Chapter 32
Chapter thirty-two
Reunion
Rose
The Aloja are not predators of the sea, but its wardens.
They tend their islands as one might a body—guiding currents, quieting storms, and ensuring balance where land meets water.
But should an Aloja turn vengeful, no kraken, no leviathan, no abyssal horror rivals the devastation that follows.
For monsters destroy indiscriminately.
The Aloja remembers why.
—The Mysterious Deep: A Comprehensive Understanding
On a long and exhaustive list of things I would rather not do, traveling near Aloja territory was at the top. Last time I was near Mallorca, I nearly drowned and then had my chest practically crushed in by an insane woman–creature–seas, if I knew what to call her.
Blackbeard sat at the railing, staring out to the east in the direction of the island that housed Ximena. I appreciated the moral support as I watched as well.
If I had thought to extend the deadline for Edmond’s and my little bargain, then we could have gone around it without risking it. As it was, small islands in the distance said we were coming too close to land.
Beside us, Koinu swam with the waves, keeping pace with the Wraith. Maybe he would eat Ximena if she showed up. Last time, we’d been too close to shore to have him near.
“We are entering potential Aloja territory now,” Dilly said, holding out the map beside me.
“The wind is favorable,” Bash said.
There was no hiding the tension in his clipped voice. I knew he was regretting using Ximena to create his name, but the truth was that no one could have foreseen the turn of these events. He was planning to live to die at the time. Precious little decisions weighed heavily against that end goal.
“Ten minutes at our current pace,” Oscar said.
“Maybe you should go under the deck,” Emille murmured, standing in our sorrowful line watching the horizon.
I snorted despite the racing in my heart.
“Turns out doors and wood didn’t save me last time when Inu was supposed to be guarding me,” I said.
Inu clicked her tongue in annoyance next to Oscar.
Likely not at failing me, but being reminded of it. Last time we did this, I was tucked safely away in Bash’s cabin when Ximena appeared and took me into the ocean to drown for a short spell.
Black flecks appeared against the leering sun above us, and nausea filled me.
“Fuck,” Oscar said.
Fuck indeed.
I reached for my pistol, loading it without second-guessing myself.
“I don’t care if you tell me not to shoot them.” I said to Dilly, “I will, in fact, be shooting them.”
“Rose,” Bash warned, pressing his hand to my pistol and lowering it.
Absolutely fucking not.
“You think I don’t know your plan, Sebastian Flynn?”
He was lucky the crew was nearby; else, I would have called him by his true name, and then he would have known exactly how much trouble he was in.
“Just wait,” he ordered.
Again, absolutely fucking not.
I raised my pistol, training it on one of the three black flecks that drew closer till there was no denying the shape of three cormorants. Ximena’s minions.
They stopped about twenty feet away, watching.
“They can’t reach us,” Dilly whispered. “We aren’t close enough.”
“Steady on course, this ship doesn’t budge an inch off course,” Bash ordered.
It was like we were all frozen in time, staring at what would certainly mean disaster if we let it.
“What are they?”
Bash let out a curse, which Val echoed, though neither dared to look away from the birds watching us.
“You are supposed to be below deck.” Val bit out.
“Yes, but then I heard Rose say that doors and wood didn’t help, so I figured I might as well watch,” Kit said, wiggling himself between Dilly and me.
“They are Aloja,” Dilly said, unable to resist the opportunity to educate. “They guard the island of Mallorca and the seas around it. They appear like that or beautiful women.”
I rolled my eyes. “You make them sound friendly.”
Dilly shrugged her shoulders.
“They mostly are,” she said. “Ximena just doesn’t like you.”
“Why not?” asked Kit.
Oscar snorted. “Believe it or not, they are fighting over Bash here. Hard to believe I know.”
Kit grinned, looking from me to Bash, and I fought the urge to hit my own brother.
“We are not fighting over him. She is crazy.” I said.
“Said every woman in a feud over a man,” Val said, her own pistol loaded and ready.
I felt her before I heard her. Like a prickling behind my neck. An awareness I didn’t have before.
“She’s near,” I said.
Then came the laughter. The same thing I heard in my dreams for weeks after leaving Mallorca.
“Are you going to let your pet shoot me, Sebastian?”
Her voice was everywhere yet distant, making it difficult to aim my pistol.
“He’s not letting me do anything,” I said, keeping my breath steady. “If you hold still long enough, please know that I am shooting you because I very much want to.”
Blackbeard growled, the hair on his back sticking up as he looked out to the sea. I searched for Koinu, but he was careful to stay in pace with the Wraith as if he too did not want to venture into Ximena’s domain.
“The kitten grew some teeth since the last time we saw each other.” Ximena said, “And gained another guardian, it would seem.”
“Guardians?” Dilly asked before I could shove my arm into her side and tell her to shut up.
Ximena’s laugh was everywhere.
“Come a little closer, and I’ll tell you everything you’ve ever wanted to know, little mysteriologist,” Ximena said.
I glanced at Dilly to see her biting her lower lip.
“Are you serious right now?” I snapped.
She threw me an apologetic smile. “It’s only a little tempting, is all.”
“We mean you no harm, Ximena,” Bash said.
“Ah, but there are now three pistols loaded and pointed towards my island. What would you call the intent behind that, my love?” she said.
“Precautions,” he answered.
“Pretty sure it’s the intent to harm,” I said.
“Rosamund,” he chastised.
