swaying slightly on his feet. “Don’t sit there in the corner all gloomy, Trevor. You gotta

have some fun tonight!”

“Yeah, let’s hear it for the captain!” shouted Edward, the Jamaican. The men all cheered

and drank from whatever glasses were close at hand. Trevor couldn’t help but notice that

some of the men had picked up their neighbor’s glass instead of their own. He had

nightmarish visions of having to carpool the men home to their various locations and drag

them all in to their beds. He imagined having to tuck them in and listen to their crying about

Leo.

This is sometimes like running a preschool, he thought to himself in mild amusement,

but I suppose they’re all just miserable and scared under their drunken party-animal

disguises. I guess it won’t hurt me to play governess to the kiddies in the nursery for one

night.

“Big brother! Come over here and have a drink with this pretty girl!” Callen shouted as

he stumbled over furniture while navigating the room.

Trevor cursed softly, feeling a sickening feeling in his stomach as his head snapped

around to witness his brother approaching Undina. Of course. Why? Of all the women here?

When Callen began trying to wrestle Undina out of her chair, Trevor leapt to his feet and

crossed the room in as few strides as possible. He firmly wedged himself between his brother

and the dark-haired woman, and glared at the younger man sternly.

“Callen, relax!” He forced his brother into a nearby chair and pinned him to it. “Sit

here and try to calm down, okay?” Trevor turned to Undina in embarrassment and began to

apologize when Callen cut him off.

“I saw you looking at her,” Callen accused. “You’re not a complete fucking robot, even

though you pretend to be! I just thought you should meet her. I know you like her. Since you

wouldn’t get off your ass I was going to bring her to you.”

Trevor shook his head and exhaled. “Callen, you’re out of line…”

“No!” he hissed, leaning forward and staring past Trevor at the girl. “Look. Undina,

that’s your name right? Undina?”

She lifted an eyebrow and gave the slightest of nods.

“Okay. Undina,” Callen tried to straighten his sloppy posture and gesture toward

Trevor. “This is my brother: Captain Trevor Murrey. As you can see, he and I don’t really get

along. It’s not because we don’t love each other. It’s because he’s, like, some big-shot crab

fishing tycoon, and I’m just his stupid kid brother who gambles away every penny that he pays

me.”

“Callen,” Trevor said in warning, but the drunk man continued ranting “But you gotta meet him, Undina. He’s, like, the richest man around for hundreds of

miles, probably. He’s a good guy, really, I promise,” Callen emphasized this point by

throwing his arm around Trevor in a lopsided, meager attempt at a hug. Trevor pressed his

palm to his forehead as his brother continued on boasting proudly. “He worked as a deckhand

when he was just a kid, like forever ago. He’s been in charge of a boat since he was a teenager.

You can do the math: now he’s like… a millionaire, and a couple centuries old or something.”

“Oh?” the dark haired beauty remarked with a shy smile, glancing at Trevor. “How

many centuries?”

It was the first time she had spoken. So, she was able to speak.

“Lots. Like two or three,” Callen boasted, “he’s ancient.”

“Hardly,” she responded. “You could live on this earth for a millennium and still be

surprised on a daily basis.”

When her lips opened to allow the phonemes to travel forth, they emerged with a slight

accent Trevor could not place. His brow creased slightly, and he found himself leaning

forward to better hear her lilting syllables over the unpleasant thundering of noise which was

considered music.

But Callen had already begun ranting again, obviously enjoying the sound of his own

gruff voice. “Trevor so wise and amazing. He never makes mistakes, ever.” Callen was

gesturing at the older man wildly as tears gathered in his eyes. “That’s just my big brother. Just

the way he is! He should hate me for what a screw up I am, but he doesn’t. You wanna know

how I know that?”

“Hush now, Callen,” Trevor said, trying to pull the man away from Undina, “quit

bothering the girl.”

Callen shrugged his brother off and leaned closer to the dark-haired woman, speaking

in a conspiratorial tone, “He doesn’t fire me. He keeps me around so that he can watch over

me and make sure that I’m safe. He continues to pay me a salary. He’s always looked out for

me like that, even though I’m a shitty sailor. I’m pretty much useless on the Magician, and I

waste all of the money he pays me. Do you want to know what I’m good for? I scrape ice off

stuff. That’s glamorous, isn’t it?”

“Quite glamorous,” she answered with the friendly smile one would give to a stranger’s

adorable infant. Trevor frowned and wondered how she could possibly find Callen’s lewd

behavior charming.

“But you know the worst part?” Callen moaned. “I failed my brother. I totally screwed

him over this time. Because if I wasn’t such a deadbeat, and I paid any attention to what was

going on around me, Leland would still be alive and drinking with us now. He used to drink

gin and tonic. The stuff tastes terrible, but at least he’d be alive to drink it. It’s my fault that he

drowned, because I’m such a fucking loser…” Callen had excited himself into a torrent of tears, and Trevor looked on in silent

sadness at his emotional display. The woman called Undina seemed troubled at the

knowledge that someone had drowned.

“I killed Leo. I killed him with my laziness!” Callen sobbed, smashing his fist down

onto the table. His shoulders began to shake. “My own brother can’t even enjoy himself in a

strip club, and it’s all because of me. I ruined everything.”

Callen suddenly slumped into his chair. It was a moment before they realized that he

had only gone quiet because he had passed out.

“Thank God that’s finally over,” Trevor murmured, rubbing his temples. “What a

fool.”

“He may be weak of heart,” Undina noted, “but he has great respect for you. He seeks

your approval.”

“Well, he’ll never have it if he keeps drinking himself into oblivion!” Trevor said

sharply. He turned to Undina, shaking his head wretchedly. “I’m so sorry you had to deal with

this tonight…”

“Do not apologize,” she answered softly. “He was so honest and exposed. He was

temporarily ignited with such a wealth of emotion. It was refreshing.”

Trevor looked at her curiously, and then back at his collapsed brother. “He was just

being a drunken idiot.”