Gregor cleared his throat. “Oh… um… you’re the captain. You make the ultimate decision, but the lady does have a point.”
Steel grimaced. “Very well. Newt! Hoyt!”
Two men paused in their disembarkment and said, “Yes, captain?”
“See to it that Stan is removed and thrown onto land right before we set sail. I don’t want him to have the opportunity to sneak back on.”
The two guys looked confused, but didn’t question Steel. They only replied with, “Yes, captain.”
“Happy?” Steel asked once they were gone.
“Very.” I grinned.
It was terrible that Stan had been tied to that mast for as long as he had. I couldn’t imagine him stuck there any longer. I felt terrible and he didn’t deserve it. Sure, he threw me overboard, but it was to protect his fellow crew members. It wasn’t out of meanness—not that he was nice or anything.
“I wish I could see the best in people like you do,” Steel said as we disembarked. I didn’t say anything so he elaborated, “Well, Stan for example. He wanted you dead, yet you still think he doesn’t deserve to suffer.”
“If he truly wanted me dead, then I would be. He threw me in the water. I’m a siren and it’s common knowledge that we are excellent swimmers.”
Steel said something else, but I didn’t hear because the loudness of Tortuga distracted me. People were bustling everywhere. Some were yelling, others were observing. Some were stumbling, others were running. Overall, it was chaotic and nothing like I’d imagined a human island to be like.
As we walked, a few men whistled and winked at me. It caused me to instinctively move closer to Steel who’d been walking slightly ahead. Not feeling safe enough, I forced myself between Steel and Gregor since they were walking side-by-side.
“Thinking of staying here?” Steel asked with a smirk.
“No way. This place is a madhouse. Why do you willingly come to a place like this?” I frowned.
“It’s a safe haven for pirates and also a relatively cheap place to restock the ship,” Steel said.
“And the women are easy and come with no strings attached.” Gregor waved to a group of girls who were standing outside of a building. They all wore dresses that revealed more of their breasts than mine did. “Excuse me, you two. I’m making my move.”
Steel and I watched as Gregor strutted over to them with his head held high. The women giggled flirtatiously and a couple of them started rubbing the muscles of his arms.
“Is that the reason you like this place too?” I shot Steel a knowing look.
“Me?” He pointed to himself, then pointed behind me. “Oh, look at all those shops. Let’s go buy some things.”
I laughed at his change of subject and quickly followed after him. There were so many different types of stalls with all kinds of goods to purchase. I, of course, had to stop at the fruit stand. Steel told me to pick out what I wanted, so I grabbed some pears, apples, and oranges. Steel paid the man and I thanked both of them.
As we continued to pass the various stands, I said, “I think you should invest in stuff for your men to clean their mouths. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but they’re losing their teeth. Rotting right out of their gums.”
Steel chortled. “They have the option to buy some when we stop at ports like this one, but choose not to. It may come as a surprise to you, but some of them just don’t care.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Oh, but I am.”
I paused in front of the most beautiful shoes. I’d never owned a pair before. “I wish I had money.” I admired the pair I would’ve bought. Steel moved forward, so I told him, “I don’t want you buying me everything.”
“Well, it’s a good thing this is yours then.”
Steel handed me a small, velvet purple bag that jingled. I gasped at the amount of gold it contained. “What’s this for?”
“The crew agreed that you deserved a share for saving Bastian. It’s your choice whether you want to buy stuff to bring back on the ship or use it to find a place to stay.”
I chewed on my lip. There was no way I was staying in this place. The men were too creepy and the women were too rambunctious. The shoes on the other hand… they would be nice to wear with this dress. They, too, were white with jewels on the toes.
“How much are these?” I asked the merchant who’d been watching our exchange.
“You a friend of Captain Bloody Steel? I give you a deal. Two pieces of gold.”
“Really? That’s it?”
The man nodded, so I handed over two pieces as requested. My grin was huge as I slipped on the shoes. They really did compliment the dress and I looked up to see Steel smiling at me.
“I have some business to attend to, so I’ll bring you back to Gregor,” Steel said as we headed back in the direction we came.
The shoes were awkward to walk in at first, but it became easier and easier.
“You sure he’s not too… busy?” I crinkled my nose in disgust.
“He’ll be fine. We’ve given him all the time he needs.”
“But we haven’t been that long.”
“Trust me, he doesn’t need much time.”
I didn’t comment on that because I didn’t want to hear something else I didn’t need to. Instead, I said, “What type of business do you have?”
“Doing some trades, meeting with some new potential crew members… that sort of thing.”
He didn’t elaborate anymore and I didn’t ask. Gregor was sitting between two women on a couch in a building that Steel said was called a bar. His shirt was unbuttoned and his hair was disheveled. The girls were the same ones from before and were currently twirling Gregor’s chest hairs in their fingers.
“Do I really have to stay here?” I asked Steel with pleading eyes.
Gregor smirked, but didn’t move to button his shirt back up. “We’ll behave. How about a drink while we wait for the captain to return?”
“That’s an excellent idea. I’ll even get it for you before I go,” Steel said without giving me a chance to say what I preferred.
