Chapter Ten
Steel was snoring as I traced my finger along his bare chest. I didn’t know pleasure like that had existed and desired more of it. I recalled the embarrassing sex talk with my parents, but they never told me how amazing it would be. It made me feel more connected to Steel in an emotional way now.
I twisted his necklace between my fingers. It was the first time I was close enough to see the intricate details of it. The chain was silver and my eyes traced it to the heart-shaped pendant that hung on the end. It too was silver with blue, white, and green jewels glittering in a circle. It was a bit feminine for a pirate to be wearing and I wondered why I hadn’t noticed it before.
Steel began to stir and I repositioned myself so I was hovering over him. His eyes blinked open and narrowed once they focused on me. His gaze traveled down and paused on my bare chest. His cheeks reddened, but he didn’t remove his eyes.
“Um… I’m not exactly sure what happened earlier.” Steel cleared his throat and coughed. “I thought I had a dirty dream but your… um… shirt is off.” He finally averted his eyes. “Did we uh… do you realize your dress is off?”
It was my turn to blush and I wrapped the blanket around my naked body. “Yeah considering you’re the one who took it off.”
“I did?” He coughed again and looked under the covers. “Well, I’m completely undressed too. It’s just so weird. It’s all cloudy like it was only a dream. I guess our attire—or lack thereof—would say otherwise.”
I recalled Steel’s eyes being darker than normal this morning but I assumed it had been from desire. Since he couldn’t remember it, it had to be from his curse. Was that the only reason he initiated it? The damn curse made him. I could’ve died right there and would’ve been perfectly fine with it.
“Steel, do you remember being cursed?”
“Cursed? That’s mad. I know things didn’t work out with the first crew, but I wasn’t cursed. Who told you a thing like that?”
Gregor was speaking the truth when he said Steel had problems remembering their curse. I couldn’t rat Gregor out, so I avoided the answer.
“Can I be alone?”
Steel looked taken aback. “You mean, you don’t want me here?”
“Not right now I don’t.”
Steel scratched his cheek, threw on a pair of shorts, and left without a goodbye. He shouldn’t be the one upset. I was the one who had my first time ruined. It had been so perfect, but obviously had been too good to be true.
With Steel’s absence, the ache in my chest blossomed and became harder to ignore. A relationship with a human was difficult, but throwing in a curse made it impossible. I was a fool for thinking otherwise.
It felt like the walls were closing in on me and there would never be a safe place for me in this lifetime. Every time I thought things were going to be okay, something had to ruin it. My life wasn’t in danger here, but my heart was and that was just as risky and scary.
I slowly pulled on my dress right before a knock sounded at the door.
“Are you decent?”
It was Gregor and he sounded… excited?
“Come on in,” I said, unable to hide the curiosity from my voice.
Gregor opened the door swiftly and walked in with his hands behind his back. “I have something I think you’ll be excited to see.”
He pulled his arms from behind and I was shocked to see a shoe in each hand. They weren’t just any pair of shoes either. They were the white ones I’d bought from Tortuga.
“How did you get those? I never thought I would see them again,” I said breathlessly.
“I had them cleaned up while you were unconscious. Figured you’d want them back.”
“Thank you so much.”
He handed me the shoes and as I stared at them, the hole in my chest grew. I’d bought them because I wanted to stay with Steel, Gregor, and everyone else. Now… now, I wasn’t so certain. My life used to be so simple. How did it suddenly become so complicated?
“Are you crying?” Gregor asked.
My hand flew up to my cheek to smear a tear that was making its way down. I hadn't realized I was crying. The tears came of their own accord and I couldn’t stop them once they began. It was as if the dam that was keeping my emotions in check had broken.
I held the shoes up to try to cover my face, but Gregor moved them out of the way. His eyes were searching my face as if the answer to my problems would be there.
“What happened?” he asked.
“I c-can’t t-talk about it.” The tears were too fierce and stole my breath as I began to hiccup.
A rumble sounded from above.
“Was that thunder?” Gregor looked out the window with his eyebrows narrowed. “It was perfectly sunny a minute ago. No grey cloud in sight.”
The roaring above us continued and only grew louder. The ship began bobbing up and down, side to side. I fell on my bottom at the next jerk, and Gregor almost lost his footing too.
“Sera, I think Stan was right.”
I looked up at him questioningly, but was crying too violently to bother with words. He was blurry through the tears, but I was still able to make out his panicked face.
“I believe you’re the one making the storms. It’s the only explanation.”
I struggled to take in a deep breath. “T-that’s imp-impossible. S-sirens can’t c-control the w-weather.”
“Maybe not normal sirens, but as you’ve said, you’re far from normal.”
Shouting and loud footsteps sounded from above. Gregor and I looked upwards as if we could see them. The tears were slowing, but not fully under my control as I listened to the men. The yelling became more frantic and the thumping grew wilder.
“Something must be wrong. I need to go check that out,” Gregor said as he dashed out of the door.
I probably looked like a hot mess but there was no way I wasn’t following after him. The men on the deck were gripping onto ropes and several of them were looking overboard. Gregor latched onto a mast in front of me and my heart plummeted in terror when I saw the reason.
