A Pirate's Dream (6 page)

“I don’t know. Though—” She cast a quick glance at Sirenade. “Please don’t get offended by it and harm them. I doubt they meant to hurt you.”

“Oh, my dear, you are a strange mixture of innocence and warrior.” Patting Nimue’s knee, she shook her head, causing the now-sleeping dragons to tumble into each other. “I would never. But it does raise questions, is all.” After a moment’s pause, and once they were well away from the prying ears and eyes of her people, the Queen asked, “Would you really have returned the soul orb?”

Heart pounding, Nimue took her time to answer. If there was one ally worth making in this place, it was the Queen. She wanted there to be no secrets between them, just truth.

“I knew what your brother said, that the island would not return until the twin rainbows appeared. I knew taking the orb would mean I’d have possession of the hag until it did so. But my intention had never been to abuse the hag. Or even use her.”

“Then why go to so much trouble to capture one in the first place? The hag is not a creature to be trifled with, little pirate. Her rage is legendary, as is her capacity to hold grudges. You’ve made a powerful enemy. And you were quite lucky that my brother decided to intervene.”

There were words hidden behind the ones she had said. Questions. Confessions. But Nimue felt too tired and stupid to figure them out.

“I wanted to prove to my parents that I was capable of taking care of myself. Since the moment of my birth, they’ve hidden me away. Sheltered me from both the air and the water. They’d never tell me why, but the ache to be free...” She clutched at her chest; even now so far away from home, the ache still throbbed. The emptiness she’d felt inside, the quiet yearning that had grown and grown until it was all she thought about it, all she could ever think about anymore.

Sirenade’s lips twitched. “Foolish.”

Frowning with hurt, Nimue looked off to her left.

“But brave.”

She glanced up. “You really think so? Foolish, yes. I could see where anyone would think that, especially considering how badly I bungled the whole thing.”

Jian cooed, rubbing his warm little body against her scalp, as if with tenderness, before settling back down. Immediately, she released a breath she’d not realized she’d been holding.

“They’re quite good at that, no?” Sirenade chuckled. “My little sea dragons.”

Nimue returned the smile.

“And yes, little pirate, I do find you unbelievably brave. There aren’t many crusty pirates that would have tried what you did. And I can promise you that if they had, they certainly wouldn’t have
not
used the creature. It is in a pirate’s nature to steal. I understand that.”

That was so odd coming from her. How could a king and queen born of the same blood be so opposite? Sircco had looked as if he’d wanted to skin her just for breathing, and here Sirenade was, offering mercy.

“Why? How can you be okay with our nature? Few people like us. Hell, pirates rarely even like each other.”

Chuckling, the Queen nodded. “An apt description. But I made peace with your kind many years ago. We have developed a symbiotic relationship through the years. The pirates pillage and plunder, and when the goddess wills it, jewels and prizes will sink to the bottom of the sea floor, and we can share in the spoils. And you know, that without our mercy, you cannot sail our waters. So friends, we are. But I will share a secret with you—there is one I hold fondest over all.”

“Hook?” Nimue’s heart swelled with pride. She loved her father. Even if he had been a gate guard for too many years to count, she adored him.

“Aye. The Prince of Thieves, I call him. And you remind me a good deal of him.”

Nimue worried her bottom lip, wanting to ask a question but not sure how to broach the subject of the strange mermaid without giving the queen any strange ideas.

“Yes?” she asked.

“What?” She shook her head. “I didn’t say anything.”

“No, but I can practically feel the vibration of your thoughts. Ask me anything. I will answer you as I can.”

They rode past a garden of sea kelp that stretched as far as the eye could see. Dangling from the kelp were strange looking navy-blue flowers that swayed back and forth, releasing jets of gold powder and the chime of bells with each flickering movement.

Mother had told her once of those gardens. She’d sat inside one and spoken with Nimue’s father until the sun rose, and that was the night they’d both known they were in love.

“Who was that mermaid? Stygia, I think the king called her?”

Sirenade’s bronze eyes sparkled. “Jealous, little pirate?”

Damn, she’d known the Queen would go there. “No, I most certainly am not.” She notched her chin an inch, even though she had felt a slight twinge of discomfort when the pretty beast had shown up.

