I SPEND MOST OF THE day with my eyes closed, soaking in the sun and thinking about her. I’m driving myself mad with want, but the reminder of what I’m doing this all for is good. I have more story to tell her. I’m eager to get to the good parts.
Its hours later, after the crew heads below, that Jasper moseys his way to my half of the ship. Today, he comes empty handed, and I wrinkle my nose.
“I’ll bring something up later. Too many eyes this time of day,” he says, as if reading my thoughts. I suppose it’s not hard to guess where my mind is. Shocker—the starving man is thinking of food.
Food and her.
“Anything you can give is appreciated.” I smile. “So what have I done to deserve a visit, then?”
He shrugs and sits beside me. “The crew went below for a game of dice.”
I raise my eyebrows, a pang of longing in my chest. I would give anything for the mental stimulation of a game like dice. My favorite.
“I said I’d stay up here for a while. Figured it gave me a chance to chat with you.”
I tilt my head, several questions coming to mind. “You don’t like dice?” is the first I go with.
“Not very good at it,” he shrugs.
I smile but don’t respond. Man, do I wish I could take his place and sweep the floor with those guys. Of course, that would be a terrible idea. But still fun to think about. I take a moment to sweep the ship’s deck. No other soul around. Also strange.
“And the captain?”
“In a meeting, apparently.”
No one entered the ship. Not even a siren. So what kind of meeting would he be having? One with his own crew? I narrow my eyes, not for the first-time questioning Jasper’s loyalties. Not that it matters so much. As long as I assume the worst, even if he’s a spy for Stede, it won’t hurt me. I’ll take the conversation while I can get it. I’ll just be careful what I tell him.
I nod absently, working to hide my suspicions. “Are you and the crew dying of boredom yet?” I ask him casually.
“Almost,” he smiles. “No more than you, I reckon.”
I laugh. “Torture and boredom. If only everyone had it so good.”
Jasper blinks rapidly and looks down at his hands. “At least we have some hope at the end of the tunnel.”
My heart picks up speed. Is that a plug to asking about my plans?
“Survival is the only hope I have left,” I shrug. “Men will do a lot for even just that.”
He meets my eye. “Rumor was, you chose to come here. Gave yourself away.”
I swallow but work to act surprised. “I was planning to run. My mother found me first. I didn’t put up much fight, but that was to save people I cared about. I’m pretty tired of fighting the inevitable, if I’m honest.”
“Other rumor is that you’re in love with her. The siren girl.”
My mouth falls open. That’s not something I’ll ever be able to hide. “That’s true. Might have a little something to do with my lack of fight as well. I can’t fight her. Wouldn’t.”
“How could you love a...” He shakes his head.
My stomach twists, knowing I’d had that exact thought not long ago. Funny that the idea of losing her washed all those fears away. I don’t care what she is. “Easy. You love the girl, you love whatever she comes with. I just wish she knew who I was.” Tears sting my eyes, but I fight them. I have no need or desire to be weak right now.
“But she literally tortures you,” he says breathlessly.
I nod. “She doesn’t know me. She’s controlled by my mother. I hate her ‘master,’ I don’t blame Whitley.”
“You’re a better man then me, I’ll tell you that.”
“And what would you do in my position? Hate her? Let it drive you mad? What good would that do? Then my mother would really win. She’s taken everything from me. The only things I have left are the good thoughts, feelings, and memories. At least I keep some control, in my own head, this way.”
Jasper swallows. “You do have some hope, right?” he whispers. “That you could fight this somehow? That she’ll fall in love with you and stop doing the Siren Queen’s bidding?”
I pull my eyebrows down and shrug. “I’d love to think that. But... well, it’s unlikely. You know?”
He purses his lips and stands suddenly, sniffing and wiping his nose. “Let me see about some food for you now, yeah?”
I nod absently. “Sure,” I mutter.
“There isn’t much to come by lately. Even with fewer crew, our stores are getting lower, and between you and the other prisoner...”
“What other prisoner?” I say quickly.
He pauses. “There’s...a fellow downstairs. Captain seems more intent to keep him alive than the rest of the crew. Have I mentioned I’m not a fan of my new captain?”
I suck in a breath, questions about the crew popping up again, but I’m much more preoccupied by the idea of man being kept below deck.
“Who is he?”
He shrugs. “A little fellow. That’s all I know.”
“Have you ever talked to him?”
“Once. He asked about the girl. Described the siren girl, but I... didn’t say much. I didn’t know if he knew what she was now, and I didn’t want to be the one to tell him if that was true.”
My lips part as I think this through. Who would they keep? They had kept her father as a test. They forced her to kill someone she cared about to ensure they weren’t being deceived about their control. So are they keeping another for the same purpose? And if so—who?
Jeb? Knick? Rosemera? Someone else?
“What else did he say?”
“He asked if she was all right. That’s all though.” He looks down, wringing his hands. “He called her Whit,” he says with a nod, just he just remembered that piece of information
The breath leaves my lungs, and I press my eyes closed.
