Kai
Chapter twenty-seven
Motherless
My father’s body slides off my sword, silver and crimson glistening in the moonlight as he collapses to the floor. Blood sprays across my boots. I don’t feel anything.
I’m too late.
My gaze finds Mira where she fell. Her neck is ringed in bruises, his handprints seared into her perfect skin.
Her lips are parted like she tried to call for me, like she thought I’d come.
I was supposed to come. I was always supposed to be right there for her.
He took her breath from her, drained every bit of her.
I fall to my knees beside her, my sword slipping from my hand with a dull clang. “No,” I whisper, voice raw. “No, no, no.” I touch her cheek, her skin still barely warm. “I’m so sorry.”
Rage tears through me, blinding and feral. I don’t stop until there’s nothing left but silence and the sea howling outside.
I was too fucking late. Too slow. Too human. And Mira is gone.
I wake gasping for air, the sheets clinging to me, damp with cold sweat. For a moment, I don’t know where I am. The room sways, shadows crawling across the walls like they’re still alive. My pulse hammers in my throat as I turn—
Mira.
Alive. Perfectly alive in bed beside me. The bruises around her neck are there, but faint in the low light, fading shades of purple and blue. Her chest rises and falls, slow and steady. She’s safe.
I reach out, afraid she’ll vanish if I blink. My hand trembles as I brush her cheek, her freckles scattered like tiny stars across her skin. Relief floods in so sharp it aches. The thought of losing her is unbearable, even in a nightmare.
I pull the covers higher around her shoulders, tucking her into the warmth, as if I can protect her from the ghosts still clawing at my mind. Then I stand, dress, and buckle my sword to my belt. My legs feel unsteady, like reality could give way and toss me back into the nightmare at any second.
Outside, the night air is cold, salt biting at my lips. I head for the helm, breathing in the crisp morning air, trying to believe. The dream still clings to me, heavy and wet, like blood that won’t wash away.
Some of it was real. I did kill my father last night.
“Taika, my love. Free me.” The echo from his words haunts me.
Dawn creeps over the horizon in a slow bleed of gray.
I’m at the helm, guiding us toward Alek, the place Mira said we’d find her.
They say Alek is where witches are born from bone and salt, where the fog is so thick it weeps.
Where the sea bows out of fear. You can only enter if you’re expected.
If not, the fog will find you, and it will suffocate you.
My father’s words churn in my gut. “The woman chose power over you. Over us,” he rasped, eyes already dimming.
I don’t want to believe it. Gods, I don’t. But the truth is pressing down on me like a rising tide. I thought I was the only one in my family alive who had magic. But now, the pieces are clicking into place.
“She is a witch, son. A powerful one.” Taika.
The name crashes through me, sharp and final.
The most powerful witch the world has ever known.
The oldest. Untouched by time or death. Nothing has ever been able to take her, not war, not sickness, not even death itself.
If death dared to knock, she’d answer the door and walk away untouched. She’d bargain with it and win.
She is my mother. Taika is my mother.
I grip the helm until my knuckles whiten, the wood biting into my palms. Between the sting of sleepless nights, the poison burning slowly beneath my skin, and the storm of thoughts clawing at my head, I feel like I’m going mad, coming apart one breath at a time.
The siren I spoke to that night knew. She knew that once I found out, I’d hesitate. That I wouldn’t have the heart to hand over my own mother. That blood might win.
But what she could never understand is that my blood isn’t what defines me.
Taika may have given me life, but she also left me with a father who was barely human.
A man who wore his legend like armor and raised me with fists and fear.
She knew I had magic. She knew I could die from it if I used it wrong, or worse, I could kill someone else.
She knew he wouldn’t help me. That the crew would be the ones to raise me.
Still, she left. For what? Power? What kind of mother chooses power over her son, her family?
Now I’m faced with the same choice, but it’s already been made. I would do anything for Mira.
I would drown the world if it meant getting Mira to that fountain.
What I once thought I’d wish for has long since faded, swept away like dust in the wind.
Everything has changed since her. With my life now being tied to hers, I have to make sure this sinister scar doesn’t take me down.
