Chapter Eight
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. I felt it this time and wished it could go back to the numb feeling.
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. My breaths were getting heavier and heavier until it felt like I wasn’t pulling in any air.
The man continued to hover over me and began to put pressure on my wound. It cut into me and I let out a sharp gasp. I didn’t think I was going to be able to take the stimulation around me any longer 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 recognize that I was in Steel’s room back on The Sea Nymph’s Revenge. I turned my head to see Steel at his desk, hunched over something, and Gregor stood 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 Hades or 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 at the floor 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 weakly. “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 would 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 expected 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 expression.
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?”
“She should be in bed,” an unfamiliar voice added.
“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.
“Thought you might want this.” He dropped my pink dress down and I’d never been so happy to see it.
“Thank you,” I called and dove under the ship to change.
It was a little difficult to switch clothes under the water, but I managed. I took Steel’s shirt back to the surface and discovered a rope was already waiting for me. Gregor and Bastian started pulling me up. Steel was hanging over the railing and lifted me over the edge. He caught me off guard by pulling me into a hug. Over his shoulder, I was able to see the beautiful sunset and it made the embrace so much more intimate.
“You look a million times better than you did when you first went into the water,” Steel said as he pulled away. “Did it heal you or something?”
“Yeah, I think it did. I’ve never been hurt badly so I haven’t had the need for something like that before. It was instinctual though. I knew the water would help, but I didn’t really foresee just how much it could do. I’m just as amazed by this as you.”
“So you really are feeling better then?”
I nodded.
“It would’ve been nicer to know that little tidbit about a week ago.”
I laughed. “Sorry, I honestly didn’t know that could happen.”
“She’s part witch, that’s why,” Stan’s voice yelled from behind Steel. It was hoarse, but still strong enough to carry over to us.
I startled at the sound and looked up to see him still tied to the mast. “I thought he was supposed to be released.”
“In all the havoc of trying to get everyone back on the ship before anything else could go wrong, we forgot about him.”
“Well, can we send him off on one of the smaller boats? It isn’t right to keep him there. He’s soiled himself and barely gets food and drink. He’s going to die there at the rate he’s going.”
“Would that be so bad?”
I narrowed my eyes at him.
He sighed. “Even if I wanted to we can’t do that. One, it isn’t the pirate way. Two, we don’t have that many jolly boats as it is, and if something were to happen, I wouldn’t want one to have been wasted on him. He tried to kill you, Sera. Remember that. On a lighter note, they’re serving dinner in the dining hall. Feel like joining the crew to let them know you’re miraculously better? Bastian and Gregor already left when he recalled the white shirt on you.”
I smiled, but my mind was still on Stan as I said, “Yeah. Of course.”
Most of the crew members were already sitting when we arrived. They smiled as I walked passed them and said things like “good to see you better” and “you look great”. These were the strangest pirates ever. It was like they’d forgotten I was both a siren and a female. Now, I was a part of their crew and not just some stowaway.
As friendly as the guys were and as delicious as the food was, it still couldn’t deter my thoughts. Steel was overreacting about Stan. He hadn’t tried to kill me. He only wanted to return me to where I came from, which was understandable. It was normal for humans to fear my kind even though I wasn’t like the other sirens. The more I thought about it, the less I thought Stan deserved what was happening to him. Nobody deserved that.
As we ate, I blamed fatigue for my silence when I was really plotting how I was going to get Stan out of here. It would have to be late, late. When everyone was in their deep sleeps. Whoever was keeping watch would have to be distracted.
“You want to head on to bed?” Steel asked.
“What? No, I’m okay for now.” I noticed most of the men at the table were looking at me. “Did I miss something?”
“I was asking how did the water make you better, but you were in a different world,” Bastian said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I’m not sure how. It just did.”
“Do ye think ye can heal others wit it?” Barty asked.
“Probably not, but to be honest, I’ve never thought to try.”
“Ye should try it on Gregor.”
“Gregor, what’s wrong with him?”
It was the first time I noticed that he wasn’t eating with us. I’d been so lost in my thoughts of freeing Stan that I hadn’t realized Gregor was absent.
“He got stabbed in the shoulder while he was fighting to get our crew safely back on the ship,” Steel said.
I gasped. “What? He seemed fine when he was carrying me to the water.”
“That’s because he’s an expert at hiding pain. He tore open his stitches while carrying you. Now, the healer wants him to stay in bed for the rest of the night.”
“I need to go see him. I can’t believe I didn’t notice he was wounded.”
I rushed from the dining room, but could’ve slapped myself for not knowing where Gregor’s room was.
“I’ll take you to him,” Steel said with a laugh as he came up behind me.
“Thank you.”