Whitley
When my master brings me to the ship, I hide my smile. She never mentions the boy, she’s just bringing me along with her to meet with her ugly pirate ally. I’ve never asked her about him. Why does she keep such a scoundrel around? Why does she let him talk to her the way he does? What value does he bring? If she is all powerful, and he is simply a man...
But I don’t ask, because she does not like to be questioned. By me least of all. That’s fine with me. The less I talk, the less she’ll know what I really think of her.
What I really think, is that I can, and will, take her place as Siren Queen one day. She is weak compared to me.
I PRETEND TO BE UNINTERESTED on deck as she leaves me, entering some room below the helm to talk with her ugly pirate. The moment the door closes, I swing around to find him. On one end of the ship are a few crewmen who tremble, their eyes pinned to me. The moment I pass them, they all scuttle below deck. Good riddance.
No one is on the back end of the ship. Except Bluff.
I bite my lip and creep towards him, eager in ways I’m not sure I can explain. He watches as I approach, his shoulders back, head high. There’s something in his expression, something that hasn’t been there before.
Hunger. And not for food.
It stirs a hunger of my own, swirling in my gut and heading all the way to my head. A pleasant fuzzy feeling I’m unaccustomed to.
I stop just feet from where he leans against the ship railing. His body is still thin, but his eyes sharper, his skin healthier.
“You look good,” I say to him when he doesn’t speak.
His eyebrows pull up, and a small smile plays at the edges of his lips. “Do I?” The sound is sultry. I like it.
I take another step towards him, and he stands up straight as I get close enough to touch him. “Do you want me?” I ask him with a sincerity that surprises me. The words are common—it’s something I’d ask my prey before ripping them apart.
He sucks in a desperate breath.
Somehow, despite how much pain I’ve caused him and control I’ve established, I do not think he is prey.
When he looks at me like this—I wonder if I am the prey. I may as well be under his spell.
His smile falls as intensity takes over his face, then he suddenly looks down, breaking our connection. I blink and step back, a cool wash of panic rushing over my skin at his rejection, covered quickly with the heat of rage.
“I shouldn’t answer that question,” he mutters.
I curl my lip, angry. I can make him want me, if he won’t on his own. “Why?” I snarl.
He meets my eye again, the intensity replaced by sadness, and my anger slips from my grasp. “Because I can’t...” He glances over my shoulder at the empty ship. All the crew are now below deck.
I narrow my eyes. “You are always keeping secrets, aren’t you?”
He blinks. “I’m very good at secrets. I’d tell you all of mine... if I knew I could trust you.”
I tilt my head. It’s a question. He’s asking if he can trust me, but that might be the strangest question I’ve ever heard. Why in the world would he trust me? I’m his enemy.
“I shouldn’t answer the question,” he continues, trying again to answer the question he failed, “because it would open a door we shouldn’t. Yet.”
Yet. I lick my bottom lip, tasting the word. Yes, I like that word.
“Why?” I ask again.
“We are both slaves,” he says weakly. I don’t like the pain in his voice. I like even less the truth in his words.
But he said ‘yet.’ I narrow my eyes. “When?” I whisper.
His emotions shift like the weather. Now his intensity is a determination, an anger. “Soon. But not yet.”
I know what he’s saying. I know it because I’ve put the pieces together. He has the power to overthrow my master. My master wants him as a puppet, and me too. He’s waiting until the right time, and he will use this power she’s so afraid of to destroy her. We will destroy her.
“Good,” I hiss.
He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. I tap my finger against my leg, more questions floating through my mind. I want to know why he’s kind to me. Because he wants me? I want to know why he’s so willing to accept all the pain I’ve given him, and then still look at me like that. Still tell me stories. Still help me.
I raise my eyebrows. “Will you tell me more of your story?” I ask suddenly, because I’m a coward. I don’t know that I want to know the answers to those questions. But I do know I’d like more story. So I stall.
I’ll figure him out, after he tells me if the boy and girl escape the pirate ship.
He smiles wide now. He leans in close, his voice low like a whisper. His breath warm as it brushes against my neck. Yes, I like this.
“Their plan had been compromised,” he tells me, and I pull my mind back into the story. Boy and girl prisoners on a pirate ship but planning to escape. “The boy was below deck, free of his bindings but only so long as he pretended to be one of the crew. The other pirates couldn’t know who he was impersonating.”
“And the girl?”
“Still tied to the mast.”
“He left her there?” my voice rises.
He nods. “She was safe, thanks to her siren song. No pirate would dare cross a siren.”
I smirk at that, but still ask, “But she wasn’t a siren, was she?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet. But the crew didn’t know that.”
My eyebrows pull down in confusion. There’s that word again.
“There are some humans with traces of siren magic in their blood,” he tells me, his whispering tone gone. He leans away and looks out over the ocean. “Most don’t even know it. She somehow found a way to tap hers early.”
“That sounds impressive.”
“Everything about her was impressive,” he says in a murmur, like I wasn’t meant to hear it. A flash of jealousy crosses my chest.
“So,” he says louder, stronger. “He was below, and she was above, each with no way of communicating with the other. He needed to find an island they could escape to without being noticed, but he couldn’t do that below deck. She didn’t know how to find the right island or get below deck to help him. Or so he thought.”
