Of Magic and Rum (Beyond a Contemporary Mythos)

Chapter 19

I’m acutely and painstakingly aware of Jack’s absence whenever he’s not around me, and a long-forgotten impatience prods and pinches at my skin until we’re close again. Is this type of connection typical? Is it a nymph trait? Human? I never had the chance to have this conversation with my mother, and my father wouldn’t have known where to begin. Whatever the reason, I like being with Jack—enjoy who he is and what he represents, and I can’t recall ever smiling this much. And it’s because of him .

“It’s uncanny to me this big island still exists out here uninhabited,” Mary says beside me, jarring my daydreaming.

We carry shovels, meandering with the rest of the crew into the thicket of palm trees and bushes. Jack leads the charge but continuously looks behind him, concern cinching his brow every time until he spots me within the crowd. Ragnar barrels behind us, serving as a lookout while the rest of us search the island for buried treasure. Aranck splits from the group in search of any medicinal herbs the island can provide, and Squid stays behind with the ship to keep a weathered eye on the horizon.

“Who’d want to live here this far away from civilization?” I rest the shovel’s handle across both shoulders, propping my forearms on top.

Mary pauses, throwing the shovel in the sand, and quickly braids her hair. “Sounds like a dream to me. Tell you what? I’ll live here, and you can swim supplies for me every few weeks or so, yeah?”

“ Swim supplies to you?” I laugh and wipe sweat from my forehead. “Just because I can materialize fins doesn’t mean they don’t get tired.”

Mary thins her lips. “That’s no fun.”

“My deepest apologies.” Tipping my hat at her, I poke her ribs with my shovel’s handle.

“Captain,” a crew member shouts. “May have found something over here.”

What starts as a group of exhausted people dragging their feet through the sand and whining about the infernal sun turns into a lively bunch practically skipping to the location. The blind promise of gold turns the tide and mood.

Glog trots past us with his hands raised, fingers crossed, and manages not to run into anyone with his eyes closed. “Please let there be gold. Please. Please.”

“How many false alarms have there been?” I ask Mary, keeping my voice low.

Mary bats a rogue branch from swatting her face. “I wouldn’t say so much false alarms as dead ends. Jack won’t take us on a wild goose chase unless he has decent evidence it exists.”

“What about the Sailor’s Jewel? He based that on myth and legend.”

Two crabs scuttle sideways past our feet with their claws open, and I lift my boot to keep from accidentally squashing one.

“Pretty sure he’s got all the proof he needs.” Mary squeezes my hand, and I lift my gaze to hers. “I’m lookin’ at her.”

My face warms, and I can’t help the sheepish smile edging my lips.

“There she is.” Mary cackles and pinches my cheek. “Captain cock looks good on ya.”

Laughing, I shove her forward. “You’re salaciously filthy, you know that?”

Mary shimmies, and we join the crew surrounding a tree. Jack has his hands on his hips. He winks at me but keeps his expression neutral.

“Someone marked the tree, pointing at the lake, and when we searched the water’s edge—” The crewman opens his palm, the sun peeking through the canopy, making what’s in his hand shimmer.

“More Spanish gold,” Jack says, his voice trailing as if distracted by the gold’s glitter. He picks one up and holds it to the sky, inspecting each side.

Bubbles swarm my stomach as I watch him stare at the treasure covetously, mainly because I’ve only seen him gaze at one other thing in the same manner—me.

“Is it possible the treasure is hidden somewhere at the bottom of the lake?” I ask, resting a hand on my sword’s hilt.

Jack offers a warm grin and nods.“It’s possible, but it isn’t a small body of water to search.” He closes his hand around the coin.

When he looks back, I’m already undoing my belt and yanking off my hat. “Good thing you have me, then.”

Jack cups my elbow, halting me. “Anne, wait. It could be dangerous. That thing is after you, for one.”

It’s a strange mix of appreciation and irritation that someone worries about my well-being besides my family.

“The Charybdis?” I snicker. “Jack, it’s bigger than this island . It’d beach itself trying to attack me through a lake .”

Frowning, Jack rubs my arm before letting go. “Fair point. But I refuse to let you go in by yourself.”

“Why am I not surprised?” With a sly grin, I slip off the rest of my gear, leaving only the shirt.

Jack grasps my chin with two fingers and wiggles it. “You’re incorrigible, Bonny.” He kisses me, ignoring the surrounding crew’s snickering.

“Red, you’re our best swimmer next to Jack. Go with them,” Ragnar orders, gesturing toward the lake.

“Why, thank you, Raggie.” Red balls his fist at his mouth, feigning tears.

Ragnar sneers at the nickname but turns to the remaining crew. “As for the rest of you, keep searching. There’s a lot of ground to cover.”