But that’d probably been a bad case of gas and nothing more.

“Fair enough.” Sirenade nodded. “Yes, you are correct. She is Stygia, and for the past decade, she’s been trying to worm her way into my brother’s bed.”

Blushing furiously, not because she didn’t know what sex was—she absolutely knew what it was; she’d seen horses rutting before—but because she hadn’t expected such a frank answer.

“Oh, well.” She pretended to cough then thumped her chest delicately.

The Queen bubbled with laughter. “We do not shy away from sensual pleasure down here, little pirate. There is no sense in that.”

“Neither do we. I live on a ship full of pirates. I hear plenty.”

“Yes.” A mysterious smile laced her lips. “I’m sure that you do. Stygia wishes to reign as king consort and has done much to ensure it happens. We tolerate her, because as irritating as she can be, she is loyal and does have the ear of the people.”

“Hm.” Nimue plucked at a hole that had appeared in her skirt since that morning. “Well, whatever. I really don’t care if she spreads her legs... er...” She wrinkled her nose. “Tail, gah. I’m sorry.”

“Do not apologize. This chat is just between us. But a word of caution—be wary of Stygia. She’s got her claws deep in my brother.”

So he liked her, too?

Okay then. She was just going to ignore that sudden twinge in her stomach again and the way it had suddenly rolled. Everyone knew that the merfolk did not mate with humans for love. Except of course for Talia, who’d at one time been the soul of her mother who’d fallen in love with Hook... and the story was exceedingly complicated.

Love?

Bloody hell, where had that thought come from? Angry now, Nimue clamped down on those traitorous thoughts and said, “I don’t care. He can have her. The only reason why I asked was because she looks strangely familiar to me, though I’m sure I’ve never seen her before.”

“Ah, yes. Well she would wouldn’t she? No doubt you’ve been told of Hook’s love for Talia?”

She nodded.

“Stygia looks exactly like her.”

“How?” She blinked, staggered by the implications. In essence, Talia was Nimue’s mother, which could mean that she and Stygia were... related?

Now she really did want to vomit.

“Is she my... my...” She couldn’t even get the word out.

Taking a deep breath, Sirenade sighed. “No. Absolutely not. You are not at all related. But we do have witches down here who, for a price, can do miraculous things.”

Feeling ten times lighter, and not quite so dizzy, she gave the queen a lopsided smile. “Good. That’s good. I mean...” She shook her head; she really needed to watch what was coming out of her mouth.

Sirenade gave her a sympathetic look. “No worries. I think I may have reacted the same were I in your shoes.”

Giggling, feeling as though they were bonded by more than just being captor and captee, Nimue thanked her. “I really do love this place.”

“Well, anywhere I’ve shown you today, you can freely go. Though it might be safest to stay close to the palace, if only because you’ll be a curiosity to many. Daughter of Hook, in our lands. The gossip will be salacious.” She gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Nimue, before we turn for home, I have one final surprise for you. If you think you’re up to it, that is.”

Curious, she narrowed her eyes. “A surprise? For me?”

She’d just gotten here. What kind of surprise could the queen possibly have for her?

“Your grandmother. Would you like to meet her?”

S
miling, Danika flicked her wrist, switching out the images inside the sea drop. The glassy surface reformed, showing her not Seren, but the Jolly Roger—more specifically, the faces of Hook and Trishelle, who were now back on board and tucked away in their cabin.

Clearing her throat, she opened a connection between them. “Boo.”

Trisha squealed, twirling around in a bright flurry of crimson silk and clutching onto her chest.

Danika couldn’t help but laugh.

“Fairy, I’ll stab you if you scare me like that again.” Trisha grinned back into the bowl of water that served as a two-way communication between them.

Hook came up to stand over his wife’s shoulder. “Fae,” he said in his thick, shivery voice.

Gods, she loved her boys.

“Well,” Trisha tossed her hands up in exasperation, “how’s it going?”

Danika waved her hand. “You know, about as well as it did when I brought you to that heathen.”

Hook’s laughter vibrated her droplet. “That well, eh? It’ll be no time before their mussing the sheets then, I think.”

“Hush!” Trisha smacked his chest. “That’s our daughter. Have some respect.”

