The Black Seas Ch. 23

The Bahamas, 1706

Aftera much needed reunion Jack gathered Anne, Mary and his first mate, Howell Davis together. It was time for questions and answers.

Anne and Davis sat to either side of Jack while Mary Read sat straight across. It wasn't that Mary didn't trust Calico; it was in her nature to be wary.

"I'm not sure were to begin," Jack started. "I guess the first is ye are carrying me child. How are ye still?"

Anne had broken the news to him the night before and even with the excitement of the news it left him with unanswered questions.

Mary Read was the first to answer. "Djinn andSuccubi have the ability to prolong pregnancy for millennia. Beyond that the child will rob the life force of the mother and eventually she would die."

"I prolonged my pregnancy fer this long because of the benefits," Anne added.

"Benefits?" Jack asked hesitantly.

"More power equal to that of aDemon Lord," Anne explained. "It is why I have been able to match Blackbeard in a fight."

"But it doesn't seem to be enough," Davis said.

All heads turned toward him at that moment. His sudden outburst surprised them all.

"Yer right, but I know where we are going to put an end to Blackbeard," Anne was first to respond.

"And how do we plan on this happening?" Calico questioned.

"Davy Jones already knows where we are heading," Mary Read informed. "They are already on the way."

"How would they know? Davis asked.

"Simple," Mary said. "While being held captive, I made a deal with his first mate."

Mary Read lay next to the bed naked. Her hand remained chained and anchored to the wall. Blackbeard had used her for most of the night as he had every other night.

Mary wasn't sure what time it was; only that it was day time. She pulled herself up using the chains and looked out the window. The sunlight stung her eyes making her blink a number of times to allow her eyes to adjust.

Before her was the sea and ships. She was at a dock somewhere. That somewhere, however, she did not know. As she stretched to get a better look she heard a creak of the deck at the door.

She released her grip of the chains and dropped to the deck just as the door swung open. To her surprise it wasn't Blackbeard standing in the doorway but his first mate Morgan. It was one of the few times she saw him in his human form.

"Come to have yer way with me too?" She asked definitely.

"I have a proposition fer ye," he said ignoring the question.

Mary stayed silent for several seconds. Morgan took it as a sign to continue.

"Blackbeard has become a barrier in my way and a threat to more than just me."

"Ye one the human's side now?" She snapped.

Morgan laughed. "Hardly. Humans aren't the only ones affected by his actions."

"Demons."

"All of us yes," he agreed. "I won't go into more detail than needed." He paused to consider his next words and to study Mary's body language. "Regardless I will need yer help."

"And how do I help ye?" she asked shaking the chains bound to her wrists.

"I have no doubt yer captain will come looking fer ye."

Mary looked down toward the deck and shook her head before looking back up to Morgan.

"And what do I get from it?"

"Ye get to live," he answered simply. "TheHades' Whore will be free to sail wherever it wants so long as it leaves the Caribbean."

"And if it doesn't?"

"I don't need to go any deeper than that," he answered without any malice in his voice.

Mary let the idea roll around in her head weighing the options before answering.

"Very well," she answered after a moment. "Where do we have to go?"

"Dead Man's Cove."

"How can we trust Morgan?" Davis asked. "And who did he refer to?
"He spoke of theBrethren Court, a council of demons ruled by Morgan. UnlikeWinter, theBrethren Court focuses on controlling the Caribbean and potentially all the seas rather than the entire world," Mary explained. "As far as trusting Morgan, that is still in the air."

"Then we don't have much time," Calico commented.

"Aye," Davis agreed.

"One thing I would like to know is why we don't see more pregnant demons," Jack wondered aloud.

Mary Read burst out in a small laughter. After drawing everyone's attention to her again she said, "There are several reasons ranging from the bond formed between the child and its father to the effects onMarids andZombies."

"And ye have been around for thousands of years and ye don't know?" Davis asked incredulously.

"Let's just say we like to follow what we know rather than causing more problems than needed," Mary said almost coldly.

Jack felt her tone flow like ice over him and he was pretty certain Davis had the same feeling. So far he felt Mary could was trustworthy but as far as risking her life for his—that was still up in the air.

"Well," Jack said as he pushed off the table. The conversation only had one direction to go and it was going to be a heated one. "We have repairs to be made and an ambush to plan."

"Aye," Anne said feeling the hostility herself. "We'll have as much time as Jones needs to make repairs, but they know where we are headed and that will give them time to catch up."