He returned not too long after with a drink that reminded me of the smell of his breath from the other week.
“I don’t want that.” I pushed the cup away, not being able to tolerate the stench.
“You haven’t even tried it. Don’t knock it until you at least take a sip.” Steel slid it back towards me.
My stomach turned at the memory of Steel after he had this. Gregor and Steel were both staring and I could tell they weren’t going to let it go. After chewing my lip for another few seconds, I tensed, held my breath, and took a taste. It burned my throat as it went down, but it wasn’t as horrible as I’d been anticipating.
“Well?” Steel and Gregor asked at the same time.
“It’s not completely terrible,” I said.
“Good, you can take your time finishing it. I’ll be back once I’m done and we’ll reboard the ship.” Steel left once again before I could say anything.
Gregor went back to his women while I looked around. This bar was full of people. It was packed, just like the streets when we first walked in. There were humans of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. As my eyes were scanning the various faces, they stopped on an elderly man who was staring right at me. It was almost as if he was looking through me.
His dark eyes were unblinking and his cheeks were marred with scars. His beard and hair were both long and white, but there was a bald spot right above his forehead. He didn’t avert his attention away from me even after I’d caught him. Instead, he stared with an extra dose of intensity.
Even though the man’s gaze wasn’t friendly, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. He sat at his table, unmoving and it was hard to tell if he was breathing. I wondered who was going to be the one to break the eye contact until he suddenly stood and made his way over to me.
The animosity in his face made me stiffen, but it was as if I were frozen in place. My feet ref
used to move. I looked to Gregor, but he was too busy shamelessly flirting with the girls to see what was going on. I didn’t realize the old man was holding a cane until he was jabbing it towards my face.
“Yer kind ain’t welcome here,” the old man growled.
Gregor finally noticed him and stood between us. “What do ya think you’re doing old man?”
“The witch has entranced ye.” The old man looked Gregor up and down. “Poor lad. Ye didn’t even notice. She’s a siren and will drown ye as soon as she can get ye close enough to the water.”
Gregor’s mouth opened and closed, but he didn’t say anything. His eyes were wide with bewilderment at the brashness of the old man.
Taking Gregor’s silence as an okay to continue, the man reached around him and started poking me with his cane. “Out with ye, ye filthy animal. Out.”
I stood and moved out of his reach. “Leave me alone. I’m not some kind of animal and I mean you no harm.”
“Maybe not me, but this lad ye do. Out with ye.”
Gregor pushed the old man so he had to back up, but it wasn’t hard enough to knock him on the ground. We were drawing a crowd and I was getting even more nervous. That drink Steel had me try was about to come up violently.
The old man continued with his babbling, “Witches like ‘er kind killed me brother. Sirens are the reason me face looks like this. They should all be killed.”
The people around us were starting to whisper and the word “siren” left a few of their lips. It was said with apprehension and I noticed that a few of them were beginning to close in on us.
“Gregor, I think we need to leave.” I tugged on his sleeve and he moved backwards with me.
“Yeah, let’s get back to the ship,” Gregor said.
Bastian broke through the crowd to grab my arm and the crowd reacted. They took Bastian’s move as an invitation to grab ahold of me, but Bastian started pulling me out of the bar.
“My lady, sorry to yank you around, but we’ve got to get out of here,” Bastian said without even looking back at me.
My breaths were coming in heavily and I didn’t say anything in return. Since Bastian was directing me, I stole a glance back towards the bar. Gregor had his sword drawn and was fighting several people all at once. Some of our crew members joined in to help him.
Bastian halted suddenly and I slammed into his back. We both tumbled over and a new set of hands grabbed me by the shoulders. It was a woman and she was glaring at me.
“Your kind killed my husband,” she seethed and a sharp pain pierced my abdomen.
Bastian cried out my name, but I fell to my knees as I held my stomach. I pulled my hand away only to see red. It was blood. I was bleeding… The woman’s hand was outstretched. Her knuckles were white from holding the knife in her grasp so tightly. She didn’t look upset about stabbing me. Her eyes were twinkling and a rueful smile twisted her lips.
“My husband was just a sailor. He meant no harm. But your kind does. Your kind kills and I’ve finally got my revenge,” the woman said.
The blood rushed to my head from the shock of it all and there was a roaring in my ears. I could no longer hear what she was saying. I didn’t know where Bastian was. I didn’t know where Gregor was. For a moment, I didn’t know where I was. Only that I was starting to feel woozy.
I didn’t react when someone lifted me up bridal style. My vision was blurred so I couldn’t see who it was. I couldn’t even make out their muffled words.
8
Whoever was carrying me finally stopped running and placed me down on something soft. Their breath was on my face and my eyes fluttered open in response. I could see Steel saying something to me, but the roaring still deafened everything. He looked over his shoulder, moved away, and someone I didn’t recognize replaced him.
I tried to pull away, but the searing pain in my abdomen stopped me. There were muffled sounds all around me and not being able to hear what they were talking about made the panic swell inside of me. It got so bad that I was pretty certain I was now hyperventilating.
