He tossed theitem back down on his desk and glared at me. “You’re lying. Strikeone.” He then unsheathed a dagger from his side and examined thetip. “Where is the ship in the bottle?”
That’s reallywhat he wanted? Out of everything in that chest, he wanted the darntrinket? “I don’t–I can’t tell you. I don’t have it.”
He circled thedesk and sauntered toward me, the dagger swinging between hisfingers. “What would you say if I told you your life depended onit?”
I narrowed myeyes at him while my hands strained to wiggled free of the ropeties. “You’d seriously kill someone over a stupid toy?”
He closed thedistance between us, leaving nothing more than breathing room, andheld the dagger’s tip to my throat. Those black eyes just inchesfrom my face. “I assure you, it is far more than a mere toy.”
Iswallowed hard, the simple movement caused my skin to brush againstthe sharp tip of his blade. The pungent smell of tobacco and wineassaulted my nose. “Well, perhaps if you untied me, we could sitlike civilized adults and discuss it. I can’t think straight whenI’m bound and threatenedat knifepoint.”
DevilEyes let the blade slide down my throat, scraping the skin as it did. He never tookhis eyes off mine and I could see then that they weren’t trulyblack. They were just such a dark brown that, with the pupils,appeared to be big and black. He leaned in even closer and reachedaround me, his face nearly touching mine, and my heart beat wildlyfor fear of my life.
But I wassurprised when the captain grabbed my wrists and spun me around.The sound of his dagger slicing through the ropes and the relief ofmy hands being freed was refreshing and I turned to face him again,rubbing my wrists to help the circulation come back.
The captainbegan walking over to a small table with two chairs that sat underthe stern’s window. “Come,” he ordered, and I scrambled over, “Sitdown, then. And you can tell me all about where you hid The BurningGhost.”
Wasn’t thatMaria’s ship? I tried to swallow again, but I was just way toodehydrated.
“Here,”he added with a heavy eye roll and scooped up a metalpitcher.
Devil Eyespoured me a glass of what looked like red wine and I sat downacross from him to drink it. I was right, it was wine, and itburned my salt dried throat. But I didn’t care. It was wet.
“TheBurning Ghost?” I repeated, eyeing at the tray of fresh bread anddates over the rim of my cup.
He sighedimpatiently and pushed the tray toward me. “Yes, the ship.”
I shoved twodates in my mouth and lobbed off a chunk of bread. It actuallywasn’t that fresh, but it was heavenly compared to the cardboardthey’d been feeding me the past three days.
Betweenchewing, I replied, “Why would someone want to make a model of sucha horrible boat?”
My questioncaused a surprise on his face that caught me off-guard.
“Youthink it a horrid vessel?”
I shrugged.“Well, yeah. I mean, Maria was a monster, wasn’t she?” His lack ofresponse gave me the opportunity to keep going. I had to gain histrust somehow if I wanted to stay alive. “Unless you’re stillworking with her? Then I would understand if I’ve offended you withthat comment.”
His eyeswidened in horror. “How do you–”
“Listen,” I cut to the chase, “I don’t know what you think ofme, but I bet it isn’t good. What, with me showing up wearing thisjacket, her chest clutched in my arms. But I promise you, it’s alla coincidence. I only found it, I swear. I put the jacket on, Ilooked at the stuff inside. I never meant to break the bottle, butI did, so–”
He shot upfrom his chair as if I’d electrocuted him or something. “What didyou say?”
“Thatit’s a coincidence–”
He grabbed hisdagger again and spiked it into the table just inches from my hand.“No, about the damn bottle,” he demanded, furious.
“I-Ibroke it,” I told him. “I’m sorry! If it was of any value I’ll… payyou back?”
Heremoved his hat and tossed it on the desk, then began pacingnervously. “You stupid woman!” he yelled at me. “How could you be socareless? You’ve no idea what you have done!”
“I’msorry, it was an accident,” I pleaded, “how was I supposed to knowit belonged to someone?”
The captainstopped and looked at me, a realization falling over his vulnerableexpression. “Yes, you’re correct, you had no idea. Nobody knows…”he spoke, seemingly to himself and stared off into thedistance.
I don’t knowwhy I felt sorry for this man, this person who was just as much amonster as Maria, according to Henry’s journal. But I did. Helooked absolutely distraught over the breaking of the bottle. Maybeit was a memento from his days with Maria? Maybe she gave it to himas a gift or he was supposed to keep it safe or something? Iwondered then if they’d been romantically involved. Obviously, Ericnever cared what she did.
“I’mreally sorry for breaking your ship in a bottle,” I approached himslowly, “will you… will there be repercussions for it? Will you getin trouble or something?”
Devil EyedBarrett turned to me, his eyes glossed over. “Oh, my dear, we’reall in a world of trouble if you truly broke that bottle.”
I shook myhead in confusion. All this over a dumb trinket? “But why? What’sgoing to happen?”
He laughed,the kind that crazy people let out when they can’t think of anyother way to react. “The Burning Ghost was trapped in that bottle,with Eric and Maria aboard it. By breaking it, you’ve set them freeto wreak havoc on the world once again.”
Now it was myturn to laugh. “You can’t be serious,” I replied, “Why would youthink that?”
CaptainBarrett downed an entire glass of wine, then grabbed the rope thathad tied my hands and came toward me with a fierceness in hissoulless eyes. “Because I put them there.”
Chapter Seven
It seemed like hours had crept by since the captain bound my wristsand tethered me to his desk. The damn thing weighed as much as anelephant. I had tired myself out within the first ten minutes,trying to pull free. So, now, I just laid there, half on