Mary scoffs, shoving a reed she’d found in the sand in her mouth and chewing it. “You get to splash around in a lake while I traipse in the heat searching for a tick on a horse’s ass.”

“When you can sporadically grow fins and gills, we’ll switch roles,” I reply.

“Now you’re the ass.” Mary points at me, her narrow eyes forming slits.

“Read,” Ragnar barks, whistling at her. “ Lad os flytte .”

Mary waves, smiling and mumbling through her teeth, “As if I understand Danish. Coming!”

Moving to the lake’s edge, I dip my toes into the water, wincing at its coolness, shocking and comforting given the stagnant heat. Jack and Red flank me as I wade into it, cursing once the water reaches their hips.

“This goes pretty deep. I can cover more ground, but don’t want to startle you.” My toes no longer touch the sand below, and I tread water.

Jack sputters and slicks his long hair back. “What would startle me?”

Sucking on my bottom lip, I will my legs into a tail, the blue and green iridescent scales catching the fractals of sunlight piercing the water.

Jack’s eyes widen at first before his face softens. “Ah, yes. Your other half.” He’s far calmer than I expected and even reaches for my tail. As his fingers explore the textured scales where my thighs would be, I tremble against his touch. He quirks a brow but doesn’t stop. “Sensitive?”

I’m aware of each individual scale as they spark to life, reacting to Jack’s skin. “Yes,” I whisper.

“As happy as I am for the two of you, I really am; I’m averse to voyeurism and not finding any gold.” Red swims past us, using only his feet, his hands resting interlaced on his stomach.

“Apologies, Red.” I’m speaking to Red, but my gaze remains glued to Jack’s. Curling an arm around his neck, I use the leverage to pull myself from the water, raising my lips to his ear. “There’ll be plenty of time for tail-play later.”

Jack squints confusedly until his expression melts into lust and greed—the same look he gave the gold coin in his hand.

“I can stay underwater indefinitely, so let me do a little searching, and I’ll let you both know of any promising spots. Save your lungs.” As Jack’s lips part to disagree, I dive underwater before he can.

I forgot how tranquil lakes are. In the oceans, I can hear the whales calling to one another from fathoms away and other chirps, warbles, and aquatic life chatter from thousands of animals, fish, and crustaceans. There’s no shortage of life in lakes, but it’s quieter and easy to forget all of what lurks below. Yet if I concentrate hard enough, I can hear their heartbeats no matter how faint.

The sunlight hits at the right angle, bouncing from something shimmering below. It’s enough piercing brightness to make me squint, blurring whatever it is. But once I recognize it, I flick my tail, pushing myself to the surface with feverish strokes. When I breach the surface, I toss my hair skyward, flicking it from becoming a scattered mess over my face.

“Christ,” I hear Jack whisper.

I’m already grinning, but the smile spreads wider when I spot Jack. His eyes are wide, his hand rubs the back of his neck, and he covertly chews the inside of his bottom lip.

“I think I found something directly below us.”

That same fiery vitality ignites in Jack’s gaze, and he swims closer. “Show me.”

I take his hand under the water and tug him, using my tail to take us to the lake’s bottom far more quickly than two pairs of human legs could achieve. His grip tightens on my fingers once he sees the glittering metal buried in the sand. After giving a reassuring squeeze, he lets go and sinks to the bottom, feverishly shoveling the dirt away until a dozen coins reveal.

If I let him, Jack will stay down there until his lungs ache and burn. He’d wait until the last moment to resurface, carrying as much coin as possible, using only his feet to guide him upward. And he shouldn’t have to do this—feel compelled to do this because he has me .

Once he’s cradling enough coin to settle in the crook of his arm, I tap him and point up. As predicted, he waves a finger and turns for more coins, but I yank him back. More sternly, I point again and signal that I’ll carry more by curling both arms over my stomach. Thankfully, he nods and swims above me.

When I return, plopping the treasure onto the bank, Red and Jack talk excitedly, sifting through the coins. Smiling to myself, I leave them to celebrate. I dive back in but stop halfway when an underwater current pushes me backward, making me flip out of control. Shooting my arms out at my sides to slow the spinning, I flick my tail and regain composure, but there’s nothing but quiet, empty water.

A distant growl, bordering on a masculine moan, echoes from nearby. I turn enough circles to look for the source, but it makes me dizzy. Something is baiting me, trying to lure me like a siren without words or melody. My heart seizes in my chest. I zoom to the surface, wiping water from my eyes as soon as I breach.

“Ah, there she is,” a man with wavy golden locks to his hip bones says, keeping his back to me but holding a hand up at Jack and Red, blocking them with a water wall.

