The magic bubbled beneath Cage's skin, much like it did when the beast was begging to come up. The beast was silent now and it was Cage himself pushing the magic to the surface in other, more useful ways.

"It kind of hurts," he muttered as he kept his eyes on the flat rock placed on the deck.

"You're still thinking about it as something malevolent," Jinx said, sound impatient. "It won't like you and will try to hurt you."

That made sense, but it couldn't change his feelings about it. As much as he tried to think of his curse as something positive, he was terrified he'd grow fangs again.

With a sigh, he stopped pulling his magic to the surface and looked away. The burning feeling in his veins subsided at once, the magic content with him leaving it alone.

"You're not going to make any progress by giving up," Jinx pointed out the obvious.

"I know. And I really appreciate your efforts. You've explained it to me well enough so that I can have a basic understanding of how it works."

"You're not using that basic understanding."

"I'm afraid I'll lose control."

Jinx huffed, her lips lifting in a rare half-smile. "I can take you, big guy. I don't think even your beast likes fire."

That was the pure truth. "Show me again."

Jinx rolled her eyes, but the small smile on her lips had him stepping back. Right on time, too, because she burst into flames. Her hair floated above her head as if she were dunked in water and every inch of her body that wasn't covered in clothes was on fire, shades of red, orange and yellow flickering into the late afternoon light. It only lasted a few seconds before she extinguished herself and her hair fell back over her shoulders, still looking like fire. Smoke rose from her clothes and she patted them down to make sure they didn't catch fire.

It wasn't the first time he'd seen it, but it looked more impressive each time, to see the full power of Jinx's magic. Too bad the fire burned her clothes if she kept the flames up longer. But the amount of control that allowed her to choose which part of her skin she lit up was amazing.

"I still can't believe you can do that," he said.

"You better believe it. And if I can do that, you can surely lift a damn pebble."

"If only it were that easy."

"It is that easy."

"Just as easy as you speaking to Jazz?"

She huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "It's not the same thing."

"Jinx, you two need to talk."

He'd said that to Jazz as well, but he'd just knocked the sword out of his hand as an answer. Cage hated seeing them like this, and a part of him felt guilty because he knew it had all originated from Kat and his own inability to tell her no. It had escalated into something way beyond what he'd thought and the tension was killing him.

"It's not that easy," Jinx said, her voice low.

"Why not? He must understand why you'd want to take Leila along." Though Cage had to admit that he was a little confused by Jinx's lack of interest in her after she'd risked her relationship with Jazz over it.

"That doesn't matter," she said. "I forced his hand. And I'm very aware that his feelings for me clouded his judgement. Jazz is an amazing man and he didn't deserve this."

"So you think you giving him the cold shoulder shows him this?"

She shook her head. "I need to stay away and give him the chance to do what needs to be done. The right thing." When she raised her eyes, they were filled with pain. "I'm very impulsive, Cage, and not always in the best way."

He knew a few things about that himself. It was what got him cursed in the first place. "That doesn't mean you shouldn't talk to him. Tell him all these things."

"He knows. He knows everything."

"Jinx, if he knows, that doesn't mean you shouldn't tell him anyway. And it's alright if you feel like you made a mistake. He will forgive you. That's what love is all about."

Jinx rolled her eyes again, but her frame had softened considerably.

"I'll go talk to Jazz if you move that pebble."

He narrowed his eyes at her. If she thought he wasn't stubborn enough for that, she was gravely mistaken, so he focused on the pebble and then summoned his magic again. He'd perfected bringing it to the surface of his being, which was a great improvement, but actually using it afterward was whole different issue. He was still scared.

What do you think is going to happen? It's not like you could hurt anyone. Jinx is right. She'd burn your ass before you could put a finger out of line.

His blood felt hot, singing his veins, but he didn't push it back, embraced the pain and the feel of magic, trying to stabilize it just under his skin and maybe let the tiniest bit of it out, towards the tiny rock just sitting there. The tips of his fingers began to prickle and the fear inside him grew.

No, you can do this.

He thought about Jazz, about how sullen and miserable he'd been over the past weeks, about Jinx who was too proud and scared to talk to him. He didn't want to be the one to get in the way of love, not even indirectly. All he had to do was move the pebble.

It began trembling on the deck, as if someone had stepped right next to it. The shock pushed the magic back and left him exhausted, his breath coming out uneven. The pebble stood unmoving and he wasn't sure he hadn't imagined everything.

