Chapter Twelve
“You ready to come back aboard yet?” Steel called down to me after all of the guys were back on the vessel and the jolly boats were returned to their place.
The water felt terrific and I wasn't ready to leave it just yet. But I didn't want them waiting on me, so instead I shouted back, “Yeah.”
Steel threw a rope over and I grasped it. As he pulled me up, I looked back towards the island one last time. The creatures were still raising their spears up and down and I grimaced. I pictured their sharp teeth and shivered.
“You cold?” Steel asked and enveloped me in his arms. He must've seen the chill go through me.
“No, I'm just still freaked out by those things.”
“What do you think he meant by Poseidon’s heir?” Bastian was watching me expectantly.
“I have no clue. Maybe because sirens are considered to be the children of Poseidon? Either way, I hope we never run into them again.”
“Why? They thought you were royalty.” Gregor inclined his head mockingly.
I shook my head at him. “Just because they think something doesn't mean it’s true. They were cannibals and probably worshiped creatures of the sea.”
“Don' ye wanna know what they ‘ad in that cave?” Barty asked.
“Yeah, but there's no way I'm going back to find out.” I shivered again at the thought.
“I wouldn't let you go back anyway. I think we need some rum after that narrow escape. Especially since we came back empty handed.” Steel sighed.
“What ‘appened, captain?” one of the crewmen I didn't know asked.
“We'll tell you over some rum,” Steel said. “You're not going to believe it sober.”
Everybody gathered around in the dining room with drinks in their hands. Steel recounted the events to the men who hadn’t accompanied us. Rum was poured and the terror still hadn’t left some of the guys’ eyes. I couldn’t blame them because my head was still reeling from it all.
“Did you notice how your skin was glowing?” Steel asked and it took a second before I realized the question had been directed at me.
“I was glowing?” I looked at my fingers that were perfectly normal at the moment. “What color?”
“A blue light shined around you,” Bastian said. “How could you miss it? It was pretty blinding and made it difficult to even look at you fully.”
“I didn’t realize. I was too busy worrying about escaping with our lives.”
Bastian nodded. “That makes good sense.”
“Maybe you’re more powerful than you think,” Steel added.
“I don’t think that’s possible,” I said.
Steel’s expression was calculating and his eyes roamed down towards my fingers. I fought the urge to clench them into fists and waited until his eyes moved back towards me. When they did, I noticed that they’d returned to their normal grey.
“How many teeth did you say they had?” someone asked.
And that was how we spent the remainder of the night. The men wanted a full profile on those monsters and I needed assistance from a cup of liquid courage—that was what the men called it—so I could continue listening to them discussing those monsters.
The alcohol burned as it slid down my throat, but it was easier to bear after all I’d been through. I took a few more sips and as Gregor described those demons in detail, I realized I didn’t care at the moment. Rum was making my mind, fingers, and toes numb. I wasn’t certain if I necessarily enjoyed the feeling, but I didn’t hate it either.
I listened to Gregor and my thoughts trailed back to the island. It was insane to think Poseidon didn’t mind creatures like that in the world. They knew me as a siren though so maybe there was more to them than meets the eye. But I certainly wasn’t going to find that out either because I wouldn’t return to that island even if my life depended on it.
“Sera, ye wanna dance?” Barty asked a few drinks later.
“Dance?” I giggled. “There’s no music.”
“So?”
My laughter turned into a drunk snort. “I don’t know how to dance.”
“I’ll be the one to teach you, not Barty.” Steel wrapped his arm around me and hoisted me onto my feet.
They were unsteady and each step was harder than the previous. The room was booming with drunken laughter as Steel and I attempted to dance. I wasn’t a good dancer sober, so with the influence of alcohol, I looked like a hot mess.
After landing on my face twice, I figured it was time to throw in the towel. Especially since I received a nice scratch on my chin the second time. My legs wobbled as I attempted to return to my seat and Steel and I toppled to the floor once again.
“I think it’s time to head back to the room and sleep this off. I’m only becoming a hazard to myself and to others.” Plus, I was back to snorting again which was very unbecoming.
