Chapter 75: A Walk in the Dark

The barest sliver of a moon hung suspended low in the sky. A bright fog of stars snaked in a river overhead. It was so much brighter here than anywhere on Earth I’d never been. Without the light pollution of a city, the night was overwhelmingly gorgeous.

And surprisingly bright, too. My eyes adjusted to the dark quickly, footsteps weaving around minor potholes and stones in the path. It made me feel confident and alive in the brisk ocean air.

"You got some pep in your step. What's up?" Shivai's tail flicked curiously beside me, curling briefly around my waist.

"Just feeling glad that nothing happened that we couldn't take back earlier." I wasn't sure if that was actually the case, but I needed a bit of optimism, so I was forcing it. "And I'm on high alert for pirates."

"Oof. Yeah. I feel like I just signed myself up for way more danger than I was ready for."

"From Lady Talia? Or the pirates?"

She laughed nervously. "Yes."

"I think if we give Lady Talia time to cool down and think things through, she'll forgive you.” I sidestepped an overgrown fescue crowding the path. “Unfortunately, I'm not sure any amount of time will make the pirates chill out."

"Yeah. Maybe. I'm still nervous about Lady Talia. And Wynnie, too. You remember what she said she'd do if I used my charm on either of you."

There was that, yeah. It certainly hadn't been used in a malicious or manipulative way. That much was obvious.

But just as Wynnie had predicted, it had made things far more complicated. There was a moral grey area about it, to be sure.

Shivai's saving grace was that she hadn't meant for any of that to happen. She'd looked mortified the whole time, and more than a little surprised that it had worked at all.

"I'm sure Wynnie understands what happened. She's not going to excommunicate you completely for that. You were trying to stand up for us."

"Yeah, but what makes you think she won't just cast me out? I'm sure she could find another employee no problem. One who won't cause her so much trouble."

"Yeah, but would she find another employee she likes in the same way?” I asked

“What do you mean?”

I couldn't help it. I smirked. “I mean, do you think she’d find someone else whose pussy she likes licking?"

Even in the dark, her purple skin darkened to an intense blush. Yet she grinned mischievously. "She was just doing that to torture me."

"No. Or at least, not just for that reason. I think she liked it."

"Really?"

"I saw her playing with herself while she did it."

Shivai’s muscles tensed, and her breathing came faster. "Hnnngh, stop. We can't talk about this anymore."

"Oh! I'm sorry! I didn't mean to get so inappropriate."

"It's not that. You're just making me really, really, really distracted. If my pants get any wetter, I'm going to chafe something fierce." As if to prove her point, she adjusted her skintight leggings briefly. Like a gentleman, I looked away. "And besides, we're supposed to be avoiding pirates. I gotta keep my head in the game. Can’t do that if I’m imagining putting my face between her giant bazongas and going brrrrr."

With great effort, I stifled a laugh. I wondered what they called motorboating in the world.

We'd already walked what I estimated to be several miles. The streets weren't as busy as I was used to at this hour. The Breakwater Inn and The Good Inn weren't the only places to get a drink in town, and usually there was quite a bit of foot traffic as people found their watering holes for the night.

Yet with the heat and the Breakwater Inn's closure, more people were choosing to remain indoors. Plus, more than likely, they'd heard about the arson.

There are few things that can kill a mood faster than hearing that your home or a place of business might go up in flames at any moment.

A quiet duo passed us, walking quickly with their heads low. They spoke in whispers, but I couldn't quite pick them up. Their movements were graceful, with slender bodies a bit shorter than humans. More elves, as usual.

Which meant they probably weren't Black Ship Raiders. It wasn't like I could identify anybody by their faces, even with the impressive glow of starlight.

I was pretty sure I knew what we were after, anyway. One Goliath, one or two orcs, maybe a human, and probably two goblins.

That was a lot. Realistically, it was more than Lady Talia could take on her own. And even though Wynnie had ice magic, it wasn't like she wanted to use it to fight. She'd already turned that life down multiple times.

