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“Well?” he asks impatiently.
She tilts her head. “Last time we were at an impasse, you offered yourself. That won’t do this time. I know what I want. The woman who wants to be a mermaid. You give her to me, and I give you your crew back. You keep her to yourself, and your crew will be at rest forever.” Her gaze slides to mine, the copper in her eyes glowing, thoroughly enjoying this.
I gulp, feeling the weight of this decision. Ramsay is hesitating, panic and pain swirling in his eyes as he looks at me. He doesn’t want to pick me over his crew, and he doesn’t want to pick his crew over me. Last time we were in this exact predicament things ended in mutiny and I won’t have that happen to theNightwindagain. My life is certainly not worth all the lives of his crew, especially the children.
“I’ll go,” I say quickly, looking Nerissa right in the eyes. I keep my chin up, my voice steady, and walk toward her. “It’s fine.”
“Maren, no!” Ramsay cries out, trying to reach for me, but Nerissa pins him in place with her gaze.
“She has volunteered and that is binding.” She grins at me, a pretty but menacing smile. “Perhaps she’s the one I wanted all along.” She holds out her hand for me. “Come now, my raven-haired child. We have much to discuss.”
“Wait,” I say, looking behind me at the crew. “I’m not going anywhere until you lift the spell. I need to know I can trust you.”
She sighs and then shrugs. “Alright, but when I lift the spell, it will awaken Sterling as well. He’s hanging in chains around the corner, but he can be awfully loud.”
“Who put him in the chains?” Ramsay asks.
“Your crew did. He’s a mutineer, after all, and your crew is loyal.”
Then she waves her fingers at the hold and both Ramsay and I watch with bated breath as they slowly begin to stir, limbs twitching, eyes fluttering.
“It will take them some time to come out of it,” she explains, then reaches down and grabs my hand. It’s surprisingly warm and soft.
But I pull back. “And I want another favor,” I tell her. “Our mate Sedge fell victim to the curse. He’s waiting on theNorfinnright now. I need you to reverse it. He didn’t deserve it, not even a little.”
She looks put-upon but she just closes her eyes and snaps her fingers. “There. Give it a few hours and he should be fine.”
“What about us?” the skeletal quartermaster asks.
She laughs, rolling her eyes to the ceiling. “You? Why on earth would I reverseyourcurse?”
“Because it’s been twenty years,” one of them says. “Don’t you think we’ve suffered and paid enough?”
“You know what you did,” she says, voice hard. “You know what you deserve. I delivered justice.”
Then she sighs, her shoulders softening a little. “I will free you from your curse,” she says and as they all gasp in shock she raises her palm, tiny golden starfish etched on her skin, “butyou will not be able to leave the islands to which you are tethered. Your ship will always keep you there, if another ship happens by, you’ll just be brought back by force of the gods. You will live there for the rest of your lives, which are now painfully mortal and short. You will only reside on my island, which is still uninhabited, so people will be safe from your ways. I doubt you ever learned any of your lessons.”
Then she closes her eyes and snaps her fingers again. “Now go,” she says, eyes open and blazing with golden flames. “Go back to your ship and set sail before I change my mind. And make sure to hand Sedge back over to his ship where he belongs.”
Though the skeleton crew doesn’t look any different, they seem to believe her and accept the terms. They all start running for the stairs, clattering up them and to the top deck.
“Don’t ever say I’m not fair,” she says to Ramsay, then she looks back at me. “Come now. We have much to discuss.”
She pulls me along toward the steps while Ramsay runs after us.
“Back!” she yells, whirling around with her palm displayed and Ramsay’s large body is shoved back to the ground. Then she takes me up the stairs, all the way to the main deck and into Ramsay’s quarters.
“What did the skeleton crew even do to you?” I ask her.
“They displeased me,” she says. “Trespassed on my island. Plundered the villages, raped the women. They are bad men. They deserved this fate.”
I can’t argue with that.
“Into the cage,” she says, gesturing to it.
I give her a pleading look. “I don’t think you know how much time I’ve spent in there already.”
“I will let you go,” she says. “I just want to talk to you without you struggling or forcing my magic on you. It gets tiring and I’m already exhausted.”
