“Yes, we do,” Teeth replies with his gaze focused on me. I shrink into his giant coat as he leans forward. He plucks a wiggling fish off my plate and dangles it between our noses. The words are stolen from my mouth as he drops the fish between his lips. His Adam’s apple bobs as he swallows it whole. Without breaking eye contact, he swipes my tankard and drains it. “I won’t let anything tear us apart.”
“Really? So, what will it be—Kraken or human?” I ask as I feed him a second fish.
14
Captain Teeth
“Lass looks a little green around the gills,” Chub mutters against the lapel of his best jacket. I frown at the groom as he nods to my left.
“Catty hasn’t come out of the kitchen yet,” I snap.
My eyes scan the deck for something amiss. Spider webs hang from the lower booms to create sheer curtains around the ceremony. I’ve half a mind to store them in the captain’s quarters. What if Sabrina wishes our wedding to be as sweet? The uncouth pirates in my crew hang from the ratlines with the lanterns. If not for the captain’s title, I’d be lofted with them. Delicate flowers made of Catty’s lace adorn the barrels and boxes that usually litter the main deck. With Eze at the helm at our backs, the ship’s steady. If it isn’t Catty or the boat that worries Chub…
Sabrina huddleswith her sister in the direction Chub nodded. Does her dress or expression cause him concern? If she wants to wear the duster I wore as a ratline climber, she’s allowed. My future wife has access to everything I own…and she looks so stinking adorable in the giant thing. Catty hadn’t minded that she declined another dress, so why should Chub? Or maybe it’s the way Sabrina’s eyes dart around with suspicion. She’s been slow to warm up to the crew, but that’s to be expected after what she endured at the show. If I could gut that landlubber’s corpse, I would. Whatever they did to her, their deeds stole some of the fire from her eyes.
“Give her time,” I say with an exhausted sigh.
“I have time. You have time. The boat has time. But how much time until she sprouts tentacles?”
“A few hours at most,” I whisper. Sabrina catches me staring and gives me a weak smile. Is she shaking all over? Her hands burrow in the draping of her sleeves, so I can’t tell. “I had hoped we’d be dancing and showing Sabs how wonderful the sweet trade can be. I want her to see me hearties as our extended family—people who will protect her at all costs.”
“Is that how you feel? That the sweet trade is ‘wonderful?’ Or is piracy just a better option than life on land?” Chub whispers.
“If she’s happy,I’ll have a reason to be happy as captain. Maybe I’ll step into your position when we reach Mexico, or better yet—rejoin me hearties in the rigging. Perhaps it’s the faking of competence that drowns me in ennui,” I whisper so I don’t accidentally earn myself a black spot…or a walk down the plank.
“Remember what we overheard in your cabin as the ladies readied themselves. Being Sabrina’s mate gives you more choices than captain or crew member.”
“I’ll never apologize for eavesdropping like a henpecked dairy chaser.”
“I never said you should,” Chub replies with that mischievous twinkle that warns me I won’t like his next words. “I’m opening your mind to a new life—”
“I refuse to settle on land—even in Mexico as your neighbor.”
The band’s tune changes from the sound of choking cats to something resembling a wedding march. Greenhorn, Frons, and Hash play African drums like true musicians. However, the pipes played by the bearded lady and Barrel could shatter a window.
Catty emerges from the kitchen in a dress that sparkles in the low morning sun. We’ll regret the red skies this morning, but for the wedding, they are theperfect backdrop. Chub and Catty’s fiery romance bloomed on the boat and will stand the test of time. I’m so happy for my best friend I could burst. It is an honor to officiate their wedding as Captain.
My eyes meet Sabrina’s worried gaze. Powder, the master of cannons, has brought his lads to the deck for the ceremony. They crowd around Bettina and Sabrina in a ring of protection…but Sabrina doesn’t see them as such. Theothersfrom the show huddle together on the forecastle desk, as far away from the gathering as possible. Would Sabrina be more relaxed with them? Bettina has yet to notice the distress written across her sister’s face. I’m torn between the decorum befitting Chub’s wedding and easing the anxiety I feel radiating off my lady.
“I get a maid of honor, yeah?” Catty’s question pulls me from my tormented thoughts. When did she cross the deck? I must have blanked out longer than I thought.
“You get whatever your heart desires—” Chub’s dairy-chasing promises are cut off by the lacy bouquet Catty shoves under his chin. Pointy fabric flowers embed themselves in his beard and tug his head when he tries to lower the bastards. His grunt summons laughter from the audience until he silences it with a glare. He may bethe groom, but he’s also the boss…after me.
“Stand with me,” Catty says, tugging Sabrina by the elbow to the altar.
Sabs’s headshakes ruffle her hip-length hair in an exotic pattern. Her human form is no match for Determined Catty, whose strength has multiplied with long days working on the ship. Bettina sits with wide eyes of shock throughout the exchange, belaying my worst fears—she won’t be much help acclimating Sabrina to the boat. While the sisters love one another, neither has had positive experiences with the human world. How much work will it take to wedge Sabrina into my life? Wouldn’t the most loving thing I could do for her is to let her go?
Sabrina’s glassy, sea-green eyes implore me to rescue her, but where would I stick her? She can’t live her life in my room. Even cold-hearted Magda couldn’t spend her days in the captain’s quarters when her vampire nature kept her indoors. It almost killed her.
Sabrina is more vibrant, but she’s fragile after her ordeal. She must stay by my side at all times until she recovers. I wrap her hands around my elbow so my hands are free to handle Chub’s book. Her teary expression when I nod in her direction breaks my heart. Surrounded by my mateys, with my lady love on my arm, joining my best friends in marriage is the recipe for the happiest day of my life. However, theknowledge that I’m scaring my lady half to death by dragging her on deck cuts me to ribbons. What do I do?
“Friends, Crew, me hearties…” I read Chub’s scribble in the margins of the old Bible we found when we stole the boat. The words of his ceremony will be identical to what he said at Magda and Branko’s wedding…at his request. As I read each solemn vow and flowery metaphor, I’m struck with gratitude. Without Chub’s help, I couldn’t have read the passages and would have faked it. “Do you, Catty—um, Catalina Pintarro—take this man, Quartermaster Ellis Morehouse, as your husband, to have and to hold as long as you both shall live?”
“I do,” she says with love shining for my best friend.
“And do you, Quartermaster Ellis Morehouse, take Catalina Pintarro as your wife, to have and to hold as long as you both shall live?”
“Aye, with all me heart,” he says, bringing their joined hands to his chest. “Catalina, I promise…”