I have to wish for my health, to save us both.
But the sea is still watching. Waiting.
Until the ocean and everything in it sees her for who she truly is, she’ll always be hunted.
They either see her as a threat or a prize.
Some might have already made deals with witches, or with sirens who’ve long since turned wicked, just to get close.
They’ll come for her. And when they do, I’ll be ready.
I lean against the helm, watching the world wake.
The crew shifts with the light, those who manned the night slipping into rest, while others take up the ropes and scrub the decks.
The scent of breakfast curls through the wind, tangled with salt spray.
It smells like home, bread, pork, potatoes, and yesterday’s fish frying in a blackened pan.
Grease and smoke cling to the air, thick enough to taste. It’s the smell of survival.
Above us, the sky blooms with soft pinks and molten gold, the clouds glowing like they’ve been lit from within. Light dances on the ocean’s surface, painting it in pastel fire. And still, through it all, I can’t stop thinking of Mira.
I’m too deep in my thoughts to notice the shift at first. My mind is spinning, unraveling the knot of truths I wasn’t ready to face, until I hear it. Singing.
An alluring siren song thrums through my skull, pain and sweetness tangled in every note. Images of drowning in black water rise up, dark, merciless, and somehow disturbingly euphoric.
I look to check but there’s no black water, no dark magic creeping along the tide, just a clear morning, the sea glowing a brilliant crystal blue.
I can’t make out the words, but I feel them. Feel them down to the marrow of my bones. Like something or someone is trying to speak to me through my blood.
“Cap’n, I can take over from here. We’re headin’ west?” Jay’s voice cuts through the haze. I don’t answer right away. “Cap’n? You alright?”
“Fine,” I mutter, trying to ground myself.
“Yeah. West. We’re looking for a city called Alek.
” Jay gives a grunt and takes the wheel, pipe hanging from his mouth.
He smells like he just ate pork and potatoes from the kitchen.
Smoke coils upward, twisting into the morning light like it’s listening too.
I watch him for a beat, heart hammering. How is he not hearing this? “You don’t hear that?” I ask, voice lower now.
Jay raises his brow. “Hear what?”
The chill hits me instantly. “The singing,” I say. “You don’t hear the singing?”
His stare doesn’t waver. “Ain’t no music but the sea today.
” I turn back toward the horizon, the voice still floating just at the edge of my mind, distant but insistent.
A sharp pain shoots down my arm, the scar pulsing like it’s alive.
There has to be more to it—more than flesh and bone.
The siren isn’t just in my blood anymore. She’s in my head.
“Hmmm,” I mutter, rubbing the back of my neck. “Maybe you’re right. I’ll go check on Mira.” Jay gives a nod. Before I walk away, I turn my back to him. “Did you take care of him?” I ask, not meeting his stare.
“Yes, he's with the sea now.”
That was all I needed to hear. I nod slightly. His voice had a flicker of grief in it. I could tell he wanted to pry more, but I can’t talk about what happened. I step away from the helm, heading toward my quarters. But the moment I leave the deck, the singing grows louder.
It chases me down the corridor. I’m losing my fucking mind.
I’m so distracted by the voice, I don’t see the small figure until I nearly plow into her. “Shit, treasure, I’m sorry.” I grab Mira’s arms to steady her.
Her hands settle on my chest. “What’s going on, Kai?” she asks, eyes narrowing with concern. “You look exhausted.”
“Nothing,” I lie. “Did you sleep okay?” I try to shut out the noise still whispering in my head. I try to focus on her, on the way her dark hair spills down her shoulders, on the emerald fire in her eyes. But even as she looks at me, grounding me, I can still hear it.
She takes a step back, her spine pressing against the door to our quarters. “Don’t bullshit me, Kai,” she says, low but firm. “Something’s going on. Tell me.”
I hesitate. Her eyes are searching mine, sharp with worry. “I… I keep hearing this singing. It’s getting louder.” I run a hand through my hair. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
I walk past her into the room. She follows, closing the door behind her. “Kai,” she says, gentler. “You can’t pretend what happened with your father didn’t happen. You killed him. I can’t lose you to madness like he lost himself. And we still need to talk about Taika.”
