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“Man overboard!” Roslyn shouts, but I barely hear it.
“No!” I rush over to the edge, peering into the water. She’s impossible to miss. Her body seems to glow under the water, taking on a shimmer like fish scales, but she’s not covered in scales. Her skin is pearly white. She looks bigger, no longer fragile, but strong and healthy. She circles in place, as though she’s… stretching, breathing in fresh air for the first time.
From under the water, her face turns upward. I can see her now piercing-blue eyes—no longer green—even from this distance. She smiles at me. Her hand opens and closes, beckoning me to follow. Then she takes off like a shot, swimming at an impossible speed through the water, away from the keep.
Away from me.
Chapter 8
“THAT’S IT?” I SCREAMthe words, though I know she can’t hear me. “Ava-lee! Get back here!”
Doesn’t she know I can’t follow her? Surely she knows what happens when I’m in the water? I can’t control myself! Can she? Is she the same person who was just talking to me? She’s not human. Does she turn into a monster when she’s underwater as I do?
She left.
She’s gone.
I saved her. I put myself and others at risk for her. And now we’ve nothing to show for it.
Was it all a ruse? Her pretending that she cared? Was it alljust a trick she used to get me to save her? Was the humanity an act?
A tapping at my back makes me flinch, but it is only little Roslyn.
“What happened, Captain? Who was the pretty lady? Do we throw her a rope?”
A voice that doesn’t seem to belong to me says, “She was no one. She doesn’t need our help anymore. Roslyn, go on back to your station. I need you to tell me if any ships gain on us.”
“Aye-aye.”
A numbness takes over me as I shut out all thoughts of my parents and what they’ve done. There is nothing except me and my crew. Nothing that matters except our safety and well-being. We are being hunted. What do we do?
Sheabandonedme.
No—
I tamp down the thought.
Don’t think of anything else, Alosa. Your crew is counting on you.
“Kearan!” I say. “Find a suitable port to deposit our extra passengers.” Riden and Draxen are not part of my crew. The king isn’t hunting them down. There’s no reason to drag them into this.
But then you might never see Riden again.…A glimmer of feeling tries to sneak through the cracks. I board them up, let nothing but the numbness enter.
In a voice loud enough for all to hear, I say, “I brought the pirate king after us. There’s nothing I can do to change that now. But we can survive this.”
“What’s the plan, Captain?” Niridia asks.
“My father is so feared because he has nearly every man on the sea under his employ. If we’re to bring him down, we need to take that away.”
“Pirates are loyal only to whoever has the most gold to pay,” Mandsy says. “Present company excluded, of course.”
“Exactly. We have copies of all three pieces of the map. We’re sailing to the Isla de Canta and taking the sirens’ treasure for ourselves.”
Sorinda, who stands behind Kearan’s shoulder, says, “Then starts the reign of the pirate queen.”
“Rah!” cheers the crew.
Though I’m certain I have the support of all, I add, “If anyone has a problem with the plan, they can leave when we drop off our prisoners.”
