Chapter 24 #2
Kellan stiffened, but his lips popped into a cocky smirk as his hand went to the handle of his curved blade.
His dark eyes drifted to mine once more before darting back to my lips.
My lungs swelled as I held my breath until he released me from his gaze.
He strode through the room and into the dim light filtering through the sails of the Hydra.
Isla and I followed the pirates to the main deck, where a small group of men stood shoulder to shoulder. Their backs were pressed to the mast, and their arms were tied down with rough, thick rope.
I scanned the pirates, not recognizing any of them from Kellan’s original crew.
Ugly snarls painted their faces as we stepped from the captain’s quarters.
Vulcan stood to the side, his tattooed arms crossed in front of his chest as a warm, spring breeze floated through Kellan’s shield.
Vulcan’s hazel eyes narrowed on the man in the middle, a blonde-haired pirate with a jagged scar lining his neck.
Raek stopped opposite of where Vulcan stood, his gaze shooting briefly to the ex-War Slayer and back to the group of men. The rest of the crew had gathered, filling in from the stern, and I noted Aeriden manning the helm at the quarterdeck.
Kellan’s swaggering steps turned deadly and deliberate as he strode to where the blonde man in the center was tied. Without speaking a word, Kellan unsheathed his curved blade and plunged it into the pirate’s gut.
The man let out a gut-curdling cry as Kellan shoved it further, the tip of it slicing the side of the man tied next to him, angling the blade so it didn’t ram into the mast.
“P-please—” The man struggled to form words as blood pooled between his lips, the hatred in his eyes morphing into desperation.
My body was still. My heart was surprisingly calm as Kellan watched the life leave the eyes of the pirate from a breath away. A distant curiosity formed in the back of my mind, a quick reflection of who I’d become as I watched the execution without flinching.
Lines of blood inched toward where I stood, and another memory floated forward.
A vision, or a dream, perhaps, after Cyril had slit my throat.
A young man on a ship, not unlike this one.
It was hazy, the details obscure as I tried to recall the others onboard, but I could only remember his scared eyes…
I scanned the pirates onboard the Hydra, all of us watching with calm calculation. These were warriors. And they all had complete and utter faith in the man slaughtering in the center. I scanned his broad frame, a reluctant certainty washing over me. I was safe here.
Kellan ripped the blade free, giving it a rough flick of his wrist, blood splattering the dry deck surrounding him. He turned to the others tied in the center, making eye contact with each, but not uttering a word.
He circled the mast, his curved blade drawing a crimson line in his wake until he stopped at one man, his brows narrowed. His gaze shot to Raek once before he stepped away and strode to the second set of stairs at the back of the deck.
Raek gave a quick nod to the pirates nearest him, and they converged on the men in the center.
The sharp whine of their blades were drowned by the cries of the men they began to butcher.
Raek gripped the man Kellan had paused at, untying him and shoving him into Vulcan’s arms, who swiftly tied his hands behind his back and led him to where Kellan vanished.
“What was that about?” I asked as Raek finally turned from the limp and bleeding men now slumped to the ground.
The executions were quick and bloody. Crewmembers began to drag them to the side of the ship, swinging their bodies over the edge and into a watery grave.
Raek pulled a stained handkerchief from his pocket and wiped the blood from his hands, side-stepping toward me and eyeing the dark staircase.
“Last summer when we planned the attack on the Centurion at the Death Dunes…” Raek paused, keeping his voice low and eyeing the rest of the crew returning to their duties. His sea green eyes slid to mine. “Sorry about that, by the way.”
My lips pursed as I recalled the slaughter, but I nodded for him to continue.
“Lord Haro, the fifth Marisarma, was supposed to be there. We’d intended on taking out all of the Marisarma Lords in one go, but he never showed. Someone leaked the plans to him, which meant we had a spy.”
My stomach plunged as my mind shot to Vienah, another spy in Kellan’s midst. Guilt collided with the heartbreaking evisceration of friendship, and now a strange sort of shame as I drew closer to Kellan.
“But we’d yet to root him out. And things had quieted since then, but when the sirens showed up—”
“Sirens?” I turned toward him, and my mind jumped to the stories in Fabia’s Fables. “Fish women who lure sailors to their deaths with their beautiful voices?”
Raek shrugged. “That’s what I’ve been calling them.
” He turned his gaze to the gray sea, clouds moving in from the distance.
“You heard a voice, right? Something that called to you, something you wanted to hear.
They were luring you to them. And Kellan said you saw a ship in the distance.
We think that was Lord Haro. And given his ship is named the Siren, he might have found some way to bring the creatures under his control.
“Our ship call was strategic when we stopped in Borva,” he continued.
I nodded. “And you expected he’d send more of his spies onboard,” I said for him, understanding.
“Lord Astraeus has always been a master at setting a good trap.” Raek smiled through his words.
A guttural scream ripped from below deck, where Vulcan and Kellan had taken the last man.
“We’ll know more soon,” Raek continued.
I followed him to the edge of the deck. “Just in time.”
A low cloud hung over the calm swells of the water we sailed through, its gray mist drifting slowly through the air. Moisture pooled on the surface of the rail as I slid my hands over the smooth, wooden beam. Tiberius’s hooves thundered down the center of the deck behind me as he landed.
His calming presence washed over me as he clomped to where we stood and gazed at a large, dark form materializing in the distance.
As the fog cleared, the floating island of the Arx came into view.
Its chained cages hung from its underbelly like the limp tentacles of some ancient sea beast, waiting for its unsuspecting prey to swim into its trap.