Hell Hath No Fury - Book One

The Bender v.4

"So we are just going to ignore the fact that Viv was just here and you spent the last two hours with her?" Cooker asked, not letting the Captain gloss over that fact.

"Aye, there is a lot to discuss but I figured it could wait until the appropriate time," Theo said.

"Three cycles from now?" Cooker tried, letting yet another petty jab slip out.

"When we sit down as a crew to discuss ship business," Theo spat back. She glared at Cooker and Cooker just stared at her back, "How long has she been in there?"

"Few hours. She must be having fun in there," Cooker said and Theo felt uneasy about that.

"Or she had 100 gold and she was led to a room to be jumped," Theo said as she quickly made her way to the room Ava was in. There was a weight at the pit of her stomach, worry causing a lump in her throat. She was aware that the likelihood that Ava was hurt was slim but it still affected her. Maybe there was a truth to what some people had been saying, it was a possibility that she cared about the new pirate.

Theo stopped in front of the door and let out a sigh. The last thing she needed was to get attached to someone new. In the pirate world, nothing was certain and a new person she got close to meant another opportunity for heartbreak and loss. She had kept her distance from new crew members the past two lengths. Having lost so many friends her first two lengths as captain, she figured she would be hurt less if she distanced herself from people. She was a good captain, friendly and open to all that requested her presence but she made less of a point to grow close to and befriend her whole crew. Theo considered maybe she needed to distance herself from Ava but then she remembered how she felt the nights Ava stopped coming by. It was lonely and she had grown used to the friendship of the redhead.

If there was a time to cut Ava off, it was now. Go to the inn, fall asleep, and leave Cooker here to wait for Ava. It would be subtle but it would be Theo's way of showing Ava that she wouldn't be there at all times. Theo considered it. Considered stepping away and protecting both Ava and herself from whatever inkling of attraction she was feeling.

Theo knocked anyway. She had made her choice, "Ava, it's Theo. I just wanted to let you know that we were wondering if you were okay."

She heard shuffling in the room and Ava opened the door. Her clothes were all on and she seemed relaxed and normal until Theo saw her face. Her nose was red and the areas around her eyes were puffy. She had been crying.

"Are you okay?!" Theo asked. Before waiting for an answer, her instincts kicked in and she pushed past Ava and into the room.

Theo had been expecting to see a woman on the bed, for some reason. Theo sometimes had trouble remembering that not everyone around her was a nox. She had been simply worried before, thinking only that Ava might have been robbed but now Theo was furious. Ava crying and a man on the bed painted a clear picture in her head of what happened. She rushed to the side of the bed and dragged the man out of it. He fell to the ground and Theo pressed her knee against his chest, pinning him to the side of the bed.

"What the fuck did you do to her?" Theo said and raised her fist threateningly before realizing who the boy was, "Zeal?"

"I didn't touch her, I swear!" Zeal brought his arms up to cover his face, "I mean, I did but only because she asked!"

Theo felt hands grabbing at her clothes and tugging her back, "Theo, get off of him!"

It was Ava. Theo looked at a scared Zeal and backed away then she looked at Ava. Ava had been crying, it was unmistakable but if it wasn't because of Zeal then what was it? She felt embarrassed at the outburst. She was going to beat the life out of whoever had hurt Ava without even getting the full story.