“Your pet is not very good at listening,” Ximena said. “Did you think I would allow you to continue on after disrespecting me?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. People called me dramatic, but only because they hadn’t met Ximena.
“I meant no disrespect,” Bash said.
I hated this. Hated hearing him try to avoid conflict with her. He was better than that, and it made him sound weak.
“You told me she was nothing, and yet what is that on your finger?” Her voice rose an octave as the skies in the east turned a dark gray. “On hers?”
Thunder boomed in the distance as Koinu leapt into the air, a mournful bellow coming from him. It felt like a warning.
“Hold steady!” Flynn shouted.
Water splashed as Koinu went back into the sea. Above us, our sky was blue, but fifteen feet away, the sky was turning as dark as night.
“We are drifting,” Emille said.
Something hard pushed into the Wraith, and I caught myself on the ledge to keep my balance. Blackbeard was barely phased, eyes trained on the horizon.
“What was that?” Oscar asked.
Just then, Koinu reappeared, hugging the Wraith and earning a groaning sound from the ship.
“He’s trying to keep us out of her territory,” Dilly whispered, awe in the way her voice fell.
“Five minutes,” Oscar announced.
Five minutes till this gamble paid off, and we never had to go anywhere near Mallorca again.
“Cowards!” Ximena shouted.
She appeared in a flurry of black feathers just as I remembered her.
Long golden red hair floating in air, her perfectly symmetrical and just right angular face twisted in rage.
The first time I met her, she’d charmed me until Blackbeard knocked some sense into me.
That he sat in front of me now, growling, made me wonder if he was a sort of guardian after all. Just one who hated everyone except me.
“You said she was nothing!” Ximena fumed, cheeks red.
The three cormorants flanked her and transformed into three beautiful women in flowing dresses.
“They are beautiful!” Kit said, voice low.
I slapped a hand over his mouth while still keeping my pistol trained on Ximena. The ship lurched once more as Koinu fought to keep our course. The islands on the other side of Ximena’s territory were closing in, making our path narrow to avoid shallow rocks that would leave us stranded.
A gamble. This was all a gamble.
“I lied to you,” Bash said. “She was never nothing. She has and will always be everything.”
For a second, Ximena’s face was half-human, half-bird as lightning flashed ahead.
“While I appreciate the sentiment towards my sister, maybe not rubbing it in the angry bird woman’s face is the right answer?” Oscar whispered.
“You have made a grave mistake, Sebastian Flynn,” Ximena said, voice eerily calm in the wake of the storm of clouds and thunder around her. “My waters will be the death of you, and any of your descendants should they stray close enough. Be sure it will be a slow and painful death.”
“Ten feet!” Oscar shouted.
I didn’t much appreciate the smile on Ximena’s face or the one on the three women behind her.
The Wraith shook and groaned as Koinu launched himself into the side, and I could have sworn I heard the sound of splintering wood. Honestly, though, sinking was preferable to losing another foot of sea.
The ship shook, and Kit fell down beside me while Blackbeard hissed at the women floating above. That he kept his footing so effortlessly was worth Dilly recording it in her master book for whenever we found out what he was.
“You could always give yourself to me, Sebastian, and spare your pet and the rest of your crew the fate you–”
I squinted my eyes and aimed. The explosion of smoke and ringing in my ears took a moment to clear, but I knew I would thoroughly enjoy replaying the sound of her scream for the rest of my days.
The smoke cleared, and Ximena clutched her hand to her other arm, where green oozed from it. The three women behind her gathered around her, fussing over her.
“You shot her,” Dilly said, shock painted into her voice.
I frowned. “Yeah, but I missed. I was aiming for her head.”
The green continued to ooze down her arm, and it wasn’t what I wanted, but it would do. The ship heaved once more, and this time it was hard enough that I fell backward, but Bash caught me and held me to him.
Mine.
He was mine, and I was damned if I’d let him give up himself to anyone, but especially this bitch.
I reloaded my pistol, but a shriek of pure fury rumbled all around us, and then that was it. Koinu ceased pushing the ship, and though her mouth moved, whatever Ximena was saying was lost to whatever rules the mysterious deep held over her.
“We’re out.” Oscar breathed, tossing himself to the ground and taking a long breath. “We didn’t die.”
“Val, check the hull for damage,” Bash ordered, but his chest rose and fell a little too fast, betraying his anxiety.
“That was insane!” Kit said, mouth wide open and eyes even wider.
“Yeah, and you are allergic to following orders,” Val said, grabbing him by the back of his shirt and dragging him away with her as he replayed the last ten minutes.
I took a deep breath, steadying my now shaking hand.
All the worry I’d buried down beneath was now coursing through my body in chaotic energy.
Blackbeard huffed out his own breath and jumped down, ignoring all of us as he headed for our cabin.
“You shot her,” Inu said, meeting my eyes with what, on anyone else, I would have called pride.
“She bled green,” Dilly said, already scratching down notes in her book.
Bash pressed a kiss to my head, and I let myself lean into it.
“Rosamund Bailey,” Oscar said.
“Smith.” Bash and I corrected as one.
Oscar shook his head. “I don’t care what the fuck you want to be called, but when did you get to be such a badass?”
I rolled my eyes and kicked his leg.
“I’ve always been a badass, you just weren’t paying attention before,” I said.
And maybe it was true because for a minute longer, my husband, my family, my crew, my random creatures I’d accumulated were all safe.
That felt pretty damn good.