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“And you think I should have sympathy for you?” I ask.
She just shoves me in the cage and locks it with a wave of her hands.
I turn around and grip the bars, hating that I’m back in here, even if it’s not at the hands of Ramsay this time.
“What do you want with me?” I ask.
“What do you want withme?” she counters. “You know, Maren, there’s something not right about you and I have a very good sense about people.” She pauses, brushing her kelp hair behind her ear. “But you’re not people, are you? Not human. And therein lies the problem.”
I straighten my back, a chill in my veins. “What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. I see those gills on your neck. I heard you asking to me to turn you into a mermaid. I saw you jump overboard to save Bones and stay under that water for an awfully long time. Not to mention what my cursed Syrens told me later.” She takes a step toward me until she’s right up against the cage. “They told me that you’re one of them.”
“They don’t know what they’re talking about,” I say, wanting to mention that I kicked their heads right off.
“They do. They’ve heard the stories about a Syren who walks, who bargained with a sea witch. That she lives among humans, unable to return to her past form.” She smiles at me. “That Syren isyou.”
A malevolent smile stretches my lips. “If that’s true…” I begin.
My arm shoots straight out through the bars of the cage, not going for her heart this time but around her throat, my claws extending, my teeth sharpening as I bare them at her. “Then you have made a grave mistake.”
Her eyes widen, her hands going to mine to try and pry my fingers off but my claws are digging into her neck, drawing metallic green blood that runs down in rivulets. She closes her eyes, trying to recite words, perhaps a spell and she’s throwing around her hands but I won’t let go. I squeeze and squeeze, feeling her drain beneath my hand.
“Maren!” Ramsay yells and I quickly glance at the door where he runs in.
“I’ve got her,” I say, bringing my eyes back to the witch. “Grab her!”
He pauses. “I’ve got reinforcements.” He says this in such a way that it takes me a moment to realize what he means by it.
My claws. My teeth. The crew can’t see me like this.
I immediately let go of Nerissa, my claws disappearing into nails, and she falls to the ground just as Thane and Cruz run in, looking a little worse for wear. They run straight to her and grab her on either side, hauling her to her feet.
She looks consumed and barely struggles against their grip. She stares at me like she’s hurt, as I’ve offended her somehow.
“Heigh-ho, Maren,” Cruz says, staring at me in awe. “You certainly know how to defend yourself.”
I can’t even smile at that. I watch as Ramsay takes a key from his pocket and opens the door to the cage, then pulls me out of it while Nerissa is shoved in to take my place, falling against the bars. I watch as he quickly locks the door with that key and the three of them step back.
“How will that keep her in there? Won’t she just use a spell?”
“Witches don’t want you to know that their power isn’t limitless,” he says to me with a smirk. “She’s used a lot of hers already. And at any rate, not every witch can undo every spell.” He waves the key at me. “This key can open any lock and it can close any lock. My magic is equal and that cage is specially magicked to keep her from using hers.”
“And that match I’ve seen you carry?”
He pats his pocket proudly. “Another piece of magic I was gifted. A set of endless matches that can create flames at any time.”
“Fine,” Nerissa says hoarsely, coughing as she presses her hand to her neck, the metallic green blood shimmering as it goes over her fingers. “Keep me in here. I told you I wanted to be on your ship anyway. Why not in the captain’s quarters where I have the best access to Bones here?”
“I think it’s time you shut up, harpy,” Thane scowls at her.
Her eyes light up when she slides her gaze to his. “Andyou. My fate. I used your crystal, Thane,” she says. “Don’t you wonder what I saw in that purple light?”
Thane growls, making a move for the cage but Cruz reaches out and holds him back. “Don’t bother with her,” Cruz says. “I know witches, and she’s unhinged like the rest of them.”
“Oh, you call your own mother unhinged, Isaac?” she says in a silky tone, eyeing Cruz now. “I know that you left her back in Sierra Leone. I know that she was a witch herself, queen of the village. How much of her blood magic is in you, hey handsome?”
“I didn’t leave—” he starts and then he gives his head a shake. He looks to Ramsay and Thane. “I think it’s best that we leave her here before she tries to get in our heads.”
