“There will be no deal,” I snap, my voice cutting clean through the rising storm. I step from behind Kai, planting myself between him and the monster who thinks he can make us choose. “Your deal was made. You take it, or you leave. Funny, I feel like I'm repeating myself. Am I not?”
Varn’s gaze sharpens, seething with insult. Before he can act, the ship lurches violently beneath us. Wood groans, sails whip, and the sea roars its fury. We all stumble. My breath catches as I find Kai’s grip on my arm, tight, grounding. He’s already in motion. “Look,” I whisper, pointing toward the horizon. But we both already know. The air has shifted.
Then, with eerie calm, Varn taps his sword twice on the deck. Tap. Tap. The sound is final. A death sentence.
We’ve arrived. Sirens Cove.
No land in sight. Only the sea, churning like it knows what’s coming. We are surrounded. Trapped. And whatever waits below, whatever ancient wrath has been stirred, will not be stopped. I take Kai’s hand, steady my breath, and lift my chin toward the storm. If this is how it ends, then let it be the kind of ending they’ll sing about for centuries. The kappas will not win this.
Let them remember that I didn’t run. Let them know I chose the fight. Let them know Kai and I were with each other till the very end. A siren and pirates’ tale as old as time.
“I was born from the tide,” I whisper, voice unshaking. “It's time to let it rise with me.”
Chapter thirty-eight
Kai
Heartbeat
A fucking whirlpool erupts beside our ship, massive, snarling, violent. A vortex of black water spirals faster and wider, like the sea has unhinged its jaw. The fog thickens, turning to smoke.
And then I feel the sirens. Their presence darkens the horizon, and for the first time in my life, the sight of inky black wavesbrings something close to relief. They’ve come for blood. For once, they’re on our side. Or so I hope.
I don’t take my eyes off Mira for a single goddamn breath. Even as my blade slices through kappas like paper, their bodies falling at my feet, their heads rolling across the deck like cursed dice, she’s right there beside me. Her blade is slick and dripping with the dark blue blood of the kappas, the same as mine. She slices them down like they aren't two feet taller than her. Her hands are sure, her stance unshakable. This war is ours to win.
The sirens’ discordant lullabies thread through the air and tangle the kappas’ minds, drawing them off balance. It’s a lullaby I haven't heard before. This is a song for the kappas and the kappas alone. None of my men are even fazed by it. It isn’t enough to end the battle, but it’s enough to make the monsters falter. Their eyes glaze, their movements stutter, giving us seconds. But that's all we need to cut them down.
Except Varn is still coming. He moves through the carnage, slicing through my crew without hesitation, eyes locked on Mira with unholy hunger. His shape is more beast than man now, taller, thicker, covered in seaweed and slick with saltwater, but all I see is red. The kind of red that only comes when the one thing you love most is threatened. And Iwillend him.
The rage races through my blood like lightning. He doesn’t get to touchher. He doesn’t even get to look at her. He wants war?
I am war.
I swing my blade, cutting down another kappa with a clean, brutal strike. Bone cracks and blood sprays across the deck like blue ink spilled from the sea. But then he appears. The one who always follows Varn’s lead is a towering shadow nearly as monstrous, a hybrid of man and shark. His skin is rough and gray, like stone worn smooth by the tide, the menace in him oozing with every step.
“I’ve been waiting for this,” he rumbles, voice low and cold as the deep.
“Then you know your life ends here,” I snap through gritted teeth.
He lunges, fast and wild, wielding jagged weapons crafted from sawfish and swordfish. His strikes are fast, but I move quicker, sidestepping with trained precision. Steel clashes against bone, sparks flying, and I drive my blade forward, slicing across his stomach.
The cut split him wide, his insides spilling like rotten cargo torn from a wreck. The sight churns my gut, but I don’t hesitate. Still, he grins.
A hideous, unholy grin, filled with rows teeth. “It doesn’t hurt, you know?” he rasps. “I’m already dead.” The way he says it, so calm and sure, sends a chill slicing down my spine.
The sirens’ song grows louder, their melodies warping the air around me, twisting through my mind. It’s not just noise, it’s a message. They're speaking to me, trying to send me a warning me.
Then my blood runs cold.
Mira.
Her heartbeat spikes, frantic, and terrified. She’s moving fast, but not toward me. No. She’s been cornered, I can tell. My chest tightens as the pieces slam into place. She was just beside me. How the hell did she get over there?
He took her.
While I was distracted by his monster of a second-in-command, Varn used the moment to pull her away, drawing her toward the quarterdeck, toward the sirens. But now she’s trapped. I curse under my breath, rage and panic flaring like wildfire in my veins. I have to get to hernow.
Mira’s locked in battle with Varn, fighting with every ounce of fury in her. She’s holding her own, blades flashing, but she’salone. I can’t look away, but I can’t move yet either. I still have a monster in front of me. If I don’t finish him, I’ll never reach her.
