Sitting in a corner booth, I stared down Kal as he sat across from me with a small smile on lips. A smile I wanted to rip right off with my own are hands. He had drunk half his rum already; I'd barely touched mine. After minutes of sitting in silence, with the feeling of Willa's eyes bearing down on the back of my neck, I groaned.

"Alright, this is pointless. I'm not asking for your help, Rackham. Willa can get over her apparent incessant need for us to work together." Pushing my cup away from me, let Kal get drunk for all I cared, I climbed out of the booth and made to leave. Kal's hand struck out faster than I had been expecting. His grip was strong on my wrist yet nothing that would bruise. I yanked once but his grip held firm.

"Elsie, wait. I'm sorry I broke your privacy this morning, yeah? I'll never enter your bay without your permission again." His eyes held no lie in them, I'd been around enough liars to learn what that looked like. But that didn't mean I cared. Or trusted him.

"You won't ever set foot in my bay period. Now release me." His fingers let go of my wrist before the last syllable had left my mouth. I didn't spare him another glance before I turned back for the door. I was a few paces away when I heard him speak again, just loud enough to catch.

"Willa's right. We'd be an unstoppable team."

Rolling my eyes, I kept my pace for the door. I could feel the eyes of other patrons on my back — none of them dared to look at me when I could catch them in the act. What did they think? Seeing Kal Rackham and Elsie Bonnet having a civilized conversation, no pistols in sight? I wanted to slap myself. I didn't give a fuck what other people thought of this whole mess. Let them think we had made peace. It would be a nice shock to them the next time we draw arms at each other.

The swinging door to Black Beard's squeaks open. The figure in the doorway is looming, casting shadows in the room. I didn't even need to look at the face to know who it was. Sighing, I rolled my eyes to look at Heinrich's pudgy face. I could feel the tension in the room tightens like an anchor line. I briefly wondered how tight it could get before snapping altogether.

Heinrich took one long look at me, his icy eyes trailing me from boot to hair, before he moved towards the bar. Willa was standing at the bar. Without a moments thought, I put myself between them. I didn't draw my cutlass but I rested my hand on its hilt. Everyone in this room knew how quickly I could draw it. "You have no business here." I hoped my voice sounded as sharp as my blade.

"I didn't realize you had taken over this establishment, girl." Heinrich's eyes flashed dangerously as he looked at me, but he made no move to cut me down or push me out of his way. My grip on the hilt of my cutlass tightened. His gaze traveled from mine to the rest of the people in the room, stopping only when they looked directly behind me. I knew he was looking at Willa. "Go sail your little ship around in circles, child. The adults have business to attend to."

He made to step around me. I moved in front of him again, the sound of my cutlass being drawn a few inches from its spot on my belt filled the otherwise silent bar. "Take your own advice. Or, that's right, you can't. Your ship is currently in the hands of the dock guards." At last, the dock guards were being useful. Any ship left captain-less for any reason would be left in their hands until a new captain bought the ship. The money went to keeping the town going, or so Willa says. I didn't buy that for a second. Even the dock guards were pirates, lousy as they were.

A vein on the side of Heinrich's temple twitched. Bending closer, so his nose was level with my own, I could feel spit hit my face as he snapped. "Get out of my way."

"Not a chance. You get out of this building." My knuckles were white from how hard I was gripping my cutlass. It would take me a second to draw it, slicing into Heinrich's gut as I went. Just when my resolve to not cause a mess in Willa's shop began to crumble, her voice rang out in the silence.

"Elsie. Enough."

I didn't take my eyes off Heinrich as I replied. "Willa, I don't care—."

"That's the problem. Let him through. You have something to do with Kal, don't you?"

The blood in my veins boiled as a smile curled at the corner of Heinrich's lips. He was still leaning far too close. "Do as your friend says, Elsie. Run along with your little boyfriend."

I drew my cutlass between my next inhale and exhale. It would've landed clear on its target of Heinrich's stomach if not for a hand grabbing my opposite arm and yanking me for the door. I didn't even the chance to wipe the grin off Heinrich's face before Kal pushed me out the door. It banged closed behind us, swinging back and forth for a moment before coming to a stop. Getting my feet underneath me, I turned my blade to Kal's face. The second best option, if I couldn't get Heinrich.

But Kal had already drawn his own blade, easily blocking my angry charge. I let my emotions take over and my form was shit. That was the only reason why Kal managed to block me. I was usually much faster than him. "Get the fuck out of my way, Kal. I'm not leaving him in there with Willa."

The hand that wasn't occupied with the blade was held palm up in my direction. Kal's face was calm, almost impassive. So unlike my own which I knew was contorted with anger. "Willa is perfectly capable of dealing with that idiot on her own. You were causing a scene."

