12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter Twelve
I fall in and out of consciousness as strong hands pull me from the depths. The sea lifts in shades of blue as the pressure on my body lifts with every heartbeat.
We break through the surface. Instead of gasping for air, my chest jerks uselessly, lungs burning as they try to pull in breath and only drag water in instead.
I cough so hard my body folds in on itself.
Panic crashes back in as I realize I’m still drowning, even with my head above the water, my lungs are full of the sea.
My limbs are too numb, too weak – to swim on my own.
Then there’s pressure on my ribs, and a warm body behind me.
Arms tighten around me as they pull me against a hard chest, causing me to choke.
He repeats the motion, and I choke again.
Only this time, the water I’ve been holding bursts out of me.
I cough and choke out more and more water until finally, I can pull in air.
“Don’t you dare die now, little fish.”
The world turns. One arm slides around my waist, while his other hand keeps my head above the surface. Then he draws me back against his chest. Instead of the horizon, there’s a cloudless sky. Sable keeps me afloat.
I draw in another long breath. Then exhale, and repeat.
“There you go.”
I tell myself that I can float here with him for a little while longer and pretend. Pretend that I was not forced to walk the plank, that I didn’t almost drown. That he didn’t jump after me. When the coughing finally eases, he loosens his hold slightly, keeping one arm firmly around my waist.
“Slow breaths,” he instructs.
Then he shifts again, guiding me back until my legs find the rhythm of kicking again. I draw in another breath and begin to move, the water beneath me finally making sense again.
I can’t help myself, I glance at the legs beneath the surface. I didn’t expect to see a tail, but the sight still hurts. When I look back up, Sable is in front of me, his storm-grey eyes staring into mine.
“Why?” My words break, the salt in my throat still stinging and making it hard to speak.
“Because if there’s the slightest chance that you can help us, I can’t risk losing you.” He confesses, “And because I wasn’t going to let the sea take you on my watch.”
“Captain!” A voice carries from above, and I look up. The Noctis looms over us, dark and solid against the brightness of the sea. Her hull cuts a sharp line through the turquoise water, like she doesn’t belong in a place this bright.
It is only now that I see it.
The Sea of Renewal glows around us, sunlight breaking into shards as it hits the surface. The water sparkles, almost alive, threads of light swirling and folding into each other.
My gaze drifts back to Sable.
If he was wounded when he jumped in after me…
The thought settles heavily in my chest. Whatever it took from him, it won’t return. He took a risk for me. A real one.
Before I can say anything, something heavy splashes down beside us. A rope hits the water, sending ripples racing outward.
Sable keeps one firm arm around my waist while his other hand catches the line bobbing between us. The rope goes taut as he grips it, anchoring us both.
I hear movement above us, then the scrape of rope against wood. A ladder drops over the side of the ship, slapping against the hull before settling into the water beside us.
He shifts us closer to the ladder, positioning me between himself and it.
“Slow,” he says, then lifts me just enough for me to catch the rope and pull myself onto the first rung.
I climb, shaking, water streaming from my dress, the ladder swaying beneath me with every moment.
The narrow planks are slick and tilt under my feet, forcing me to grip the rope tighter.
I drag myself up one rung, then another, my limbs heavy and so awfully slow.
My foot misses once, scraping hard against the hull.
I take a moment and press my forehead to the thick rope, fighting the dizziness that threatens to take me under again.
I know he’d catch me if I slipped. His presence edges behind me the entire way up. Only when my hands close around the railing do I glance over my shoulder.
There he is, a few feet below me, fully clothed and just as drenched. Further down, on the surface of the cursed water, his beloved tricorn hat drifts, bobbing gently.
“Your hat—”
“I’ll organize a new one,” he says with a wink, leaving me speechless. This man is something else, unlike anyone I have met before.
A firm grip closes around my upper arm and pulls me over the railing. I land on my knees, crashing against the deck, the impact sending a sharp wave of pain through my body. I brace myself and lean against the hull, my breathing uneven and fast.
Sable is hauled up next, landing on his feet with great ease.
Strangely, it’s silent around us, the rest of us staring at us in stunned disbelief.
Murmurs and protests ripple through the crew.
A pirate near the mast lets out a sharp breath, his jaw tightening as his gaze flickers between the captain and me.
One of the gunners mutters something under his breath, too quiet to make out, but the man next to him answers with a curse.
No one returns to their work.
“What are y’all gawking at? Get back to your stations, savvy?” Sable barks.
A few men move, but only hesitantly. About half of the crew remains, their eyes fixed on me, and the hatred on them tells me exactly how they voted. The murmurs don’t die but rise into restless shouts.
“We did not vote for this!”
“You broke the code!”
“You saved a bloody siren!”
I lower my head, but every word lands anyway. I know this situation could shift into something much worse if Sable doesn’t calm them down soon. They are not done with me, not even the slightest. If anything, this has made it worse.
The wood creaks as one of the men steps forward. When I look up, a dark figure looms over me. As expected, it’s Rat. His patched-up coat whips around him as he points a finger at Sable, who couldn’t look more unbothered.
“You broke the code, Captain,” he spits the last word, saliva splattering on Sable’s cheek. “Just know that overruling our decision will have consequences, captain or not. Mark my words.”
He turns to me, his gaze crawling over my soaked form with open disgust. “Enjoy your prize. She is your responsibility now.” A disgusting, rotten-toothed grin cuts across his face. “I’ll enjoy watching you climb over that railing under the sea whore’s compulsion and throw yourself to your death.”
