“Your curse isn’t contagious or anything, is it?” Ed said.
“Not a chance. You have to be unlucky on your own time. And this brings me to an important question for all of you.” I panned my gaze around the room. I had their rapt attention. “Do you wish to stay on this ship and continue working for me? I force no one to stay. Mido?”
“I’m in.”
“Jacobi?”
“Same.”
“Scully?”
“You bet.”
I called each of them in turn and they all declared their wish to stay. When I got to the newest recruits, Ed said, “Your coolness factor just went through the roof. There’s no way I’m leaving now.”
I blinked. “You’re not in the least bit afraid?”
“Not at all,” Ted said. “Should we be?”
I glanced at Jessie, who was listening intently while leaning against Mido. “Sooner or later, yes. But for now, not really. My curse is mundane to anyone else, except when Amphitrite is involved. You just happened to pick an interesting time to join my crew.” That much was true. My seasoned crew had a solid routine that worked around my lockdowns.
Ed said, “Hey, I still wish I had your powers.”
Ted said, “Yeah. Hey, Jessie—or rather miss Amphitrite—curse us so we can command water like him.” The two broke into light laughter as Jacobi gave Jessie a wide-eyed look.
“I don’t have any magical powers,” she said quickly.
I studied her a moment. She was clearly lying but I wasn’t about to put her on the spot in front of the entire crew. “That remains to be seen.” She certainly had a magical power or two.
Jacobi said, “Why did you just call her Amphitrite?”
Ted said, “Because that’s her real name.” My cargo pusher gasped. “You didn’t—? Oh, crap. I wasn’t supposed—Captain, I’m sorry!”
I gave him a dismissive wave. “I was actually about to get to that.” I pushed off the sink and stood next to Mido. “Jessie, it’s no coincidence that you found your way to my ship. You do realize that now, correct?”
She searched her thoughts. “I hadn’t really considered that, but now that you mention it, yes. What does this all mean?”
“I’m still taking you home after Morocco. I won’t make you stay if you don’t want to. But the thing is, your name means you were sent to help lift my curse. No clue how exactly, which is why I’ll be taking a very long side trip to Australia. Now, before I ask—”
“We’re going,” Ed and Ted said in unison.
“It’ll be dangerous.”
“Don’t care.”
Mido said, “You already know I’m going, Captain.”
“As am I,” Rammus said.
The others chimed in their declaration to accompany me, even Jacobi. I said, “I don’t think any of you grasp how dangerous this’ll be. Well, Cancer, Sam, and Rammus sort of do. You three are the only ones who’ve gone on that trip with me before, and she didn’t make the visit overly pleasant.” The four of them grimaced.
Rammus said, “I think I’ll stay on the boat this time, Captain. Once is enough.”
“What happened last time?” Sauna asked.
I offhandedly said, “She seduced one of the techies and tried to drown the rest of us on our way out. I almost went water demon, but I managed to keep everyone alive without it. The next visit with Jessie, if she decides to go, will be even more dangerous.”
“How?” Jessie asked.
“I don’t want to discourage you to stay, Jessie. You’re the person I need the most to stick around if I’m to find a way to lift my curse. However, this is a lot to take in and you may not even want to be a part of all this.”
“I…” She looked at Mido, then back at me. “I’m still not sure. I want to go home so badly, but… I feel like I should help you if I can. I don’t know. I need time to think.”
Jacobi said, “Captain, I say dump her on her doorstep and be done with her. Same name or not, she’s just as much trouble as the other.”
I agreed with the trouble part, but I knew I needed to have her accompany me of her own free will. Mido whispered something to Jessie about not listening to Jacobi, that the guy was an jerk. Mido was right on both counts, but still. Jacobi was a good man and sailor, despite his womanizing streak. “My ship, my rules. I can drop you off somewhere nice while your leg heals if you don’t want to be a part of all this.”
He considered my words a moment, then gave Jessie an angry look and shook his head. “I’m staying.”
“Very well.” I wanted to ask him what changed his mind about quitting after Newport; however, I wasn’t going to put him on the spot in front of everyone. I’d ask later, if the opportunity arose. What mattered more was the look he just gave Jessie. I didn’t like it one bit. “Now let me reiterate this to all of you one more time.” I spoke slowly and carefully. “Sticking around and going to Australia means putting your life on the line. That’s how dangerous this is. This is not a joke or a vacation. So, are all of you sure you still want to come?”
With exception of Jessie and O’Toole, everyone gave me a resounding yes.
I began to feel suspicious. “That was rather easy to get all of you to come with me. I’m glad but…”
Ted said, “A hybrid of human and water demon for a Captain? Too cool to say no to!” Ed voiced his agreement.
Rammus said, “I’ve been sailing under you too long to quit now.”
“I want to see this through,” Scully said. More men voiced their agreement.
I gave all of them a flat look. “Any more sappy, heartfelt answers floating around?” I asked dryly.
Sauna said, “The pay’s muy bueno.” The rest of the crew laughed.
I pointed at him. “That’s the answer I was looking for! Now get back to work you crazy greedy bastards.” I said it all with a genuine smile. I knew Sauna’s statement was a humorous truth. I paid them well not only in compensation for the danger factor, but also for putting up with my curse.
My crew filed out, Jacobi hobbling away on crutches. Ed and Ted approached me and squeezed me in a group hug. “Glad to be a part of the crew, Captain,” Ed said.
I gave them a stoic smile. “Don’t ever hug me again.” The techies laughed and Ed smacked my rear. I went wide-eyed. “Or that.” Mido laughed. “Good god, how does Sauna put up with you two?”
“Pretty well,” Ted said.
“Yeah, we caught him once on our second day,” Ed said. “We asked him if he wanted any help but he just ignored us. Apparently he’s used to everyone walking away every time you’ve caught him.”
“Yep,” I said unhappily, my mind going back to memories I did not want to remember.
“Well,” Ted said mischievously, “I put my hands down the back of his pants and he flew out of his chair like a Mexican jumping bean.” The two giggled. “Haven’t caught him since.”
Ed said, “He gave us such a nice view before that mast went down.”
Chapter 14
Decisions
After spending a few hours trapped with a monster, then being told she was needed to help lift a curse, Jessie needed to lie down and think for a bit. She’d had a nice, quiet breakfast with Mido right before the talk, but now she felt like she was crashing from a long adrenaline rush. On top of that her brain still had the energy to race with questions.
She leaned against Mido for comfort as everyone but Dyne filed out. Men left in both directions while chatting among themselves about the day’s schedule and Dyne’s curse. “I need to lie down for a bit,” she whispered to Mido.
“Okay.” He let go and followed her to her cabin.
It was still a little nerve-wracking to have a man behind her, standing or walking. The pigs on Tethys’s ship had taken her from behind most of the time. All any of the men on Dyne’s ship had to do was tackle her small frame and that would be the end of her struggle. Since it was just Mido behind her, it was easier to push past her knee-jerk panic reaction and calm down.