Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

Too Many Talks

Theo had rowed herself back to shore in the morning, alone. By the time she woke up, Ava had already slipped out of bed without a goodbye. She was woken up by her voice on the deck, speaking to some crew members that had made their way onto the ship that morning. Theo didn't know if Ava had left without saying anything because she rushed to go help whoever was on deck or because she didn't want to be around Theo any longer; either way her heart still hurt at waking up to an empty bed.

Theo was not in a rush to get out of bed, although she should have been. She was due to meet up with Xyra and Cooker for some breakfast before Ava would join them to debrief on the cycles apart. Later, they would meet up with the officers to sift through all of the leads they had gathered. Theo could sense that the morning was growing late by the time she woke up and that any breakfast plans had most likely had begun without her. Not feeling too appetized, she took her sweet time getting ready and didn't emerge from the room until the voices had disappeared from the deck.

Theo took the opportunity of a clear deck to slip out of her quarters and into a boat, grabbing the oars and heading back to the island. The sun was bright and high in the sky while the wind was almost nonexistent. It created a very hot, not so pleasant ride back. But the calmness of the ocean and the peace she felt as she heard the oars dip in and out of the water offset any misery the heat was causing. She wasn't looking forward to the journey back up to Corinspe but at least it would be cooler than the south of Baethos this time of length.

Theo docked and made her way to the room Cooker had been staying in during their time on the island. That was probably where they were. Theo was thankful for the late start because the common area of the tavern was devoid of many of her crewmates. Which meant that she was able to greet her crew and head up to the rooms with little delay. Those she had spoken to had confirmed that the two officers were in Cooker's room, which saved her from having to hop around in search. Theo stopped outside of the room, trying to catch some of the conversation happening without her, just like she had when she was younger and they would talk about 'grown up' things she couldn't know about.

"I've heard that joke before, Cooker," Xyra said.

"No, you haven't. I just made that up," Cooker replied, "you just think all jokes sound the same because you lack any sort of humor."

"I will shove my foot up your ass," Xyra snapped, "I would find that humorous."

Theo rolled her eyes but couldn't help but let out a silent laugh. She had expected a conversation about something serious but when it came to Cooker, she should have known better. Theo entered the room before Xyra actually put her foot up someone's ass. She was hit with a wave of heat, no windows were in the room but there were several candles lit to give off light. Theo couldn't even get any words out before she was making a guttural sound of disgust because of the heat.

"Nice of you to make an appearance," Xyra said as she put away a book that was open on her lap.

Theo didn't say anything, she just rolled her eyes before pulling her shirt off, skin already cooling down. She took a seat near them and slumped against the back of the chair. When she looked over at Xyra, there was a look of grave concern. Theo sat back up and looked around to see what was the matter.

"Theo, are you and Riva alright?"

Theo furrowed her brows, "What are you talking about?"

"I thought your bond with her meant that you were protected from sea monsters," Xyra said and Theo tilted her head absolutely lost, "clearly a Kraken attacked you last night."

Theo looked down at her chest that was littered with large hickeys, they also curled up her neck. One of her hands snapped up to cover some of the marks and she used the other to throw her balled-up shirt at Xyra's face. Cooker clapped her hands together as her laughter filled the air and she reached over to Xyra for a high five. Xyra pulled the shirt off of her face with a slight smirk playing on her lips and she met Cooker's palm with her own.