I licked my lips. They tasted of bile and had a thin film over them as though my breath had layered them with poisoned skin. Each blink brought a flash of memory—my leg burning as though it were on fire, the sound of my sobs and screams filling the air, and distant voices.
I rubbed my eye with the back of my hand and pulled the cover away. Where the stitches pulled through my skin, the flesh was red and swollen, and I didn’t need to touch it to feel the heat of infection lingering, though it appeared I was on the mend.
James suddenly groaned as he stretched, drawing my attention to him. He rolled to his back, his black hair sticking up on one side as though he hadn’t moved all night. He saw me and his stretch halted. “You’re awake.” Sleep clung to his voice, making it husky, which stole my breath.
There was something oddly . . . romantic about the room. The light streaming in behind him, the relieved grin on his full lips, and even the joy in his weary gaze. As if his face wasn’t handsome enough, I now had a full view of the body he always kept hidden beneath his shirt, and it was beautiful.
I got a proper look over his pecs, chiseled abs, and a tattoo on the front of his hip bone I didn’t know he had. He had a couple of light scars on his back that carried across to his left side and disappeared against the bed, almost like claws of a beast, and a wide scar on his right shoulder. His right arm was also adorned with pirate tattoos—a ship, a cat sitting on top of a skull wearing a cute little pirate hat, and a compass. There were a few more details I’d like to get a better look at later.
A fevered memory flashed before me of me curled up and crying on James’s lap. He had rubbed my back and rested his cheek on my head. He had been there through the entire fever from what I could recall.
I should have said something to thank him, but instead, I said, “My leg?” like a buffoon.
James propped himself up on his elbow and looked over my body to check the wound. “You’re healing from an infection. You’ve been in and out for a few days, mate.” He reached his left arm over and brushed my hair with the stump of his wrist. “Your fever’s finally broke! That’s good.” He grinned.
My heart jumped.
I tore my gaze away.
I could not be attracted to James! Throwing the hat in the sea had just been a game. I tried not to look at his scruffy face, the way his chin dimpled in the middle, or the broken curve to the bridge of his nose. James Hook was off-limits. Because I was supposed to be with Sky.
“You were quite ill,” James continued. “Think you feel well enough to eat?” He climbed out of the bed, wearing only trousers, which did nothing to help my attempt at not staring at him. James opened his door. “Scuttle! Get some food, she’s up!” He turned and caught me staring at the way his muscles shifted against his ribs. He flashed a grin.
I cleared my throat and ran my fingers through my scraggly hair. “If I’ve been out for that long, we should be at the capital of Terricina. What’s it called again? Delta?” I asked through the lingering haze.
“Delphi,” he corrected. “And uh, yes. But there’s a little problem.” He walked around the bed to my side and crouched to assess my leg.
“Care to elaborate?” I asked in a flat voice when the silence lingered too long.
He lifted his attention. “It’s gone.”
I blinked. “My infection?”
He shook his head “The city.”
“What?” My eyes widened. “How can an entire city be gone?” I swung my legs over the edge, but the force of my right foot hitting the hard wood sent a wave of pain up my leg and radiated through my wound. I gasped so hard it hurt my chest.
“Oy, stop,” he said, trying to push me down. “Gerard said there was a rumor the city had been dragged into the ocean.”
“Gerard?” I asked.
At the mention of his name, I recalled Gerard had helped stitch up my wound while James held me on his lap. Gerard asked something about magic to heal and said his magic wouldn’t work the same way on the open sea. And then he’d left and returned with an ointment, which he rubbed into the cut.
We pirates were normal people, not like the strange fae, trolls, goblins, or whatever magical creatures plagued this land. Normal humans. But Gerard had magic.
“Are you all right?” James asked, pulling me out of the memory.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat again. My voice was exhausted. “I don’t understand how a city can sink or how Gerard would know about it.” I put my hands on James’s chest to push him away, but as soon as I felt his exposed muscles under my hands, I didn’t want to put them down.
I vividly recalled James had been the one to soothe me through the fever. He had stayed with me night after night, stroked my hair, dabbed my face with a wet cloth.
Not Sky. Why not Sky?
James moved his hand from my shoulder and brushed his knuckles against my cheek.
I lifted my gaze, my heart fluttering. I tried to argue it away as being lightheaded because I still hadn’t recovered from the fever, that I trembled because I hadn’t eaten for days. But the flutter and trembling meant so much more—I really did like him.
James lingered close. He touched my jaw with his thumb and traced it until he stopped at my chin.
My brain didn’t connect with my mouth, and for that I was grateful.
For the first time, he’d caught me truly speechless, something he pointed out.
“Cat got your tongue?” he whispered. His breath washed over my face like the sea’s breeze. He pressed his warm lips to my forehead, then brushed them against my cheek.
My heart beat against my ribs as though it wanted to hold on to James just as tightly as I did. I turned my face and met his lips.
His touch felt familiar. So familiar I didn’t want him to ever part from me. We could lock ourselves in this room for the rest of our days, and I would be content. I didn’t believe in destiny, but if I did . . . I might have dared let myself believe he and I were meant to be.