I didn’t think I was going to be able to take the stimulation anymore when all of a sudden, it ceased. It became quiet and I was about to relax my shoulders when something sharp pierced my neck. I yelped in protest, but quickly found myself losing consciousness.
My eyes felt crusted shut as I tried to force them open. Finally, they gave up resisting and I was able to see that I was in Steel’s room back on The Sea Nymph’s Revenge. Steel was at his desk hunched over something and Gregor was at his side.
My voice came out as a squeak instead of forming words. Both Gregor and Steel snapped their heads up to look at me. They darted over to my side, knocking whatever they’d been looking at off the table in their haste.
Their voices were rushed as they spoke, but they were babbling gibberish. It sounded like another language. My throat burned and a sudden thirst overwhelmed me. I opened my mouth to tell them to stop talking nonsense and get me something to drink, but everything went black again.
“Sera, I hope you’ll wake up soon. I’m not ready for Poseidon or Zeus or whoever to take you. This is all my fault and I’m so sorry.”
That sounded like Steel’s voice, but it was raspy and worn down. My half-lidded eyes glanced at him, but he was looking down and I felt his hand in mine. He looked terrible. His stubble had grown in messily, his complexion was pale, and his cheeks were hollow.
I squeezed his hand. “What’s going on?”
His eyes snapped up towards me and they widened. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah?” It came out like a question rather than an answer.
“You’ve been out for a whole week.”
It took a second for me to fully process his words. “A whole week?” I coughed. “Do you have any water?”
Extreme and unrelenting thirst hindered me from fully grasping how long I’d been out. He passed me a cold glass without hesitation and I gulped it down.
“How are you feeling?” Steel asked.
“I think I should be asking you that. You look terrible.”
“You should look in the mirror yourself. The medic was able to stitch up the dagger wound, but he said you would be hurting from it for a while and need lots a rest.”
“A week sounds like enough resting to me.” I tried to sit up, but groaned in pain and fell back again. It stole the breath from my lungs and I forced out a cough.
“Stay in bed. What do you need? I’ll get it.”
“I have to go to the bathroom. I don’t think you can do that for me.”
“Let me get the doctor and make sure it’s okay for you to get up.”
Steel rushed out of the room and I squealed in protest at his retreating back. There was no way I was waiting for him to return. I felt disgusting and an overwhelming need to get to the water overtook me. The sensation was intense and gave me the strength I’d been lacking to get out of bed. I stumbled at first, but caught myself before I hit the ground.
Trying to move a little more slowly this time, I edged my way towards the door. Gregor was sleeping on the floor outside and I had to cover my mouth to keep from yelling out in shock. I hadn’t been expecting to see him there but knew he would try to stop me if I woke him.
“What are you doing out of bed, my lady?” Bastian asked and caught me off guard.
My heart leapt into my throat and I gasped this time. Gregor jumped to attention and looked around dazedly until he saw me.
“Sera! You’re awake.” Gregor glanced around again. “Where’s Steel? Does he know? And why are you out of bed?”
“I need to get to the water,” I said breathily. “Now.”
“You need a sip of water?” Gregor asked. “I’ll get you some, but you should return to the bed until then.”
“No… the ocean. I need to get to the ocean.”
“What? Why?”
“Gregor, please. I can’t explain, but I just need to.”
He looked at Bastian with a troubled expr
ession.
Bastian shrugged. “It must be your body telling you something. Let us carry you there at least.”
That was perfectly okay with me since I was unsure if I had the strength to get me the whole way there. Gregor was the one who carried me, but Bastian stayed close behind.
I had my head on Gregor’s shoulder and my eyes closed, so I didn’t know Steel had approached us until he said, “Where are you taking her?”
“I need to get to the water,” I rasped.
Steel sighed, but let Gregor bring me the remainder of the way. He set me up on the railing but didn’t let me go.
“Are you sure about this?” Gregor asked.
“Yes,” I whispered and he released me.
Steel, Gregor, and Bastian poked their heads over the railing to watch as I plummeted into the water and welcomed the bite of coldness. My arms drove me deeper and deeper and my gills pulled. It felt like I was breathing correctly for the first time in a long time. A tingling sensation flowed over my abdomen. The pain from the wound slowly ebbed away as I twirled in the water.
Bubbles formed around me and I looked down at myself. It was the first time that I noticed I wasn’t in my dress anymore. Instead, I was in one of Steel’s white shirts. My cheeks heated even though nobody else was around.
I wondered who had undressed me and I couldn’t believe that I was carried onto the deck like this. I didn’t even have any underwear on! Oh man, and this shirt was see through when wet. The water could’ve boiled around me with the heat that was radiating off of my body now.
I couldn’t go back on the ship. Not like this. The guys would see… well… everything. The only good thing about the shirt was that it was light and easy to hoist up so I could take a look at the wound. Except… there was no wound. I rubbed the unmarred skin that had once been stabbed. It was unbelievable there wasn’t even a scar.
The Sea Nymph’s Revenge was moving away slowly so I knew I’d have to return or at least show my face soon. I swam upwards and poked my head above the surface. Steel was grinning down at me.
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