I heard Finnlet out a heavy breath and he stepped closer to me. “Aye, lass. Yehad me guts in a tizzy for a second there.”
“What?Why?” I asked him.
“Iput me neck out forye,” he explained. “Gus wanted to toss ye overboard. But I thoughtit a waste. Ye said ye could cook. I like to eat. I thought it wasa good enough reason.”
I smiled at mynew friend, the big and burly Scotsman. He was a hard man todislike. Despite his massive size, Finn had a soft warmness abouthim. Perhaps it had something to do with his sexuality. Who knows?I was just thankful for the turn of events. If I had Finn’s favor,and now the knowledge of the captain’s true identity, perhaps Icould earn their trust and convince them not to kill the Cobhams.Maybe there was a chance I could save my lineage.
“Thankyou, gentlemen,” Devil Eyes said. “You can leave usnow.”
“Aye,captain,” Finn nodded and motioned for Gus to follow him. Afterthey left, I remained in my seat across from Devil Eyes, unsure ofwhat to do or say. Or what to expect. It seemed he felt the same aswe entered a strange, drawn-out staring contest.
“Iassume you have questions,” he finally spoke.
I chortled.“You have no idea.”
“As doI.” He stood and made his way over to the table under the windowand scooped up a tray. “For starters, how did you know I spent timeaboard The Burning Ghost?” He came back to me and laid down thetray that held a silver teapot and two cups. I watched as he filled themwith tea and stirred in the sugar cubes.
“What doyou mean?” I answered and accepted the warm cup when he passed itto me.
“When wefirst spoke, you asked if I were offended by your comment about thevessel because of my connection to it.”
I backtrackedeverything in my mind and replayed the events of the last few dayswith a fresh perspective. He said he was the one who’d trapped theCobhams in that bottle. Which means… Henry trapped them. Henrynever died, he’d found a way to live with the man Maria forced himto become, and he found a way to defeat them. But to answer thecaptain’s question would mean trying to explain time travel, towhich I had no proof.
Unless…
I carefullyopened my jacket and reached in to pull out the journal. Henry’sjournal. I placed it on the desk in front of me and the captain’seyes widened in horror. Then, slowly, his face softened withacceptance.
“Iwondered where it went,” he said quietly. “You had the jacket, andfound the bottle, obviously.” He then turned his gaze and Ifollowed it to the chest that floated me back in time. It sat onhis bed, open.
“How didyou get it open?” I asked him. “I locked it. And there’s nokey.”
Hegrinned and picked up a large brass key from the desk. “Simple. Thechest, it belongs to me.” He stood from his chair and walked overto the small trunk. “I don’t know why I held on to the key. After Iescaped The Burning Ghost, this chest held all that I owned in theworld. But also held everything that reminded me ofher, because she’d given most of itto me.”
I swallowedhard. “Of Maria?”
Devil Eyesshot me an angry look, as if the very sound of her name pained him.“Yes, Maria. I had no idea evil could manifest in a human form asit had within her. She was a monster. Heartless. I convinced myselfthat if I’d cut her, if I could make her bleed, nothing butblackness would seep from the wound. Like a disease.”
“So, whydidn’t you kill her?” I asked. “Why trap her and Eric in a bottle?”I couldn’t believe the words that came out of my mouth, that I wasamusing the idea of that sort of magic existing.
“Iwanted to, I truly did. It’s all I think about. Even now, to thisday.” He sighed and came over to me, stopping at my side to pick uphis journal. “But she didn’t deserve such a swift ending. Sheneeded to suffer for eternity.”
I saw mychance. “So, why kill her now? Why not put her and Eric back in thebottle?” I looked up at the man that Henry had become and admiredhis strength. But I wondered why he remained a ruthless pirate. Whycontinue a life of piracy after you’ve defeated your enemy?
Unless he wastoo far gone.
“It wasonly by chance that I found the witch who performed the spell yearsago,” he told me. “There’s no guarantee I’d ever find her again.She remains hidden. Protected.”
“But whynot try?”
“Yousimply cannot understand my reasoning. I cannot exist in a worldwhere she roams free.”
Iglanced down at his trembling hand and he quickly slipped it behindhis back.
“I thinkI understand a little. I mean, I read the journal.”
Stone coldsilence hung between us, clinging to the walls and shrouding us inan awkward bubble and I wondered if he would kill me for what Iknew.
“Youthink me a weak man?” he asked after a while. In that moment, thepirate I’d feared the last few days was gone and all that remainedwas little Henry, scared and alone.
I had no ideawhat compelled me to do so, but I reached across the table andsoftly, carefully, placed my hand over his. “No, I don’t think youare or were a weak man,” I told him with certainty. “The completeopposite, in fact. To live through what you did… to still be half ahuman being, functioning–”
“Nobodyknows,” he said, blurting it out as if the weight of the secret hadbeen killing him.
“Youmean, nobody knows who you are?”
“They’veno idea of my time on The Burning Ghost,” he replied and finallymet my gaze.
“Seriously?” I whispered. “But, I don’t get it. What do theythink is your reason for wanting her dead?”
Henry grinned,but it didn’t meet the sadness in his eyes. “My dear, Dianna, everypirate on the sailing seas wishes to end the Cobham’s reign ofterror. They hunt every ship within reach. But they have a thirstfor pirates.”
I nodded inunderstanding. “So, your crew thinks you’re just doing your duty asa pirate, what any of you would.”
“Yes,all except Gus,” Henry added. “He