Shivai was a bit more of a wildcard. She had charm, but she also had daggers. Both were dangerous, but I wasn’t sure which would be more effective against pirates.

"It's so creepy out here," Shivai muttered.

"Hard agree. I'm used to seeing more people. But the people we are seeing all look fearful, like they're hiding from everybody else."

A few moments passed. Only the sound of our footsteps crunching gravel could be heard over the incessant chirping of crickets. Finally, she spoke again.

"I'm really sorry about that."

"About how creepy it is?"

"No, about charming Lady Talia. I really didn't know that would happen. She's dragonkin! The strongest-willed person I know! Believe me, that wasn't the first time I tried to charm her."

I almost missed a step. "Wait, what?"

"Seriously! She's like a steel wall! I thought she had a brick instead of a heart. She's caught me stealing a few times, and at first, I tried to charm my way out of it." The succubus shook her head and kicked at a rock I couldn't see. She must've had darkvision. "I swear, I thought she was immune. Reasoning with her is like trying to reason with a bull."

"Well, I guess your charm powers have gotten stronger."

She let out a soft laugh. "I doubt that. Neither you nor Wynnie took the bait. I think it was what I suggested that mattered."

"You mean telling her she should kiss me?" I could still feel the memory of Lady Talia’s warm, sweet breath on my lips.

"Yeah. That. I thought it was such a ridiculous proposition that she'd reject it outright. Until tonight, I always thought she was into women. Or into nobody at all."

That definitely wasn't the read I'd gotten. I wondered how she'd arrived at that conclusion.

Even with Lady Talia's overly uptight disposition, I'd seen a different side of her. One that had, at times, appeared downright tolerant of me—if not kind of interested. All the quiet, late-night conversations across the bar. Announcing that she was single when I dropped in on her at night. The swimming after training.

Oh, and the way she’d reacted when she learned about my relationship with Shivai.

I frowned. "I think I've always known she's a bit soft on me."

"Soft! Yeah, right. She's got a hard-on for you." She screwed up her face. "Eh, that didn't work. But you get my point. Anyway, I want you to know that I would never actually use my powers to intentionally cross the boundaries of consent. I may be a criminal, but I'm not that kind."

I reached out and patted her reassuringly on the back. Weird move, but I think it was what she needed. She seemed to relax as I traced a small circle with my palm on her shoulder.

The crash of breaking waves in the distance washed over us. We hadn't heard a sound like that in days. The sea had been dead still, barely registering a rustle above the wail of insects. Not long after the wave broke, a gentle breeze ruffled my tunic.

It was hot, but it was something. I could only hope this heat wave was about to pass.

Ahead, two more figures walked suspiciously. They moved quickly, looking around at all angles as though scoping for cops before a drug deal. A tingle ran up my spine.

Abruptly, they spotted us and immediately walked the other direction. Immediately, I wanted to know why.

"Should we follow?" I asked.

Shivai scoffed. "What? Are you crazy? Absolutely not. I think that's just townsfolk anyway. Hard to see this far away. Still, it’s probably better to avoid running into anyone if we can help it."

I didn't know what had gotten into me. Curiosity was a hell of a motivator, even though it was also liable to get me killed. Maybe I'd watched one too many pulpy mystery shows back in the day. Or maybe I was starting to believe I was more than just a bartender. I'd been a hero once already. I was Reborn—destined for great things, after all.

Shivai had to have her own set of interesting instincts. Growing up on her own, jumping from port to port, probably gave her an unusually developed sense of survival. My backstory was mundane, but hers was probably checkered enough to king me.

"You’ve always had to get, um, creative about making ends meet, right?” I asked.

“Oh, you mean thievery? That’s not very creative. It’s not like a heist or anything.”

“No planning?”

“I mean, for petty burglary, sure, maybe a bit. I’ll case the joint, find a place of ingress, and wait till I know there’s nobody home.” She paused, cocking her head curiously toward me. “I never liked burglary though. Felt like there was no sport to it.”

“How do you mean?”

