Kai
Chapter twenty-five
Deals & Blood
Anger burns through me at Smith’s betrayal, simmering in my blood. Knowing how much it’s tearing Mira apart makes me sick with disgust. I want to be the one to drag him to the plank myself. But death by a siren feels more fitting. More painful. More poetic.
The rage fuels me as I finish off Archer, slitting his throat. I search him as he lies gasping, blood pooling in the sand beneath us. I find a seashell in his pocket, one that looks exactly like Mira’s. Even in his final moments, his eyes widen in fear when I take it from him.
I lean close, my knee pressing into the blood-soaked sand, my voice a low growl.
“The moon controls the tides. And they’re never in your favor, mate.
Not even the stars will weep for you. Your bones will rot beneath black water where the sirens wait to drag you under.
Tell the Kraken his killer sends another soul to choke on.
” I stand, the sand clinging to my hands, to my bloodied clothes.
Another infamous pirate dead by my blade.
I slip the seashell into my pocket, turn my back on him, and walk to the shoreline.
Mira wears a small vial of liquid around her neck and always carries a seashell in her pocket. I’ve never asked what they mean, figured maybe they were something from her parents, or another life she never talks about. But seeing something so similar on Archer makes me wonder.
A pirate like Archer never bothered with sentiment.
His heart, if he ever had one, was as cold as the ice caps in the far north.
He was infamous, scandalous, a name whispered like a curse across the sea.
Gave me a slight run for my coin, but I took the title.
Something he could never live up to. His death won’t go unnoticed.
He struck deals with creatures from the depths.
And when those deals soured, he bargained with even darker forces to save his own skin.
Whispers always followed him, rumors that he’d made a pact with a witch whose magic was as vile as it was potent.
Dark magic. The kind that could pull even the strongest souls into the abyss and devour them whole.
I’d never touch that sort of power. Being strong on your own, without selling your soul to monsters in the dark, that’s real power.
That’s the kind of power Mira and I were born for.
I press the shell to my ear, and a chorus of eerie whispers spills out. I can’t make out the words, but I know this is no ordinary sound. It’s dark magic, something I don’t want anywhere near Mira.
I slip the seashell back into my pocket and step into the black water, heading for the ship.
Halfway there, a siren surfaces in front of me, watching with unblinking eyes.
I don’t slow my pace. I look past her, searching the deck.
When I see Mira climbing up the ladder, a wave of relief washes through me.
A sigh I didn’t realize I was holding slips out. She’s safe. That’s all that matters.
“You love her,” a voice whispers from the water, curling into my ear, cold as the grave.
I glance around but see nothing in the black water.
The darkness stirs up an old memory. The depths nearly claimed me once, and part of me still hears them calling.
Except now, I don’t flinch. I keep walking deeper, the cold wrapping around me like an old friend. Maybe I’m just hearing things.
Then I hear it again. “Don’t you?” A dark fin cuts through the moonlit water before disappearing beneath the surface. I’m not alone.
“Show yourself,” I demand, my voice steady.
A head rises from the water, skin pale and slick, abyssal eyes wide and reflective, catching the moonlight like twin mirrors.
She blinks, the motion strange, her gaze flicking in a direction no human eyes could turn.
Her eyes hold starlight, vast, cold, and unreadable.
“It’s good that you do,” she whispers, her voice like breaking glass. “It’s what keeps you alive, after all.” She smiles, revealing razor-sharp teeth. The sight of them sends a chill down my spine. Not much scares me, but the sirens do.
She lets out a laugh, a high, shrieking sound that burns in my ears, then dives beneath the surface, gone as quickly as she appears.
I begin to swim, pushing through the black water, the moonlight glinting on the waves, guiding me back to the ship. Then she surfaces beside me again, gliding through the water with unnatural ease.
“I can help you,” she hisses, voice thin and sharp. “And her.” I follow her gaze, seeing where she looks, up at the ship, where Mira stands silhouetted against the light.
