Vampires! And bears!
“Is there a problem, Captain?” Mercer asked him. “I’m sorry I interrupted, if that’s what this is about.”
Jack waved that away as he activated a lightstone; it was dark by now, and pretty close to moonrise. “That’s fine, Mr. Mercer. No, this is me asking you how you want us to approach the job, now. There’s no sign of the Emancipation here, and we’re guessing that she’s somewhere here in the Bay. It’s a good guess, but we don’t have any evidence. Except maybe Mr. Bear, and it’s just something weird. There’s a lot of weird crap in Cursed Jersey.”
“So you want… direction, then? Advice?”
“More like ‘insight.’ You principals are paying quite a lot for our services, Mr. Mercer. I’d love for them to do that again, down the line — so it behooves me to make sure they get their money’s worth. That means making sure you are consulted, and kept in the loop.” Jack grinned. “Besides, you’ve got those super vampire senses, don’t you? That’d be a real useful trait for a privateer to have, down in the Caribbean.”
“Yes, right up to the point where I die of sunstroke. The North Atlantic is sea enough for me, thanks.” Mercer frowned. “I can tell you that our new friend doesn’t smell normal. Not bad normal! He’s just got a complex scent. I understand what your weathermage said about his brain, but he’s definitely smarter than the average bear. A lot smarter.”