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When a hand touched my shoulder, I whipped around, pulling the blade from my sleeve and pointing it straight at the culprit.
“Noah?” I said with surprise as my eyes narrowed at his rugged expression. It was him, with a much more bold and unwavering air about him than before. “I’m surprised you didn’t start crying.” I muttered as I lowered my hand and put the blade away.
“Shut up, Sandy,” he spat, but a small half-grin formed on his face. “It’s…good to see you.”
I shook my head and turned around, hunching over the bar. “I’ll admit I’m glad to see you’re not dead. Mostly.”
“Look, man, are we really gonna still be like that after all this?” he exclaimed, sliding into the seat next to me.
“Consider me not punching you my apology. Why are you even here?” I took a swig of my drink. “You left Katrina and McKenzie to come here? I know they were with you.”
“I saw you by the docks and followed you here.” Noah hesitated for a moment. “McKenzie’s right outside. She didn’t want to come in here, understandably.” When he paused to sigh, I looked up. “But Katrina…”
“What about Katrina?” I slammed my drink on the counter, my voice rising.
“That’s why I followed you. Something’s wrong with her.”
I perked up, but I tried my hardest not to look too concerned. “She looked fine to me. In fact, she looked quite comfortable with Bellamy.”
“That’s my point, dude!” Noah leaned in, nudging my elbow with his. “She’s been acting strange…but it’s not her. It’s like something is controlling her. She told us herself she can’t stop it..”
“Go on.” I didn’t mean for the words to spill out so quickly, but they did.
“She’s put herself in danger more than once, doing stupid stuff like running up on deck during a battle with another ship, jumping overboard in the night, just crazy stuff. And yeah, she’s up Bellamy’s ass, but when she does these things it’s like she isn’t Katrina. It’s like she’s…someone else.”
A strange suspicion rose within me. If what I’d observed from the mermaids was true, then I supposed the things that lurked in their nature could be the same for Katrina. Perhaps it was diluted in her time…but here in this time when siren magic was aplenty in the seas, maybe somehow the ancient magic in her veins was awakened. And if what was happening to her was what I suspected, I knew I had to stop her before she lost herself completely. And if there was any small chance of keeping us afloat, I couldn’t abandon ship now.
“Where is she now?” I stood up, fearing the answer, fearing I had just made the biggest mistake of my life by not ripping her away from Bellamy when I had the chance.
Noah dropped his gaze. “She’s still back there. Valdez wouldn’t let Bellamy let her leave. He called some woman out from his cabin to talk to her or something.”
“What?” I took off before the word had even left my lips. I assumed McKenzie and Noah would follow, but I didn’t wait for them.
I darted through the town, back through the streets and toward the harbor, hating myself for not thinking straight earlier and leaving Katrina. This Bellamy wouldn’t have any idea that Katrina was a mermaid. He wouldn’t have realized the danger he was putting her in.
When I reached the harbor, Bellamy, Valdez, and Katrina were nowhere to be found. They must’ve taken her inside. The gangplank was up, and there was no way onto the ship. I quickly realized my only option was to climb the side of the ship. Just as I leapt into the water below, Noah and McKenzie arrived, skidding to stop behind me at the edge of the dock.
“Keep watch!” I ordered.
Grabbing the siding of the boat, I began my ascent, my fingertips gripping the thin wooden ledges that barely stuck out along the ship. My soaking wet clothing and boots made the climb all the more difficult. But I couldn’t afford to slip. The muscles in my knuckles ached as I held onto whatever I could manage to grab. When I reached a cannon, I sighed with relief, throwing my arm around it to haul myself up higher. It wasn’t the first time I’d climbed up the side of a ship. But I certainly hoped it would be the last.
When I finally reached the deck, I swung myself over the railing and glanced around for any sign of Katrina. Not a soul was on board. Eyeing the captain’s cabin, I wasted no time barging through the door, calling her name. But it was empty.
“Who are you and why are you looking for Katrina?” The voice that asked the question accompanied a shadow that darkened the doorway at my back.
I spun around to see Bellamy, standing with that arrogant demeanor I remembered so well. He watched me like an eagle locking onto its prey. I couldn’t show him my face, especially not that my younger self was locked on board below.
“Are you Milo?” His question nearly caused me to stumble. How could he know?
I stayed silent, still trying to figure out how he could recognize someone he’d never met yet. When he stepped forward, I drew the blade at my side.
“So you are him then.” With another step toward me, he placed his hands behind his back in a formal sort of manner.
“How do you know my name?” I uttered, knowing the less I said, the better. But I had to know.
“She called out your name in her sleep…No. Don’t worry, mate. It wasn’t like that…I made her sleep in my cabin to keep her safe.” He must have noticed the way my jaw clenched, and I tilted my head in a threatening way at his words. “After she jumped in the ocean trying to find you.”
I swallowed, taking in this information and trying to decide what to make of it.
