She hisses as Quenith floats behind her, her white eyes feral and glowing in the dark.
I try to back away, to get the hell out of the water, but the pirate holds me tight to his side. “Please, please let me go.”
“Get out of here!” he bellows and raises the oar.
Both mermaids hiss then disappear beneath the black waves.
The pirate tosses the oar behind us, then scoops me into his arms and carries me to the sand. Once we’re a good distance away from the water, he sits me down and kneels beside me.
“Took a bite, did she?” He grips my pants leg and rips it open.
I’m crying too hard to even protest, my entire body exhausted as I lie back and stare up at the stars. The howls continue, beasts lurking just beyond the trees. I can’t focus on them though,because the pain in my calf is a supernova. It burns and spreads up my leg until I’m whimpering from the bite, my tears confused about whether they’ve been summoned because of fear or pain.
“This is going to sting, lass.” He leans over me and pulls a bottle from behind him. Maybe from his back pocket. Then he pulls the cork out with his teeth and spits it into the sand. When he looks up at me, I see his eyes—the deep blue that somehow holds more secrets than a cerulean sea. “It’s all right to scream.” He pours, and a white-hot burn rockets through my nerve endings.
I take his advice and let out a ripping cry, my throat tearing to shreds as I wail. My back arches, my body rebelling, but he holds my thigh, his big palm keeping me flat on the ground as I try to writhe away from him. He pours a little more where Marinda slashed me with her claws.
“Breathe, lass. Breathe through it.”
I let out another weak scream then suck in a deep breath. Then another.
“Good. Keep that up. The worst is over.” He stows the bottle then grabs one of his sleeves and rips it clean off. After a quick dash to the sea, he returns and wraps it around my wound—one I’m too afraid to even peek at. “Sea water will help it stay clean and heal. She didn’t take a chunk out, which is good. Just a sample bite.”
“A sample bite?” My voice is crushed glass.
He ties the material, and I wince when I feel the pressure. “All good here.” He turns to me. “You can’t blame Marinda too much.”
“Oh, I certainlycan.” I wipe the tears that roll down my temples.
He shrugs. “She’s a wild thing. Everything here is. And when the moon’s high—” He jerks his chin toward the almost-full orb. “—they lose what little bits of sense they have. It’s not their fault. It’s just their nature.”
“They were going to drown me and eat me.” I shiver. “Even after they saved me from you.”
“Like I said, lass, it’s their nature.” He takes my hand and pulls me until I’m sitting.
My head swims, and I see two of him for a moment before my vision clears.
“If it makes you feel any better, I gave Marinda a solid whack with the oar. She’ll be feeling that for a while. I’ve no doubt she’ll be out for revenge against me.” He gives me a grim smile. “I almost killed her, to be honest, when I saw she had you.”
“Your boss wants me that badly?” I ask and press a hand to my forehead.
“Aye.” He stands and takes my hands, pulling me to my feet. “He’ll stop at nothing to have you.”
I put a little weight on my leg. It stings like all hell, but it doesn’t give way. Maybe I’m going to survive.
“Now, if I remember correctly, you and I made a bargain—” He gasps and staggers back.
“What …” My eyes widen when I see an arrowhead poking through his shoulder, blood soaking through what’s left of his white shirt. “No!” I look toward the woods and see Peter loading another arrow into his bow. “Peter, don’t!”
He pulls back and lets another arrow fly, but the pirate darts toward the sea. The arrow barely misses him as he runs, and the first arrow protrudes from his back.
“Peter, stop!” I yell, but he’s already nocked another arrow.
Coy runs down the slope toward me, Foy right behind him. “Moira!”
The pirate splashes into the water, then dives. Peter looses his arrow. It pierces the surf then floats up. The pirate doesn’t surface. I watch, my eyes on the sea even as Coy comes to my side, he and Foy asking if I’m all right.
I watch and wait, but the pirate never comes up. Tears rekindle in my eyes as Coy kneels to inspect my leg.
