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Chapter Nine
After dealing with Gregor’s teasing and switching the topic to anything else—including his smaller room, I figured it was time to let him get some rest. However, after saying goodnight, I walked passed Steel’s door and kept going.
The deck was silent as it had been the last time I came out here this late. I was quickly coming to terms that this was my favorite time to be out on the deck. It was quiet and still which was what I was used to from living on a remote island. This was more of a norm to me and it eased any lingering tension. But I wasn’t able to enjoy it right now because thoughts of Stan were plaguing my mind.
Bastian was on lookout and he would be easy to distract when the time came to it. For now, I needed to prepare an escape for Stan. I found the smallest jolly boat—as Steel had called it—that was the farthest away from Bastian and out of his sight. Next, I gathered some produce and meat into a basket and placed it into the boat. While getting the food, I also found a knife that would make cutting Stan loose a lot easier. In a corner, I discovered an old blanket that would keep him warm on the chilly nights. Once I was satisfied with Stan’s supplies for the escape, it was time to free him.
Stan was sleeping when I approached him. He smelled vile with the mixture of poop, urine, and foul body odor. My stomach twisted with nausea, but I made sure to only breathe through my mouth so I wouldn’t smell it as strongly. He smelled almost as bad as the head which was my only option for a bathroom.
My hands were shaking at the thought of freeing him and getting caught, but this was something I had to do. As much as I didn’t want to touch him, I knew I had to wake him up as quietly as possible so Bastian wouldn’t notice. I put one finger to my lips and used the other hand to shake his shoulder. He jumped but I moved my finger on my lips so he would remain quiet. Thankfully, he understood what I was implying and only glared at me.
“I’m going to get you out of here but you have to do as I say and do it quietly,” I whispered as lowly as I could.
He snorted.
“I may not be the person you were expecting to help you, but I’m all you’ve got. Take it or leave it.”
He grunted. “Fine, what’s the plan?”
Thankfully, he was smart enough to whisper too.
“I’m going to untie you and distract Bastian while you get on the jolly boat that has the food I’ve gathered for you.”
“What makes you think I won’t hurt you instead?”
“Look, I know that you’re bigger than me, but in your starved state, I have a feeling you aren’t as strong as you once were. So let’s make this easy on the both of us and cooperate please. This is your life that’s at stake, not mine.”
“Fine.” It looked like it all but killed him to agree with me.
I took out the knife and cut loose the ropes that were around his midsection, on his hands, and around his ankles. He rubbed at the raw skin on his wrists and grimaced. The ropes had left red, angry marks where they’d bit into his flesh and it looked painful. Hopefully, it wouldn’t hinder his escape because time wasn’t on our side.
“Don’t get up until I get Bastian’s attention. The jolly boat I stocked is towards the back and out of sight,” I said.
He nodded but didn’t reply. It wasn’t like I was expecting a thank you, but he could’ve at least looked happy now that he was about to be free. Instead, he looked as mean and entitled as ever.
As I neared the crow’s nest, I had no idea how I was going to distract Bastian, so I would have to improvise. I cleared my throat as I worked through ideas in my head.
“Hey, Bastian.” I waved at him and he glanced over the edge to look down at me. “Good to see you back at work. Doing good I assume?”
Man, I sounded like an idiot trying to make small talk, but luckily, he bought it.
“Yeah, I’ve been doing great. I’m glad to see your shining face again though. We all thought we were going to lose you.”
“Why don’t you come down here so we can talk? We need to catch up since it’s been so long and we can keep watch from here.”
“No can do. Captain would throw me overboard again if he ever found out.”
Well, crap. What to do now? I glanced around and saw the rope ladder leading up to him. The lightbulb went off in my brain and I acted before I had time to think it all the way through.
“Guess I’ll have to come up to you then.”
“What?” His voice went up a couple octaves.
I grabbed ahold of the rope and began climbing up it. It was rough on my hands and the higher I got, the more nervous I became. I was barely halfway to Bastian when I froze. Why? Because I’d made the mistake of looking down. The ground was a good ways away and my heart plummeted.
“What’s wrong?” Bastian asked.
I couldn’t even look up at him. My eyes were glued forward as I clung to the rope. “I’m stuck.”
“What do you mean you’re stuck?”
“I mean, I don’t think I can climb any higher.”
“Why not? You don’t look like you’re tangled in the ropes from here.”
“That’s because I’m not. I can’t make my feet move.”
“Come on. You’ve got it. You were doing fine before. What happened?”
“I looked down.”
“Oh man. Y-you’re okay. Don’t be afraid. You’re n-not going to fall. Oh man, please don’t fall.”
I didn’t think I was supposed to hear the last part because it was said quietly, but I did. It made me hold on tighter.
“Nope, I won’t fall because I’m not going anywhere.”
“Sera, you can’t stay there all night. Your arms will tire eventually.”
I didn’t say anything, but knew I wasn’t moving. At least I was doing my job at distracting him. Unfortunately, it was taking the danger away from Stan and putting it on me.
“I’ll signal for help. Hang tight.”
Before I could ask what he meant, Bastian rang a loud bell and it made me jump. My hand slipped and I started falling. This was it. I was going to die. My hands frantically tried to grab the rope again and I’d fallen a third of the way down before I was able to latch on again.
I thought I was scared before, but now, I was petrified. Tears pooled into my eyes and blurred my vision. My whole body was shaking as I held onto the rope this time. Bastian was saying something, but I couldn’t hear him beyond my fear and the pounding heartbeat in my ears.
Warm, strong arms came around my waist and I opened my eyes to see Steel. He pulled me towards his chest.
“Wrap your arms and legs around me so it’s easier for me to climb down,” he said.
