Evocation

Chapter 14- New Crew

Echo:

I hear the door shut and I flinch before sitting upright. My face is puffy and warm from crying myself to sleep. I look around the room to see Lorcan looking back at me, two cups of coffee in hand.

"Is it morning already?" I groan. My head pounds with a sleep-deprived headache.

He nods. "Everyone else is already up. I brought you coffee." He holds out one cup gingerly.

I take it and sip gratefully. The bitter flavor washes over my tongue and the caffeine abates my headache. Lorcan has had plenty of experience with me in the morning and he knows I am no peach. Some people are morning people. I happen to not be a person at all in the morning. More like some sort of grumbly goblin.

"They haven't gone back to the ship, have they?" I ask about the crew.

Lorcan shakes his head. "No, they're downstairs eating breakfast. I told them to wait for you."

"Good," I nod. "So last night-"

"Nope, I'm good," Lorcan interrupts me, turning away. "We don't need to talk about anything. We've got a lot of shit to worry about and this is not one of them."

"Oh," I say, feeling surprised and disappointed. "Have you said anything to the crew?"

"I gave them a run down about what happened with Alastair."

"Care to share?" I sit up. Lorcan gives me an irritated look. "I know I was there," I sigh. "I just want to make sure that we're on the same page and that we're showing a united front to the crew."

Lorcan leans back against the door. "I told them we met with Alastair and he wants the Skull Gem. I told them the Skull Gem got lost at sea during the chaos of the kidnapping."

"But it didn't," I remind him. "You threw it in the ocean on purpose, weeks later. At least that's what you told me. Do you remember where you actually dumped it?"

Lorcan hesitates. "I can get us pretty close."

"That will have to do," I sigh. "We'll tell them we're covering all our bases and checking everywhere in case it drifted with the tides."

"They'll just have to trust me," he says. Yet my life is the one on the line. "I informed them Alastair assigned us fifteen sailors to help us find the gem. I told them to be careful what they say and do, as they're likely going to be spying on us. Our crew knows we have two months before the sailors are ordered to execute you."

"Good," I laugh half-heartedly. "Get it all out on the table."

"I wasn't going to keep that part a secret," Lorcan rolls his eyes. "It's serious, and they need to be motivated to follow orders."

"Anything else you told them?"

"That's it," Lorcan replies, shrugging.

"Well, I've got some shopping to do and then we'll go meet the new sailors."

"Savvy," Lorcan nods. "I'm heading down to eat breakfast. We'll wait for you."

I grab my things and smooth down my clothes. I'm sure I don't smell great, having slept in these clothes, but I don't have anything else. Besides, I'm not trying to impress the new guys, and I don't think there's anything I could do to scare off Daegan and Fenix at this point.

As I get downstairs, there's a few people meandering around while they wake up. My crew is sitting around an oak table, sleepy looks on their faces while they eat their fill. I walk to the bar and knock on it. A man with a curled mustache comes out around the corner a moment later.