The door swung open, giving James just enough time to flinch, drop my chin, and straighten before Sky walked in. I didn’t want James to pull away, but I couldn’t bring myself to stop him either. He’d moved too quickly for me to grab and hold on to.
My head swam.
I wanted to yell at Sky for interrupting us.
James crossed to the chest and lifted the lid to grab a clean shirt, acting completely casual while Sky entered, carrying a bowl over to me, then sat at my side.
Sky smiled in relief. “I thought you were as good as dead! If Gerard hadn’t been here with that ointment, or whatever, you would have died!” He handed me the bowl of food. “How are you feeling?” He touched my cheek, but I didn’t get the same zing I did with James.
I looked down at the oatmeal. Or was it grits? Some sort of breakfast I wasn’t in the mood for but knew I needed to eat.
“She should keep her leg up,” James said. He’d already tucked in his shirt and was buttoning a blood-red vest over it.
“Oh, right.” Sky stood and picked up both of my legs and placed them back up on the bed. “There we go.” He winked.
My heart skipped. Between Sky’s dashing looks and the heat of James’s kiss, I didn’t know what to think!
“Is the royal family safe?” I asked James, scooping up a glob and putting the tasteless stuff into my mouth.
“I am going now with a few men to see what we can learn.” James shrugged on his black coat. “Scuttle will stay here with you and the remaining men.”
“Oh no he won’t.” I got to my feet, shoved the bowl into Sky’s hands, and took the thin sheet with me to at least cover my lower half. “Sky, get my pants. I’m not staying here.”
James tilted his chin down and shook his head. “Odette, I don’t think you can walk enough to keep up with us. I don’t even think you could get pants on with that cut.”
“I need to get that stone, James,” I insisted.
His brows shifted and his lips tightened in a way that made me wonder if he knew something I didn’t. “What stone?”
I tightened my lips. I hadn’t meant to let slip that I was looking for it. “Nothing. It’s just good for me to get fresh air, right? You need to look like you aren’t a scallywag,” I added. “You should brush your hair and shave. Look halfway decent.”
James leaned to his looking glass on the wall and absently touched the bottom of his hair. He opened the drawer and quickly brushed through it, getting out all the knots. “Thank you.”
“James, please. I should move my leg. It’s stiff.” I bunched the sheet and limped toward my captain.
James sighed and studied me. Finally, he rolled his eyes and took his metal hook from the foot of the bed. “There’s a dress in the chest. Put it on and you can come.”
“A dress?” I nearly shrieked.
“That or the sheet. You’ll need this to help keep it on.” He tossed me a length of rope, smiled, and strolled out the door.
I had half a thought to tie the rope around me and use the sheet as a makeshift dress, but I would look a fool. I pointed to Sky and then the chest. “Get it for me.”
“You don’t get to boss me around. I’m the first mate,” he pouted. He set the bowl of barely eaten food on the desk and rummaged through the chest until he pulled out a beautiful blue dress. “I’m not even going to ask him why he has a dress.” Sky held it up to him. “It’s too small for him to wear.”
“Oh, shut up and hand it over.”
eleven
I made it out onto the deck before anyone could leave me behind, although a handful of men already sat in the long rowboat.
James climbed down the ladder and sat toward the middle beside Gerard.
Sky remained on the deck, a glum expression on his face as he stopped at my side.
“What’s wrong with you?” I asked, preparing to climb over.
“I didn’t realize being first mate meant I wouldn’t be joining on the excursions,” he muttered, careful I was the only one who could hear.
I patted his shoulder. “There, there.” I grinned, and he rolled his eyes at me.
After gathering my skirts—an obnoxious maneuver—I carefully lowered myself down to the boat. As long as I didn’t put all of my weight on my injured leg, or bend my knee, my pain was tolerable.
A hand suddenly rested on my right hip.
I glanced down to see James steadying me.
“May I help you the last bit?” he asked. “The waves make it a bit difficult.”
Indeed, the waves were causing the rowboat to rise and fall, and if I didn’t time it just right, I would drop and likely injure myself again. Besides, if James was in the mood to be polite, who was I to refuse?
“That would be best,” I replied.
Cool metal touched my other hip, and I reluctantly let my foot down from the last rung, holding my weight with my hands until James said, “Let go.”
I obeyed, and he caught me with a gentle grunt. “I’m sorry.”
He made no acknowledgement of my apology as he set me on my feet.
Peering up at his face, my breath caught, and I wanted nothing more than to touch the curve of his strong jaw and feel his lips once more.
“Just don’t keep us delayed,” he replied, but his voice held no edge, and his lips had a gentle curl to them.
All of a sudden, the sun felt too hot and the dress, stifling.
He pulled away too soon and took his seat. I sat opposite him, aware of the small group of men staring at us, most with knowing smirks.
“There are some questions I didn’t get to ask you,” I pointed out, hinting with my head toward the sea. “About that night you pulled me away from the kraken.”
The men waited with bated breath, all trying to avoid my gaze while listening for James’s response.
