Kai
Chapter sixteen
Crimson Tides
Finding Adella proves more difficult than I expected.
She used to surface often, clinging to the edge of my ship with a smile full of secrets and seafoam, eager to spill whatever gossip the tides had whispered in her ears.
Mermaids are eavesdroppers by nature, sly, curious, and dangerously perceptive.
If anyone knows what the sirens are planning, it’s them.
And I need answers. About the sirens. About the kappas. About who or what is after Mira.
I haven’t seen the kappas since Mira came aboard, and I hope it stays that way.
There’s something deeply wrong about the way they move, the way they look at you like you’re already half-dead.
They’re selfish, erratic, and impossibly strong.
If the corrupted Soul is building an army, I’d bet a bottle of blood rum that the kappas are already in it.
What I’m afraid of is betrayal, sudden and clean.
I know betrayal’s language. I’ve taught men how to speak it.
Trust is a currency they’ll spend the moment blood tastes better than honor.
As the sun sinks below the horizon, staining the sky with fire, I give the order to head west, toward the last place I saw Adella.
I haven’t told Mira we’re only looking for one mermaid.
Not a group. I was worried she would start to ask questions, questions she didn’t want the answers to.
She has already pried more than enough into the story of my tattoos.
But now, due to recent events, she has every right to know about every single one.
After talking to Mira, offering her the only kind of reassurance I know how, I can only hope it’s enough.
We have the rest of our lives to unravel what this bond really means, but right now, getting to the fountain matters more than anything.
I have to see this through, to become the pirate my father never was.
The one who finishes what he couldn’t. Every mile we sail is another step toward proving I’m more than his shadow.
I can’t ignore the black veins spreading from my scar anymore.
The fountain might be the only thing that can save me.
It might be the key to unlocking what Mira is.
The fountain is the most sacred power in all the sea, born of blood, legend, and prophecy.
The ocean’s changing—its obsidian waters churning, swallowing ships and creatures whole.
It’s building an army. Maybe Mira is the only one who can stop what’s coming.
Pirates are closing in, and with a bounty that high on Mira’s head, she’s as good as dead if we don’t move fast. Veyra warned us about the nyx—creatures even those with magic fear to name.
But worse than them is the previous Soul herself.
The Soul knows who Mira is, and she could strike at any moment.
Ending the only thing standing between her and total dominion over the sea would shift the balance of the world itself.
Why hasn’t she done it already? Maybe Mira isn’t prey. Maybe she’s the threat. Maybe the power inside her is stronger than the corrupted Soul’s own. And if that’s true—then she’s not my salvation. She’s my undoing.
The sun has gone to bed, and the moon has taken its place, casting silver light across the ship’s deck. The stars burn brighter than usual, like even they know something is coming. I catch myself staring up at them, until a splash breaks the quiet. I glance down.
Adella.
She swims with effortless grace, circling the ship like a cat around prey, her presence unmistakable even before she speaks. I lift a hand, signaling to one of my crew to quietly slow the ship. “I heard you’ve been looking for me?” Her voice rolls over the air like silk, smooth, knowing, playful.
She emerges in the moonlight, perched atop a cannon, the closest thing on this ship to the sea. I make my way down to the gun deck, hoping she hasn’t vanished already. But when I check each cannon, one by one, she’s gone.
I hear her soft giggles echo through the gun deck. She’s always loved the chase. The games that never truly end. The way she’s teasing me now, hovering just out of reach, tugging at the air between us, tells me she’s punishing me. Which can only mean one thing. She knows about Mira.
Adella is stunning, one of the most breathtaking mermaids I’ve ever seen. Her tail, a rare blend of violet and indigo, shimmers like oil on water, catching the moonlight with every graceful flick. She moves beneath the surface like liquid magic, more myth than creature.
We’ve shared a connection for years, forged in salt, silence, tears, and blood.
She’s healed my wounds with her tears, a sacred act, binding mermaid to man.
A bond I’ll never fully understand. Mermaids hold power that defies logic, beauty that bends the will, and magic that doesn’t ask for permission.
Adella’s magic saved my life. She’ll never let me forget that.
“Hello? Did you forget about me?” Her giggle rings out through the gun deck, light, teasing, infuriating. “Captain Kai? I know you hear me. Why aren’t you looking for me?” She’s baiting me. Dragging me into her favorite kind of game, taunting, elusive, always just out of reach.
“Adella,” I call out, my voice edged in warning. “Come out. Stop this.” A splash. Then silence.
I move cautiously toward the far cannon, senses sharp.
And there she is, perched atop it like a siren on her throne, grinning down at me.
Her bright blue eyes glitter with mischief.
Crimson hair spills around her shoulders, catching the moonlight like fire woven with rubies.
She is every bit the danger she pretends not to be.
“Hello, Kai,” she purrs. “Did you miss me?” She leans forward, lips curved in a poisonous smile.
“I heard you’ve got a new pet. How long until this one gets tossed back into the sea?
” Jealousy doesn’t suit her, but for a mermaid, it’s the emotion they wear best. I step closer, locking eyes with her.
“Call her that again, and I’ll remind you why no one dares cross me. ”
“Oh,” she spits, voice suddenly sharp, “you care for the thing?” I grit my teeth. I understand her pain, I do. But there was never a future for us. There couldn’t be. She’s a mermaid. And I’m not the boy she once healed.
“Adella,” I say, my voice low, steady, “I get that you’re hurt—”
“Hurt?” she cuts in, her voice dropping, low, cold, dangerous.
