My eyes narrowed at the man as I scooped up the tray with vigor. “I’m coming.”
I strut right past Benjamin without giving so much as a glance at his face. But he grabbed my arm and yanked me back.
“What’s the matter with you?” he whispered angrily.
I glared up at him. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”
His grip didn’t falter, and we stood there in a silent standoff, each waiting for the other to give in. Finally, he released my arm. I heard the pirate blow out a breath of stress from behind me as I made my way to the table and lay down the tray of crowberry biscuits.
“What’s this?” the loopy captain eyeballed the stack of baked goods. “Pleeman has made biscuits before. This is nothing new.”
I bit my tongue. “Yes, Pleeman can make tasty plain biscuits. But these are baked with crowberries and infused with wild herbs.” I tried not to sound too boastful. “They pair well with the main dish.”
“Oh?” Captain Cook mused and quirked an eyebrow as he leaned back in his seat. “And what is the main dish?”
I grinned, thinking of Lottie. “Stone soup with fish and hearty roots vegetables,” I replied and headed back to the kitchen to fetch the rest. I passed Benjamin, who still stood in the doorway, and he turned to follow. Once we were both in the privacy of the kitchen, he spoke.
“There’s something wrong. I can tell.”
I set down the stack of empty bowls and spun on my heel to face him. “Oh, can you, now?”
“Yes,” he said under his breath, so the others wouldn’t hear. “Did something happen?”
“What does it matter?”
“It matters a great deal,” he replied. “Did someone do something to anger you?”
Yeah, him. He collected me from that beach and brought me aboard the ship to be chopped up for dinner. I wondered then, what he’d been waiting for. Maybe they wanted to fatten me up. Or perhaps they were waiting for me to have the baby first, so they’d have two people to eat. The thought nearly made me vomit on his dirty leather boots.
“I cannot help you if you don’t tell me, sweetness,” he added impatiently.
“Don’t call me sweetness,” I quietly barked back. “And if you want to help me, grab that pot of stew and bring it out to the table.”
I didn’t give him the chance to respond and sauntered back out to the crew of awaiting pirates. Benjamin followed and set the giant pot down in the center before taking a seat next to me at the end. I could tell he was uncomfortable and on edge from the way he nervously rubbed his hands against his thighs. I pretended to ignore him.
“Dig in, everyone,” I announced. They stared at me blankly. “Uh, help yourselves. There’s plenty.”
Once the bowls were full, mouths followed, as well as sounds of delight. I picked at mine, just for show. Truthfully, my stomach couldn’t fathom the thought of eating. A mix of fear and disgust coursed through my body and it took everything in me not to let it show through. I had to gain their trust. I needed my own sleeping quarters, so I could be left alone and plot out the details of the execution and my escape.
“My, this is wonderful,” Captain Cook spoke with half a mouth full of stew. He ate like an animal, half the food falling from his face and dripping on his clothes. “And you made this with things you scrounged from the island?”
“Yes, I did,” I told him and forced a big smile. “I can make food like this anytime you wish. I’m glad you like it.”
“Like it? It’s delicious.” He let out a gurgled chuckle and threw a mischievous glance around the table. “Slightly different from what Pleeman here cooks up for us.”
Next to me, Benjamin coughed. I twisted my head and eyeballed him, dropping the smile. It did no good to use it on him, anyway. He took note of my expression and his brow furrowed in confusion. But his eyes searched mine as if pulling my thoughts from my mind and, I swear, a part of him suddenly knew that I was on to them.
I turned back to the crew. “So, Captain,” I began, and he perked up from his bowl. “About my living situation.”
“Ah, yes, I had been meaning to speak with you,” he replied.
“Oh? That’s great. I was hoping I could get my own private quarters. With such a small crew, I imagine there’s plenty of room.”
The raunchy man eyed me curiously as he sucked bits of food from the cracks of black teeth. I couldn’t read his face, but part of me felt that he was considering his next words wisely.
“I believe we can accommodate you. Why don’t you come back to my quarters after supper and we’ll speak about it?”
