by Amy Boyles
“Alistair, I’m sorry about what happened—”
“No, you’re not,” he spat. “The last thing you are is sorry. You wanted her to get arrested. Do you want your own grandmother to walk the plank just so she doesn’t have to marry a man who’s put a ring on several other women’s fingers? Are you so childish?”
I scoffed. “I’m not being childish at all. I’m looking out for her.”
“You’re looking out for your own self-centered ideas. If you cared about Hazel, you’d let her marry whomever she wanted whenever she wanted. Your grandmother’s a grown woman. It appears her granddaughter isn’t.”
Anger bubbled in my gut. Was I being childish or was I looking out for her? Maybe it was a bit of both.
“I’m sorry, but in my world we know our husbands before we marry them. I get it,” I said, raising a hand to stop any argument, “you’re both old without many years in front of you. Why waste them? I understand, but there are certain things I simply can’t allow and letting my grandmother marry a man she barely knows is one of them.”
I folded my arms. “And no, it doesn’t help that you’ve been married several other times.”
“I could have you arrested,” he said slowly, carefully. “Breaking into another person’s cabin is a capital offense. You’d better hope that they decide to let Hazel go.”
I quirked a brow. “Or else?”
Alistair paused, shook his head. “What good would it do?” he asked the air. “Since when did two wrongs ever equal anything remotely close to right?”
“Alistair, I don’t want there to be hard feelings between us.”
“Then what do you want there to be? Because my feelings aren’t exactly soft for you. You don’t know me, but you’ve judged and hanged me before I got the chance to defend myself. If you’d wanted to know anything about me, you should’ve asked, but you didn’t. You only assumed.”
Since this wasn’t going anywhere, I decided to track down Roman and see if he’d discovered anything worthwhile. Before I left, I took a moment to think everything through.
Would my gamble pay off? I’d done what I’d done to save Grandma. I know y’all are thinking that walking the plank wasn’t saving her, but it was.
“Excuse me,” I said.
I stepped out and found Roman finishing up his call. “Is that all you’ve got? Okay. Yeah, I think that’s enough for me to go on. I owe you one.”
I quirked a brow as he thumbed off his phone. “Was that Jonathan Pearbottom?”
Roman smiled. “The one and only. If you need a bloodhound, find the person who could track a dog in the dark.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “The other day he thought you were guilty of murder.”
That was true. Right before Roman and I had married, his dead ex-girlfriend showed up to challenge our ceremony, and then she ended up dead. Everyone thought Roman was the killer—except for me, of course.
“The difference here is that I was asking him to look up information in a computer. Even he can do that.”
I leaned against the wall. “So what’d you find out?”
Roman shrugged. “There’s nothing to find out. All of Alistair’s wives died without any hint of foul play. I think you’re barking up the wrong tree on this one. Guy looks innocent.”
I crossed my arms. “What you’re saying is, I might be getting Grandma hurt.”
Roman tucked his phone in his pocket. “It is the plank, Dylan.”
I shook my head. “No way. I made Sniff promise before I ever told him anything. Made him swear up and down that at the worst Grandma would get is locked up for the remainder of the trip. I’m not worried about them pushing her off the airship. That’s not going to happen.”
Roman frowned. “And you trust that guy? Have you seen the size of his nose? I wouldn’t be surprised if it grew when he lied.”
I laughed. “He promised. But I’m pretty sure I’ve burnt any bridge with Alistair that I would’ve had otherwise.”
“You think?”
I cringed. The way Roman said it stung. He was right, of course, but I at least wanted him to pretend to be supportive of my decision.
“I know what I did was taking a risk, but Roman...”
He wrapped an arm around me. “Sorry I snapped. It’s been a long day.”
“Come on. Let’s get back inside. The captain and Sniff should’ve come to a decision by now.”
We entered the waiting room. Captain Byrd and Sniff were already in there. I started to smile brightly at Sniff, waiting to hear the good news.
Alistair barreled up to me and stuck a finger in my nose. “This is all your fault. All of it. I hope you rot.”
Whoa. Like, what had I done for that?
He stormed from the room. I glanced at Captain Byrd. “What’s going on?”
Byrd’s face pinched tight. “We’ve reached a decision. Hazel Horton is to walk the plank.”
FIFTEEN
My stomach fell. “Sniff? What’s this?”
Sniff shot me a smug look. “It was the decision of the captain and myself that the woman should be punished to the full extent of the law. There is no excuse for someone to stow away. Ms. Horton knew what she was doing. This was planned, premeditated, and because of that, she will walk the plank.”
I turned to Captain Byrd. “Surely you don’t mean this.” I laughed nervously. “You wouldn’t make an old woman walk the plank?”
Byrd wiped a handkerchief over his eyes. “It’s out of my control. I follow the old rules of the sea, and those be the rules.”
I whirled on Sniff. “You promised me this wouldn’t happen.”
The room suddenly felt heavy, as if all gazes were on me. Sniff narrowed his eyes to wedges. “You will watch who you accuse of what. If you’re not careful, someone might think you knew about the condition of the criminal, which would mean you’re eligible to receive the same penalty.”