My blood boiled, turning my vision red. "I was causing a scene? He's the one going around the whole fucking Triangle acting like he's king!" I lowered my blade from his nose down to throat, pressing the tip against his skin. "Get. Out. Of. My. Way."

His eyes searched my face, the crease in his brow only growing. Whatever he was looking for he clearly didn't find it. With a loud sigh, he slowly shook his head. "I can't do that, Elsie. You'll get yourself killed." His back foot pivoted to the side, giving him more leverage to lunge. I wasn't about to give him the opportunity.

With a yell, I jabbed my cutlass forward, intent on running it through his throat. But no blood came. He moved at just the right moment, my blade skidding off the medal covering on his shoulder before leaving his body entirely. He sidestepped me, putting more space between us. He raised his own blade to be level with my own. Following, I brought my sword arm up in an arch only to crash it against his own in the air. The loud clang of our blades filled the otherwise quiet street. Usually, the sound of fighting brought people out of their homes. Entertainment was entertainment after all. But no windows swung open to reveal heads peaking out. No one came rushing out of a door to see the commotion. Clearly, Heinrich's surge in reputation was already well-spread.

I took a step closer to Kal, stabbing my cutlass at his exposed side. He blocked it with his mechanical arm, the sound echoing off the buildings. Growling, I barred my teeth at him. "That's cheating."

A small smile pulled at one corner of his lips. "It's not cheating. It's using ones assets to their advantage."

Rolling my eyes, I didn't deem that statement with a response. Partially because I didn't have one. I couldn't exactly say I wouldn't use a metal arm as a shield, if I had one. Faking left, I went for Kal's other shoulder — the non-metal one — but he twisted his body and met my blade. Again. Over and over our blades met in the air, neither one of us getting an upper hand. Although I had long since realized Kal wasn't even trying to best me. Which only made me angrier. He pushed me back, my own momentum used against me. My fist clenched at my side and the hand that was holding my blade hurt from how hard I gripped it. "Fight back!" I jumped forward, raising my blade high.

Something flashed in Kal's eyes. When I came down on him, he deflected my blade with a flick of his wrist. Only then he dropped his cutlass to the ground, it clattered on the stones. I didn't even have a chance to be shocked at his apparent surrender because in the next moment, I found my wrists held tightly in his hands as he slammed us back into the side of a building. My own cutlass clattering to the ground by my feet. His body was unyielding as he held me against the wood. My wrists were encircled and trapped above my head; he kept the rest of his body tight against mine so I couldn't kick out. For a brief moment, I struggled with everything I had but it only caused his grip to tighten and his body to push impossibly closer to mine. I contemplated biting his nose off. I could reach it if I tried, his face was so damn close to my own.

"Don't." He clearly saw the thought in my eyes. His eyes held my own as he didn't lean away, as I expected him to, but came even closer. His nose brushed my own as he said, "Awfully messy, biting off an appendage. You don't want my blood all over you."

A horrible fluttering feeling had filled my stomach. I had the absurd thought to push my own body into his, to have us as close as possible. An image ran across my mind, of his lips on mine. Pushing my head against the unforgiving wood behind me, trying to put a centimeter of space between us, I pushed down the insane thoughts. I only hoped he couldn't feel the way my heart was pounding inside my chest. "You underestimate how badly I want to see you bleed." I was proud that my voice didn't shake on its way out.

For a moment, neither of us said anything more. I could feel his breaths against my skin and in the way his chest pushed harder against my own. It was impossible in such a position to not feel the muscle hidden beneath his trousers and in the grip he had on my wrists. The realization did very little to help the feeling in my stomach. Pulling at my wrists, I lifted my chin so I felt less like I was looking up at him. "Let me go."

He hesitated, for a single breath, before he stepped back and released me all at once. I stumbled as my own weight fell back to my feet so abruptly. When I righted myself, I swore I could catch a slight flush on his cheeks. But it could just be the lighting; the sun bouncing off the red-painted wood. Gathering my blade from the ground, I stuck it back onto my belt. The fight had been bled out of me by whatever those weird feelings were and I didn't have any inclination to raise my cutlass to him. For the moment, at least. I was sure that would change again in an hour. Glancing back at Black Beard's, I sighed. Turning to Kal, I gestured to the docks. "Alright, fine. If I'm not going back in there then lets go to the Revenge."

"Why are we getting on your ship?" A single brow raised on his forehead as he sheathed his own blade.

Smiling at the pain I knew I was about to cause, I rested a hand on my hip. "Because we have a witch to find." The immediate shift in his expression was very satisfying. Turning for the docks, I was only a few paces away when I heard him groan and curse under his breath. But his boot falls quickly caught up with my own as I reached the planks of the docks. Not that I cared if he followed or not but I knew he would. He always did.