My stomach clenched, and I swallowed hard against the scratchy dryness that suddenly formed in my throat. The last thing I wanted was to be alone with the man. The very thought of his grimy hands on my body and his rotting mouth on mine drained the blood from my face. But what could I say? How could I politely decline? And, worse yet, how long could I avoid it?
“Actually,” Benjamin piped up. “Dianna and I discussed it earlier and she’ll be sharing my room with me for a while.”
My head whipped to my right where he sat, my face turned from the rest of the crew that sat at the long table. I narrowed my eyes and spoke through clenched teeth, “Oh? I will?”
His deep chestnut eyes widened and willed me to agree. “Yes, remember? When we spoke earlier? On the island? You asked if you could sleep in my quarters?”
I realized then, he was trying to save me from his brother. And, I suppose, if my fate were to be mauled by a cannibal pirate, I’d be better off with Benjamin than his revolting brother. I closed my eyes tightly and silently chastised myself for what I would say next.
“Yes, I didn’t think you would agree.” I craned my neck to face the rest of them again. “It seems I won’t be needing your assistance, after all, Captain.” I finished with a tip of my head and a brazen smile.
The captain looked from me to his brother suspiciously. The rest of the crew remained silent, stuffing their mouths and pretending to ignore the discreet snuff to their unhinged leader. After a few tense moments of waiting, a giddy expression washed over him.
“Brother! It’s good to see you finally enjoying yourself.”
Benjamin nodded, unsmiling. “Yes, I suppose.” He seemed annoyed with his brother’s behavior. He stood from the table then. “And, if you’ll all excuse me, I’d like to take Dianna back to my room.”
He peered down and held out a hand for me to take. Reluctantly, I did and raised to stand next to him. But, before I could consider my next thought, the captain jumped up from his seat and stomped over to the end of the table where we halted. His movements sometimes went from slow and lazy to knee-jerky and unsettling. I cringed and leaned away as his raunchy breath covered my face and a soiled finger twisted one of my curls.
The man’s mouth widened, showing me a closeup of the few blackened teeth that remained. “Don’t get too comfortable, though. I’ll be anxiously waiting my turn.”
That was all my stomach could stand. I fought to hold a straight face as the contents of my gut inched their way up and pooled in my mouth. I gave a small smile, holding the vomit in, and nodded good night before speed walking out of sight. Benjamin was close on my heels. I scrambled up the ladder to the main deck and darted to the railing where I spewed over the side, heaving and retching until I was empty.
“Dianna,” Benjamin called and came to my side.
I swat his hand away from my arm. “Don’t touch me! You’re no better than him! You’re all disgusting!”
“Shut up, woman!” he told me and nervously glanced back to the ladder hatch where the light of the mess deck shone brightly.
I pushed at his chest. He barely budged. I pushed again, harder. “No! You shut up. Just leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that! Why are you being so difficult? Just come quietly.” The man tried but failed to calm my flailing fists and the tears that now flowed down my face.
He wanted me to surrender? To give myself to him willingly, k
nowing I was pregnant with another man’s child and being held prisoner? No way, I’d fight with my very last breath.
“I won’t give you the satisfaction! If you want me, you’re going to have to take me by force!”
Swiftly, Benjamin capped a trembling hand over my mouth and pushed me against the railing, eyes bulging with intensity. He spoke quietly through gritted teeth, “Have it your way.”
The pirate wrapped his massive arms around my body as I flailed about, kicking and yelling all the way across the deck to his quarters. Once inside, he threw me to my feet before shutting and locking the door. He whipped around to face me.
“Are you mad, woman?”
“I should ask you the same question!” I spat back.
“What in God’s name are you gettin’ on with?”
“You! The whole lot of you!” I wailed on. “Eating people like a bunch of animals! Is that what you planned to do with me when you plucked me from the beach? Bring me back here and have Pleeman chop me up like some hog?” The look of deep-rooted guilt rose to the surface of his expression and he remained speechless. I continued. “Or were you keeping me a secret? Locking me away down in the brig. Playing nice and gaining my trust so I’d sleep with you willingly. Is that it?”
