“We aren’t wagering on this one,” Seamus said. His voice grew sterner.
“I apologize if I have offended you,” Stu said immediately.
“Actually, I’d like to know more about Seamus’ pirating days,” I replied.
Seamus turned his head slowly to me, and his fangs, which I’d rarely seen, touched the top of his bottom lip making a light impression there. “Not. Now.”
“Is that any way to speak to a lady? We are just having a friendly conversation,” Stu protested.
“We are here on a purpose. I’ve had Kalea spread the word around the room that Miss Riggs is the Lady Phoenix that everyone has heard about, and we are looking for a crew to go to Neverland. I’d like for you to round up the volunteers and bring them to my ship,” Seamus said in a demanding voice.
“Look, Captain, you aren’t my commander anymore. We settled our differences and parted as friends. I’d love to think I was up for sailing again, but the truth is, I’d rather just live off my reputation,” Stu said.
“What reputation?” I blurted out. I’d never heard of him. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, I’d heard of very little.
“It would be impolite to speak of it, Miss Riggs. But I’ll gladly show you,” Stu replied.
Seamus slammed his fist on the table. The mugs jumped up. His ale sloshed over the edges, but mine was almost empty.
“This is important. The Queen has granted me an audience, and you know that I have to go,” Seamus said.
Stu leaned back from the table and stretched his arms widely across the back of the booth. “So, you are going home to see Mommy.”
“Mommy?” I asked.
“Fuck you, Stu,” Seamus muttered. I’d never seen him lose his cool.
Stu leaned forward with a light in his eye and gawked at Seamus. “You didn’t tell her. Oh, I have changed my mind. I’m so going on this trip.”
“Your mother is the Queen?” I asked.
Seamus buried his face in his hands. “We need to get back to the ship. Stu, please do as I ask. You know I always pay. I’ll pay double this time.”
Stu saluted him lazily. “Aye, aye, Captain In-deep-shit.”
Seamus rolled out of the booth and held his hand out to me.
“My ale,” I pouted.
“You’ve already had too much,” he gruffed.
“She’s only had one. Plus, she’s an immortal. I’m sure she can handle it,” Stu said with a wink to me. I hated winkers. He’d just lost a rung of respect in my book.
Seamus flexed his hand open and closed. I remembered his warning to do as he asked. I also remembered that I was doing this for my brother. I placed my hand in his as he said his final words to Stu.
“That is her second.”
As my feet hit the floor, I felt it shift under me. “Whoa,” I said, wobbling back toward the seat.
Before my butt hit the booth, Seamus had me scooped up over his shoulder carrying me out of Devil’s Haul. The pirates in the main room whooped and hollered as he walked through.
“That a way to do it, Daragh!” one shouted.
I pounded on him with my fists. He ignored me. I tried to pipe power into them, but nothing came. No fire. No Winter. No nothing. Then, I remembered his cane that he kept on him at all times. Apparently, it buffered my magic, too. He wasn’t carrying it, but I suspected that he had many manifestations of the damned thing.
“Put me down, you brigand!” I screamed as he kicked the door of the pub open and stepped into the humid night.
“Pipe down, Winnie.”
“I was only joking. I mean, I do want you to put me down. But you aren’t a brigand. You are a fucking pirate!” I howled and hit him again with another round of futile fists.
“You are going to regret this,” he said sadly.
“Why does my head hurt like this?” I cried out.
Seamus huffed, then replaced the cool cloth on my forehead with another one. I hadn’t lost consciousness. I wish that I had, because now I felt like my head was being eaten by hell beetles while they scurried around in my emptying skull.
“Wynonna, it’s better if you don’t talk,” Seamus said quietly.
“Better for who? You or me?” I asked.
“Me, of course.”
I grunted in frustration, but the hell beetles produced knives and began to stab what was left of my thinker.
“Make. It. Stop.”
“I warned you. Perhaps you will listen to me next time.”
“Oh, you were just waiting for that one, weren’t you? That ‘I told you so.’ You can take your warning and shove it up your ass.”
“For someone who is battling a migraine, you sure are talking a lot.”
“You should have stopped me.”
He stood, leaned down over me, and kissed my forehead.
“This is more fun.”
He walked out of the room, leaving me alone. I supposed if he wasn’t here, then I couldn’t talk. I wondered exactly how long it would take a hell beetle to eat a brain. Then again, I was a smart girl. Mine was probably larger than the size of the average male brain.
“Ugh,” I groaned.
When I closed my eyes, thousands of needling pains ripped through my peepers. When I opened them, thousands of tears flowed out of them with no sense of stopping.
I whimpered, “I learned my lesson, Seamus.”
He didn’t respond. A few moments later, the rocking of the boat shifted. Footsteps pounded on the wooden deck and below in the belly of the beast. Our crew had arrived. The outer door opened to the Captain’s Quarters and two sets of footsteps approached my room.
“Winnie, allow Stu to come inside the room,” Seamus said.
“You can come in.” I’d lost my will to fight.
“You’ve gotten yourself into a pickle, haven’t you?” Stu asked.
“Actually, I imagine being in a pickle would be a lot more fun than this,” I replied.
Seamus rubbed his forehead, but Stu laughed.
“May I touch you, Lady Phoenix?” Stu asked.
“Touch me?”
“I’m a healer. I can’t make it go away, but I can dull the pain. No human medicine will help you with this one.”
“Why doesn’t it affect the rest of the pirates like it did me?” I asked.
“I’ll let Seamus answer that one,” Stu said.
I looked to Seamus. “Later.”
I rolled my eyes, and pain ripped through my head as the last of the beetles crawled out of my ears and began to consume my skin.
“Fix it. Please,” I begged.
Stu laid his hand over mine, and his eyes rolled back into his fucking head like in a horror film. He spoke three words in a language I’d never heard. But immediately, the hell beetles flapped their wings and flew off out of the room leaving little sparks and embers in their wake.
“Better?” he asked.
“Thank you,” I muttered.
“My pleasure,” he replied, then immediately got up and exited the room with his eyes still rolled back in his head.
Seamus leaned on the door frame with his legs crossed at the ankles and his arms crossed over his chest. I didn’t need another father figure.