by CK Dawn
“Where’s Mer?”
“Behave and I’ll tell you. Hold still. I’m putting seaweed on your back.”
“Seaweed?” She was talking in circles.
“Among other things.”
“Mer?”
“She’s fine.”
“That’s not an answer.”
She remained silent as she worked.
Hayjen scowled, guessing that would be the only answer he received. Bloody pirates. He gritted his teeth as she worked, channeling his pain to focus on the room he was in. There wasn’t much to see but a doorway out to what he assumed to be her study. A large desk made from blue- green wood dominated the middle of the space. Two large bookcases stuffed to the brim with books bracketed a bay window with a window seat. Colorful pillows spilled across the seat in a disheveled, homey way. So the pirate liked to read. Interesting. His only experiences with pirates had been with illiterate thieves who were in need of baths. Speaking of baths, Hayjen caught a whiff of himself and cringed. He stunk. “How long have I been sleeping?”
“You’ve been in and out for four days.”
He stiffened. Four days? Who had taken care of the women, and Mer?
“Calm yourself. Mer and the girls are fine.”
“Forgive me if I don’t believe you until I witness it with my own eyes.” Like he would believe the words of a person who made it her career to steal from others.
Her hands paused. “I made a promise.”
“Not everyone keeps their word.”
“True.” A breath. “Mer, I know you are listening at the door. Come in!”
The door was flung open and little feet slapped against the wooden floor. Despite his pain, Hayjen smiled at the sound. Mer never walked anywhere—she ran. She skidded to a stop in front of his nose and dropped to her knees. His worry loosened a bit as he saw her healthy, precious face. Mer flung her arm around his neck and squeezed; his back pulled, but it was worth it for a hug. “I missed you too, Mer.”
She pulled back, her little eyes filling with tears. “I was so scared, Hayjen. The Leviathan almost got you, and then you stopped breathing, and then you wouldn’t wake up!” she cried.
“Shhh…” Hayjen soothed, wishing he could hold her in his arms. “I’m okay. Captain Femi has taken great care of me. I will be better before you know it.”
Mer’s eyes slid to the silent woman tending his back. “She’s alright.”
The captain sniggered.
“What have you been up to while I was sleeping? Did you behave yourself?”
Mer met his eyes and nodded her head so enthusiastically her hair tumbled from her bun. “I helped the cook make soup, I fixed a net with Blair, and I even was able to go for a swim with Lilja.”
Hayjen’s eyes narrowed, his hackles raising. Why would the captain take time to swim with a little girl? Why take an interest in Mer? One thing was for sure—he didn’t like it. Not one bit.
“Tell him what we discovered,” the captain hinted with a smile.
Mer’s eyes sparkled with excitement. She practically vibrated on her toes. “We found an oyster bed! Look!” She pulled up a thin, silver chain hidden beneath the neck of her dress, exposing a small cage encasing a pearl the same soft lilac color as Mer’s eyes. “I got to pick the oyster and Lilja dove for it. When we opened it, this was what was inside!”
“It’s beautiful,” Hayjen remarked. It didn’t matter what age a girl was—they all loved trinkets from the sea. He eyed the pearl with suspicion. What was Captain Femi up to? The Scythians had had an unhealthy obsession with the girl—maybe the pirates had a similar interest. He lifted his eyes to Mer’s. She was looking at him with innocent joy. Maybe it was just a gift and he was being paranoid.
No, if he had been paranoid, he wouldn’t have been caught by the Scythians. He was using good sense, and his sense told him that Captain Femi was an edgy character.
Hayjen sighed when his back began to tingle—not in a bad way, but merely from numbness. Blessedly without pain. His muscles relaxed and he practically melted into the bed with a relieved smile. “I am glad you had a good time.”
A bell rang loudly, surprising Hayjen. “What was that?’
Shooting to her feet, Mer plopped a kiss on his forehead. “It’s lunch time,” she said before darting out the door.
