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Shipwrecks
Katrina
Milo led us to a tavern on the edge of town. I stayed close to him, watching with suspicion as strange men ogled McKenzie and me, and rogue beggars teetered near us in their drunken state. No one said much, still in shock after our brush with danger moments earlier.
As we walked, I looked at Milo and thought of him in the alley. I’d never seen him like that. Something had broken free from him. Something animalistic, dark, and feral. And it terrified and fascinated me all at the same time. But I had to remind myself, this place was no Constantine. This was a pirate-ridden city in 1720. Of course, there had to be things Milo had to do to survive that I could never comprehend. But I still felt an uneasiness when I remembered the expression in his eyes when he turned around, covered in another man’s blood.
“We can stay here tonight. In the morning we can set out at first light.” Milo took my hand and gently guided me up the steps to the entrance. How moments earlier those hands drove swords into flesh without mercy, but now caressed mine like a dove.
McKenzie, Noah, and I waited while Milo went to talk to the innkeeper. The smell of liquor, salt, roasting meat, and bread filled the air, making my stomach growl. I longed for a meal more filling than the watery stew and jerky on Bellamy’s ship.
“What if we never make it back?” McKenzie uttered all of a sudden, a shakiness in her voice. “It sucks here. What if we’re trapped here?”
“McKenzie,” Noah reached for her shoulders, leaning down to look her in the eyes. “I promise that no matter what happens, we will be all right. I’ll make sure of it.”
I smiled a small smile as I watched them from the corner of my eye. McKenzie nodded and then threw herself into him for a hug. I was glad for her to have someone as stubborn as Noah. But secretly I feared the same as she did. And Cordelia’s haunting words that found me even in my sleep certainly weren’t helping me feel any better about it.
Milo returned and gestured to us to follow. “There’s a room left.”
We made our way upstairs to a small room with one bed, a wash bucket, and a small table, all of it barely big enough for one person, let alone four.
“Okay, I’m going back down there for some food,” Noah announced. “Anyone else?”
Based on the way McKenzie jumped to agree, I must’ve not been the only one who felt like they were starving. I breathed a sigh of relief at the thought of filling my empty stomach.
“I’ll be down in a minute. I want to clean up my face,” I said, touching the cut from where it ran from the bottom of my jawbone back up toward my ear.
“I’ll stay with you,” Milo uttered, and then hesitated, looking at the door. “That is…if you want me to.”
“I’d like that,” I nodded.
“I’ll go get something to clean the wound, then.”
As the wooden door closed behind McKenzie, Noah and Milo, I sat down on the floor where I dipped a rag into the water bucket. It wasn’t long before Milo returned with a cup of liquor.
“Here,” he said, taking the rag from my hand as the candle fire flickered its light on his tanned skin. “Will you let me?”
I nodded, brushing my hair back behind my ear so that he could better access the injury. He gently pressed the rag over the mark, soaking away the dried blood. I winced at the burn.
“I’m sorry, Katrina,” he muttered, cleaning the cut with soft strokes.
“It’s okay,” I bit my lip. “At least I can hide most of it with my hair.”
“No.” He pulled the rag away and held my gaze. “I’m sorry for everything.”
“Who were those men?” I asked.
Milo parted his lips and released a heavy sigh. “There’s so much that’s happened in my few days here. I sabotaged that man’s ship for information about my father. Turns out he’s not at all the man I thought he was. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say I’m ashamed to be his son.”
“It can’t really be that bad, can it?” I watched him with worry.
Milo pulled out his compass from his pocket. He spoke as he stared down at the tool in his hand with a hardened gaze and traced his finger and thumb along the rim. He told me about his father and the slave and mermaid trade, and everything else he’d been through since waking up on the shores of Nassau.
“He’s the reason my mother and brother are dead. He got in over his head in a the details of a deal I never quite figured out. And they paid for it.” He put the compass away and straightened his shoulders. “And now I’ve caused you to pay for my mistakes.”
We sat in silence as he reached up to touch my face. He caressed his fingertips delicately along the scratched skin on my cheek. “I could never say I’m sorry enough times,” he whispered.
“I’m the one who should be sorry,” I said, looking down. I wanted to tell him how I felt like I was losing myself. I wanted him to understand why I should be sorry. But I didn’t know how to put it into words. But I tried anyway. “I’m sorry that I pushed you away. Before any of this even happened. Before we ended up here…” I looked up at him. “But it has been worse since we’ve been here.”
