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Hidden Island Chapter 17, part 1 of 3

Hidden Island
Chapter 17, part 1 of 3

Bella stared, not sure how to respond. "You know what Will's curse is?"

"Damn it," Jack whispered. "I didn't want to talk about this."

"Too late. Do you know how to get rid of it?" Bella demanded.

"Yes," Jack sighed. "It isn't what you think, though."

"What is it then?" Bella asked, wishing Jack would give her a straight answer.

"No. I've already said too much. You and Will are both too damn smart, and neither of you can just let anything lie," Jack shook her head. She stood up.

"Oh no! You don't get to leave now." Bella threw off her blankets and stood up to confront Jack.

"You don't get to come in here and drop a half-hearted apology, explain nothing, and admit that you know what the most powerful curse I've ever heard of is and that you know how to get rid of it and then leave!"

Jack felt her mouth go dry. Bella was naked and stunning, and all the emotions and memories of the two of them together came flooding back. Jack stared, then turned around.

"Look at me!" Bella snapped.

"I can't. You're." Jack's heart knotted in her chest, and it felt hard to breathe.

Bella rolled her eyes and made a disgusted sound. "Imperials," she sneered. She pulled on a blouse and a skirt. Jack stood there, listening to the rustle of fabrics, trying to control her shuddering heart.

The silence was somehow the worst thing possible. All the guilt came swelling up without any handy excuse to shunt it toward anger. Somehow, Bella had been the naked one, but Jack had never felt more exposed.

"There. Now turn around," Bella demanded.

Jack slowly turned. "Please don't ask me more."

"Like hell," Bella scoffed. Jack looked defeated. It wasn't a look Bella was used to seeing on her face. Not even when Bella had tossed Jack out had she seen that expression.

"It isn't a curse," Jack said quietly. "Or, at least, it isn't supposed to be. I think the problem is Will."

"Explain," Bella said flatly.

"I can't. I have already said too much. Please don't talk to Will about this," Jack asked.

"You don't get to ask me for anything," Bella said, shaking her head. Her eyes were like flint in the dim light.

"I was trying to help him!" Jack exploded. Bella flinched, afraid for a moment, and then she watched Jack crumple at the foot of the bed. The strongest, proudest, fiercest woman Bella had ever known was sobbing. Words came, racked, helpless, unbidden.

"I had to! It was. I didn't have a choice! I tried! I wanted, but I only wanted to help." Jack was incoherent.

Bella stood. Her mothering instincts threatened to override everything else. How could she stay angry while watching this? Wasn't her anger justified? Did she even want to stay angry? Shouldn't she? Jack had done so much, hurt her, hurt Will, did not explain. Now this? What was this? What did Jack mean? Suddenly, Bella felt like she didn't know what to do.

After the initial burst of emotion, Jack becomes more intelligible. She clutched the bed, her fists knotted in the blankets, her body still wracked. "You're, you're both just. If I told you anything, you'd figure it all out. You're both smarter than me. I can't. I knew I couldn't out-think you. Not both. I couldn't, I can't, so I had to say nothing. I thought it would be good! I didn't know it was going to hurt him so much! I couldn't tell him I had to let him hate me when he returned. I didn't-"
"You aren't making any sense," Bella said softly.

"Good!" Jack looked up. Her eyes were raw and red-rimmed. "You weren't ever supposed to know! I didn't come here for any of this!"

"Alright. Why did you come here?" Bella asked.

"To ask you how to apologize to him," Jack shut her eyes. "I don't know how!"

"I'm not sure you can. Not without some explanation," Bella shook her head.

Jack's chest shook. "It's all a waste of time, then. Fine." She stood up and started wiping away her eyes.

Bella felt drained. She'd just woken up and wanted to go back to sleep. She took a deep breath. "I believe you."

Jack stopped, blinked her stinging eyes, and momentarily watched Bella. "Thank you."

"So it's not a waste of time," Bella said with a slight shrug. "I still don't understand, but maybe I don't have to."

A small smile twitched on Jack's lips, then vanished. "It's a start."

Bella nodded. "Can you at least tell me why you can't tell me anything?"

Jack shook her head. "No. I'm sorry."

"This must be important," Bella said with a half smile of sympathy.

"It's the most important thing I'll ever do," Jack said.

"I hope it was worth it," Bella said, hoping she sounded sympathetic.

"It was. It still is." Jack turned.

"Just talk to him," Bella said, catching her before she could leave.

"I don't know if I can." Jack shook her head. "You can accept the things you don't understand. He can't. He'll dog me about it until I break down and tell him, or he has enough bits and pieces to figure it out for himself."

"Would that be so bad?" Bella asked.

"It's a risk I just can't take," Jack said.

"Is it life or death?" Bella couldn't fathom what would possibly make Jack make these choices.

"Maybe. Probably," Jack shrugged. "I'm not willing to bet what I can't afford to lose."

"I'll talk to him for you." Bella wanted to do something. Now that the walls were between them, the space between them was filled with years of unresolved emotions. There was a better time. They were both too raw.

"Thank you," Jack said quietly. Then she was gone. The door opened, letting in the blinding midday sun. Bella shielded her eyes and heard the door shut. Then, she was alone in the dark.

She flopped back onto the bed, her arms wide. "What the hell was that?" she muttered.

"Is all the cloak and dagger bullshit necessary?" Caine asked.

Behind him, Prelate Alexandra sat, facing the opposite direction. They were back to back in what passed for a park at the edge of the cliffside wall near the market. It was just a tiny garden kept by a local herbalist, and someone had put a few stone tables and chairs near it. Now, it was a place where older men played board games in the afternoon sun, and passersby stopped to take in the view.