“She has a lot of energy,” Lilja commented.
That was an understatement. She never stopped moving. “Yep.” His eyelids drooped, much to his frustration—hadn’t he had enough sleep? The pirate continued her ministrations. Hayjen blinked slowly. Had she drugged him? “What did you say was in that salve?”
The captain pushed off the bed and moved into his line of sight. “I didn’t.”
“Did you drug me?” he slurred.
Captain Femi threw her head back, laughing. Her silvery white braid tumbling down her back. Her eyes met his with humor glimmering in their depths. “If I had drugged you, you would know it.” She chuckled, and began cleaning up her supplies. “It is a family recipe.”
He still didn’t believe her, but he found himself muttering, “Fair enough.” His own mum had secret family recipes.
Hayjen took the moment to really look at Captain Femi. The dark night he had met her hadn’t done her shocking beauty justice. Her silvery white hair was in a thick braid tossed over her shoulder, emphasizing her long, graceful arms and body. She was tall, but still shorter than he was. What intrigued him the most, though, were her odd magenta eyes. He’d never seen anyone with that color before. Between her striking eyes, shiny hair, and unique coloring, she made quite the image. She paused in her cleaning and raised a brow in question. Hayjen coughed and offered her an appreciative smile. “Thank you for taking care of Mer, and my back.”
Captain Femi waved a hand at him. “Think nothing of it. Soon enough you will be off my ship.” With that parting remark, she sauntered out of the room.
She was a character.
One he wasn’t sure he could trust.
Hayjen closed his eyes just for a moment and sunk into a painless sleep.
Sleek black beasts circled him. He was going to die in a watery grave. The pale moonlight above shimmered through the waves like it was saying goodbye. Hayjen wanted to let go. He was tired, his body hurt. Just as he closed his eyes, something slammed into him causing his eyes to spring open. Smooth, pale female arms wrapped around his chest as shimmering white hair swirled in the currents cocooning the woman and himself. He smiled at the idea of dying in the arms of a beautiful woman.
What a way to go.
It was only when her hair parted that fear squeezed him. Huge Leviathan circled them, just waiting to attack their prey. If he could have moved, he would have. Now the beautiful woman holding him would die as well. His heart flew to his throat as the largest of the Leviathan swam at them, halting within arm’s reach. Its jagged teeth were so close they could tear into his flesh. Its eyes were the worst. No color—just black soulless orbs. Hayjen wanted to scream when the pale hand clutching him reached out to the immense sea creature. He waited for the Leviathan to tear into her, but to his surprise, it bumped its snout into her palm and hummed before backing away.
His body began to cut quickly through the water. How was he moving? He wasn’t swimming—he couldn’t move his arms. Idly, he gave up trying to figure out the phenomenon and watched the monstrous creature’s tail above them. His head bobbed, giving him a glimpse of the woman carrying him. Fascinated, he stared at her neck. Gills, she had gills. Then everything went black.
He jerked awake to find sweat pouring down his face.
What was that? he thought.
He’d had nightmares before, but nothing like that. He shivered, the hair on his arms rising as he recalled the empty black eyes of the Leviathan watching him. It had felt so real, like it had really happened. Hayjen placed his forehead on the coverlet and breathed deeply, trying to center himself and forget the nightmare.
“Are you alright?” The captain’s smoky v
oice floated through the air.
Hayjen craned his neck to watch her glide into the room. Moonlight caressed her loose silvery hair making it seem like it was glowing. She looked ethereal, otherworldly. He blinked. She looked a lot like the woman from his dream. Odd. The mind was a curious thing.
“Hayjen?” she questioned, stopping by the side of the bed.
“Just a nightmare,” he replied, still trying to shake off the dream. Stars above, it had felt real, like a memory.
“Oh.”
He squinted at her, still seeing her in his mind with gills. People didn’t have gills, but still he found himself wishing her hair wasn’t covering her neck. His brow furrowed as he tried to remember exactly what had happened after the Scythian had knocked them into the water. He came up blank. “What happened once the Scythian knocked us into the water?” he asked, peering up at the pirate.