I sneered but turned into Roman’s shoulder. My husband wrapped his arms around me. “Gentlemen, isn’t there another way?”
Sniff shook his head. “No other way. In one hour the criminal shall be punished.”
I fell onto Roman as the captain and Sniff left.
“Roman, this is all my fault,” I said.
He hugged me tightly. “It’ll be okay, Dylan. Don’t worry; it’ll be fine.”
I curled my fingers into his shirt. “But how?”
Roman pushed me back and kissed the top of my head. “Just watch.”
An hour later we stood back on deck. This time the captain, Sniff, half the crew and Alistair were all waiting for Grandma.
They brought her in shackles. The wind whipped her hair, and her youthful appearance had vanished. She glared at me as they dragged her past.
“Grandma,” I said, reaching out.
She ignored me and walked to the captain.
He pulled a cutlass from his belt and held it high. “Hazel Horton, you are accused of stowing away on the Majestic. You will walk the plank, as has been the method of punishment for this sort of infraction for centuries.
“If you survive, you may return to the ship. Do you have any last words?”
Tears ran from my eyes, and Grandma turned to face us. She glanced at me and said, “May a bird poop on your head.”
She smiled at Alistair and walked the length of the wooden board. As she neared the end, a thousand thoughts assaulted my brain.
How far was it to the water? Would she survive the fall? Could she simply use her magic and return back up here?
Captain Byrd answered them. “You are not allowed to use any sort of magic whatsoever.”
Great. If the fall didn’t kill her, the sharks would.
Wait. Were there even sharks in this water?
She walked to the edge. I closed my eyes as she neared the lip.
“I can’t look,” I said to Roman. I pressed my face into his.
“Jump,” I heard Captain Byrd yell.
Then a cheer erupted from the cr
ew. I imagined they watched my frail grandmother plummet into the ocean below.
What kind of sick people cheered such a thing?
“Is it over?” I said to Roman. “Can I look?”
“I think it’s safe,” he said.
I clutched Roman’s chest. Alistair stood off to the side, his head in his hands.
“I can’t look,” I said to Roman. “You’ll have to do it for me. This is all my fault. If she lives, I’ll never question another thing she does. I’ll be good, Roman. I promise. I’ll do exactly what she asks, I won’t back talk. Heck, I won’t even front talk.”
Roman unhooked my fingers from his shirt as we walked to the edge. I looked away, waiting for him to report on what it was he saw.
“What is it?” I said. “What do you see?”
“I think you’ll want to look for yourself,” he said gruffly.
I glanced up into his face. His dark eyes were turbulent. A fresh wave of guilt plunged into me. I took a deep breath, girded what loins I had and peered over the lip of the ship.
And there I saw my grandmother standing in a lifeboat, waving at me.
“Thought you got me, didn’t you? Well, we got you!”
Sniff, Captain Byrd and even Alistair laughed as the crew tugged Grandma back up on deck. Alistair helped her off the boat, and she clapped her hands.
“Oh, that was a good one, boys. We got her better than I ever thought.” She glanced over at me. “I even think I see a tear.”
I pulled away from Roman and fisted my hands to my hips. “Very funny. You mean this whole time, you were planning on pulling my leg? Making me think you’d died a horrible death.”
Grandma shook her head. “Dylan, all you had to do was look behind you and you’d know I wasn’t going to die.”
I whirled around and found we were still docked at Celestial Island. My cheeks flamed as humiliation dug into me. I’d been such an idiot. There was no way any harm could’ve come to Grandma anyway because we weren’t moving.
Apparently I’d been so swept up in the emotional guilt driving through me that I’d failed to notice the most obvious thing ever.
Grandma brushed dirt off her hands. “Now, where were we, Alistair? I believe we were about to say ‘I do.’”
“Are you still getting married?” I said, jaw dropping. Let’s not even joke. My jaw wasn’t dropping; it was hanging on the floor in total disbelief.
Grandma gave me a look full of buckshot and said, “Yes, we’re getting married. Dylan, did you think your little game of cat and cat was going to dissuade me?”
“Well, I was kind of hoping so,” I murmured.
Grandma poked the air. “It’s not going to happen. Dylan, come with me.”
Grandma pulled me aside. I shot Roman a help-me look, but he just let me go. Some husband he is. Not even willing to save his wife from an angry grandmother.
Her eyes blazed fire I’d never seen before. “Dylan,” she said, slicing the air with her arms, “I am getting married and that’s that. Now, sit back, relax and enjoy the show.”
I think I swallowed my tongue. “Okay,” I mumbled.
Grandma strode back to the front of the deck, wrapped her arm around Alistair’s and nodded to Captain Byrd, who picked up exactly where he left off.
“And do you, Hazel Horton, take Alistair Krause to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
Hazel gave Alistair a long, loving look before glancing over my shoulder and practically snarling at me.
“I do.”
“By the powers invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
They kissed.
My knees buckled.
My throat constricted. I felt heat flare in my cheeks. I glanced at Roman, who was rubbing my back as if he was trying to keep me standing upright.
“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “I think we just need to leave this for now. On paper, there’s nothing wrong with Alistair. You’ve tried to stop their plans, but nothing’s worked.”