"Did I...?" He lifted his gaze to Jinx.

She was grinning at him, so it became obvious that he hadn't dreamed it up.

"You did it! Pathetic, but it's the first time you actually managed it."

"Don't underestimate my stubbornness. Now step on yours and go talk to Jazz."

The light behind her eyes seemed to dim the slightest bit, but she didn't lose her grin, at least until her gaze moved past her shoulder. Then her mouth fell into a frown.

"Yeah, I'd better get on that. A deal's a deal. And you have company." Without another word, she turned around and moved away.

Cage turned in the other direction to see Kat staring at him with wide eyes. It was obvious she'd seen what he'd done and she was terrified by it. The satisfaction he'd felt at his progress was drowned in annoyance and a bit of regret. He was exhausted and in no mood for her to start lecturing him on the dangers of magic. He needed to learn to use it for their protection as well as to appease Cecile and she should get used to that already.

She approached warily and he hated how much he needed to hold her against him, kiss her, make sure everything was alright between them. Once she reached him, she stayed silent and he spent the minutes keeping himself under control.

"At least Jinx still smiles," she finally said.

"Yes, she does. She's going to talk to Jazz anyway. Those two need to end their argument."

"I don't really understand why they're fighting in the first place."

"They had a disagreement over your friend."

Kat winced. "Harrison said you might be able to explain why everyone is so against Leila."

So it was avoiding the magic altogether. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed or relieved, so he chose to just embrace the conversation for now.

"We're not really against her as a person, Kat. But the way she came on board..."

"So you really think we should have left her in Yarik?" She sounded defiant again, obviously never second-doubting her decision.

He respected that, though he wished she could understand what the problem actually was without him having to spell it out. He'd avoided it for as long as he could because he needed to navigate between the crew members carefully and he wanted everything back to normal, not to get into fights. Maybe Jinx and Jazz talking was the first step and he and Kat making amends was the second. Not that he was particularly upset with her. Just her lack of tact.

"That's not the issue."

"Then what is?" She stomped her foot, her fists clenched. "I swear, you're all acting as if she killed someone and we're harboring a fugitive. I understand your point, but she's not in worse danger here than she would have been if we left her there, and Jinx knows that. That's why she convinced Jazz to keep her with us."

Cage shook her head. "That's what you don't understand. Jazz is the captain and his word is law on this ship, as unfair as it may be."

"Well, in the end it was his choice to--"

He lifted his hand to stop her. "No, Kat. You forced his hand by throwing Jinx in the middle of things. You knew her story, knew she'd advocate for this. You also used Jazz's affection for her against him."

Fortunately, Kat didn't outright argue, but spent a few moments in silence, contemplating his words. It was a bit more than that, but he hoped she would read between the lines without him having to spell it out. Jinx's shame at her weakness, her turmoil as she felt torn between her duty to Jazz and her own history. How stepping over their captain's wishes had belittled him in front of the crew...

"Why didn't he want her to begin with?" Kat whispered, proving she did understand at least some of it.

"She's a stranger."

"So are we."

"No, we're charges. We're people Jazz could look into and decide what he wanted to do."

"That's not true. He was forced into this by Cecile."

Cage winced. It was partially true, but in the end, he'd had a choice. This time, his fear of losing Jinx had pushed him harder than anything the fairy could have done to him. Kat had used his love against him.

"It's different because he doesn't care for Cecile. It was more of a personal decision. In this case, he did it for Jinx."

Kat fell silent again. "Then why aren't they speaking? If it's such a proof of his love, why isn't she happy?"

"Because she forced him into something he didn't want to do and is ashamed of it."

She sighed, rubbing her forehead. It was a complicated matter without even getting into how Jazz had obviously favored Jinx over Trix and Harrison. He wasn't sure whether Kat could pick up on that, too, but he honestly hoped Leila was worth it. He couldn't say he had an opinion about it. He'd chosen to stay neutral and bridge the gap between Kat and Leila on one side and the rest of the crew on the other. As far as he was concerned, the girl was fine, if a little annoying. But as long as the others saw her as the sum of their captain's misery, he wasn't going to stick his neck out for her either.

"Are they also upset with me?" Kat finally asked.

This concern was valid, so he heaved a sigh. "Not exactly, but you will have to talk to them about this. Preferably without Leila around."

