“You brought that bitch of a daughter ontomyship.Bleu’sdaughter.” I’m on him in two steps. My fist knots in his collar and I slam him back against the wall, hard enough to rattle the desk behind him. My grip tightens, choking him slightly.
“Never call her that,” I snarl. “The only bitch on this ship is you.” He spits in my face. I don’t flinch, but the heat coming off my skin is near volcanic. Magic pulses at my fingertips, itching to lash out, to burn something. I drop him. “Who told you?” I stare down at him.
“Why would I give away any of my secrets to you?” he coughs out. He crumples to his knees, coughing, hands trembling withrage or weakness. “If you don’t get her off this ship,” he wheezes, “I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” I cut in, stepping closer. “You’ll kill her? Threaten her again and I’ll drop your sorry ass at the next port. Let’s see how long a sick old man lasts out there.” His eyes shift, landing on the sea outside the window. It’s the only thing that calms him. But this time, even that doesn’t work.
“You’d choose her over your own blood?” he growls.
I crouch down, meeting his gaze, my voice low and dangerous. “I willalwayschoose her,” I say. “I will kill for her.Especiallymy own blood.”
He recoils in disgust—not at my words, but at me. Because the woman he hates more than anything, the daughter of his greatest enemy, is the one whose soul is now tied to mine. And he’ll never understand how vital she is. Not just to the ocean, but to me.
“This isn’t your ship anymore,” I growl. “It’s mine. You lost her the moment you made a deal with the devil. And when I slayed the Kraken.” He stays on his knees, staring at his hands like they’re strangers. Good. Let him sit in that silence. I feel nothing for the man in front of me. Years and years of abuse have boiled down to the abuser on his knees, broken and small.
Everything he did in life was for himself. Gold. Power. Pleasure. He was a slave to temptation, bedding every whore who crossed his path, drowning in rum, leaving wreckage behind like it was his calling card. A disease wearing a pirate’s skin.
But I won’t lie, he was damn good. Ruthless, heartless, one of the best to ever haunt the seas.
As a father? He was the worst. He beat me as a child—not even a few years old. He wanted me to be so many things from the moment I was born. Strong, but never stronger than him.Powerful, but always beneath his shadow. He saw it early on, that I’d outshine him one day. And his jealousy cost him a son.
“Remember who made you, boy,” he croaks, his voice cracked from the strain of my grip. He hauls himself up, leaning on the chair for balance. The fire still burns behind his eyes, but his body is crumbling beneath it. I meet his stare, calm and cold.
“You didn’t make anything,” I spit. “You were too busy chasing your next fix.” I take a step forward. He doesn’t move. “The crew shaped me. I made me. Every scar, every battle, every brutal lesson, I survived it. Not because of you. But in spite of you.” I lean in, my voice dropping. “My mother gave me more than you ever did. And she wasn’t even there.” He flinches. “Her magic made me powerful before I could even walk. And you’ve spent your whole life running from what I was born to become.”
He shoots me a sharp look of disgust. “Don’t speak of your mother to me.”
“Why?” I snap. “Because you don’t even know who she is? I was just dropped off on this ship, and you decided you needed an heir. You realized I had magic, so you kept me. And threw her away.”
His expression shifts. For a moment, there's a flicker of pain in his eyes. Real pain. I’ve never seen it before. “I do know who she is, Kai,” he says quietly. “I loved that woman. But she chose power over you. Over us.”
His voice cracks. “I was a shit father, I know that. But at least you were cared for. She left you. She left me.” He pauses, staring past me like he's chasing ghosts. “I never loved another after her. She was my one and only.”
I’m stunned. My father has never spoken to me about her, not once. Whenever I tried to find a lead on who she was, all tracks were covered. Even the crew doesn’t know anything about her, like some hidden mind control. “What kind of power did she possess?” I ask quietly.
“She’s a witch, son. A powerful one,” he said, voice low. “That’s where your magic comes from. All magic comes with a price. Why do you think I’m sick? Who do you think I made a deal with?”
Horror twists in my gut. Bile rises in my throat. “She did this to you?”
He shakes his head and steps toward me. “I did this to myself. I made a deal with the devil. All magic comes with a price.” Then, just like that, his clarity snaps.
His eyes shift. The awareness drains from them, replaced by anger. Wild. Unhinged. His short-lived lucid moment is over.
I wanted to ask him more. What deal did he make? What bargain could turn a man into this? Trapped between death and life, a fate worse than either.
“We have to sail north! Get him out of my way, move him! That bastard’s always causing problems. North!” Pacing back and forth, arms flailing, his voice rises into gibberish. He’s completely forgotten I’m there.
I exhale slowly and reached for my magic, slipping into his mind just enough to soothe him, redirecting his wild thoughts to stillness. It takes effort, but eventually, he calms. I guide him back to his bed. He collapses into it, fast asleep and breathing steady.
I stand over him, watching the rise and fall of his chest. The man who once ruled the sea, now a prisoner of his own madness. So many things have gone wrong in his life. He deserved most of it, but maybe not all.
I step out, locking the door behind me.The mighty have fallen, I think grimly. And now, we have a snake on this ship. Because whoever told my father that Mira was on board will live to regret it.
Chapter twenty-two
Kai
Lagoon Heart
