Her only regret was that she’d never see Kendric grow into adulthood. Wiping tears from her face, she skimmed down low over the water while praying no one aboard the Queen Anne’s Revenge noticed her dwindling sparkle.
As she came closer, the boisterous voices of the crewmen reached her. They’d grown excited and thrilled at the prospect of finally destroying their quarry.
“Who would have thought we could trust that bloody crocodile to keep his word. There they are, just as promised, like sittin’ ducks on a pond.”
Tink flushed hot with anger but squeezed herself beneath a cannon until she was able to control the rising fury.
No wonder they’d found the Jolly Roger. After conspiring with James’s greatest enemy, they set sail to collect their hobbled prize. Too bad they hadn’t taken Tink’s presence into account and known there was a little sprite on board.
Tink crawled onto the edge of the wooden rail, too still to emit much of a glow. When no outcries arose from the sailors aboard the ship, she peered over the railing at the deck.
Blackbeard, as the pirates called him, stood above his sailors on the quarterdeck. She recognized him at once, a large man with broad shoulders dressed to Eisland military standard. When James had shown her old images of him wearing the old uniform, she’d been taken by his handsomeness. The blue and silver coat had suited him, and it was then that she’d seen how little the years had changed her darling pirate. The admiral wore a similar uniform with the addition of a silver sash worn over his right shoulder and several gleaming medals upon the left breast of his jacket.
James had called him a well-decorated officer with decades of experience. Tink only saw a monster, and she hurt for the younger James Hook who had lost his beloved hero.
Blackbeard had the audacity to smile while addressing one of his sailors. “Most likely, the blast will leave survivors in the water afterward to fill the brig. Are we prepared for captives?”
“To your specifications, Admiral Teach. Fishing them out of the water will be a joy, as usual.”
Due to the sheer size of the monstrous cannon, it had been bolted to the portside deck instead of occupying a gun port below. It shone like black glass beneath the sun and a corona of magic surrounded it.
If there was anything she remembered from her lessons on the Jolly Roger, it was that a cannon needed a charge to fire. There had to be some kind of charge inside it, something she could remove or a mechanism she could damage. Committed to saving the pirate vessel, she darted into the cannon the moment its tenders turned their back.
I can do this!
The magic prickled against her skin and stung. Nevertheless, she forged on and persisted. Tink wiggled into the infernal machine and examined the inner workings. An enormous, fist-sized fire ruby emanated warm pulses, the light directed by a lens toward the mouth of the cannon.
That must be to focus the magical blast, Tink thought. Touching the glittering ruby blistered her fingertips. Distraught, she let it be and groaned. What could she do? The complicated magic surpassed anything she’d ever created as a tinker.
But she didn’t need to understand it. Realization came to her like a thunderbolt. She didn’t need to understand how it all worked, she only needed to break it.
While the distracted crew made their preparations, Tink scanned the inner workings then sprinkled what little remained of her fairy dust over cogs and gears. She twisted metal and bent pins, but the ruby continued to glow and the building energy intensified until sweat dripped into her eyes.
I have to knock it loose, she realized. I have to crack the gem or knock it free entirely.
Grabbing up one of the pins she’d broken loose, she wedged one end in between the gem and the setting and applied pressure. The metal sizzled and melted against the frame.
“C’mon…” She groaned, pushing all her weight against the makeshift lever. A tiny crack, barely longer than her pinky, split the crimson surface.
“Ready…”
She dropped the metal pin and looked around, frantic for anything else she could use to try and wedge the gem free. Nothing. There was nothing.
“Aim…”
Using the last specks of dust she possessed, Tink screamed and slammed into the setting with all her might, scorching her shoulder. Bits of her dress stuck against the mechanism, along with pieces of her skin seared to the metal. The tiny fissure splintered and spread.
“Fire!”
The last thing Tink saw as the ruby shattered into molten bits was the image of James’s face in her mind.
* * *
James watched the explosion from the distance. It lit the skies with prismatic colors, releasing a torrent of magical energy. Eventually, water lapped against the boat, shoved by the shockwaves rippling miles across the sea.
His Belle couldn’t have survived it. No one could have survived such a feat, not even a magical creature such as she.
The crew of the Jolly Roger stilled, each man on the deck silent. Together, they gazed at the distant horizon at the smoldering remnants of the Queen Anne’s Revenge.
“No, no, no,” James wept into his hand, voice thick with the building sorrow gripping his throat. “No!” He banged his fist against the rail and screamed in fury.
Nigel touched his shoulder. “James. She died doing what she believed in. What she thought was right.”
“She didn’t have to die. If you’d all—”
“If we’d allowed you to go down with your ship? Think about this a moment, James,” Smee said, the quiet and fatherly man stepping up to the other side of James. “Our Belle is a hero now. Don’t dishonor her sacrifice like this.”
Dishonor her sacrifice? The words added another layer of realism to what he’d witnessed. His throat clenched again, refusing to allow air to pass into his lungs. He sagged against the railing and let his head fall forward.
Gone so fast. In and out of his life before he’d had a true chance to know her.