Her features twist, the softness gone, replaced by something raw and furious.
“No. I’m not hurt, Kai. I’m angry. And you don’t want to see an angry mermaid.
” Her eyes blaze, twin storms locked on mine.
“You lied to me,” she hisses. “You said you’d find a cure.
That you’d turn me human or become a merman yourself.
I believed you. And now your soul is tied to her, an unbreakable bond, especially with Veyra involved. ”
I swallow hard. She’s not wrong. I did promise her those things, once.
I was barely eighteen, all raw edges and reckless dreams. We were drunk on possibility, on power, on the idea of forever.
I never said those words to anyone else.
Just her. And for a while, she was the only woman I let stay by my side.
The only one who saw every piece of me, the rage, the ruin, the rare softness I never showed anyone else.
She meant something to me. She did. Just not enough to change everything about who I am. We both loved each other but we never chose. And love without choice, without sacrifice, was never going to survive.
She slips off the cannon with practiced grace, her tail slicing back into the sea, sharp and gleaming like a blade kissed by moonlight.
“Of course I know about the bond,” she spits, venom laced beneath every word.
“I’m a mermaid, Kai. A force of nature. Whatever Veyra does, we feel.
Instantly. So imagine how I felt, truly felt, when it happened.
When my chest cracked open and I realized someone else had taken your heart.
” Her voice trembles, but her eyes, once as bright as sunlit water, have darkened with anger and betrayal.
“I’m sorry, Adella.” My voice drops, steady but quiet. “I didn’t mean for you to find out like that. I was going to tell you. But you and I… it was never meant to last. What we would’ve had to sacrifice, for either of us to switch, was too high a price.”
She looks up at me sharply, the flicker of pain replaced by ice.
Her eyes gleam like frozen sapphires, slicing through me.
“I suppose you need me, then?” she says, too calm.
“That’s the only reason you’d come searching.
Not for me. Not with your little toy on board…
” My thoughts flick to Mira, hoping she’s still in our quarters, out of earshot.
Jealousy spews from Adella’s every word.
“I do,” I admit, meeting her gaze. “I need your help. I trust you. And I know you have the answers I’m looking for.”
She flips backward into the water with a splash, vanishing beneath the surface.
A moment passes. Then she emerges again, only her shoulders and head breaking the tide.
The moonlight catches the strands of her hair, setting them ablaze.
“Now why would I help you?” she purrs, voice slick with bitterness.
“My heart was only ever soft for you, Kai. Now?” Her smile is a shard of glass. “Now it’s stone.”
“Because I know you care,” I say, refusing to look away.
“No matter how much venom you spit, I know you. You know who Mira is, what she means to the sea, and what she’ll mean to you.
If you don’t help me, it hurts her. And if she’s hurt…
” I pause, letting the weight hang. “You know damn well that’ll hurt you too. ”
She rolls her eyes, slowly, a hiss slipping through her teeth. “Mira.” Her voice is edged with disgust. “She’s the Soul of the Ocean. There hasn’t been a new Soul in centuries.” Her gaze sharpens. “She’s valuable.”
I watch her, still and quiet, as her mind begins to churn dangerous thoughts.
This isn’t just about love lost. This is about power.
Adella was born to wield it but was never given the chance.
She’s a powerful mermaid from an even more powerful heritage.
But she’s the youngest in her family, so the throne doesn’t belong to her.
“Adella,” I warn, voice low. “Don’t do anything reckless.
Don’t make me kill you.” Her head snaps up, icy blue eyes wide, then narrowing, sparkling with dark amusement and wounded pride.
“Oh? You’d kill me? For her?” she purrs, mocking me, but there's a raw edge beneath her words.
“She must be quite the treasure for Kai Eldoris, the Pirate Lord, to unsheathe his sword so quickly. Especially towards the one he used to love.” She laughs bitterly.
“So what is it you need, Kai? Why must you seek me out?”
“I need you to tell me where I can find Anya.”
Her expression shatters as fear flashes like lightning in her eyes. “Anya?” she echoes, voice tight.
“Yes.” I narrow my gaze. “Is that a problem?”
She doesn’t answer. She turns from me, the silence swelling, then slowly swims back, stopping just beneath the cannon. “She’s… a very dark creature.”
My brow creases. “What the hell does that mean?”
She props herself back onto the cannon, saltwater trailing down her hair and glistening tail.
“She’s dangerous, Kai. I wouldn’t recommend going after her.
” Her tone turns sly, too casual to trust. “The sirens and her hunt mermaids for sport. That’s what I’ve heard, anyway.
But what do I know?” She shrugs, lips curling into a bitter smile. “I'm just a stupid, jealous mermaid.”
I grab her face, fingers digging into her cheek. “Stop playing games, Adella. Tell me where to find her.” She tries to jerk away, but I don’t let go. Her eyes flash with something in between rage and need. “Don’t kiss me, Kai.” Her voice is a hiss. “Wouldn’t want your little pet getting jealous.”
My blood simmers. Enough. I shove her back, releasing her.
“Anya is at the Wonder Lagoon,” she snaps, eyes bright with venom.
“You’ll find it easily enough. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.
” She sinks lower into the water, but pauses for one last dig.
“Good luck training your new pet, sweets. See you soon. Or maybe not.” With a flick of her shimmering tail, she vanishes into the onyx waves, leaving behind nothing but salt and silence.