I tapped a finger to my chin. “I have to talk to my sisters. Maybe they can help. Talk some sense in her. Get the whole thing annulled.”
Roman quirked a brow. “Don’t you think you’ve meddled enough?”
I stamped my foot. “No, I don’t think I’ve meddled nearly enough. How the heck did Grandma become the patron saint here? She’s run off and married a man we don’t know, didn’t even get kicked off the ship since she stowed away—heck, they’ll probably throw her a party because of it. This whole thing is madness.”
I heaved a breath and said, “I need to talk to my sisters. I’ll be back.”
I stormed off. Why couldn’t he understand? Roman wasn’t happy about it, I knew he wasn’t, but he sure as heck wasn’t acting like he cared enough. I felt like it always came down to me to take charge of a situation. Well, I didn’t always want to be the person making sure that everyone was in line. Sometimes I wanted other people to do that instead.
I got to the cabin, pulled up the witch screen and called my sisters.
The screen cracked and buzzed before opening up in my family’s living room. Sera walked in from the kitchen, and Reid was crocheting something—it looked like booties.
“What are you doing?” I said.
Reid smiled. “Making booties for your baby.”
“I’m not pregnant.”
She flashed me a smile. “Not yet. But you will be at some point.”
“Like, not for years.”
Reid inspected her work. “They’ll still be good.”
I raked my fingers over my forehead. “Okay, well, we have a situation.”
“Whose life are you policing now?” Sera said.
“I resent that,” I said. “And as a matter of fact, you’ll thank me for trying to police the entire situation, even though I’m failing miserably.”
Reid glanced up. “We’ll thank you? I like the sound of this.”
Sera brushed flour from her arms. “What’s going on?”
“Grandma stowed away on the ship, for one thing,” I said.
Reid and Sera exchanged a glance.
“She told us she was going to the woods to get in touch with her feelings,” Sera said.
I smacked my forehead. “Well, she’s gotten in touch with her feelings, all right. She’s way in touch with them. She’s so far down the rabbit hole of touching her feelings that she’s touching someone else’s.”
Reid made a sour face. “That sounds gross. I don’t think I want to know what’s going on.”
“Oh no, you want to know.”
“Then tell us,” Sera said. “Spill it.”
“Grandma just got married.”
Reid dropped the booties.
“What?” Sera said.
“What the…?” Reid followed.
Sera pointed a finger at me. “Dylan, how could you let Grandma get married?”
I laid the flat of my hand across my chest? “Me? I didn’t have a choice in the matter. She told me what she was doing. I tried to talk her out of it, but she wouldn’t budge. Heck, I even tried to have her thrown off the ship.”
“Well, that’s going a little far, don’t you think?” Reid said.
“She only just met him,” I yelled. “Grandma just met this guy, and they’re hitched. They just finished the ceremony up on deck.”
Sera shot me an accusing look. “Why are you telling us this now? You should’ve told us days ago. What good can we do?”
I sank onto the bed. “I don’t know. I just feel like Roman doesn’t understand. He basically thinks I should just accept it, but I can’t.”
“I don’t blame you,” Sera said.
“You don’t even know the half of it. This man’s had five other wives—they’ve all died. I found their death certificates.”
Reid frowned. “Do I think it’s weirder that you found the certificates or that he had them where you could find them?”
“I don’t think that’s important right now. Wh
at I needed from you is your support.”
Sera ran her fingers through her glossy bob. “First things first—Reid and I will call Grandma. She should have her cell phone on her. We’ll touch base and just see how things are going.”
“That’s great. What else?” I said.
“You’re saying you’re on your honeymoon and Roman doesn’t understand. Have you talked to him?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He did a background check on this Alistair guy but didn’t turn up anything. Now he thinks I should just leave well enough alone. I don’t know. I thought he’d fight with me, try to stop them the same way y’all would.”
Thoughts swam in my mind. Had I been the one who made a mistake? Was Roman really going to offer the emotional support that I needed?
Given that he hadn’t jumped on the stop-the-wedding bandwagon with me, had I made the right decision in marrying him?
“If he’s not going to follow me down my rabbit holes, is he the right man for me?”
“I thought you’d answered that question a long time ago.”
I froze.
Roman’s chilled voice had pierced my heart like a dagger. I glanced at my sisters, who both grimaced into the screen.
I slowly turned around. “Roman.” I whirled back to my sisters and said, “We’ll talk later.” I flipped the screen off.
I rose. “Roman, you came in at a weird time.”
His jaw twitched. “Dylan, I’m not going to tell you what decisions to make in your life, and I’m not here to follow you like a dog.”
“I didn’t say you were,” I said.
“No,” he snapped, “you just think I should agree with everything you do because you’re a princess.”
My eyes flared. “That’s not true. I don’t think I’m a princess.”
“Yes, you do, darlin’, and I’m the one person who puts a grain of sense in your head. That’s my job. To keep you sane when all you want to do is get your grandma to walk the plank because that makes more sense than watching her marry a man she just met.”
“Roman, I—”
He jerked his head. “If you’re rethinking our marriage, go ahead and rethink it. I’ll be rethinking it myself, in another room.”