An enormous wave had risen up and was heading straight for The Sea Nymph’s Revenge. Gregor shouted my name but it all happened before I could react. There was nothing near me to grab onto before it crashed onto the deck. The force of the wave knocked my senses out of whack. It was vengeful as it swiped some of the people off the ship, including me.
The wave slammed me into the ocean and stole the air from my lungs. Luckily, my gills kicked into action to make sure my body received the oxygen it needed. In the water, my senses normalized and I could see men blindly kicking and twirling as if they didn’t know which way was up.
I swam towards the closest guy, but he was flailing and fought me as I attempted to grab ahold of him. His elbow jerked into my nose and made me see stars. My hands stopped trying to latch onto him as red circled around my head. There was a dull ache in my face and there was no way I would be able to help them if they fought me. Their time was ticking because they would soon run out of air, but an idea struck me.
The siren within me came to life with all of the panic going on around me, so it wasn’t hard to tap into its abilities. The ocean was its home and here was where it could thrive. These men, however, didn’t stand a chance with the ocean’s unforgiving and unrelenting nature. Instead of breathing, water would fill their lungs and they would die. But not while I had the power to do something to prevent it.
Digging from deep down, I felt the lure of the siren pulling from my core. I didn’t know if it was going to work underwater, but I started to sing anyway. It was like an echo as it rang through the water with a lull that couldn’t be denied. My song was directed to those who’d fallen overboard—even the ones who weren’t in my line of sight.
The men who were close enough for me to see stopped moving altogether and floated in place. As I continued to sing, they came to attention and began ascending, making their way through the bubbles that had formed from the waves.
The storm was still raging as we broke the surface in sync. Something else entirely took over me as my eyes glanced towards the dark clouds. I could see beyond them to the sun that was wanting to break through.
My singing was being carried with the wind as I focused on the sky. The rain stopped pelting on us, the blackness ebbed away, and the sun was once again shining. I only stopped my melody when the men on the ship started glancing over at us.
With my song over, the men blinked in confusion as they glanced around. A loud voice boomed aboard the ship and there was no mistaking who it was. Steel gave the order to get the people that were in the water back on the vessel.
One-by-one, the men were being pulled up by ropes. As the number in the water decreased, I found myself dipping back down so I wouldn’t be seen. There was an uncertainty about what would happen if I returned to the ship. Gregor figured out I could control the weather before I even knew about it, but what if they thought I was hiding it from them the whole time? I was still astonished at the revelation I could control the weather. It was another talent to be feared though.
To make things worse, I didn’t think sirens could control the weather. Mom or Dad would’ve told me. So, what did that mean for me? I knew I wasn’t normal, but this was getting ridiculous. I only wished that something could go right for once. This power had come without my consent and I wished I could give it back. If only my parents were here to shed some light on my situation.
Why me, Poseidon?
All of the men were now safe on the deck and hopefully being warmed up. No one had died and that was what mattered most. I wondered if they noticed my absence yet, but I wasn’t ready to poke my head up. The water was soothing now that it wasn’t pulsing from my pain.
The sting of what happened between Steel in me was still raw, but now I had the burning of my nose to go with it. The bleeding had stopped, but that didn’t stop it from being tender. My finger pressed against my nose and I winced. Pausing to think, I remembered how the water had healed my previous wound and wondered if it could do the same for my nose. I hadn’t done anything to trigger the healing the last time, so why wasn’t it already working its magic?
My hand covered my nose and I concentrated on the water. My eyes had closed, but a blue glow had them reopening. The light was forming around my hand and the pain that was lingering from the guy’s elbow faded away until there was no trace of it left. I pulled my palm away in awe. Being a siren wasn’t as horrible as I thought. I was finally starting to see the perks and it made me proud to be part-siren.
Then, the realization hit me that they would’ve never been in the situation if it weren’t for me and the depression seeped back in. It loved forcing its way back into my life, but there was no strength left within me to fight it.
The ripple of someone hitting the water stole my attention. I immediately recognized the person as Steel, but what the Hades was he doing? As much as I wasn’t ready to face him, I had the inkling that he wasn’t leaving until he talked to me. So, I drew forth the little confidence I had left and kicked my feet to push myself upwards.
Steel’s eyes landed on me as soon as I broke the surface. His eyes were wide and his Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.
“Were you going to come back up if I hadn’t jumped back in?” he asked.
His eyes showed how vulnerable he was right now. There was a hidden pain within them.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly.
“I see…”
A shiver passed through Steel and I moved towards him, but hesitated.
“Did Gregor tell you it was me that created the storm?”
Steel nodded. “Can we talk about this on the ship? I’m freezing in here.” His teeth began to chatter.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
“Why not? Your emotions got out of control and you brought on a storm, so what? You made it right by saving all of the men.”
“You can’t be serious. They wouldn’t have been in danger if I wasn’t on that ship to begin with.”
“How are you not cold?”
“I guess it’s the siren in me.” I shook my head at him. “Don’t change the subject. This is serious.”