Prelate Alexandra was dressed in sensible, plain clothes. A parasol shielded her from the sun. It was currently aimed at the crowds behind them, hiding her face.

"Well, I can't exactly walk into that wretched place you call home these days, can I?" the Prelate
asked.

"You might be surprised. For the most part, they're good people there. Very accepting, and they take care of each other," Caine said.

"I am not here to argue about the moral complexities of your whore house," Alexandra said primly.

"How about you get to the point then?" Caine took a drink off his ever-present tankard.

"I am in a precarious position. Fort Deliverance is functionally operational but still needs to be completed. The bulk of my resources are tied up finishing the construction. I cannot openly take a stance against the Kidd family yet," Prelate Alexandra explained.

"You know where I stand on all that," Caine said.

"Oh, you've made your position quite clear, yes," Alexandra sighed.

"So why are you here?" Caine asked flatly.

"I need a favor," Alexandra replied.

Caine stood up, about to leave.

"Sit," Alexandra said in a tone that reached straight into Caine's mind and threatened to usurp it completely. Three nearby people, who could not have heard the Prelate over the crowd's noise, sat down directly in the dirt and looked confused. One of them got back up and looked around. Caine stopped moving but did not sit.

"I should break your damn jaw. It'd be a public service," Caine growled.

Alexandra sighed. "Your threats are unbecoming."

"You're so used to everyone doing what you say that the moment you get any pushback, you jump
right to compulsion," Caine still didn't sit.

"Will you please listen?" Alexandra asked, turning around to look up at him. Her parasol continued to carefully block anyone from getting a good look at her.

"You have ten seconds," Caine said, cold anger still in his eyes.

"I need you to protect Jane Castilian." the Prelate said.

Caine stood a moment longer, then sat down. "Sterling's assistant? You could have just led with that."

"I need to be sure you understand what is at stake here," Alexandra said, a bit exasperated.

Perhaps he was right about how much she'd become used to being obeyed.

"I heard the gist of it. One of the Kidd boys took her hostage while Will and that lady captain were running the blockade," Caine shrugged.

"Miss Castilian defied the Kids in public and is connected to Will Sterling, who aided in the escape of their quarry. I expect they will want to make an example out of her," Prelate Alexandra said.

"Yeah, that's a good guess. You want to keep her safe, but you can't be seen moving against the Kids in public yet, so you came to me," Caine filled in the blanks.

"Correct," Prelate Alexandra said.

"Two conditions," Caine said. First, she knows the whole story and gets to make her own choices.

There is no manipulation, magic, messing with her head, or lying to her."

"Fine. Next?" Alexandra asked.

"I get paid," Caine said.

"You? Paid? You've been refusing a salary from the whoremongers for more than five years," the Prelate scoffed.

"I don't want their money,' Caine said. "I do want yours. It isn't going to be cheap either. I want you to look at the numbers and wince."

"So it isn't actually about the money," Alexandra rolled her eyes.

"You're a master diviner. You tell me," Caine said, getting up again.

"What are you doing?" Alexandra asked, rapidly growing tired of this frustrating man.

"I'm going to the lighthouse. You'll write me a contract and drop it off at Mary's in person. I want you to see how the other half lives," Caine said as he walked away.

Prelate Alexandra watched him leave. She pinched the bridge of her nose right between her eyes, trying to ignore all the flashes of prophecy and omen that swirled about him like shredded ghosts and dying echoes. She brought the parasol around to block out everything she was seeing.

Meetings with Greyson Caine always gave her a headache.

"It's about fucking time! Do you have any idea what a pain in the ass you're causing me?" a bitter, lightly accented woman's voice called from somewhere above.

Jack raised her hand to the brim of her hat and squinted. The midday sun was uncomfortable after being in the near darkness of the Captain's cabin. As her eyes adjusted to the light, a graceful, dusky-skinned shape moved through the rigging, dropped to the deck a short distance away, and started walking towards her.

"Now isn't a good time," Jack said firmly.

"I don't give a damn what time you think it is. What the hell are you thinking? The ship can barely sail like this." The woman moved like she was half-snake, barefoot, swaying to compensate for the rolling ship, but her top half stayed centered.

One of Jack's brows rose, "Excuse me?" The edge in the question was unmistakable.

"Excuse me, that's right," the graceful woman scoffed. Take a good look around. Does this seem right to you?"

Jack tilted her head to the side and glanced around the ship. It looked like a ship to her. Whatever this loon was raving about, she wasn't seeing it. "Who are you?" Jack asked instead of answering.
"I'm Lace Webber, your Master Rigger on this little trip. I'm the one who has to make the ship still work while you fuck everything up." She was now gesturing wildly across the ropes, sails, and smaller ships.

Jack's eyes narrowed dangerously. Something wasn't right, but she was in no mood to try to work it out with calm words. "Go on," she said.

"The Kestrel isn't the right ship for whatever you're trying to pull," Lace glared.

The corners of Jack's mouth began to curl upward, and not from amusement. She had a feeling she knew what was going on. Maybe she would have tried to explain it again, but Miss Webber's attitude made Jack feel less helpful. "You're going to want to stop now."

"Like hell I am!" My lace snapped, taking a step closer. "You're putting the whole ship at risk with your amateur hour cockups!"

"I think I've had just enough of you," Jack smiled. "Quinn."

"Good! How about we dump you overboard with your extra ships and let you row back to hurt!"

A thick green arm dragged Lace backward by her thick belt and lifted her until she was on her tiptoes, struggling in vain. The woman leading the noble's expedition stepped in front of her and pushed the hat on her head back with one finger until Lace met her dark eyes.

Jack shook her head at Lace. "If you ever get in my face like that, I gain, I won't be the one going overboard."



To be continued
Written by nutbuster (D C)
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