Benjamin kept a decent distance and I saw large fists ball at his sides as his eyes glared at me from under the thick brow. “You’ve no idea what you’re talking about.”
“No?” I challenged. “Do you not eat the poor souls that wash up on the shore?”
He raised his chin, proud and defiant. “I do not.”
“So, Pleeman is a liar, then?”
Benjamin sighed. “No, he isn’t.”
“Tell me the truth, Benjamin!”
He advanced, taking one long stride toward me. “I’m just as much a prisoner aboard this ship as you are, you know! I cannot leave. I don’t even have death to look forward to. My brother surely sees to that. I’m a pawn in his hands. Even the protection I hold over you won’t last.”
“Protection?” I guffawed. “Is that what you’re doing? Protecting me? So, as long as I’m sleeping with you, I don’t have to sleep with him, is that it?” I crossed my arms as he inched closer, leaving hardly any space to breathe between us.
“Think what you will, but I’m doing my best to keep you safe. I’m only one man and it’s me against them.”
“Why even bother at all, then?” I asked, lowering the spite in my tone. He seemed so… defeated. “Why not just let them have me and save yourself the trouble?”
“I’d had enough. Pleeman and I saw the smoke from your fire and went searching. To do our duty. We watched from the forest, but when we saw that it was a woman, that it was you…” he shook his head and heaved a tired sigh. “Pleeman knew we had to keep you safe straight away. Insisted on it. He blabbered on, trying to convince me, but I already knew. I needed no convincing.”
I was strongly aware of the nearness of the pirate before me and the sincerity in his words. I felt the emotion and desire to touch me emanating from his skin. I couldn’t meet his gaze. Wouldn’t give him the opportunity to place his mouth on mine.
“W-what was your duty?” I whispered at his chest, my mouth suddenly dry.
“My job is to retrieve any castaways and bring them back to the ship,” he began. “Just as you guessed. Pleeman’s job is… he’s the butcher.” He muttered the last word, laced in disgust. “But we’re the only two who don’t…”
I felt bad for the obvious struggle he faced with speaking the horrid words out loud. I dared lift my chin to look at the man’s face, both our chests rising and falling with rapid breaths. He leaned down, inching his face dangerously close to mine. I froze. Panic filled my veins. But Benjamin’s warm mouth never touched mine. Instead, it brushed aside and placed a gentle, friendly kiss on my cheek before he pulled away and stepped back.
“I’d never hurt you, Dianna.” He grabbed a heap of blankets from a chest and plucked a pillow from the bed, tossing it all on the floor where he then sat. Looking up at me while removing his big leather boots, he continued. “Yes, I’ll admit, when I first laid on eyes on you, the lonely and greedy part of me wanted to keep you a secret. To keep you all to myself. But not in the way you think. I’d never force you to do anything against your will.” He sighed and lay back on the pillow.
I still stood in place, awestruck by the sudden change in his actions. Gone were the bold and brazen advances, making room for a new man. One that had been hidden under a hundred years of loneliness. A part of me felt bad that I could never give him what he hoped for. What Benjamin thought this would lead to. Us together. But my heart and soul belonged to Henry, and Henry alone.
And I didn’t plan on staying.
Suddenly, an idea came to mind. I slugged off my red jacket and sat on the edge of the bed, my legs dangling near Benjamin’s head on the floor.
“Have you ever thought about breaking the curse and setting yourself free?” I asked him.
He tucked an arm behind his head and peered up at me. “Every day.” He rubbed his tired face. “But the only way to break the curse would be to return the siren’s heart. Not exactly an easy task when you’re trapped on an island, unable to leave. Afraid I’m stuck, sweetness.”
My brain mulled through the possibilities. “Well, what about the people who wash ashore? Couldn’t you send them out to break the curse for you?”