“Only if I can come with you,” Steel said as he gripped my waist.
“Where else would you go?” I asked with a smirk.
The heat in his eyes set my skin on fire and I jumped when Gregor’s hand came in front of me.
“You look like you need a hand up,” he slurred and pulled me back to my feet.
I leaned on Gregor for support and Steel shot up. He replaced Gregor as my leaning pole and guided me to the room. Steel’s lips kissed the bare skin of my shoulder and I opened the door. We made for the bed, but drowsiness started to numb any remaining senses I had.
“Steel, I don’t feel so good,” I groaned and buried my head into the pillow.
“Do you need to puke?” Steel asked as he rubbed my back.
That was the last thing I remembered before passing out completely.
***
Because we didn't acquire the treasure, there was talk of pillaging another ship amongst the crew again. A few days had passed since the horrifying trip to the island, but I continued to have nightmares that involved being pierced by their spears. I'd woken up in a cold sweat the last two nights and Steel was starting to suffer from the lack of sleep. He’d been grumpy at breakfast this morning and everybody steered clear of him until Gregor made Steel go take a nap.
Steel and I hadn’t tried to revisit our drunken night again. We needed a do over where we were both in our right mind. Without Steel’s curse and without the fog of rum.
With Steel sleeping, Gregor was at the wheel and I was with him at the moment. He was discussing with Bastian possible paths we could take that were most likely to cross paths with a merchant ship. I was pretending not to hear them because I didn't want any part in their decision.
It was a beautiful sunny day and it lifted my spirit slightly. Black circles were beginning to form under my eyes and I didn’t know why I was so affected by those cannibals. There was no way I would see them again, so they should be out of my mind by now. Instead, a little tug kept pulling it to the front of my brain.
Visions of their teeth lingered in the dark wherever I went, but the sun eliminated that for the time being. I wanted to talk to Steel about my nightmares, but didn’t want to bother him with them. It was bad enough that I kept him up at night.
With Bastian and Gregor still plotting ways to retrieve more gold, I moved to the edge of the ship. The water was calm today and it contradicted the storm that was raging in my mind.
My thoughts momentarily went back to the sirens who were supposed to be my family. Did they know about those demons? Did the sirens help lure men for the cannibals to eat? They weren’t humans though so why did they even refer to themselves as cannibals?
Bubbles rose to the surface of the water and they were followed by a fish poking its head up. It swam in a circle twice before diving back down. I had the urge to follow it and swim freely. The call of the ocean was getting harder and harder to ignore since my swimming time had been decreased. The siren in me craved it and I was foolishly starting to think that I wasn’t being hunted anymore. That the other sirens had forgotten about me. There had been no signs of them anywhere and I prayed it would remain that way.
“Look to the water,” Barty exclaimed from the crow’s nest.
My eyes were already trained on it, but I didn’t know what he was referring to. I began looking around, fearful that my thoughts jinxed me and brought the sirens here. Then, I saw them and my hands flew to my mouth.
Bodies of men were floating on the surface and they appeared to be fresh from what I could see. They didn’t stink from the rot of death yet, but fragments of wood floated around them. My first thought was that there had been a battle and these men lost—until I got a glimpse at one’s face. He was smiling and appeared to have been happy when he died. Only one creature I knew of did that. Sirens. These men were victims of a siren attack and it was too close for comfort. I stared at the bodies, unable to look away.
An arm grabbed my shoulder and I was pressed into Steel’s chest. The smell of him eased the tension from my shoulders, but something wet ran down my face. My body shook and for the first time, I realized I was sobbing.
“It’s okay,” Steel said soothingly. “I’m here. Gregor sent for me.”
No words came to me as I continued to cry into his shoulder. He picked me up bridal style and I was thankful he was taking me away. Why were there so many bad things in the world? Why did they bring so much death? The creatures from that island, sirens, even humans.
“I’m sorry I asked you to consider doing something like that,” Steel whispered into my hair as he embraced me. “I would never want you to tarnish your beautiful soul with something so horrifying. No amount of gold is worth that.”