Surprise flickered across her face at his question. “We hit the water. Luckily for us, I was able to grab you and pull you into the net.”
That couldn’t be it. The water had been swarming with Leviathan. “And the Leviathan?”
“Too preoccupied with the Scythian.”
He frowned. Leviathan were known to go into a frenzy at the smell of blood. He had been ripped to shreds after his beating, covered in blood. How had he survived? The beasts were wickedly fast—they couldn’t have outswam them.
“You hit your head when we fell.”
That explained the memory loss, but not how he’d survived. Nothing made sense, but her story rang false in his ears even so. What was she hiding?
The captain shifted on her feet, and brushed her hair over her shoulder. His eyes zeroed in on her neck. No gills. He was an idiot. A person having gills made no sense. It was just a dream, nothing more.
“Well, I’ll let you rest.”
Hayjen stared at the doorway as she swept out of the room, disappearing into her office. He needed more rest. Or he was going crazy. It was probably the latter.
He woke up with a smile. His back itched and ached, but he wasn’t in excruciating pain. That was something to be happy about. Gingerly, Hayjen stretched and pushed himself from the bed. His whole body revolted, so it took a couple times to sit up. Dizziness assailed him and the room blurred. Taking deep breaths, he focused on the flower rug beneath his bare feet. So feminine. The captain was an interesting study in opposites.
Once the room stopped spinning and his lightheadedness had receded, he braced his hands on the bed and stumbled to his feet, nearly braining himself against the doorway as he tried to catch his balance. The bloody ship wasn’t helping as it bobbed through the waves.
Carefully, using the walls and anything he could find, he moved through Captain Femi’s study and opened the door. The hallway was dark, but he could see sunlight at the end. Hayjen moved slowly towards it, hands pressing against the opposite walls, and paused just out of the light, breathless at the view.
The girls were laughing and working together with real smiles on their faces. Hayjen could count on one hand how many times each of them had smiled in their time together on the Scythian slave ship. He eyed the rest of the crew working. They darted glances at the girls but held neither malice nor lust, just curiosity. Many men would take advantage of an abused weak woman, yet none of the men were. Captain Femi ran a tight ship.
The ship rolled, causing him to stumble and slip into view. Mer saw him first and let out a squeal of delight before sprinting to him. He braced himself for the impact, knowing it would hurt.
A man with a warrior’s build he vaguely remembered snatched Mer around the waist and swung her through the air. “Young one, remember that he’s hurt. You need to be careful or you will injure him more.”
Mer nodded emphatically, her lilac eyes round. “Okay, Blair.”
Blair.
Captain Femi’s first mate.
Blair dropped Mer to her feet and she covered the distance between them in a much more sedate manner. She wrapped her pale arms around his leg and gave him the smile he had come to love. “Missed you.”
He brushed her unruly white-blonde hair out of her face, soaking in the happiness she wore like a cloak. “The same.” Hayjen lifted his head and met the dark brown eyes of the first mate. He didn’t look like an evil man, but one could never be sure. His eyes dropped to Mer and back to the first mate. The little girl had an uncanny sense of character. If she liked the man, then he was probably okay. He jerked his chin towards Mer. “Thank you.”
Blair studied him, then nodded once before turning and barking at the crew about some mess. A man of very little words apparently. A cough pulled his attention from the first mate. His eyes widened at the group that surrounded him. His women surrounded him with various smiles, some thankful, others happy and excited, some relieved.
“We’re happy you’ve recovered,” Lera remarked softly from the middle of the group.
Hayjen gaped. He’d never heard Lera speak before. Snapping his mouth closed he asked, “Have you been taken care of?”
“We have.”
He looked over the group of women with a smile. “I knew we would escape.”
“You said we would, and here we are. Thank you, Hayjen. You have made sacrifices for all of us, and we will never forget your kindness. We are all in your debt.”