"I thought there were no secrets around here."

"Then explain your reasoning with her there if you feel comfortable. Why you felt so strongly about it and why you feel it was the right call to push your beliefs on them."

"Cage, honestly, my beliefs are fine. I'm not going to apologize for saving someone from a terrible fate."

She was missing the point and he was seconds away from slapping his own face in frustration. What stopped him was the fear that she'd possibly feel it, too, and he definitely didn't want to hurt her, not even indirectly.

"Is this it? Is that why you've been so distant? Because you think I'm wrong?"

She was deflecting again. He tried not to hold it against her, but after such a long time, he'd hoped she would start broadening her views a bit.

"I will admit that I don't like what happened. But I've been a bit more withdrawn because I thought you might need some time to yourself to figure this thing out without me."

She blinked. "Figure what out?"

"People. How they interact and how your actions may affect them even if your intentions are noble."

Because he didn't want to say it, but it was becoming obvious she'd spent most of her life alone or among familiar people. And it hadn't been an issue while they'd both been isolated in that castle. It hadn't been an issue while they traveled alone. It didn't stop her from standing up to people and navigating a foreign market, haggling with merchants. Because all those people were strangers who she didn't have to appease more than the few minutes it took her to do business with them. But this, being part of a real group, eluded her.

"I'm not sure what you're getting at," she finally said. "Are you upset with me or not?"

He couldn't be upset with her. The curse didn't let him. Even now, he felt a dire need to smother her with kisses. But that wasn't how things worked.

"I'm not upset with you. But that's because what you've done hasn't affected me directly. I couldn't care less if our crew now has one more person or not. However, you have to see how your actions have broken the balance for everyone."

She was quiet for another few minutes, hugging herself, the uncertainty finally breaking through her stubborn demeanor.  "I didn't mean to."

And it eased the latent anger inside him. "I know you didn't mean it, Kit-Kat, but you need to speak to the others. You need to explain yourself and why this was important to you."

"Do they even care?"

"It doesn't matter if they care or not. They still need to understand. As it is... Well, it feels like you got your way and are content with it and fuck them."

She cringed. "That was definitely not my intention."

He stepped closer, placing his hand on her shoulder. "I know. You still need to learn how to deal with people on more sensitive matters. Bluntness doesn't always help."

She huffed. "That's a bit rich coming from you." It sounded playful and it drew a smile out of him.

"I am blunt. But I can read the room and know when to shut up. It tends to win you a lot of friends."

Her smile faltered and she looked to her left, towards the endless sea. "Do you think I should've shut up? That I should've let Jazz throw Leila off the ship?"

"It doesn't matter what I think."

"Humor me. Let's say I would have asked for your advice. Or that it was you finding her instead of me."

He knew he would've rescued the girl as well. But he wasn't sure he would've brought her on board instead of searching for a safe house for her and left her enough money to get around and make her own fate. But, as it was, Leila was tied to Kat.

"I would've helped her. I wouldn't have used Jinx against Jazz, though."

"He wouldn't budge!"

"You weren't patient enough to build your argument and try more."

She bit her lower lip, accepting his reasoning. It erased the rest of his annoyance. It was hard to focus on it anyway when she was doing that. He now wanted to bite her lip, too. He'd held back so much beacuse of this snag, because of the tension. It got harder with every passing second and his chest seemed to be on fire. He had to get closer.

His hand moved from her shoulder to her face, cupping her cheek. She leaned into it, even if she appeared to still be deep in thought. He lowered his face, searching for her lips. She met him willingly, parting them for him, pressing herself against him, running her fingers down his back. It felt more real than anything had over the past fortnight. She tasted amazing, like she always did, fanning the flames inside him, bringing his magic to the surface in less painful ways. He wouldn't have recognized the feeling as magic moving if he hadn't been trying to do it for weeks. It only worried him for a moment before he became lost in her.

An annoying squeal broke through the haze of passion and he pulled back from Kat, a frown on his face. Leila stood next to the mast, her hands over her mouth, her eyes filled with excitement. Kat turned to her, too, looking a bit absent.

"I'm sorry," Leila squeaked. "I came to look for you. I didn't want to disturb you, but you two are so cute!"

Ugh! He most definitely wasn't cute. Kat didn't seem to mind though, her smile kind as she turned to her new friend.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I became a little distracted."