I smirk. “She saves him, doesn’t she?”
“Yes,” he smiles. “Yes, she does.”
“Good,” I nod sharply, and he laughs.
He continues telling me how the boy gets tricked into getting drunk, while the girl escapes her bindings and sneaks below to save him. She kisses him to wake him up.
She certainly sounds like a siren to me. I grin. She gives him all the information he needs to pinpoint the time they’d pass an island suitable, and they are just ready to leap into the waves and escape the pirates when...
Bluff pauses, and I suck in a breath. His eyes jerk to other side of the ship. “She’s coming,” he whispers, and anger wells in my chest. No. I don’t want him to stop. I want to know what happens. I don’t want to leave this ship and be forced to use my power more. Anger wells.
That cool magic twists around my fingers, and for a moment it feels like he’s holding my hand. I look down but he’s not touching me. Not psychically. Whatever he’s doing, I don’t want him to stop.
“I don’t want to hurt you again,” I say, knowing that’s the next step.
He sucks in a breath, a new emotion clouding his expression. One I can’t name.
“Then go to the other side of the ship. Now. Hurry.”
“But what about the story? What—”
“I’ll tell you more, I promise.”
“But—”
He leans in and I can feel his heart racing as his eyes glue to the captain’s door. “She makes one request before they leap into the waves. ‘The next time I kiss you, I want it to be as you. Not someone else.’”
My heart clenches, mind spinning.
“Then she leaps into the dark ocean. And he follows.”
I swallow. A new warmth shifting in my chest. Bluff pushes me gently, “Go,” he whispers. My body barely obeys, my feet shuffling until I hit the rail opposite Bluff and stare out over the horizon, fighting an urge—almost impossible to resist—to look at him again.
The emotions in my body right now are foreign. I don’t understand them. I don’t know why a story would affect me like this. I can’t help but feel like I know them. The nameless girl and boy escaping from a pirate crew. Could I know them? I wonder as I stare at the waves.
The door to the captain’s quarters slams open, cutting my thoughts short. I dare one last glance at Bluff, and then away. She’s in control, I remind myself.
But my heart is racing. Aching. My mind spinning.
There is so much I’m missing. I know it. And I’m going to find those missing pieces.
Bluff
I twist my expression to one of pain and weakness, curling my body against the railing as my mother appears. Inside, my blood is pumping, heart aching with desire.
She’s starting to remember. Her expression is full of confusion, of recognition she can’t place. I put my hands over my head to hide my panicked celebration. My mother can’t see this, and the feelings are too strong to hide, even for me. She can’t know what’s happening or I’ll lose the opportunity to draw her out even more.
A pair of splashes tells me they are gone and I can breathe again. Or, well, I could if my body would let me. I’m still unable to control these emotions. I long, so much, to chase after her. To grip her in my arms, to kiss her and tell her I’m desperately in love with her.
It might even work. I might even be able to pull her out of this spell—now. But what good would that do? Even without Whitley, my mother now holds the same amount of power as we do.
Before, she was unready. Her power scattered throughout the whole ocean. Now, my mother’s army is assembled. So long as she is ready, even if I could break Whitley free of my mother’s hold and connect our powers to its completion—we’d only match my mother’s power. We can’t win that battle. Neither of us can.
Whitley and
I’s power, under the influence of my mother and the other sires, can supposedly kill the Sea King.
The Sea King, working together with us, could kill my mother.
The Sea King is the key. If only I knew how to summon him, I’d do it now.
“Please come,” I whisper into the wind as it rustles against my hair, trying to remember the few times I’ve heard the voice. Apparently, that was my father? I shake my head, unable to even wrap my mind around it. “We can win this if we fight together.”
I stand up, looking out over the waves. “You know what she’s doing, right?” I say louder, to no one. Luckily, they all think I’m insane anyway. “She’s going to kill you. Kill you so I’ll have your power and she can control me. But I don’t want it. Come and help us beat her.”
Nothing changes. There is no shift. No spark of power or magic or recognition in any way, anywhere. He’s not here. He’s not listening.
“We can’t do this without you,” I whisper. I close my eyes as I slip back down to the ground. I suck in a breath. My mother knows how to summon him, so if he won’t answer my call—I’ll just have to wait.
But damn if patience isn’t the hardest thing right now. When Whitley is just on the cusp of coming to the surface. When I could have her now.
I swallow. Longing creates a cavern in my chest deep enough to swallow me whole.
I want her.
I need her.
But I must wait for her.
Whitley
I am restless. We have worked alongside my master’s siren army for days now, which is unpleasant at best. She barks orders at me, along with the rest of the sirens. We practice formations and attacks and specific kinds of magic—but mostly I can’t help but feel like she’s only practicing controlling them.
I obeyed. I followed. Like a good little siren weapon. But my mind is elsewhere.
Every night I sleep in the depths. Deep down, just outside the darkest areas of the sea. On the bottom of the ocean floor, I curl up next to a rock. Every night, farther and farther from my master.
Treacherous Love Page 19
