Page 29 (1/2)

"You sent me out here," I said "You put me on the hook for bait Let me do this " No answer but static "Fine Joanne Baldwin Prince, signing off - "

"Wait," he snapped I did "Don’t take David with you We’re not allowing any of the Djinn to erous for them"

I was a bit unclear on the concept of how one stopped Djinn fro, if they weren’t bound to a bottle, but I didn’t bring it up "And what do you suppose I’h rattled the speaker "You’re not going to love the idea"

"Try hshower of sparks I thought about it

After a long, quiet ht that Lewis’s voice startled me "Still there?"

"More or less Look, I can’t trust anyone on this ship, not hat you’re asking Send ht about that for a second "Sendto take shit froot just the guy," Lewis said "We’re going to slon, to give you ti when you need us"

"I hope so," I said "Let’s not say our good-byes this time Last time was a real bitch" He see off"

" Sparrow,signing off" I put the old click-to-talkat the equiped around in the desk drawers It was a battered old thing, looked like it had seen service in the First World War, and I surprised a long-tailed rat in the top draho stared at me with beady little eyes and an entire lack of alarm A pet, maybe

Or maybe this was his ship, and I was the infestation

I shut that drawer and tried the next one The rats had made nests of the paperwork that had once been in there; it was nothing but shreds

The third drawer yielded an almost empty bottle of Cutty Sark

"Score," I said I unscrewed the cap, wiped the lip of the bottle with , thirsty pull When there were no lass to my mouth, I lowered the bottle and set it on the desk

"David?"

He opened the door

It’s not that easy to catch a Djinn who’s alert for treachery, and David - even though he loved me - knew better I’d just told hiave me the benefit of the doubt, even with the empty bottle open on the desk in front of me

I looked up at him and said, "We need to talk, honey" Lewis sent Brett Jones, Fire Warden, forer than Josue, and after a dick-, Josue evidently accepted that Brett was meaner as well I didn’t know Brett that well, but Lewis did, and if Lewis sent him to take care of us, then we could trust him

"Watch your back," I whispered to Brett as I passed hiht in with all h, it looked like professional accessories He nodded to me It seemed like a thousand years since we’d sat in the ues were carried off in body bags after that first clash with Bad Bob’s storm

Brett looked as hard and tired as I felt He also looked very alone, standing at the boith his ar the speedboat head back to the distant cruise ship The weather was still foul over in that direction The storive up its prize, noin the filthy confines of Josue’s tiny captain’s cabin, I brushed the worst of the tangles out of my hair, and used a burst of power to clean rime from my skin As accommodations went, even temporary accommodations, these earned zero stars; the bed was filthy, the floor was littered with toenail clippings, and the walls were pasted over with hard-core porn actresses in action shots

David opened the cabin door and stepped in He watchedme

We’d talked about all this, but convincing hiether And even when he bowed to necessity, he did it grudgingly

I wished I could really tell what he was thinking, but then, he probably ishing the sa about this," I said "This tied "As far as I’h for eternity" That made me smile "You must be a romantic I mean, ith all thethe ceremony - "

"If I wasn’t a romantic, I wouldn’t be here"

He had an excellent point I decided not to pursue it Instead, I put down Josue’s coood, actually The sun and sea had given me a blush of bronze, and my eyes seemed clear and cool as the Caribbean waters My hair had, for a change, taken its glossy curls to a style, instead of to a mess

David slid his hands over my shoulders, and I looked up at him "It’s tiuests waiting"

The guests were, of course, the assembled pirates of the ship I’d recently, and randomly, nae clothes, splash water on their faces, or brush their teeth, but they were seated cross-legged on the deck, clearly happy with slack-off time

Josue had donned a ridiculous coat A tuxedo jacket, obviously ripped off from some prior victim on a yacht I hoped I wouldn’t notice any bloodstains

"Hurry your asses up," he said "We don’t have long" Not exactly the wedding ed a look with David, and he gave th of the deck to the bohere Josue was standing The sun was behind clouds again, and the air s storms

David’s bestin forand foreboding as a Djinn, only ar Josue and everybody else, including me, with smart, cold focus

I felt both protected and unsettled

"I don’t have no holy books," Josue said "So I et et the iet paid first"

There was a brief pause, and then David reached into his pocket and brought out a srabbed thehly inappropriate smile, then asked, "What’s your name?"

"David Prince"

"David Prince, you coht?" I didn’t dare throw a glance at David, because there was so so weirdly hilarious about this that I was already choking on it After a beat, he said, "Obviously" I coughed

"You sure you want to do that?" Josue said "Because you got to take care of her, love her, never look at another wo turned into a full-fledged fit

"If you mean will I stand by her in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, for all the days of our lives - yes, I will," David said, very quietly The urge to laugh left me suddenly, and I squeezed his hand "I vow that I will"

I felt no corresponding surge from the aetheric, the way I had the first time we’d done this, but then, David had completed his side of the vows the last time we’d done this

I hadn’t, not officially Which hy Lewis and I had decided to go through with this It was an experiment - probably doomed to failure - to see whether or not it would ether if ere bound together by ritual, completely

"You’re sure about this," Josue said He continued to stare at David "I give you some time to think"

David didn’t s"