"I don't blame you." Leila's eyes drifted to him and she let out a long admirative sigh.

Cage analyzed her face, for the first time wishing he could still turn women to stone and end this one in case she was thinking of betraying Kat by lusting after him. Though, he didn't think that was the case. She seemed to look at him more as Kat's appendix than an independent person.

"That's okay," he said, though it wasn't. "You can go back to whatever you had planned for today."

Kat looked back at him with longing in her eyes, and he now at least felt he was more important than the new girl. Which was maybe petty, but he hadn't felt like it in a long while.

"I'll meet you tonight?" she whispered.

He nodded and squeezed her hand, then watched her leave with Leila who kept on talking, her tone excited. With a sigh, he focused on the pebble at his feet. They hadn't discussed his success with magic and he wasn't sure if he was annoyed about it or relieved.

"There's a storm coming."

Cage would've jumped if he wasn't already so used to Trix materializing out of thin air.

"Literally or figuratively speaking?" he asked, trying to bring his magic back. It was much easier after kissing Kat. All he had to do was bring his lust to the surface and it filled his veins quickly and effectively.

"Both I guess." Trix lifted the pebble without touching it and brought it to hover at eye-level so that Cage would look at him. He'd switched his patch again and now his green eye was uncovered.

"I'm guessing you've heard her."

"I don't like Leila," Trix said instead.

"Beacause she's squealing and annoying?"

"Mostly that, which I'm not very proud of. But it's her upsetting Jazz, mostly."

"I hope he'll feel better after he speaks with Jinx."

Trix nodded, his gaze movig towards the sky. "I hope so, too. I don't like the tension. Jazz is a very accepting man. Intelligent, too. Which is why we tend to listen to him when he gives out orders. This... No one liked this, and even if I will admit that Kat's intentions were pure, she stepped on a lot of toes."

Cage just hummed as an answer because he knew it was true, but he didn't want to say anything negative about Kat to other people.  "She is sorry. Sometimes it's hard to navigate groups when you've been shunned for most of your life."

"That we can all understand," Trix said, his attention moving to the sea. "And Leila is, after all, a person who can become useful on board. There is loads of work to be done. So maybe it will be okay."

"I'm sure it will be. We need all the help we can get where we're going."

Trix huffed. "Don't imagine we'll send Harrison out to fight Wolfbane. Though the man is crazy good with a butcher knife. He can hold his own."

Cage grinned at him. Yeah, Harrison did seem like the type to get himself out of any situation. "Remind me never to upset him, then. I wouldn't want him carving me and serving me for dinner."

"You'd provide an awful lot of meat, though."

They shared a laugh over this and Cage felt himself relaxing. First his discussion with Jinx, now with Trix, and he felt things might go back to normal soon.

"How long until the storm hits, d'you reckon?"

"It's not a matter of time. It's a matter of distance." Trix walked closer to the edge of the ship. "The seas are always unruly near the coves. Principala in particular. So it's really up to us how fast we want to get into this mess."

Cage didn't like this. Their journey had been strangely peaceful ever since they'd set out, and the little complication in Yarik was the only snag they'd hit so far. He'd thought that they'd been lucky, but the perpetual storms around the coves reminded him that the seas could be controlled by magic and maybe their luck wasn't actually luck.

"Allie thinks there is something strange going on," Trix said, as if guessing his thoughts. "Jazz agrees with her."

"When's the last time you've seen Allie?" Cage asked. Because he had a few questions of his own.

"A couple of days ago. But she should visit tonight. Why?"

"I want to ask her a few things."

Trix tensed, but it only lasted a few moments. "Okay. I'll come get you when she shows up." He dropped the pebble he'd been keeping up all this time and headed back up the mast.

Cage watched the tiny stone, his mind whirling with possibilities. Had Cecile been much closer than he'd thought, keeping an eye on them, helping them navigate the seas?

And if she had been, he wasn't sure how he felt about it, especially since he hadn't exactly been withholding his end of the deal.

He glared at the pebble, the uncertainty inside him coiling in his blood.

The tiny stone moved across the deck and fell into the sea.

Things are getting dicey and tensions running high. And poor Kat is so socially clueless. At least her relationship with Cage feels safe.

And he used Magic! And isn't Jinx just too cool?

Stick around for more to come. Until I get more writing juice I will switch to updating once every 2 weeks.

Any form of support is appreciated!