The blow comes without warning.
Sable’s fist slams into Rat’s jaw, snapping his head to the side and sending him stumbling. Skin splits, and blood spills down his face, trickling over his chin.
The siren inside me smiles. She relishes the sight of his bleeding face. But I’m too stunned to fully grasp what just happened.
Rat wipes the blood away with the back of his hand, then staggers toward the captain again.
“You wanted to say something?” Sable lifts a brow, baring his teeth in a grin.
Rat’s hand moves to the mount at his waist, fingers brushing his cutlass—
“Enough.”
Grim steps in, grabbing Rat by the front of his shirt and hauling him back. “I don’t appreciate the captain’s actions either, but it is what it is. You can call for mutiny if that’s what you want, however, you know the crew. They’re loyal to him. You’d lose everything.”
The weight of the words settles in Rat’s posture. The tension drains from his body, and he gives a stiff nod. Grim releases him, and a moment later, they both leave the main deck.
Sable helps me to my feet as the crew gets back to work around us.
Ropes are pulled tight, and the sails are adjusted to help the ship gain speed again.
Moments later, the Noctis groans beneath us as she cuts through the water.
The sounds of the ship carry on around me, routine and indifferent, as if no one just watched a man get punched for my sake.
As if no one just sent me off the plank to my death, then watched the captain decide my life was worth saving.
“Wait here,” he instructs, and I furrow my brows as he leaves. He disappears into the cabins beneath the quarterdeck and returns shortly after with one of the wool blankets I saw in his room yesterday.
He drapes it over my shoulders and nods toward the bow. “You owe me a few answers.” And with that, he strides along the main deck in steady steps, expecting me to follow.
My legs are still shaking as I trail closely behind him, each step feeling slightly delayed, until we reach the very end of the ship.
Sable leans against the railing, studying me carefully, the sea stretching endlessly behind him and outlining his frame with a subtle golden glow.
For a moment, it feels like the rest of the ship falls away, and it is only the two of us.
I pull the blanket tighter around myself, the warmth settling my body a little.
My thoughts, on the other hand, are still a tangled mess.
I know the reasoning behind his actions, or at least what he told me.
I might be useful, so he wanted to keep me.
I always knew pirates liked to hoard what they found.
If he already decided I was worth saving, he could have stepped in sooner, could have spared me the walk to the plank.
Instead, he let it unfold, let them cast their votes, only to ignore them at the end.
None of it makes sense.
“That frown of yours tells me you’re not happy about being saved,” he says. “Or is it simply that you dislike me?”
I exhale quietly and keep my distance, not trusting myself to answer immediately.
“No. I mean, of course I didn’t want to drown, it’s just—”
“It’s just that you sank to the bottom of the ocean like a bloody stone,” he cuts in.
“Hell, you didn’t even put up a fight. Are you quite mad?
” His chest rises and falls once, measured, like he’s forcing the anger back down.
I feel cornered, even though what he’s suggesting isn’t entirely true.
I didn’t want to die. But I knew that if I didn’t force my shift, I’d be dead anyway.
“I was hoping for that—”
“I know what you were hoping for,” he interrupts sharply. “Don’t think I didn’t notice how you stared at your legs in disappointment. And the amount of water you must’ve swallowed.”
Heat rushes to my cheeks, and for the first time, I can’t meet his gaze. I stare at my feet as a knot tightens in my throat. It feels wrong to have something so intimate seen so clearly.
“The tribunal should’ve enforced the sea’s will,” he continues. “I trusted its decision—until I saw you sinking. I need you alive, little fish. And you do not deserve to die. So I stepped in.”
I nod once, because I don’t trust myself to say anything.
Useful things are kept. That doesn’t mean they’re wanted.
Silence stretches between us until I sigh and lean against the railing beside him.
The sun hangs low now, tinting the sky gold.
Below, the enchanted water sparkles, ribbons of pink and orange folding into one another.
“You still took a risk,” I say quietly, and catch him turning toward me from the corner of my eye. “I hope whatever the sea took from you will be worth losing in the end.” I hesitate for a moment. “Because we both know I don’t control the Glim.”
“You don’t know that for sure.” His voice is calm. “You’re a siren, little fish. Tail or not, you wield the magic of the sea.”
A short laugh slips out of me. “Wielding is a strong word for what I’m capable of.”
“I think you’re capable of more than you think.” His gaze sharpens. “And I know you’d be better at it if you’re not dead.”
Before I can react, he grips the side of my head and turns my face toward him, firm enough that I stumble half a step closer. He’s close enough that I can feel the heat of him through the blanket, and my pulse jumps in answer to his questioning eyes.
“So don’t ever try to drown yourself again,” he says quietly. “Okay?”
The light in his grey eyes looks like polished metal for a moment, and I hate how easily it pulls me in.
“We’ll see about that,” I say, not breaking eye contact.
He releases me at once.
“You’ll summon the Glim again tomorrow,” he says, already stepping back from me. “We start after breakfast.”
He turns on his heel, his wet coat whipping around him as he heads for the steps, throwing droplets of water into the air.
“Wait,” I call after him. “Am I not sleeping in my cell? Where do I sleep?”
He keeps walking away from me, not even bothering to shoot me a backward glance as he gives his last remarks.
“Ship’s big enough, darling.”