I stared at him. "It's not possible."
"Not probable."
"What… why… why has no one found me, told me of this?"
He dropped my gaze, fingering his ring again. "Nobody knew. Bellamy swore she'd die childless, I heard with me own ears." He stood, crossed the room once more and opened an opulent, floor-to-ceiling cabinet, clearly pillaged from some rich merchant ship. He pulled out a bottle of some dark, reddish rum and tossed it to me. "Taste that, love. You'll like it."
I caught the bottle in my good hand and pulled the cork out with my teeth, spitting it to the side. I took a swig, swallowed with difficulty, and inhaled sharply. "Well! It's rather… spicy."
Jack grinned, his gold teeth flashing in the dim light. "It's Shipwreck rum. Brings back memories, that does."
I shot him a quizzical look. "Shipwreck?"
"Shipwreck Cove. Home of the King, the Court, the Keeper, and m' good self until the age of twelve."
"Ah." I took another swallow, liking the distinctly apple-cloves-cedar burn of it.
Jack watched through shrewd eyes. Not liking the look in his eyes, I offered him the bottle, knowing it would be an instant distraction. He took it gratefully, downing more in one gulp than I did in three.
"Who is this friend of yours we're sailing towards?"
He thumped the bottle back down on the table and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. "Dear Tia Dalma."
My eyebrows rose. "She's an obeah?"
"Aye." He took another swig and passed the bottle back to me. "An old friend of the family. Advisor t' the Keeper fer as long as any kin remember, even if she is a bit testy."
"Another immortal…" I muttered. "The world outside of the Governor's gates is quite strange indeed."
He laughed, his voice richer for the rum he'd drunk. "You've no idea, love."
**
"'M not lettin' y' out 'n deck." Jack's rum hazed eyes focused on me with difficulty, fuzzy but retaining a sharp shred of intelligence. "Y'll end up 'n the sea."
I opened my mouth to protest, but thought better of it as the words became jumbled up on their way out. Unfortunately, they came out anyway. "I'm not as think as you drunk I am."
"Ah, but you are. Yer stayin' here, m' love."
A warning Elizabeth once gave me floated briefly through my cloudy mind. 'Don't let him get you drunk. Jack is far cleverer than he seems, and he is a pirate, after all.' "'S too late fer that, 'm afraid." I said out loud.
He grinned, his breath not merely hinting at but heralding the rum he'd drunk. "Exshellent!" he half-shouted, slurring almost unintelligibly. He pointed waveringly at the rumpled bed stowed in the corner. "Bunk. Now."
Even through my severe inebriation, my manners persisted. "But where'll y' sleep?"
He immediately collapsed back into his large, beaten leather chair. "Right here, love."
"Alrigh', then." I tottered towards the suddenly inviting bunk and fell down upon it, sinking deep in to the pleasantly Jack-scented linens. I was sucked instantly towards unconsciousness, and two thoughts had time to float across my brain before I passed out. One, was I safe, alone, with Jack here? Yes, I decided instantly, and realized that I trusted him – with my life, even.
