first place," Bella shook her head. "Before, every time you and Jack would leave I'd wish I could help. Now, I finally can. I appreciate the concern, but I'm going."

"I was afraid you'd say that," Will sighed. He started to stand up. "It was worth a shot. I'll let you get back to work."

"You paid for a reading." She shuffled her cards.

"Well, I wanted to see if you can do a reading on yourself, you know, to see if this was going to be dangerous for you." Will sat back down.

"Of course I can. It was the first thing I did when I got back here after you roped me into all this," Bella smiled.

"And?" Will asked.

"It will be dangerous. I'll have to make a difficult choice. The journey will be fruitful," Bella listed off, miming flipping cards of the deck in her hands as she spoke. Then she fanned and fluttered the deck again.

"Well that's vague," Will eyed the cards fluttering through Bella's hands like they were making fun of him. "And it isn't actually reassuring. Just because the journey will be fruitful doesn't mean you'll make it home to see the end of it."

Bella shrugged. "That's true, but it's also not a bad reading. It's not telling me I shouldn't go."

"You just said it would be dangerous," Will held his hands toward her plaintively.

"There's different degrees of danger," Bella said. "It's hard to tell for sure how bad this one is. Doing more specific readings on yourself is hard. Usually things like that take a coven, or some other kind of outside power boost. It's hard to be both the target of the power, and the source of it," Bella explained.

"Can we make that happen before we leave? I'd really like some reassurance that you're going to make it through this." Will felt worried, but hopeful.

Bella tapped her cards, thinking. "I think so... but you'll need to fuck me."

Will blinked, and then laughed, "Oh, poor me. What a price to pay."

Bella grinned, "I know. My magic demands such terrible prices."

"So... when can we do this?" Will asked.

"How about now?" Bella stood up.

Will looked at the curtain. It was the same rich purple velvet as the tablecloth, but there were small gaps on the edges and down the middle, and it did almost nothing to mask the noise coming from the lounge and he was fairly sure anyone walking by would catch a glimpse of what was going on in the small room. "Uh..." he said.

"What, did you forget where you are? There's going to be a live sex show on the main stage later tonight. How much do you want this reading?" Bella teased. She slowly tugged her blouse down. Her massive breasts strained against the fabric then bounced free. Will's breeches suddenly became a bit more uncomfortable.

"I think that even if I didn't want it, I'd find myself convinced anyway," Will said, his eyes firmly on her glorious chest.

She laughed. Her breasts rippled. "Good answer."

Bella stood up and stuck her head out of the curtain. She held the curtains so they covered her breasts, but clearly showed the crowd the valley between them. It never hurt to advertise. "Tonya!" she called over the noise of the crowd. "Tonya, c'mere!"

A few moments later Will heard an energetic, slightly scratchy sounding woman's voice say "Yeah, Bell?"

"Are you free for a bit, or are you with someone?" Bella asked. Will was suddenly very confused.

"I'm free. Just sent my last fellow to the poker tables. Haven't picked a new victim yet," the woman sounded amused with herself.

"Want to help me with a ritual?" Bella asked. Will adjusted his pants and waited to see where this was going.

"Hell yes!" Tonya answered gleefully. "What do you need?"

"Can you get me a jar of salt from Cerice? Then just come in here. I'll explain then."

Bella's head popped back out of the curtains. She gave Will a salacious grin. "Hope you don't mind an audience."