CHAPTER FIFTEEN
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Ah, leave me not to pine
Alone and desolate. . . .
—Ibid, Act I
“Holder, can you—”
“No.”
I gave him a disgusted glare. “You’ve been talking to Corbin, haven’t you?”
The first mate, now clad in tight leather pants, a swishy white shirt, and a red sash tied around his waist, c****d an eyebrow at me briefly before returning his attention to the blonde barmaid who stood behind a tall counter polishing a row of metal tankards. “Of course I have. And he told me to tell you no when you asked me to sail you to Turtle’s Back, and I, ever the dutiful friend, have just done as I was so ordered. Can you be ready to leave in an hour?”
“Huh?” He grinned at me. I smacked him on the arm and said, “You’re going to take me? What was all that no business?”
“Corbin told me t
