This Hayreddin obviously assumed that she knew everything about Alexei’s past. She remembered seeing Red in the bar once or twice before the incident with the aborted fight, she thought maybe with Len in tow, although the big man was a lot more memorable. He must have been spying on them, and thought he’d seen an intimacy that didn’t exist.
Unless he had seen something she’d missed… She shook that off too. No time to pine over what might have been.
“Can I ask you something?” she said, more to keep his attention on her while she looked around for something useful than out of a real desire to make conversation. She saw two other men, tough looking sailor types with tattoos and grim expressions, working at various shipboard tasks. Great. Four against one. No problem at all. Damn, she wished Alexei was here.
“Certainly,” Hayreddin said. “No doubt you are curious as to how the ghost of Blackbeard came to be sailing the seas again.”
Bethany nearly choked on her bitter black tea. “Uh, no. Not really. I was actually wondering if you had something to do with the kraken that has been attacking ships in this area.” It seemed unlikely to her that there were two completely unrelated mysteries afoot, but considering that she’d met a Baba Yaga and a man who could talk to dolphins recently, she wasn’t making any assumptions.
Hayreddin preened, smoke rising up toward the sky. It was only a little before noon, from the look of it. Less time had passed than she’d thought. It had felt like much longer, stuck down in that hold waiting for someone to come kill her, or worse. Bethany didn’t want to die at all, but if she was going to, she’d much rather it was up here, in the open air, with the sea all around her.
“Indeed, that is my doing,” he said proudly. At a cough from Len, he added, a touch reluctantly, “And that of my young friend here, without whom it would not be possible. As I said, he is indispensable.
“After all, what is a pirate without a ship?” He pointed up at the Jolly Roger flag flying proudly in the breeze. “Mind you, these modern vessels are nothing like the schooners of old. No grace to them at all, alas, although it is somewhat convenient not to be dependent on the whim of the winds.” He shook his head. “In truth, being a pirate is not what it once was.”
“I told you so,” Len said, rubbing one hand, which bore a slightly grubby bandage wrapped around it.
Hayreddin sighed, his pipe suddenly billowing even more smoke than before. “Yes,” he said in the almost patient tone of someone who has had the same conversation multiple times before. “You were quite correct when you told me that being a pirate was no longer a grand profession ruled over by men of grit and steel.” The glare he directed at Len seemed to go right over Len’s head.
“And I was right about it not being a good idea to pretend to be Blackbeard come back to haunt the high seas, wasn’t I? It didn’t scare anyone away for long. It might have rattled the local fishermen, but they’re a superstitious lot. Hell, we’ve spent most of our time dodging thrill seekers with cell phones trying to catch a video to put up on YouTube.” Len leaned over and spit on the deck, his face etched with exhaustion and discouragement.
Bethany noticed Red’s fingers tighten around the hilt of his sword and thought perhaps Len would be smart to keep his mouth shut.
“So, ah, how does the kraken figure into all this?” she asked, both to distract Red and because damn it, she really wanted to know. “I never heard of a pirate having a pet sea monster before.”
Hayreddin chuckled, his volatile mood switching back to benign amusement. “No one else was ever clever enough to harness such a creature,” he said. “Mind you, I had resources not available to most, as well as the cunning to use them. But the kraken is hardly a pet, my dear. It is a dangerous creature, unless one has the means to control it.”
He gestured in Len’s direction. “Go ahead and show her.”
Len straightened up and pulled a large amulet out from underneath the sweater he wore. It was odd and unattractive, but it drew the eyes strangely.
Len saw the face she made. “I know. It’s butt ugly, ain’t it? It’s been in my family for years, but I was the first one to be able to make it work.” He swung it to and fro a little on its brass chain. “It’s magic. Real magic. I can use it to summon the kraken, and command it to find us treasure. We’re gonna be rich.”
“Rich?” Bethany said. She didn’t see how having a kraken would make anyone rich, unless you sold people tickets to come see it. And as far as she knew, there wasn’t a lot of treasure lying around off the shores of Cape Cod. Some, probably, but not a lot. Nothing famous, anyway.
“Indeed.” Hayreddin gave a smug smile, sharp white teeth glinting in the sun. “I sailed these waters long ago, and I was returning home with one last great load of booty when my ship ran afoul of a mighty storm. When young Len activated the ancient talisman which I had given up for lost, I returned so that he might help me reclaim this treasure.”
Len nodded. “I use this thing to call the kraken, and then I send it out to look for Red’s treasure. We’re getting really close.” His sullen face lit up as he pulled a handful of old gold coins out of his pocket. “Look. It brought these back the last time. Red says they’re definitely from the ship he lost!”
“Very impressive,” Bethany said, edging closer to a tall gaff, a pole ending in a hook most often used to land large fish. “I don’t suppose this kraken of yours has anything to do with the boats that have been wrecked or disappeared recently?”
Len stared at his boots, but Hayreddin just gave a booming laugh. “What do you expect from pirates? An invitation to a tea party?”
Bethany glanced over his shoulder and felt her heart jump in her chest. “Some kind of party, anyway, although maybe not the one you were expecting,” she said. Her father’s boat was closing on them as fast as it could move, and she could see Alexei standing on the bow, a huge sword in one hand. She had never been so happy to see anyone in her life.
Red swiveled around to see what she was looking at and uttered a series of foul curses that turned the air as blue as the smoke from his pipe. “Stubborn Rider,” he said through gritted teeth. “I should have known he would show up and try to ruin everything.” He swung back around and pointed at Len.
“Call it. Call the kraken. Now!”
A pained expression crossed the younger man’s face but he didn’t argue. As Bethany watched in amazement, he quickly pulled the talisman off his neck and placed it on the deck, then unwrapped his bandaged hand, exposing a series of red and irritated-looking cuts. Wincing, he pulled out a knife and sliced through the skin again, dripping the blood onto the amulet at his feet.
For a moment, nothing happened, then the center stone blinked open and became a swirling eye, and the water around the boat began to churn.