“Fair enough. They’re going to need my help turning around.” He paused and added, “Your sister needs to be stopped, love. She’s beyond your saving now.”
“I know.” Heather nodded slowly, the image of her father’s decaying face filling her memory. He had lifted his finger, pointing at her chest. His waterlogged voice gurgled, This is all your fault.
Drake leaned in to kiss her forehead. “Stay with Bob in the galley. I’ll be back after we get the ship sailing for shore.”
Heather did her best to shake off the memories of the attack, but seeing her father again ripped open a wound that had never really healed. They had argued the day he took Ashley out in the boat.
And this was not the closure she’d always longed for.
She found Bob inside, frying a pan of shrimp. He looked over at her with a gentle smile. “You look lost, lass.”
Heather sighed. “That’s a good way to put it, I think.”
He patted a stool next to him. “I’ve still got two good ears.”
Heather took the offered seat and folded her hands in her lap. “I know the figurehead allows Ashley to control the spirits. Drake’s nephew told me she makes them lie and hurt you. Even so…I wasn’t prepared.”
“Any idea why your sister is targeting you and the crew?”
“I have a hunch.” She lifted her gaze. “She’s always been jealous of me because my grandmother and I were both mediums. It kept us from being very close. She said something to me earlier today. I was so shocked to hear her claim to be my online friend that I hadn’t given it much thought. She claimed I was her only hope now. What could that mean?”
Bob stopped stirring the shrimp. “Then why attack the whole crew?”
“I think she wanted to be sure I couldn’t back out of meeting her tomorrow morning. The crew got caught in the crossfire. I don’t know.”
“Was Drake caught in the crossfire too?”
Heather stared at her hands. She’d been wondering the same thing. After Ashley’s admission about being Queenie, she couldn’t hide from the truth any longer. “She knew about Drake protecting me in the cemetery. I confided all my feelings to her.” She lifted her gaze. “Maybe hurting him was really to get to me?”
“Sorry, lass.” One-Eyed Bob poured the sautéed shrimp onto a platter and glanced her way. “Are ye going to meet her? If tonight is any indication, she means to hurt you.”
Heather stared down at her hands. “My father kept telling me tonight that this is my fault. He said I drove my sister to this, and that I doom every person who cares about me to a lifetime of torment.”
“That’s what she wants you to think. Your father was under the figurehead’s spell.”
“I argued with my dad the day he died.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “His mother’s spirit came through to me that morning, urgent to stop him from going out on the water that day. I tried. I gave him the message but…” Memories of that day flooded her until her voice cracked with emotion. “He didn’t believe me. He accused me of making it up so that my sister couldn’t go fishing. I begged him to wait another day, and when that didn’t work, I threatened that I’d never forgive him if he left.” Tears stung her eyes. “His last words to me before he was lost at sea were to grow up and stop being so selfish.”
Over the years since, she’d convinced herself that he must’ve known she didn’t mean it. Her anger had fizzled the second he closed the door. Seeing him tonight and hearing his voice again shook her to the core.
“What if he was right? If I don’t drink from the Grail, I’m dooming Drake to pain and torment. He’d have to watch me grow old and die, without the hope of ever being reunited.” Her voice fell to a whisper. “I am selfish.”
“No.” Bob set the platter of shrimp aside and took both of her hands in his, forcing her to focus on him. “Those weren’t your pappy’s words, lass. It was your sister talking, putting words in his mouth. I had never seen Drake grin, or heard him laugh, since the original Sea Dog sank. You gave him that. You reminded him what living is all about.” A gentle smile curved on his lips. “Love is the most unselfish gift you could give.”
“If I back off now, he could find someone else. Maybe he’d find someone more willing to take a drink.”
“Now is that really what you want?” One-Eyed Bob shook his head slowly with a knowing wink.
Heather laughed as a tear broke free from her lashes. “No. But if I loved him, I would want him to find happiness, not cause him pain. Walking away is the only way to give him a chance at that.”
…
Drake entered the galley of the ship and stopped as he heard Heather’s words. Pain lanced through his heart, draining the hope she’d ignited and leaving behind anger and bitterness.
These were emotions he understood.
“Really?” He stepped forward, interrupting Heather and the cook. “How noble did it feel when Bale walked out on you?”
Heather gasped and spun around on the stool. “How long have you been there?”
“Long enough.” Seeing her look up at him with regret in her eyes only stoked the fire in his chest. She didn’t regret her choice, only that he overheard her decision. “Was I going to have any say in this plan of yours? I respected your wishes about not taking a drink from that cup. That doesn’t change how I feel about you. Do you doubt I understand what it means for us if you choose not to drink? I’ve known death, Heather.” He sighed and glanced at Bob. “Can we get a minute?”
One-Eyed Bob nodded and carried the trays of food out to the open deck,