“My love, I have the utmost respect for you.” He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly.

Danika smiled when Trisha leaned slightly into him with a love-struck grin on her face. Even after all these years, true love held them enraptured with one another.

“But let us not be fooled, my darling, into believing that it won’t happen. That is, after all, why we arranged their meet.”

Trisha sighed, shoulders drooping just slightly. “Yes, but did we do right, James? Was she ready?”

“After all these years,” Danika said, “of keeping them apart, it was more than time, Trishelle. And at least this way, we could keep that bastard Pan from hearing of it. It happened very quickly, very smoothly. Sircco did exactly as I knew he would. As did she.”

“Is she harmed?” Trishelle asked with a hint of worry.

Her daughter might be a woman, but Trishelle was still a mother.

“My love,” Hook answered, “trust that the fairy knows what she is about. So long as there is no interference from that
boy
,” he spat, “by week’s end we should—”

“About that.” Dani held up a finger. “Six months.”

“What!” Hook thundered, finally looking as fierce and furious as all the stories made him out to be. “I’ll kill him. I’ll murder him. I’ll—”

This time, it was Trisha calming his nerves. “He is the king of the sea, love. There is no murdering allowed.” Twirling on Danika, she planted her hands on her hips. “But how did this happen, Dani? You said a few days, a week, tops.”

“Well, okay, so it didn’t quite go according to plan. But these things rarely do. Love is a strange business. Anywho, the hag and he brokered terms, and not even I can undo what’s been wrought. Trust that she is in good hands, and I can honestly tell you, Nimue is very happy and halfway to being in love. Even if she doesn’t quite know it yet.”

“I’m sure.” Hook snarled, now no longer quite so congenial. “Ruddy fish.”

Covering her laughter behind her hand, Danika cleared her throat. “That ruddy fish, as you call him, should be making a call to you very soon. Now, I think it goes without saying that you shouldn’t let him know this was the plan all along. Male pride and all that.”

Trisha was the only one who laughed at that. “Of course. So what should we do?”

“Give him hell. Just for fun.” And with a wink, Danika severed communications.

Jericho rubbed her shoulders, his fingers gently grazing against the sensitive tips of her dragonfly wings and filling her with a very different type of excitement.

“Jericho, what are you about, my love?”

She could hear his grin as he leaned forward. “Imagine my surprise when I walk out back to the woodshed and find ten barrels full of stardust. Now you tell me, my little dragon, what that could be.”

Giggling because he knew darn well what that was for, she shot to her feet. “First one there is a rotten egg.”

Yanking his shirt off over his head, one hand already on his belt buckle, he asked, “Do you have a minute to spare?”

“A minute!” Her wings buzzed. “I should hope it would take at least five.” Then with a wink and shake of her bum, she flitted toward the shed, the tinkling bell of her laughter a trail for him to follow.

*

T
wo weeks had passed since her arrival here, and though Nimue missed her parents, she was—as Sirenade had first guessed she would be—very happy.

Today, she was helping her grandmother, or “great-mother,” as she preferred to be called, harvest sea snails from her garden of kelp.

Nimue thought the snails were absolutely too beautiful to eat. Small, with bright blue shells that glowed and squishy little bodies, there was no way Nimue would boil those. Even if great-mother swore they’d taste amazing.

“You are troubled,” Maiven said softly, glancing up with wise blue eyes. Long red hair trailed like a living flame behind her back.

At first, Nimue had worried that Maiven wouldn’t be able to accept her as a granddaughter, when technically her mother was merely the reincarnated soul of Talia who in no other way resembled the long-dead mermaid. But Maiven had wrapped her arms around Nimue’s neck and hugged her tightly, and that had been that.

From the moment she’d laid eyes on the mermaid, it was like something inside Nimue’s soul had clicked into place. The ache was growing smaller.

“No.” She shook her head, hurriedly tying an apron around her waist so that she could begin harvesting. But her fingers kept fumbling with the tie, and her grandmother was giving her that knowing look that her mother would sometimes give her. Finally, she tossed up her hands and sighed. “Yes, okay. Yes. Something is bothering me.”

Reaching up, Maiven plucked a jeweled snail from its perch and tucked it into a pocket in her apron. “And that might be?” she asked with great patience.