“Never.” And he meant it. He would do it all over again to protect them from those monsters. No one deserved the life the Scythians had planned for them.
Of course, his stomach had to ruin the moment by growling loudly.
Lera grinned, shocking him again. “The food is incredible.”
His stomach growled again.
Mer tugged on his hand, turning his attention back to her.
“Come eat what I helped Cook make!”
He grinned at the thought of Mer bothering the poor cook to death. “Have you been a bother?”
“Nope, it was my job. Captain Femi says if I want to be like her when I grow up, I must have a job. I like to eat, so I thought making food with Cook was a good idea.”
“Indeed.” Hayjen lifted his head and locked eyes with Captain Femi who was watching their exchange with interest. He wasn’t comfortable with her, but he owed her his life, and the lives of the women. He jerked his chin at her in acknowledgement. She arched a brow with a smirk before returning the gesture, then dismissed him. He watched her speak with her first mate for a moment, absently noting she was wearing leather pants. Surprisingly, they were just as sensual on her as her intriguing knotted dresses. Hayjen scowled and turned to follow the insistent tugging of Mer’s hand.
Best to not be admiring something he didn’t trust.
She screamed danger.
He didn’t need danger, he needed a good meal.
Four
Lilja
“He doesn’t trust you.”
Lilja turned to Blair with an arched brow. “You don’t say?”
Her first mate rolled his dark brown eyes. “I just mean you should be careful. What he went through ruins a person. He won’t be right in the head for a long time.”
“He’s not broken.”
“No, he’s not, but he won’t be healed for a long time, no matter how many salves you apply to his back.”
She blinked at her friend. He was always very astute when it came to emotions. He could read almost anyone, but he was hard to read himself. Even after spending years together, he still surprised her. “I just wanted to help him.”
Blair slipped his hand into hers and squeezed, then let go. “You want to help everyone, and that’s what I love about you, but you can’t fix a person.”
“That’s where you and I disagree.” Lilja gestured between the two of them. “I believe we’ve helped heal each other.”
He sighed. “Yes, but we’re different. We were both shoved together into a situation that bonded us for life. That man is not your partner, but a project, someone you want to save. He will distract you from what’s important, Lil.”
&
nbsp; She didn’t like it, but she trusted her old friend. “I won’t ever forget what’s most important, Blair. I won’t let another woman be experimented on by the Scythians.”
“I know, Lil. I know.”
She touched her first mate’s shoulder. “No one will ever have to experience what we suffered.”
Blair cupped her face. “Never again.”
“Never again,” she echoed.
Blair dropped his hand and stared out at the sea. “So how are we going to return Mer to her family? Hayjen will not let us take her—if we steal her, he will come for her. He loves her like she is his own.”
“As does she,” Lilja grimaced. “It was hard enough to explain to Mer why she couldn’t speak about the sea.”
“It’s only a matter of time before she says something.” Her friend glanced at her. “She’s only five. It will slip.” Blair crossed his arms and cocked his head. “You’ve been too careless since we’ve rescued the slaves. You should have let him die that night, but you exposed yourself by singing to the Leviathan. Then when we pulled you up, your gills were uncovered. You can’t risk yourself like that.”
Her eyes narrowed at his chastising tone. “What did you expect me to do? That Scythian scum knocked me into the ocean, forcing my gills open. Whether or not I saved Hayjen didn’t matter. I was still exposed.”
Blair’s brow furrowed. “I know, I am frustrated that you were put in that position in the first place, and on edge with strangers on our ship that know nothing of the secret our crew hides. It would only take one slip, one mistake, and you would be in danger.”
“I’ve lived this way a long time, Blair. This is nothing new.”
He blew out a breath. “I know, but you would put the girls in danger as well. Your crew chose to take the burden and risk of your secret on themselves, but the girls did not. You need to wear your wrap when you swim.”
“That’s fair.” It would kill her if something happened to the innocents because of what she hid.