“We will speak when we get back,” James answered cryptically.
I didn’t say anything else while they rowed us to shore, though I had a million questions about that night.
“If the capital disappeared into the sea, are the king and queen even alive?” I started.
“We don’t know,” James answered.
“What happens if we get there and don’t know who to talk to?”
“I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”
“What if they identify us as pirates and arrest us on the spot?”
James gestured to himself and then the ship. “They won’t.”
I quickly looked back at The Sea Devil and saw it had no skull and crossbones flag posted, and James didn’t wear his typical regal pirate captain uniform. Instead, he had chosen to wear common blue trousers, mid-calf black boots, a white tunic, golden vest, and a matching short navy jacket in place of the long tailcoat. He also didn’t wear his captain’s hat, or any hat for that matter, and had replaced his big hoop earring for a small diamond stud.
“Are you nervous, miss?” Gerard asked with a smug look.
I shifted my attention to him, almost having forgotten he was there. “Not at all.”
He shrugged. “You sure? You’re injured. And you seem anxious about being a pirate in a city where being one is illegal.”
James elbowed him in the side, but the unapologetic smirk remained on Gerard’s face.
“I can handle myself, thank you very much,” I said sharply.
“With a wounded leg?”
“Yes,” I answered, and before James could intervene, I raised my good leg and kicked Gerard where I knew it would hurt the most.
He grunted and doubled over.
James snorted a laugh but put his fist to his mouth and tried to mask it—rather unsuccessfully—with a cough. “Odette,” he scolded, but the grin plastered on his face showed he wasn’t really upset at all.
Even the others chuckled with laughter.
I followed James’s gaze to the shoreline.
Some sections had evident fissures as if the land had broken clean off. I looked down through the clear waters to the seafloor. As I predicted, I saw the edge of darkness revealing the drop-off only a few meters away.
“What would cause a city to sink into the ocean?” I asked.
“Likely the sea witch,” Gerard suggested.
I frowned. “Those are only legends.”
James looked at me with raised eyebrows. “Do you truly believe that after . . . everything?”
I understood then what he was hinting at. If we could turn into sirens, why couldn’t the sea witch be real? After all, there had to be a reason why we were both humans and mythical creatures at the same time.
“Speaking of which,” I started.
“When we get back,” James insisted.
“How long are you going to keep it a secret from her?” Gerard said unexpectedly.
James’s gaze snapped to him.
“What secret?” I looked at James, who refused to meet my gaze and looked like he might fling Gerard overboard. “Tell me what?” I put my hand on James’s knee. “You mean to tell me Gerard, a stranger to our land, a man I’ve never met, knows more about me than I do?”
James tilted his head and grimaced. “When you put it that way . . .”
Something bumped against the side of the boat, making us rock to the right.
The face of the man behind Gerard paled. “Row faster!” he shouted.
It didn’t take long for me to process what was going on. Faces of sirens peeked out of the water, sneering at us with fanged mouths. Together, they pushed against the port side of the boat, heaving with everything they had.
We leaned into it, keeping the balance. I was one of the three who’d put a hand on the opposite side to try and help, and my wrist was immediately seized by the webbed fingers of a siren a
nd given a hearty yank.
James grabbed on to me, preventing me from going overboard, but one of the other sailors wasn’t so lucky.
“We’re not avoiding this,” James muttered, looking around at his men.
One who had been rowing tried to use the oar to bludgeon a siren, but it was no fool. It grabbed on and let out a terrifying guttural cry that made me think of the bottom of a boat being torn apart on a reef.
“I can try and scare them off,” I offered quickly.
“Odette, you don’t understand,” James objected.
I tried to get to my feet as the sirens pushed again. Unfortunately I sat on James’s left side, and it was his hook that reached out to grab me. It snagged on the skirts of my dress, throwing me further off-balance. I ended up on his lap, rather ungraciously, with his hook still snared in my skirts.
“Will you listen for once?” James snapped. “I’m trying to tell you something important! I think these sirens want you.”
I looked up at him, confused. “Why would they want me?”
“Because . . .” He sucked air between his teeth and shook his head. “Because there’s things you don’t know about pirates and sirens, Odette.”
“The things you can tell Gerard and not me? The things clearly the other pirates know too? Something no one will tell me in spite of us being in this current predicament?”
James nodded his head. “We’re all sirens.”
“All?” I looked at all the pirates, and not one objected. “But how is that even possible? How could I not remember something that significant?”
“Because your memories weren’t lost,” James said. “They were t—”
The sirens heaved the boat suddenly in the opposite direction, throwing the boat off balance. Before James could pull me back by his hook, I went weightless and then plunged into the water.
“Odette!”
I expected it to be easy. Transform, talk to the sirens, get them to leave us alone, help the pirates back to the ship.
But as soon as I hit the water, two of the sirens grabbed on to me—one on each wrist. They both looked like me, not serpent-like sirens, with golden fish tails, patches of blue on their shoulders like armor, and the same blue scales on their foreheads like helmets.
The Siren Princess Page 9