“I warned you I’d sink your ship,” I rasped. “And I'm not a whore. I'm the witch of Leihani.”
Then I coiled myself around his waist and tugged him under the waves.
His scream carried into the water. Light danced from the surface, glittering over the pale-gold scales of my tail as I pulled him down. He fought me, kicking and twisting, screaming as we sank, the water drawing us in and driving us down.
The heavy weight in my skull nudged the sides of my head.
I’d been imagining his death for days.
But I didn’t have time to kill him.
Relief trickled in as I chose to spare his life, surprising me. But I didn't have time to contemplate that either.
I snaked my hand into his pocket, fingers closing on a soggy, folded paper.
Then I darted away, leaving him suspended in the sea.
Where was Kye?
Where, where, where—
Surfacing, I tucked Kriska’s letter into my bralette.
Barrels and crates littered the surface of the water. The ship bobbed ahead, slowly fracturing apart. Men floated all around me, but I swerved between them, climbing the broken hull on my forearms and tail, squinting my eyes against the shining waves.
I froze.
Someone was shouting my name.
There—on the other side of the ship. A small rowboat holding a single man, desperately searching the water.
I dove, clean and deep, arcing wide under the ship and debris. The keel of Kye’s dinghy called me forward and up, a round belly protruding from the shifting surface.
“Kye,” I called as my face met the cold wind. His eyes snapped to meet mine. Under the waves, I forced my tail to recede.
Nothing about the transition felt smooth. My tail separated into legs, floppy and ungainly. I bent my knees to tread water, but they didn’t respond. Try as I might, the use of my feet seemed lost.
He dropped his oars, reaching for me, pulling me up with a single hand. As if I were nothing more than a leaf floating on a puddle.
Eyes half closed, I glanced back at the destroyed ship as Kye grasped his oars, throwing his weight into each press of his chest.
In the distance, a second dinghy emerged, the pirates on board watching us. Their faces shriveled into hateful sneers, though they’d turned in the opposite direction. Just beyond their prow, Captain Kriska swam toward them.
Sleep burned the edges of my mind. The world dimmed. Somewhere deep inside, I was awake enough to feel panic flicker.
My head nodded, and I banged it on the side of the boat as my body lost the will to keep me upright.
“Lay down,” Kye commanded, groaning in pain as he lit into his stroke.
I obeyed, only because I couldn’t stay upright, and realized the shaft of an arrow protruded from over his shoulder blade.
In the distance, the pirate dinghy turned toward us.
My chin fell into my chest.
At my feet, Kye hissed as he pressed forward.
The sky flickered. I forced my eyes open.
