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In the time I’ve known Sebastian, I’ve lived more than I have in twenty-three years. I’ve seen places beyond the castle walls. I’ve seen what family is supposed to be like in the way he cares for his crew and his sister—in the house he took me to in the Luminaries. I could feel it…
He’s given me a chance to care about someone more than myself, more than my kingdom, or the duty I was born for. With him, I’ve experienced what it’s like to care about someone so strongly that you’re willing to lay everything on the line. Even if it’s only for a chance of them breathing for one more second.
He’s the first to show me love… Even if it isn’t that yet, it feels like it. No one has ever looked at me like he does. Not even Zelix. No one has ever cared enough about my opinion to ask for it or worry for my well-being enough to be scared when it’s in jeopardy. No one’s ever gone out of their way to soothe my soul or make me feel safe.
I’d die for him, even if it’s by his hand in which I bleed.
Blinking long and hard, I lower my face from the sky and gather the courage to glance over my shoulder. His hair and clothes are soaked, dripping water onto the deck, and the expression on his face is unreadable. Though I can tell by the way his chest heaves with every angry breath that he knows… He knows my secret, along with everyone else on this ship.
The wind whips around me, tugging at my hair and billowing my linen shirt against my body. Blood drips from my fingers, coming from the nail wounds in my hands. My heart pounds relentlessly into my ribs, like it knows at any moment it’ll break. I tear my eyes away, jumping the moment his voice tears through the air.
“Look at me!” His voice strains, raw from yelling commands. It’s cold, devoid of the warmth and teasing nature I’ve grown used to—that I took for granted. My chest tightens, the gravity of my predicament weighing upon it and making it hard to breathe.
Tears prick at the corners of my eyes as his footsteps grow closer, stopping behind me. “What did you just do?” He speaks quieter now, but it doesn’t change his tone. I can feel the tension rolling off him, poisoning the air.
“Maybe it just wasn’t used to seeing a lady on a pirate ship,” I whisper, my voice shaky with unshed tears.
He walks around me, the tips of his boots entering my vision as I zone my gaze out on the deck. “Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me I imagined it.”
“I can’t…” I swallow hard.
“Look. At. Me.” My hands tremble in my lap, but I do as he asks. “How long?” His eyes blaze, and I can see every muscle tense beneath his skin.
“Always,” I confess, my voice barely audible.
Sebastian’s anger seems to bubble over as he looks away, jaw clenching, but he says nothing. I can hear the sound of his teeth grinding. There’s no going back to how things were before… All I can do is steel myself for what comes next.
“Damn it, Scarlet,” he curses under his breath, gripping his jaw like it will relieve the tension there.
He gestures to his men and hands grip my shoulders hard enough to make me cry out as I’m forced to my feet. They start to drag me backward and my eyes flare wide. I know all too well that the plank exists on the far side of the ship, exactly where they’re going. They’re going to toss me over without asking for an explanation.
I squirm in their hands, wanting to yell that I can explain, or beg or plead for mercy, but I can’t get a single sound to leave my lips. The crewmen stop for a moment when Sebastian lifts his hand, and my lungs finally expand. Except it’s not understanding in his eyes. It’s white-hot fury as he storms forward and grips my chin, forcing me to look into his eyes.
“Keep fighting and I’ll drop you in the fucking prison hole myself,” he snarls, and his grip loosens as terror floods through me. “Do I need to bind your magic, or do you think we can be civil?”
“None of the other witches got a choice,” I reply before I can stop myself, taken aback by his question. I didn’t mean as a taunt, but Sebastian laughs humorlessly, his tone dry.
“None of the other witches were my fucking wife.” I flinch away at his words and he waves a dismissive hand at his men. “Get her out of my sight. I need a moment.”
“The grate to the hole is damaged, Captain. Should we lock her in her room?” says the man on my right.
Sebastian doesn’t even look up, just shakes his head. “Put her in mine. Bolt the fucking door if you have to.”
The crewmen obey and start dragging me toward the captain’s quarters. As we make our way, I glance at the crew crowded on the deck. Somehow, the looks on their faces manage to cut even deeper. I’m dead to them… Even Smee.
The only thing I can hope for is that when Sebastian calms down, he’ll hear me out. I need to give him a reason to keep me alive long enough for that to happen though, I just don’t know what that is.
21
Scarlet
Theangerboilsinsideme, festering like a wound left untreated. This entire fucking time Scarlet’s been a blood witch. How did I miss it? I should’ve seen her mark. I’ve seen every inch of her… How did I not notice? Yet there it was, glowing on her back, as she took control over that damned beast. The others saw it too. There’s no denying it now.
My mind is at war with itself, trying to reconcile everything I’ve come to know about Scarlet with what I know about blood witches. They killed my mother, and now, the woman I’m bound to is one. It’s maddening. I can feel every ounce of Scarlet’s pain and heartbreak, and it consumes my every breath to the point it hurts. I can feel my heart spaz inside my chest like it’s ready to stop beating altogether and I don’t know what to do.
“Captain,” Nelvin says, keeping his distance, but it’s impossible to miss the worry in his eyes. And in his ears. They always seem to sag a bit when he’s concerned. “We need to get the wreckage cleared up. Considering half the crew is gone, we really could use every hand we can get.”
“Fine,” I snap, grabbing a broken wooden plank and turning my back toward him.