“She’s truly gone,” he whispered. He ought to have had another year with her at the very least. Ought to have been introduced to her family, the wolves and huntress she’d been so eager to show him. Now, he’d have to venture west into the mainland to deliver news of her death.
She deserved that much. He sank down to his knees by the rail and closed his eyes. Nigel crouched beside him and placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I know there are no words to ease your pain, James, but take your time to mourn her. Let me help you to your cabin.”
“No,” James said, hating the hoarse sound of his voice. “No. Smee’s right. I can’t… I can’t dishonor her sacrifice. We’ve got repairs to make and canvas to raise.” He pushed himself to his feet without looking at the horizon, although the stains of magical color gradually leached across the sky, creating rainbow colors in the clouds as the stars emerged.
She would have loved the view.
I only wish she were here to admire it with me. I wish I had more time with her. Oh, I wish so many things at this moment, dear stars, but above all, I wish I could see her smile one more time.
With Peter’s help, the Jolly Roger became mobile minutes after sunset. They lit lanterns and completed the remaining repairs while James issued orders from the quarterdeck. He didn’t drink. No. He’d save the rum until it was time to retire to bed without his Belle resting on the pillow beside him.
“How long do you suppose the boy will be able to fly?” Eliza asked.
“There’s no telling. The adults she sprinkled with dust are already grounded again. Perhaps it’s his small size. Or maybe there’s something different about him that responds to her magic,” James mused.
“It’s bloody useful, for certain. Need anything?” Her gentle fingers touched his back.
James shook his head. “I’ll keep the night’s watch.”
“Come eat, James. You need something in your belly.”
“It would sour in my stomach.”
“James—”
“Eliza, pl
ease. I only wish to be left alone for a time.”
“All right,” she agreed in a soft voice. “But I’m—”
A golden shimmer coalesced above the Jolly Roger, hundreds of starlight sparkles against the hazy evening mist. Low murmurs of confusion grew among the demoralized crew, and none of them dared to move. They merely stared, awestruck by the beauty.
The force radiated warmth, its sunny yellow reminding James of Bell’s miniature smiles. He watched it, and, for a moment, his grief subsided.
“What’s happening, Captain?” Patrick asked.
“I don’t know. I… It’s magical, but it doesn’t feel malevolent at all.”
“I don’t sense any danger either,” Callum said.
“Nor do I,” Eliza agreed. “It’s almost like… starlight.” As she reached out toward the nebulous light, it spiraled downward toward the deck and became an intense blaze too bright for them to see. Dazzled, James shielded his face with his arm until it subsided enough to blink the afterimage from his vision.
A solitary figure stood at the center of the deck, given space by the crew who had scrambled away from the source of the light explosion. Wavy blonde hair tumbled past ivory shoulders, the strands golden against a pristine dress shimmering in opalescent shades.
“Belle?”
Tears shone in her green eyes. “James.”
She met him halfway, bare soles pounding against the wooden deck before she sprang into his arms. He caught her around the waist with one arm and swung her around in a circle.
Nothing about her had changed from the night he held her in his arms. Soft curves molded against his body, slim arms encircled his neck, and the sweet scent of her bathed his senses with joy.
Belle was real and alive and in his arms, not some figment of his imagination.
“You came back to me. You came back to me.” He could have repeated it a thousand times, her return nothing less than miraculous. Lacking concern for the onlookers watching from every position on the deck, he tilted Belle’s head back and seized her lips. He kissed her without caring for breath or their audience, drinking her in as if he’d been starved.
Her fingers tangled in his hair, matching enthusiasm anchoring him to her. They kissed without interruption, both needy, both clinging to the other until James couldn’t discern who held who the tightest.
“How?” he asked at last, once he could bear to take a breath. Had the stars answered his prayers?
“The stars heard your prayers, James. I’m… I’m a real fairy now.” She glanced over her shoulder at her luminescent wings. They had no physical form and merely glowed behind her like a network of constellations against the darkening ocean backdrop.
“The stars? How do you know it was them? I don’t understand. What does this mean?”
Belle scrunched up her face in concentration, and then she poofed from his arms, her human size shrinking down to her small sprite body. The only thing that had changed were her wings, though they still shifted colors, their color at the moment was pink shot through with gold. After another moment, she became large again, taking her place in his embrace.
“Because they told me, silly! I can change when I want, and… I have all the time we need,” she whispered. “I have more than a year or two years, or even three. I’m a real fairy. We can be together.”
Together. He had never heard a word sweeter than that.
Chapter
GIVEN THE ABILITY to change her size at will, Tink spent as much time in her little body as she did the larger one, enjoying the nostalgia of riding upon her pirate’s shoulder. But there was also a thrill in being large, as she discovered during countless nights curled against his chest while he reclined in bed or on the settee. During those evenings, she snuggled in his lap while he read aloud to her.
While she could read on her own now, no longer overwhelmed by the size of the massive words, their reading sessions would always be her favorite shared pastime that didn’t involve activities beneath the sheets. Of course, she enjoyed those, too, and vowed to never take their intimate time for granted.