“And I’m supposed to blindly trust you?” I ask, keeping my strokes steady.
She ignores my words, slipping in front of me, moving like a serpent through the sea. “I can show you the way to our cove. But you must do one thing for us,” she whispers.
“If you tell me where Sirens Cove is,” I growl, “I’ll give you anything.”
She smiles, her mouth filled with jagged blades. “You love her enough to give up anything?” she coos, as if it was even a question.
“Anything?” I spit. She leans in closer. “Everything,” I say, steady, deadly calm.
“We want the witch, the all-powerful one. Then the fountain will be yours, if you can find it once you’re inside the cove.
” She snickers, the sound hissing through her sharp teeth.
Her sisters join in, their laughter curling around me.
She acts like I give a damn about the witch. Mira is the one who cares, not me.
“I’ll get you the witch,” I say sternly. “Be ready to take her.” I reach the ship, grabbing the ladder and pulling myself up. I look back down at the water, locking eyes with the lead siren.
“I love her,” I say, my voice low, steady. “To the ends of the earth, to the very depths of the sea, I will love her. I’ll give you what you want, but only if you give me what I need in return. Know this: every single breath I take is for her. You need her alive, just the same.”
I hang there, one arm hooked on the ladder, swaying with the water beneath me. She hovers close, silent, watching me with those unblinking eyes. Strange, how a siren, a creature made of hunger and death, could almost seem comforting.
“Hmmm. Good boy. Smart boy,” she says, then slips beneath the waves, gone.
Anger burns through me again as I climb the rest of the way up to the deck.
Smith’s betrayal twists in my gut like a knife.
If there was anyone else on this ship thinking of harming her, they’d find out exactly what kind of monster I could be. Their death would be cruel. Slow.
Magic prickles at my fingertips, pulsing just beneath my skin, begging to be released.
It has been reacting stronger lately, like it’s tied to my rage.
Or maybe it’s been fighting against the infection of the scar.
Trying to keep me alive. I still haven’t figured out how to control the magic, how to let it out without losing myself.
But I will. And when I do, gods help whoever tries to hurt her.
I climb up the ladder, soaking wet and seething, and there she is.
Mira. Standing as close as she can to the railing, her arms wrapped tight around herself.
Even if she’ll never admit it, she’s terrified.
And she should never be terrified on my ship, our ship.
I can hear her heart pounding in my ears, wild, unsteady.
Mine, in moments like this, only grow calmer. Cold. Calculating.
I want to kill every single one of the crew, loyal or not, for standing there useless, just watching her. Not one of them offered a blanket. Not one of them moves to help. Rage pulses through me, hot and thick, begging to spill out like lava.
I look her up and down, every inch, making sure she’s whole. That speck of blood on her chin makes my vision blur with fury. Her blood. My blood. Even the smallest drop, it was mine. And it was spilled.
There are specks of sand stuck to her eyelashes, tangled in her hair. She looks battered by the night, and all I want is to scoop her into my arms and burn the world down for daring to touch her.
When I call for Jay, I want answers. I want loyalty.
“What the fuck happened?” I growl as he lit the lantern in the study.
I watch him carefully, scanning him head to toe for any sign of guilt or deception.
“I couldn’t tell you, Cap’n,” Jay says, steady but tired.
“He was just gone. Disappeared at sunset.”
My brow twitches, eyes narrowing. “What do you mean he was just gone?”
Jay shakes his head. “I mean he was with us at the pub, then he wasn’t. And then the town went up in flames. No one knew where he was. We all knew how important he was to Mira, so we kept searchin’. Couldn’t find him. Couldn’t find you either, so we headed back to protect the ship.”
His voice is genuine. Jay has never lied to me. But neither did Smith, until he did. That betrayal creeps under my skin, making me question everything. I never thought twice about Smith. Never thought he’d turn. Not after how fiercely loyal he’s been to the Bleu family name.