“If I nick something from a person when they’re not around to stop me, that hardly seems fair, right?” She leaned in with a conspiratorial air. “Now, getting someone to part with their stuff willingly? That’s the real stuff. It feels earned. And the people have nobody to blame but themselves.”

With an innate charm ability, I wasn’t so sure that was true. 

She may have been petite, and she had a disarming smile, but nothing about her looked trustworthy. The skintight clothing she favored screamed rogue to me. Mostly the stabby kind, but the belt covered in leather pouches suggested she could handle second-story work with ease.

I’d seen her sass in action. Her defiance in the face of the law. Her impressive ability to convince people to do what she wanted. She could make a mark’s head spin so fast they’d be too dizzy to figure out what she’d stolen.

“Anything in your sketchy past that would help us deal with the Dreaded Pirate Robertson?”

“Oh. Probably. But you don’t want the stuff about stealing. You want the stuff about daggers.” She flashed a sharp grin. "Cons aren’t going to get a half dozen pirates to leave us alone. But a dagger to the neck?” She made a terrible ggchck! sound and crossed a thumb over her throat. “That’d do the trick.”

I balked. “Have you… killed before?”

She resumed her pace again, faster now, as though running from the idea of murder. For a few seconds, her playful attitude turned somber.

“There’s a reason why I’ve had to leave some towns early,” she mumbled. “Or, um, two reasons, I guess.”

There was a lot of wistfulness behind that statement. It sounded like regret had taken linguistic form and spilled out of her.

My heart sank. “You’ve killed?”

“Maybe? Probably? I don’t know.” She sighed, and as her voice tinged with emotion, I could tell she was close to the edge of overwhelm. “When a big, brutish thug comes at you in a dark street holding a cudgel and licking his lips, you do what you gotta do.” She glanced at me to make sure I was still following along, literally and figuratively. “And if nerves make the tip of your dagger miss the mark, you don’t stick around to see if the cut is a killing blow.”

“So you’re not just running from ill will,” I observed. “You’re running from knowledge of what you might’ve done.”

“I’m not running anymore.”

She could’ve fooled me. At the very least, we were speed walking. I huffed along as I tried to keep up. “You’re gonna stick around?”

She clenched her jaw and balled up a resolute fist. "I'm trying. I'd like to. You're the first person who's given me money without me having tricked you out of it." She looked over her shoulder toward the Breakwater Inn. "But Lady Talia has a three-strikes policy. And after that mistake I made in charming her tonight? I wouldn't be surprised if she shipped me up to Northridge."

"I won't let her."

"Oh yeah? Do you think you can convince her to let me stay?"

My fingers scratched a particularly itchy bit of my jaw as I thought. Having gotten to know the constable better, I was starting to think my early read of her had been wrong. Sure, she came off as a hardass, but she was a real softie underneath.

In fact, giving a known criminal multiple chances was evidence of that. And her main beef with Shivai now was just a bitter mixture of jealousy and feeling protective. She didn’t want an outlaw to take advantage of me.

I’d already argued in Shivai’s favor before. Slowly but surely, it felt like I was chipping away at her resolve.

"I can try."

"I bet she'd love to get me out of the way so she can sink her claws into you. Now she has every excuse."

I didn't see it that way. In fact, as much as the constable seemed determined to uphold her version of justice, I also knew that she was fair. If there were any way to convince Lady Talia to forgive Shivai, it was by elevating Shivai's position in the town.

"You'll just have to help us drive off these pirates," I said, coming up with the loose outlines of a plan. "If you could use those charm powers of yours to convince the pirates to leave, I'm pretty sure she'd let some of your past offenses slide." Then, remembering what she’d just told me, I added, “Charm powers or daggers. Whatever works.”

“I’d prefer the charm, but…”

“But?”

“Daggers are more reliable.”

Maybe she was right. Apparently, her charm powers weren’t unbeatable. They provided a circumstantial advantage, but that wasn’t much to trust our lives to.

Then again, how would the constable react to violence on Shivai’s part? Theft and cons were one thing, but stabbing was something else entirely. It felt like there was no safe way out.