The pirate eyed me curiously then and lifted to a half-sitting position, propping himself up with one arm as the other wrung through his long, brown waves. “What are you gettin’ at, Dianna?”
I shrugged. “Nearly a hundred years. I just can’t help but think you could have sent one of the people back out to return the gem.”
His molasses colored eyes bore into mine. “You don’t think I thought of that?”
“I was just aski–”
“Even if someone came along who I could trust not to run off with the gem, no ship has landed on the shores. Bits and pieces, yes. But nothing more.” He heaved a deep sigh of frustration and I felt bad for prodding. “The island does not exist, sweetness. No man on the sea would steer off the common course enough to even see it with a spyglass.”
He shifted on the floor and leaned over to where I sat, placing his massive hand over mine and squeezing it gently. Our eyes locked.
“We’re lost souls, Dianna. My fate is now yours. The sooner you accept that, the better.” A silent sob erupted from my throat and a tear ran down my face. He reached up to wipe it away. “I’m so very sorry for that. But, maybe one day, you can be happy here.”
I had no words. He truly believed that I could stay there on the cursed ship with him and a cannibal crew of pirates and be happy? Benjamin was delusional. He couldn’t imagine a world outside of the one he lived, he’d been on The Black Soul for too long.
But I gave him a shaky smile, regardless. To placate the man. He lay back down and rolled over, his back turned to me. Good. I didn’t want Benjamin to see the silent tears that now flowed heavily down my face. I tucked into a ball and faced the window, willing myself to hold on to the strength to carry out my plan.
The plan that would cost me my soul.
Chapter Ten
Iawoke too early. That much I could tell. The dim morning sunrise that shone in through the windows had not yet warmed the air. I wanted to roll over and snuggle into the thick bedding, but my stomach felt queasy. I couldn’t get back to sleep. It was the first sign of morning sickness and a part of me was grateful because it was a sliver of assurance that the baby was alive and well. The other part of me cursed the thing growing inside of me because the queasiness quickly turned, and I fought back the urge to vomit.
I rolled over and slung both legs off the side of the bed, nearly hitting a sleeping Benjamin who I’d forgotten was there. I thought about waking the pirate to let him know I was stepping outside for some fresh air, but something told me not to. Something deep down inside my rolling gut.
Let hi
m sleep, Dianna. Move swiftly and quietly.
I did as the voice told me and tiptoed toward the door, grabbing my jacket from the back of a chair along the way to keep out the pre-morning chill. The door opened without a creek, to which I breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped outside. The air was still heavy with the dew of the night, but the sun powered through the dark skies and rose with vigor. I closed my eyes and sucked in a deep breath of air as I tipped my head back, letting the little bit of warmth soak into my skin. But my nose picked up something in the air and I opened my eyes, shooting my gaze to toward the island.
Smoke.
My heart kicked into overdrive as I gripped the edge of the railing and stared at the rising plume of grey in the distance. Suddenly, I realized, by some divine work of fate, I found myself completely alone and free for the first time since I’d been brought aboard The Black Soul. I slipped on my jacket and hoisted my legs over the side. Only allowing myself one second to take a deep breath before I chickened out, I flung myself from the ship and plummeted to the freezing cold ocean below. My body hit the surface of the water with a hard smack and it sucked me under, but I scrambled back to the top and swam the short distance to shore.
My arms and legs quickly grew tired of carrying the heavy weight of my clothes and fighting against the frigid icy waters, but I refused to give up. I knew I only had a very small window of time to escape. Before someone came looking for me.
Finally, my kicking feet touched bottom and I pulled myself upright, running the rest of the way to the shoreline through the shallow water. I collapsed on the sand for a moment, for that was all I could spare to catch my breath.
“Dianna!” called a voice in the distance. I looked back over my shoulder and found no one, but knew it was Benjamin’s voice. Suddenly, the invisible curtain that shielded The Black Soul from the world shimmered and the head of a rowboat poked through. Even from this distance, I could see the panic and anger with which he paddled the small boat.
The Blackened Soul Page 10