Fury curls in my belly like a sea serpent, and I materialize my Atlantean sword, lunging for the mystery figure. Once I reach the shoreline, my tail morphs into a pair of legs.

The man keeps one hand splayed at the boys while holding his other at me. He snaps his chin in my direction, a pair of glacial eyes glaring at me. “If you wish to see these two still breathing, I wouldn’t do that.”

My instincts scream to kill him where he stands. That I’ll be quick enough, but something holds me back. I stand poised with the blade above my head.

“Anne, run him through,” Jack barks, snarling at the invisible shield blocking him from getting to me. And yet, he still tries. Over and over, he throws his shoulder into it, punches it, kicks it. He is relentless .

It should be so easy. I’ve plunged my blade into countless creatures and people, when necessary, through the centuries. But this man isn’t human; he isn’t a shifter or kelpie either, and I can’t grasp what he is. But it’s enough to make me stand down. Jack and Red’s lives are at stake, and if I’m unsure if a sword can kill him, then it’s too risky. Of everything my father taught me, one was to be ruthless when needed and cunning at any other moment. And so, I lower my weapon.

Jack is roaring behind the water shield, beating his fists against it. Spit flies from his mouth as he tries to gain the man’s attention. I can only ignore him despite the sound of his wails eating at my insides.

“And she is intelligent as well.” The man lowers his hand from me but keeps the other one raised. His angular jawline sharpens as his lips curve into a grin, revealing starkly white teeth. “You are quite the catch , are you not?”

Balling my free hand into a fist, water from my soaked hair trickling in a droplet down my cheek, I stare the man down, not bothering to ask who he is but getting straight to the point. “What do you want?” My gaze shoots to Jack for a fraction of a second, but the mysterious man quickly catches it.

“A conversation I would rather not have here. Especially not in front of another—” he man glances at Jack, who’s glaring the life from his bones “—well, let’s just say I would rather talk in private.”

“No,” Jack bellows. “Red, run back to the crew now .” Red hesitates at first but nods. Jack shimmies to the part of the wall I’m near and beats his hand against it. “Annie, listen to me. Kill him. I know you’re only doing this because you think he’ll kill me in kind. But I’ll be fine . Don’t let this piece of shit take you anywhere .”

I want so badly to look at him, to tell him he’s right about all of it, and to admit to him that I could never live with myself if his ending became my fault. But I won’t be able to save him if I see his anguished expression, the hurt and fear gleaming in his eyes.

The man makes an impatient tsking sound, his angular nose drooping further as he frowns. “You come with me now, and I assure you that your—counterpart—will remain unscathed. But it has to be now .”

It can’t end like this. The Fates wouldn’t have united Jack and me, only to see us torn apart so quickly. They never spin threads so haphazardly, only to see them wither and break. And it gives me the strength to nod at the stranger, agreeing.

“No,” Jack roars against the wall.

Before the man can whisk me away, I leap at the wall, pressing my palm to it. When Jack’s hand touches mine, I still feel his warmth despite the impenetrable water shield standing defiantly between us. “Find me, Jack.”

“I’m not one to beg, but I will drop to my knees now if it keeps you from doing this.” Jack’s words are frantic, angry, and pained.

Shaking my head, I back away before my willpower fails me. “ Find me, Jack.”

Jack beats his fist against the wall, the realization that this is happening regardless of his words, cinching his features into a furious scowl. “I won’t leave this island until I do. And you—” Jack points to the man behind me. “Are a fucking dead man.”

“Empty words falling from powerless human lips,” the man says, his tone chilling me to the marrow.

As the man’s arm wraps around me from behind, Jack locks his gaze with mine, and I mouth to him a final time, “Find me.” This connection we share, despite our not having named it, will give him insight no one else on the crew will have, I’m sure of it. The man’s arm morphs into water, followed by the rest of his body and my own.

We appear in a cavern, stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, dripping into a small wading pool. In one corner, a living space resides with a makeshift cot, hearth, lit torches, and other paraphernalia. The man backs away slowly, letting his hands slip away before clasping them beneath his chin, his gaze roaming my body like he’s surveying a livestock purchase.

None of this makes sense.

“Who are you?” I bark the words, impatient and furious.

The man grabs one of the torches and brings it between us, using it to light my face and body as he circles me. “For eons, I could only ever dream I’d meet someone like you. I was told by every witch and hag that some existed. But how could I believe a supernatural creature and an aquatic one would cross my island? And yet here you stand—” he draws a breath through his nose, pausing in front of me and letting his eyes roam my hair “—living proof they were right.”

He makes no move to touch me, so I stay put to avoid further antagonizing him. “About what?”

“My name is N?kk. And you, my dear sea nymph—” he touches me now, but only to graze his fingertips over my cheek “—are my mate .”