“I don’t think any of you realize how important she is to me,” I say, voice low as I stare down at the map sprawled across the large oak table.
“I understand, Cap,” Jay says.
I look up, meeting his icy blue eyes dead-on. “I don’t think you ever will.” The words come out colder than intended.
I start pacing. “But I need your loyalty now more than ever. She needs it. If I fall, you follow her. You protect her. Until the end. Understood?”
Jay leans against the doorway, arms crossed, his face hard. “You have it,” he says with a nod, steady as stone.
I believe him, for now. I give him a nod, gesturing for him to come closer and take a seat. Then we turn our attention to the map, plotting where the hell Sirens Cove might be and how we are going to take down the most powerful witch in the world.
“You want to just hand her over? You think she’s that easy to catch?
She’s the most powerful, lethal witch for a reason,” Mira snaps, standing her ground.
She lets out a sharp sigh. “I can’t let you take her, Kai.
She and I have a deal. She has ties to my family.
You’re underestimating her. You don’t just pick her up. She will kill you.”
I watch her as she paces across our room, hands moving wildly as she talks. The morning sun catches the curve of her hips, the softness of her thighs. Her hair is a mess and her face flushes with anger. Gods, she is beautiful.
“I made a deal too, Mira,” I say, voice low. “One that will help you. One that will save us. What better way to find the cursed cove than by the ones who reside in it? I thought you trusted the sirens?”
“I absolutely trust them,” she fires back. “But I will never risk your life for anything. There will be another way into the cove.” Her words strike me straight through the chest. She is a dream come to life, fierce and soft and impossible to let go.
I stand up from the bed and walk over to her, cupping the side of her face, gently forcing her to look up at me. My other hand slides around her lower back, pulling her closer. Her big, beautiful green eyes gaze up at me, shimmering like the sirens’ sea, deep and endless.
I kiss her softly. “I won’t risk you either. You’re the most important thing in this entire sea. We’ve both made our deals, but we need to prioritize. What did you promise Taika?” My voice is firm.
“A wish,” she says quietly. “I promised her a wish.” I search her face, trying to read her. She gives nothing away.
“What does she want to wish for?”
Mira looks down, then back up at me. “I don’t know. She was vague. She said it wasn’t for my ears to hear yet, just that her wish was dark.”
A chill sweeps through me. “Dark? You promised her a dark wish? Mira, she’ll wish for something twisted, something with black magic. You can’t give her that. The fountain is pure, so no dark magic can be near it.”
She pulls away from me. “You don’t know that. Remember, she gave me the map that led me to you. Why it turned red, I don’t know, but it brought me to you.”
I stroke the stubble on my jaw, watching her, studying her every move. “We need to find her,” I say, leaving no room for argument.
She doesn’t say anything at first, just pulls away from me slowly.
I let her go with ease. She starts getting dressed, her movements quick and focused.
“Mira,” I say, watching her, “you need to lead the way. I don’t know how to find her.
My best guess is Alek, but once we’re inside those haunting seas…
I don’t know where to start.” I have a feeling my magic could lead me.
But someone like Taika is only found when she wants to be.
And honestly, I’ve avoided Alek my entire life.
She glances up at me while lacing her boots. “I know. I just…” Her voice catches in her throat. “I don’t want us to make the wrong move. What do you plan on doing when we find her?” Worry clouds her eyes, heavy and real.
“I’ll figure that out when we get there,” I say. “We’ll hear what she has to say. Then we’ll decide, together.”
Mira shakes her head and stands, heading for the door. She pauses, hand on the handle, turning back to me. “I will follow you to the ends of this world,” she says quietly, “but I won’t stand by and watch you lead yourself to your own death. That path, I cannot follow.”
She straps on her belt, securing her weapons, then takes her father’s hat and sets it on her head. In that moment, she looks every bit the captain she was born to be, even the air shifting around her as she steps out of the room.