Chapter 25
For the past decade, Jarin had wished for his mother’s curse to break.
He wanted freedom from it, and he wanted Prince Davron liberated, too. The magic coursed through Jarin’s veins ceaselessly, like a dark pulse. When he was threatened, the pulse grew stronger. In a decade, it’d never not been there.
And it was there still. But for how much longer, if the rumors about the prince were true? Curses were made to be broken, and his mother’s was no different, strong though it was.
If a woman fell in love with Davron, the curse would end. And along with it, the protection given to Jarin by his mother. That had never bothered him before—he’d wanted it.
But now? Riella needed him, and Artus was wreaking havoc. It would be the worst possible time for the curse to break.
Saving Riella’s life would be a difficult enough task on its own, let alone without his invulnerability as a shield against the likes of Polinth and Artus.
Jarin never wanted to become attached to anyone. How could he, when he saw the devastation that passion wrought upon the people around him? Love and grief turned people into monsters.
To avoid such loss, he became a pirate, married only to the seas. That he’d grown attached to a violent siren was proof of fate’s humor. That she was doomed to die, and soon, was proof of fate’s cruelty.
Jarin could not let Riella die. He knew that as surely as he knew his own name. If he lost her, he would spend the rest of his life looking for her ghost, and counting the minutes until he could reunite with her in the Beyond. He truly believed now that it was his fate to meet her, and protect her.
His whole life, he’d felt rudderless. He’d been forgotten by the powers that governed the universe—as if he was a spare part, an unimportant cast-off. A consequence of a far grander story. A mistake, even.
Since growing close to Riella, he no longer believed that.
He hoped the elf could be rescued without complication, so that Polinth would have no hostage to hide behind. Jarin and Riella could bring him to justice, and move on with finding the amulet, to save her.
All he had to do was bend fate to his will, and stop at nothing to do it.
But for now, he needed to keep her in the dark about his true intentions.
“Sorry about that,” he said to Riella as they neared the mountainside. The road became steeper and more narrow, and birdcalls ceased. The only sound was leaves clattering in a stiff, cool breeze uncharacteristic of summer. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Her face relaxed into an easy smile, and he fought the urge to take her in his arms and run away with her, far from danger.
“It’s alright,” she said with a shrug. Her braided hair only emphasized her beauty, because it showed more of her face. He could stare at her endlessly. “And besides, you didn’t scare me. I just want to know what occupies your mind so fiercely.”
Jarin shoved his hands in his pockets, his cutlass bumping against his thigh. If she knew the precise contents of his mind, she might indeed become scared.
Mostly, he tried to repress his dark side, believing it to be shameful. But it was useful on occasion, like when he was fighting for something he wanted. And he definitely wanted something now. He wanted to save her.
“I was thinking about the curse,” he said truthfully. “Hearing about Davron is always jarring. In a twisted way, he’s my counterpart. My mirror image. Our fates are bound.”
“I daresay you got the better end of the deal.”
“No doubt. Although, it might be dangerous to assume that fate has no tricks up its sleeve.”
She gestured to the summit overshadowing them. “I’m sure Polinth does, too. And yet, that doesn’t mean we won’t defeat him.”
They reached the base of the mountain as the sun slid past the horizon. The shadows deepened, the trees turning a uniform gray.
Jarin scanned the trees and rocky ground constantly as they climbed the steep ridge. Aside from their boots snapping twigs and disturbing leaves, nothing moved or made a sound. Nevertheless, his senses tingled with a sick premonition. The feeling only grew as they traveled higher, but no traps appeared.
Night fell in earnest. The scant light of the moon and stars offered little visibility, but Jarin hadn’t dared to bring a lantern, lest the glow alert Polinth of their presence.
Riella tripped, her boot stuck on something.
Jarin caught her before she fell into the leaf litter. “Are you alright?”
“Fine.” She regained her footing and peered at the ground. “I stood on a stick that wouldn’t give way.”
He crouched in the spot where she’d tripped. The dead leaves were crunchy and piled high, and he swept them away. Then, in the dim light, a stark white ribcage stood out against the murky brown ground.
Riella gripped his shoulder. “What is that? Some kind of animal?”
It looked small, like a dog or a hare. His heart thudding, he uncovered more of the bones. The distinct skull of a tiny human child stared blankly up at him.
Riella hissed. He stood and turned around to hold her, expecting her to be distraught. Instead, her face twisted with rage.
“You see?” she asked. “You see why we must kill him? He is putrid.”
Without waiting for Jarin’s input, she stepped around him and stomped onward.
As much as he supported her homicidal tendencies, he was concerned that her brashness would lead her right into a trap. She saw the world in black-and-white and, for better or worse, she still didn’t fathom the extent to which humans were capable of foulness and deceit. And Polinth was surely among the worst of all humans.
But Riella would not be slowed.
“We’re too close,” she said, pushing past him when he tried to make her stop. “I came here to retrieve Seraphine and kill Polinth, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
The siren reverberated with fury—it poured off her in waves. Despite knowing she wasn’t his combatant at this moment, the Dark Tide pirate in him instinctively reacted to proximity to an enraged siren. His pulse raced and his senses became hyper-sharp, as if preparing him for a fight. He was glad that, for once, he wouldn’t be on the receiving end of such potent ire.
Three more skeletons lay in their path to the summit—two humans and one delicate skull of an elf. The skull was too weathered to be Seraphine, but the carnage did make Jarin wonder how many other bodies were hidden on the mountain.
The most powerful energy source to a mage was living beings, his mother once told him. Tapping the life force of a person or creature or even a tree was not particularly difficult for a sorcerer, but it was considered abhorrent and crude. Like a vampire or parasite.
From what Riella said, Polinth leached the elf’s life force. He hadn’t stopped there, though. He’d harvested Riella’s gifts, too. Jarin wondered what the sorcerer planned to do with the amulet. To bolster his own waning life force? Or something else?
Artus wanted the treasure to eclipse Jarin and every other pirate. As dangerous as he would be with such power, at least his motives were simplistic. But the amulet in the hands of the wrong sorcerer could be disastrous. Look at what his mother had managed to do, with nothing more than grief and her innate ability.
The trees thinned near the mountain’s peak. Jarin and Riella slowed their pace, creeping between trees with hushed determination. The trees gave way to a steep rocky incline leading to the summit.
“Those are the caves,” murmured Riella. “They’re half open to the air.”
Firelight flickered through the gaps in the cave. Jarin’s stomach clenched. Why hadn’t they encountered any defenses yet? They’d climbed the entire mountainside unobstructed, except for the grim discovery of the bones.
“You don’t recall any fortifications?” asked Jarin as he crouched with Riella behind a fallen log where the tree line ended.
Riella shook her head, absentmindedly stroking the handle of the knife strapped to her leg. “None that I saw. But I was trying to get out of the place, not into it. And I was somewhat distracted at the time.” She gestured at the right side of the summit. “That’s where the stairs lead to his workshop.”
Bent low, he and Riella crossed to the shadowy gap containing the stairs. No gate or fence stood in their way. Would it really be this easy?
“Let me go first,” said Jarin from behind Riella, who blocked the entrance to the stairs.
A high-pitched voice called from the caves above.
“Help! Somebody please help me!”
The siren sprang into action at once, trying to enter the stairwell. Jarin caught the back of her blouse just in time to stop her barreling up to the caves. At this rate, it’d be all he could do to keep her aliveuntil the full moon, let alone beyond it.
“It’s almost certainly a trap,” he breathed in her ear, pulling her back.
“I don’t care. I’m not afraid of him.”
To his horror, she wrenched herself free and bolted up the stairs.