“We should be reaching the coast of Cairn Ocland soon,” James murmured as they sprawled over the settee, Tink’s body stretched over his naked frame. His fingers trailed over her bare back, smoothing away the blonde hair sticking to her skin.
“Home,” escaped her as a dreamy exhale. She’d missed the green glades and swaying treetops. She missed flowers and dry land, as well as the scent of meadows and freshwater.
“And I should make an appearance to my crew before they fear you’ve become a succubus, rather than an elf. Mind moving just a touch?”
“Fairy,” she murmured, without any energy to argue the point. “I’m still a fairy, even if my wings aren’t always visible.” Her wings came and went with concentration when in her large form. She’d have to find Eos, Anastasia’s fairy grandmother, to ask the experienced fae for help adjusting to her magical new body.
James traced her ear down to its fine point, both distracting her and sending shivers of delight down her spine. She snuggled into his chest and buried her left hand in his hair, hoping to dissuade him. It didn’t work. Eventually, he crawled from beneath her and entered the shower room unaccompanied, otherwise he wouldn’t make an appearance before the crew for hours longer if she joined him.
A short while later, as they both dressed and made themselves presentable, she caught James studying her.
“What?”
A quiet smile remained on his face. “Nothing.”
“There’s something. Watching me without saying anything at all is unnerving. And creepy,” she chastised him while donning her favorite blouse and boned bodice, both of which she’d borrowed from Eliza, although the latter had been a tight squeeze only after they’d let the laces out to their limit.
“If you must know, I was thinking of what a fashionable pirate you make, my love.”
“And?”
“And that something is missing.”
Missing? She’d donned knickers, despite her disdain for them. Bewildered, she searched herself in the adjacent full-length mirror until James approached and lowered to one knee in front of her. He balanced a long, golden-brown box to her upon his left palm.
“This.”
“A present?”
“Open it,” he told her.
Raising the lid revealed a flintlock pistol nestled amidst a bed of plum velvet.
“A gun?” Of all the pistols she had ever repaired and cleaned during their maintenance schedule, she’d never seen one prettier. An intricate pattern of gold leaves and flowers had been etched into wood polished to a mirror shine.
“Yours. I wish I could claim absolute credit, but…” He gestured with his hook.
Tink trailed her fingers over the weapon. Her weapon. Now she’d be like everyone else on board, able to defend herself without resorting to magic.
“James, it’s beautiful. I love it!”
“There’s one more thing,” James murmured. “Look closer.”
Nestled in a small groove, Tink found a slender golden band set with small, cream-hued pearls set to resemble a flower. At the heart of the design was a flawless pink pearl. Her lost pearl. Her eyes misted over with tears before she threw herself down on her knees and hugged him. “You found my pearl!”
“Days ago, in a cranny under the bed.”
“But why is it in a ring?”
“Because, in my country, when a man loves a woman very much, he presents a ring to her. And if she wears it,” James said as he placed his arm around her back, “she agrees to accept him as her husband.”
Tink stared at him with large eyes. “You want… you’re asking me to marry you?”
“I am.”
“Yes!”
“You haven’t let me ask the question yet.”
“But my answer is still yes.”
James laughed and hugged her close. Then he set her back and looked into her eyes. “Will you do me the honor, Belle, of bec
oming my wife and making me the happiest man in this world?”
“Of course, I’ll marry you.”
As there was nothing she wanted to do more than to kiss her handsome betrothed, Tink wrapped her arms around James and anchored him in place. He didn’t argue, nor did he draw away until alarmed cries interrupted their deepening kiss. Breaking apart, she and James both hurried to the door and outside.
A large shadow passed over the ship. Tink had to shade her eyes against the sun as she looked up, but there was no mistaking the majestic feathered creature circling above them in a downward spiral.
“Don’t shoot!” Tink cried, running across the deck. She grabbed Nigel’s arm and pulled the gun he held aimed upward away from its intended target.
“What are you—”
“The griffins are friends!”
One of the massive shifters alighted on the deck, taking human shape in a flawless transition at the exact moment his claws touched the wood. The ship didn’t even rock.
Despite a dozen guns pointing at him, the shifter stood tall, proud, and unalarmed by the gun-wielding pirates. His loose, golden-red hair blew in the breeze above a cream tunic and the purple and silver tartan of Clan Leomlaire. “I am here for Tinker Bell and Captain James Hook,” he announced in clear and crisp Eislandic, startling Tink because she hadn’t thought any of the shifters knew the language.
“I’m Hook.” James stepped forward. “Might I know who I have the pleasure of addressing?”
“I am Muir, son of Gerta of Clan Leomlaire.”
“I’m Tinker Bell,” she said, drawing the griffin’s attention. He studied her with a critical eye, then his dark brows shot upward.
“You are no sprite, yet I recognize your face.”
“A long story,” James said before she could launch into a lengthy tale. “Belle and I were going to try making our way to the king’s castle by way of Creag Morden.”
“There is no need. My brethren and I will take you to Braeloch where there are many eager to see you both.”
Belle and the Pirate Page 26