I did as he requested and hoped I wasn’t holding on too tightly. I could’ve kissed the deck once my feet hit it, but would’ve had to let go of Steel to do that. A few people had come out to see what was going on, but didn’t linger once they saw I was okay and with Steel.
“Either you have a death wish or you’re a magnet for trouble. I’m not certain which one it is, but I think you need to take some time off from your reckless streak,” Steel said.
His eyes were heavy from lack of sleep, but he was still smiling at me.
“Let’s just go to bed. Please,” I replied.
“Sounds good to me. You okay up there Bastian?”
Bastian called back a breathy yes and Steel and I made our way back to his room.
“Well, I learned one thing about you,” Steel said with a smirk.
“What’s that?” I quirked an eyebrow and still felt my heart thundering.
“That you’re terrified of heights.”
“A new discovery for both me and you unfortunately. I’ve never been high up before, but definitely never will be again.”
“Good to know.”
Steel’s bed smelled fresh and I cuddled into him, trying to steal his warmth. He hugged me close to him and we fell asleep like that.
* * *
With all of the excitement, I’d forgotten about Stan until Barty came bursting into the room, and woke us up.
“Cap’n, ye got to come quick,” he said.
“What is it? What’s wrong?” Steel asked as he jumped up.
He was only in his underwear, but Barty didn’t seem to be bothered by it. Steel quickly pulled on his clothes as he listened to Barty.
“Stan’s gone.”
“What do you mean he’s gone?”
“As in not here. No idea ‘ow, cap’n. Bastian said he was there last night.”
“Sera, how about you stay here while I take a look?”
“I wasn’t planning on getting up anyway.”
“Okay, I’ll be back.”
My eyes followed them as they left. It was true that I didn’t want to get out of bed because I was enjoying the warmth and comfort it offered, but I also didn’t want to face them. I wasn’t good at hiding things. Mom used to tease me for it while growing up. She said I was a worse liar than my father and that was a big deal. All they had to do was ask me if I did something and I always caved. With the few times I was able to keep my mouth closed, my face always gave me away instead.
Steel had left some of his body heat behind and I was able to snuggle into it. The smell of him lingered as well and it was almost like he was still here with me. Now, if only I could fall back asleep, but the thought of them searching for Stan made me nervous. Would they find him?
After my recently discovered fear of heights, Stan had been the last thing on my mind. Especially since Steel’s half-naked body was pressed against mine all night. Steel never mentioned anything about the kiss on the cheek and I didn’t want to bring it up in case I was reading into it wrong. In truth, I wasn’t going to read into it at all until Gregor did.
Hopefully, Steel wouldn’t be upset about this whole Stan thing and look at me differently for it. I wouldn’t admit it out loud quite yet, but Steel made me feel so secure and comfortable that I didn’t foresee myself leaving this ship any time soon. It was such a crazy thought that I befriended humans so quickly that now it was even harder to imagine dating one.
That was the siren in me talking. The human part was screaming “go for it” as loudly as possible. That one was trumping the siren voice by miles, even though the siren one had more of a persuasive lull.
Steel’s thunderous stomps could be heard as they came down the hall and made their way back to the room. I flipped over to face away from the door so I wouldn’t give myself away immediately. The wall would’ve been able to see the guilt if only it had eyes.
“Sera, I hope you didn’t fall back asleep because we need to talk.” Steel’s voice was stern.
I reluctantly turned so I could see him. “What does this pertain to?”
“You know exactly what I’m referring to.”
“No, can’t think of anything.”
Steel sighed and I couldn’t decipher whether or not he was mad. “Maybe you can tell me why Stan’s ropes were cut last night?”
“How do you know they were cut off?” My voice was higher than usual.
“Sera…”
“Okay, fine. I did it.” I sat up fully, but held the pillow in my lap. As if a lousy pillow would protect me—except Steel still didn’t look angry. “You’re not mad?”
“To be honest, I’m not surprised at all that you were the one who did this.”
“Really? But…then… why aren’t you mad at me right now?”
“Your kindness is very attractive. I only wish you wouldn’t be so reckless. He could’ve hurt you.”
“Not with the state he was in.”
“Your eyes are enchanting.”
What the Hades? Where had that come from?
Steel slowly approached me. His eyes grew a shade darker and held an intensity that sent a quiver through my body. His muscles were taut and he brushed his hands down my bare arms. The contact of his skin sent another thrill through me.
“What are you doing?”
“Something I should’ve done a long time ago.”
His teasing, wandering hands stopped at my wrists as he pulled me closer and crashed his lips onto mine. The kiss was warm and tentative at first, but quickly became fierce and passionate. His fingers paused on my gills and he pulled away to look at them.
“What are these?” he asked as his finger brushed along one.
It made me tremble even more and my answer was breathy. “They’re my gills. All sirens have them.”
“That’s something I didn’t know about, but I like it.”
His eyes darkened even more and he hitched my legs up so I had to wrap them around his waist. He began kissing me again and started walking us forward. My back hit something solid, but I vaguely processed the thump. Steel’s lips filled me with desire and I didn’t care about anything else. He had me under his spell and I was sinking fast. And to think that humans believed sirens had all of the seductive powers.
He whispered my name so softly and his kisses grew hungrier. I was loving every moment of it. Each kiss made the fire within me burn brighter and fiercer. The life within me was finally being awakened again.
My fingers became tangled in his soft hair as he moved us away from the wall. He brought us to the bed and hovered over me as I fell back onto the cushioned mattress. He quickly removed his shirt and my dress before I had the chance to protest—not that I wanted to. This was moving a little too fast for me, but it felt too good to stop him. Especially when his lips moved to my neck and made their way down. There was no coming back from that.