“Sera, you didn’t know you could do that. Now that you do, you can learn how to control it just like you did with your singing.”
“Why do you want to help me so badly? You haven’t known me that long.”
“Maybe not, but you’ve left an impression in the time I have. I know you’re upset about what did or didn’t happen between us, but even though it felt like a dream, the connection I feel with you is unlike anything I’ve ever known. Now, can we please, please go back on the ship. I can’t take the cold much longer.”
I chewed on my lip in fear of what was going to happen if I did, but the expression on Steel’s face caught me off guard. He was begging me with his sparkling grey eyes and I felt my resistance crumbling. His teeth were chattering and his lips were beginning to have a bluish tint. Of course, I caved and Steel forced me to get pulled up first.
The men stepped away from me once I was safely on my feet. They watched me cautiously and I hated to admit how much their scrutinizing stares bothered me. Gregor wasn’t among them, so I shifted towards Steel once he came up. Bastian brought Steel a blanket and he wrapped it around both of us. I wasn’t cold, but Steel’s skin was abnormally icy. Even though I was hesitant about being this close to him so soon, I felt the need to warm him up. So, I drew myself closer to him and rubbed at his arms.
This provided two good things. One, it was a distraction from everyone’s calculating eyes on me. Two, it was an inconspicuous way to touch Steel and helped bring up his body heat.
“Where’s Gregor?” I asked when I couldn’t tolerate the dense silence any longer.
“He was feeling ill so he retreated to his room after telling me what he discovered,” Steel said.
Ill. The code word for when he was having an episode from his curse. Not that Steel would remember that. He couldn’t even remember his own. How were they supposed to spread the word about what had happened if he didn’t remember being cursed? The most important question was how could I break it?
Bastian lingered in front of us. “Did you really bring this storm upon us?”
I bowed my head in shame. “I didn't mean to. I didn’t even know I could.”
Bastian looked between Steel and me with indecision swirling in his eyes. A few people in the crew called out, “Stan was right” but Bastian’s gaze wasn’t accusing like the others’ were.
“We’re retiring to my room. If anyone has any problems with that then they can take it up with me. By me, I mean the cold bite of my blade,” Steel said and glared at anyone who was brave enough to meet his eyes.
Nobody said anything as we left. Not even Bastian. I had no idea how I was going to prove my innocence, especially when there was no physical evidence I could show them. It was my word and that was it. What good was someone’s word? It was only talk and intangible.
“Forewarning, I’m changing out of these wet clothes,” Steel said as soon as he closed the door behind us.
“It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” I was attempting to tease him but it backfired and had me turning away.
His unusually cold hands gently cupped my arm and he turned me towards him. “You shouldn’t feel ashamed of anything. And by that, I mean anything—your powers or what occurred last night.”
Steel turned my stomach into knots with his melting gaze. He was staring unblinkingly and it was difficult not to pull away. His smoldering eyes reminded me of last night and it sent tingles throughout my body.
“Since I don’t remember last night, maybe we should do a retake.”
I wanted to respond to him, but it felt like there was a frog stuck in my throat. His hands went to my arms—just like the night before. He drew tantalizing circles and crashed his lips onto mine. He placed one hand on my cheek and the other around my neck to deepen the kiss.
Before it could get too steamy, I reluctantly forced myself to push him away. “Steel, we have to talk about what happened.”
“No, we don’t.”
“Yes, we do. I did a really bad thing.”
Steel huffed and sat on the bed. “You didn’t. It was unknowingly.”
“How can you believe that? Because I said so?”
“It may seem strange to you, but I trust your word.”
“Why? You haven’t even taken the time to get to know me. Like, did you know that I used to be so close to my parents and that their absence has left a permanent hole in my heart? I constantly feel like I’m drowning. How can you trust someone who can’t even get a grip on their own feelings?”
“Because you wouldn’t have gone through all of the trouble to gain our trust if you only wanted to kill us.”
“What if I’m leading you into a false sense of security?”
“Well, are you?”
“No, but—”
He cut me off. “Do you know what I see when I look at you?”
I shook my head.
“I see someone who needs a little guidance to be great. You have amazing powers that I can only dream of having. You can control the weather and make men do your bidding. Think of all the great things we can accomplish together.”
I didn’t want to remind him that his version of great things and mine were completely different. “I only want to be normal.”
“You won’t ever be, but that’s what makes you you.”
“How can you possibly know what makes me who I am? What’s my favorite color?”
“Um… does that really matter at the heart of everything?”
“See, you don’t know.”
“Fine. What’s your favorite color?” Steel looked bored already and I scowled at him.
“Can we just go eat? I’m starved.”
“You’re always hungry.”
“Is that a problem?”
“Nope, let’s get you fed before you decide to kill me.”
My eyes narrowed at him, so he could see just how funny I thought his joke was.
“Point proven.” He winked.
“You’re crazy.”
“You’re going to kill me and I’m the crazy one?”
I giggled. “Will you stop already? Someone’s going to overhear and think the worst of me. At least more than they already do.”
“All right. Ruin my fun. And don’t worry about them. It’ll pass.”