Her words land hard, but I don’t respond.
I sit down on the edge of the bed, elbows on my knees, head in my hands.
My temples throb like something’s clawing from the inside.
I barely slept. My mind’s been spinning since it happened.
The nightmare of losing Mira and reliving slicing a blade through my father is on repeat.
My father’s blood still stains my sword. The darkness he brought on this ship is only clinging tighter in his absences, like it’s looking for the next place to root. Word will spread, and when it does, his enemies won’t care that he’s dead. They’ll come for the next in line.
“She is my mother.” The words leave my mouth like a curse. My head stays bowed, hands still pressed against my face. Trying to avoid the conversation of my father.
I hear Mira’s soft footsteps. Then her head appears between my knees, eyes peering up into mine. “I know,” she whispers. “I thought so.” Her presence soothes something sharp in me, something I didn’t even know I was holding. But I can’t let it soften me. Not now.
“It doesn’t change anything,” I mutter, voice tight. “We still need to hand her over to the sirens.”
“You don’t have to make up your mind right now.” Her voice is gentle now. “She’s alive. She could help you with your magic. Don’t you want that?”
“I don’t.” I sit up, jaw clenched. “She means nothing to me. She left when I needed her most. She’s no one. Just another bloody witch.” I shake my head. “If giving her to the sirens keeps you safe and gets us to the fountain, then that’s what I’ll do. I’ll figure out my magic some other way.”
Mira straightens, arms crossed. “Don’t you think I get a say in this?” she asks, her eyes narrowing with that fire I know too well.
“You do, treasure,” I say, rising to meet her gaze.
“But I don’t think you realize, we’re not on some grand journey to reunite me with the mother who abandoned me.
We’re doing this to get to the fountain.
You’re the Soul, Mira. The only one that matters.
Everything in this ocean breathes because of you.
I breathe because of you. I won’t risk that. Not for her. Not for anyone.”
She starts to walk away, then pauses, her voice calm but firm.
“I think I’m more than capable of protecting myself.
And your happiness?” Her gaze flicks to mine.
“It matters to me. In case you’ve forgotten, our souls are tied.
I felt your heart shatter the moment your blade went through him.
Every piece of that pain, yours became mine. ”
Her words hit hard. “I want happiness for you, Kai. You are all I have. All I want. Your heart matters. More than you’ll ever know.
” She lowers her voice. “And what you don’t know is that I would kill for you.
Drop dead for you. Walk the plank for you.
I’d jump into an abyss, so long as you’re holding my hand on the way down.
My heart beats for you. So your happiness, your soul? Yeah, it matters to me.”
She steps in closer, standing between my legs. Her eyes lock onto mine, her voice sharper, fiercer. “So tell me what you really want. Don’t fucking lie to me.”
Through hell and high water, I love this woman. My hands find her hips, her skin warm beneath my palms. Her hair spills in soft curls just above her lower back, brushing my hands like silk.
Talking to Taika might be the only way to get answers. Not because she’s my mother, but because of her magic. She’s feared for a reason. If anyone can wake whatever power’s buried in me, it’s her.
“I want to find her,” I breathe. “I have a few questions to ask.”
She gives me a warm smile. “Then we’ll do just that.” She kisses me, slowly. When she pulls back, her eyes hold mine. “I see now why the map turned blood red when you touched it.”
My brows furrow, but the truth sinks like a stone in my gut. “Because I’m her blood,” I murmur. “The map wasn’t just for you. It was for her. It was a test.”
Mira nods slowly, her confidence unwavering. “Then let’s pass it,” she says, that sweet, devious smile of hers as steady as the tide. It’s all I need.
She turns toward the door, moving with that quiet grace that’s always undone me. The singing that had been swelling in my head, maddening, fades at last. Maybe I’m losing my mind, but the one thing that calmed the storm was her.
Now it’s time I get answers. Seeing Taika will be a challenge, but one I’m up for. One that could turn the tides in the best way or destroy everything if I’m not ready for what she has to say.