Lost at Sea Bk. 02 Ch. 30

Quinn's brow furrowed deeper. "That is my observation as well. My attempts to reassure her are consistently short lived."

"What if, for a while, she knew you could say no to her?" Bella asked. "What if you did, sometimes, when it isn't terribly important, just to try it out? So she knew you could?"

Quinn was quiet for a long moment. Then he nodded. "Serve still, but on my own terms. I have never done such a thing. For her, I would like to."

Bella's face lit up with a wide grin. Her eyes were misty. "That's really sweet."

Quinn turned his eyes back to Jack. "Is now when we do what we came for?"

"What?" Bella asked. "We already did."

"I have not," Quinn said.

"You have to start explaining yourself a bit more, big guy," Bella said wryly. "I'm not clever enough to keep up with all these cryptic answers."

Quinn moved closer to Jack and put his big green hand on her sleepy face. "It was my understanding that we came to this... place... to put Mistress Jack at odds with the falsehoods of the enchantment, by reminding her that she is loved in truth."

"Oh," Bella said with a nod. "Right. We did. I thought that's what you and Fri- uh, Will were doing when I was distracting the spider lady. After I figured out how the spell worked, I basically ripped out the middle and took it over to dismantle as much as I could. I sorta improvised, but the end result is better than I'd originally hoped. So I think we're done here."

"I am not," Quinn said.

Bella glanced at Will. He shrugged. "Alright," Bella said. "Go ahead."

"Mistress, can you hear me?" Quinn asked.

Jack smiled, barely awake. "Mmm. Quinn. Did I call you? I don't remember why."

"You do not need a reason," Quinn said softly. "I am always happy to be by your side."

"You have to rest sometimes," Jack murmured.

Quinn nodded. "I wish it were not so."

"S'alright," Jack smiled. "I have the ring. I can always feel you with me."

Quinn brought his lips to her forehead. "I am glad. I love you, Mistress."

Jack opened her eyes a bit more and smiled up at him. "I love you too."

Quinn brushed a stray hair out of her face. "I will wait await you, whenever you are ready to come out of your... bed,"

"Thank you," Jack said, closing her eyes again. "Don't wait on me though. Get more rest. I'm fine here."

Quinn took a long breath and closed his eyes, then walked a few paces away. Bella gave him a sympathetic look.

"It did not work," he muttered.

"I think it did," Bella said.

"She is still bound," Quinn shook his head. "She chose this instead."

"That was always a risk," Bella nodded sadly. "She still heard you, and believed."

"I am ready to leave now," he said solemnly.

"Would you like me to try?" Bella asked.

"Very much," Quinn admitted. "Perhaps you will succeed where I did not."

"You know you can ask, right? You don't have to wait for me to offer," Bella said.

"I cannot," Quinn shook his head. "It is not my place."

"Can I just... give you permission?" Bella asked.

Quinn shook his head. "You misunderstand. I cannot ask anything of humans unless it is in direct service to my Mistress."

"Wouldn't asking me to help Jack be in direct... wait. You can't ask anything for yourself? At all!? That's... horrible!" Bella said, shocked. "Who came up with that rule?"

"The gods," Quinn said simply.

Bella's eyebrows rose sharply. She shook her head, then exhaled. "Quinn, I'm going to let you in on a secret my people learned a long time ago. Anyone who says they know what the gods want is trying to control you. Whoever told you that is full of shit."

Quinn said nothing.

Bella sighed. "Alright. We can fight about it later. My turn."

The dark haired witch approached Jack's cocoon cautiously. She had no idea what to say. She was good at affection and seduction, but struggled with love. She felt it strongly. Sometimes overwhelmingly. She just had a hard time expressing it. Every time she tried she felt clumsy.

"Hey Jack," Bella said quietly.

"Bella? What's wrong? Need something?" Jack asked with a yawn.

That stung. When Quinn had spoken with Jack, Bella had seen the warmth and joy on Jack's face as she woke up. Now Jack was confused and concerned.

"Nothing," Bella said. "I just wanted to see you."

"Not now, please?," Jack said. "I always want to see you, but it's... hard. I'm just too tired. I don't want to say something wrong."

Bella's chest hurt. "Alright Jack. Sweet dreams. I love you."

Jack's eyes opened blearily. She focused on Bella, very confused. "You do?"

Bella smiled wistfully with an enthusiastic nod. "I do. I always have. I never stopped."

"Then why... Why did you tell me to leave?" Jack asked.

"I thought I couldn't trust you," Bella said sadly. "You know how hard trust is for me. I was really angry. I wish I hadn't done it."

Jack just stared at her. Then she shook her head. "No. You were right."

"It doesn't matter," Bella said, taking another step forward. "I just want to make things better now."

"I don't know if we can," Jack said with a shuddering breath.

"Can we try?" Bella asked.

Jack gave her a weak nod. "I'd like that. I just can't think about it now. I'm so tired."

"We can talk about it whenever you're ready," Bella said, taking Jack's hand through the tangle of white threads. "If you really want to."

Jack nodded. "I do." With effort, she pulled against the webbing enough to bring Bella's hand to her lips. "I just need to rest here a while."

Bella's laugh was half sob. Jack's eyes closed again, and Bella slipped her hand free.

Will met her as she turned away. Bella nearly collapsed in his arms, and cried hard into his shoulder.

"Took your hand, she," Will said, stroking Bella's dark curls. "Pulled against the webs. A good sign, that."

Bella nodded. "I saw. We're so close."

"Like me to try as well, you?" Will asked.

Bella looked at Quinn. Quinn nodded once. Bella nodded more.

Will steadied Bella on her feet, squeezed her hands and took a breath to prepare himself. "Never been much of an actor, I. Wish me luck."

Bella laughed through her tears and nodded.

Will approached the cocoon cautiously. "Jack?" he said quietly.

"Mmm. Will?" Jack said through groggy, squinted eyes. Her guarded confusion was plain on her face. "Why are you here?"

"Just wanted to..." Will stopped himself. "I... just wanted to see how you are doing."

She arched an eyebrow in confusion, then shut her eyes again. "I'm fine. Thanks for checking." She settled deeper into her cocoon.

Will glanced over his shoulder, looking a bit defeated. Bella motioned for him to keep going.

"Alright," Will said. "Let you... I will let you rest. I love you."

Jack's eyes snapped open in shock. Then suspicion. Then rage.

"You aren't Will."

Behind her, in the hollow of the balcony between the staircases, the massive black spider lunged forward. It ducked its head and scooped up Jack's body into the throne. Its foreleg speared through Will's leg, pinning him to the ground as its fangs sank into his chest. Will screamed in pain.

"Fuck!" Bella yelped, scrambling back in shock and fear before she realized what she was doing. Quinn lunged forward, once again reaching for a sword that wasn't there. Without a weapon, he threw himself at the spider, and passed through it.

Jack's hands were free, She gripped the arms of the massive chair in powerful anger. The cocoon looked more like a form-fitting dress now. She looked from Will, to Quinn and Bella, then back to Will.

"Who the hell are you?"

Bella closed her eyes tight and pressed both palms over them. "Wake."

With a gasp, all four of them woke up.