Gregor’s room wasn’t far from Steel’s, but it was almost half the size. Gregor looked even more giant-like in this smaller space. He was sitting up in bed, staring at the wall.
“You look like you’re having fun,” I said teasingly.
He jumped. “You startled me. Didn’t hear you come in. I see you’re better.”
“And I see you’re worse.”
I motioned to his wound that was only visible because he was shirtless. He looked down at it, but waved it off like it was nothing.
“I’m fine.”
“Yeah, that’s why you’re stuck in bed,” Steel joined in on the conversation.
“I wonder if we should try the water thing. Maybe get a bucket from the sea and I’ll use it to try to make him better,” I said. “It’s better than doing nothing.”
“I’ll have someone fetch you one.” Steel gave a curt nod and left.
“So, the water really made you better?” Gregor asked.
I nodded.
“Do you think it can help me?”
I shrugged. “Not sure to be honest, but I didn’t even know it could help me. I’m also amazed at how everyone’s accepted me even though I’m still a siren.”
“You shouldn’t be. You have an effect on people. An aura that makes them want to like you.”
“Because of the siren in me.”
“No, because of the kindness in you. Pirate’s aren’t usually the recipients of kindness. All we get are dirty looks and bad words.”
“Are you surprised about that? You guys steal and kill for a living.”
“But we’ve usually suffered beforehand. It’s why we turn to piracy in the first place.”
“I don’t understand.”
Gregor sighed. “Most of the people on this ship were thrown out by their parents, sold to slavery, or their parents were killed at a young age. A hard life is all most of them know. Piracy is a way of having control over what happens to you. Here, they can be themselves and take what they feel life owes them.”
I chewed on my lip as I mulled that over. It was a terrible thing that they didn’t have parents. Mine helped shape me, but I also didn’t know a life without them. Would I have turned out differently? More bitter? It was scary, but probably very likely. Either that or I would’ve been dead a long time ago. I found myself hoping I would change now that they were no longer present.
“I’m afraid to stay on this ship,” I admitted out loud. The thought had come out of nowhere and rushed off my tongue before I could prevent it.
“Why’s that? Nobody’s going to hurt you.”
“I’m afraid the other sirens will find me and make you guys pay for hiding me.”
“You think they’re searching ships for you now?” Gregor’s words were full of sarcasm.
“No, but what if they do? What if they try to take over this ship just because they wanted to and happen to find me?”
“Then, we would be left dead whether you were on this ship or not. They wouldn’t let us live because you weren’t on the ship. They would take what they wanted—like we do.”
That made sense. Gregor was wiser than he let on and I was thankful to know him. Steel walked in with a bucket full of water. It sloshed over the sides and soaked Gregor’s floor.
“Wanted to make certain you had enough,” Steel said with a light chuckle.
I took the bucket from him with a grateful smile and placed it on the floor besides Gregor’s bed.
“I’m not sure if this is going to work or if it’s going to hurt,” I said.
Gregor gave me a nod to continue anyway. I scooped water in the palms of my hands and dripped it over Gregor’s wound. He didn’t flinch from the coolness and not even when I placed my soaking wet hand over his wound. I called the siren that was within me to the surface. The power stirred and awoke inside of me as it made my skin prickle. It was like lighting a candle and the flame burst into life.
After a few minutes passed, I pulled my hand away from Gregor and wasn’t surprised to see that nothing had happened. The wound was still fresh.
“I’m sorry,” I said as disappointment burned in my chest. I was really hoping I could help him after all he’d done for me. “I guess even though I was created by Poseidon, I’m still not a goddess with the ability to heal others.”
Gregor grinned. “It’s all good. Thank you for trying at least. It’s the thought that counts.”
“I don’t think that applies to this situation.” I shot him a smile.
“Meh, maybe not. It would’ve been pretty cool if it had worked though.”
“Yeah, it would’ve been a great asset, but at least you’re both still alive,” Steel said. “I’m going to bed, which is something you should do too, Gregor.”
“I’ve been resting all day. I’m not that tired,” Gregor groaned.
“To be honest, I have too. I’ll keep him company a little longer if that’s okay,” I offered.
“All right, but if you were wondering, our bed has been cleaned of the blood. It’s ready for you whenever you want to return to it. I’ll stay to the side so you don’t wake me. You’ll be able to find it okay?” Steel asked.
“Yeah, it’s only a couple of doors down from here.”
He nodded at Gregor and then kissed me on the cheek before he left. My hand flew up to where Steel’s warm lips had made contact. My ears burned when I saw Gregor looking at me with a knowing grin.
“When did that happen?” he asked.
“When did what happen?”
“You and Steel.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“We aren’t anything that I know of. We are just getting to know each other.”
“Mm-hm… sure you are.”