“What about your soul?” I hiccuped.
“My soul was tainted black a long time ago. I’ve been killing for so long that there’s no way to repair mine.”
“I feel like I cry too much.” I wiped the tears and tried to get them under control.
Steel chuckled. “Nonsense. You have a gentle heart, which is something I never thought I would say to anyone. Especially aboard this ship… and as a captain of a pirate ship.”
I giggled despite the cascading tears. “How’d it feel to compliment someone?”
“There’s still a bad taste in my mouth from it.”
I smiled, but it quickly fell. “Steel, the sirens are close. I don’t think I should stay here any longer. Maybe I can lead them away from you guys.”
“Not happening.”
“But, Steel—”
“No buts. I don’t want you to leave me. I’ve come to care for you. There are moments where an extreme possessiveness overtakes me and I want to cut my men down for simply glancing your way. It’s weird feeling this way, but I can’t help it.”
As I stared into his eyes, I saw that they were their normal shade of grey. The curse wasn’t active so this was real.
“I feel drawn to you too, but I don’t think I can get over this fear of being found. It makes my heart clench that I’m putting you all in danger.”
“Sera, you have saved me and my crew time and time again.”
“But a couple of those situations you all were only in danger because of me.”
“The island wasn’t your fault. It was mine. You could’ve left us and saved yourself instead of risking your life like you did to protect us.”
I chewed on my lip, unable to come up with a response to that. In truth, the idea of ditching them didn’t cross my mind once. Instead, I felt the responsibility of needing to be the one to get them out of there.
Steel brushed his fingers along the scratch on my chin. “Does it hurt?”
“Not really. It’s scabbed over and healing now.”
“I’m surprised you didn’t jump in the water to heal it by now.”
“It serves as a reminder to not partake in the sharing of rum ever again. I can’t think or move correctly with it in my system.”
“It’s not all bad.”
His fingers held my chin as he met my stare. His lips were parted slightly and my gaze was drawn to them.
“Kiss me,” he whispered.
The intensity in his eyes had my mind going hazy and my heart thundering. My tongue felt thick as I leaned towards him. But when his lips met mine, my body reacted like it was supposed to. Our mouths moved in unison as he gently pushed me back onto the bed.
His soft lips moved to kiss my neck and when I thought I wasn’t going to be able to take it anymore, he moved to my ear. He nibbled at my earlobe and it made my toes curl.
A sound like wood groaning filled the room and Steel and I broke apart.
“What was that?” I whispered, but he only shrugged his shoulders in response.
We shook it off and began kissing again, but the sound of wood cracking reached our ears. That one, we couldn’t ignore.
“We must be in a battle,” Steel said alarmed as he sat up. “I don’t know why nobody’s warned me yet.”
The door banged open and I screamed in fright, but relaxed when I saw it was Gregor. He was the messenger most likely, but disappointment filled me that Steel and I were interrupted. The universe seemed to be against Steel and me doing the deed because everything went wrong whenever we tried. I was beginning to feel like I was the one cursed and not Steel. Either that or this was a part of his curse.
“Captain, Sera, I’m so sorry to interrupt your… um… yeah… but we have a huge situation.” Gregor was panting hard and there was a sheen of sweat on his forehead. “I don’t think The Sea Nymph’s Revenge will make it through this one. We need to call for an evacuation immediately.”
The ship tipped sideways and sent the three of us flying. We collided with the wall and I banged my head against it. Blackness and a flash of stars flooded my vision. The ship was righted and we fell to the floor with a loud thump. Gregor’s elbow nearly missed my eye and I skittered away from him before it happened again.
“What the Hades was that?” Steel exclaimed.
We were still on the ground. I was scared I was going to stand up only to be knocked off my feet again. This was bringing back the memory of the rum and I didn’t want to relive that pain just yet. The scratch on my chin was almost healed and I didn’t need a fresh one to replace it. I assumed we were engaging another merchant ship, but the pallor in Gregor’s skin led me to believe it was something much worse.
“That was a creature I’ve only heard of in tales,” Gregor said in a deathly serious voice. “The Kraken.”