I would not let her get James! I couldn’t. The fear of losing him awakened me. Reaching up, I kicked my way to the fractured light coming in from the surface. Each time I moved my arms, my head throbbed. Every time I kicked my legs, sharp pains jolted up my sides and electrified my back. I’d managed a few strokes when Tethys’ black hair whipped in my face. She flashed her fangs.
“You have a nasty habit of stealing what is not yours to take. All my pets are now gone. First the one you named Hope and now Mario!” Tethys slapped me across the face. “Stop smiling, you cocky bitch. I could kill you if I wanted.”
I wanted to ask why she didn’t. But one doesn’t ask why a cat plays with a mouse before killing it. The cat just does.
Tethys snarled and then composed herself. “Even when you’re near death you’re insufferable! You were cunning, freeing Hope like you did, but you cannot expect to kill another of my pets and not suffer the consequences.”
She grabbed me by the throat like she was going to strangle me. I gripped her hands, scratching her arms, and kicked at her. But with each defiant move, the harder my head throbbed, my ribs cracked, and my leg had gone numb.
“Stupid fairy,” she said and pressed her lips against mine. She exhaled, forcing air back into my lungs. My ribs whined as my lungs expanded. When she pulled away, she cupped my face in her hands and screamed at me to keep my eyes open. “You will not die quickly.”
If I was to die, it would not be free of torment either. “It’s not my fault you can’t keep track of your pets,” I said, the precious air slipped from my lips.
She threw me backward. I extended my arms, trying to keep my bearings when I bumped into something. It was cold and stiff…and didn’t react to me. A chill overcame me. I bit back a cry from having a dead body brush up behind me. As my skin made contact, screams echoed in my ears. They were not mine—I didn’t have an Irish accent.
When I turned around, I saw a man who I wished I could unsee. He was suspended in the water. Tufts of red hair gathered on top of his head and a ginger beard framed his widespread mouth, crying out in horror. Only one of his eyes remained. Bits of skin were still connected to his bones, but he was hardly a man anymore. He was trapped between life and death. But even as awful as the sight was, nothing compared to the dread etched onto his face or the red stain that leaked from his ears.
“He screams for all eternity,” Alessia purred, swimming up from underneath me. “I would very much enjoy having your one-armed captain here.”
“He could scream out until the end of time, paying the consequence of your actions while I let you live!” Tethys roared, circling around me with the other mermaids.
They could do what they may to me, but if they enchanted James… I dare not think about it. I refused to believe it possible. I didn’t get my captain back in my life for him to become a mermaid’s pet, or for him to endure a lifetime of torture.
“We can be very creative,” Alessia promised, brushing the tip of her black tail against my legs. “I’m certain we could create quite the display between you and your lover. You could live out a lifetime of permanent heartbreak.”
My head wanted to explode. The pressure was so great, I could barely concentrate on anything other than ensuring James didn’t end up serving a lifetime under the sea. No other coherent thoughts came to mind. It was more desperation than anything. Last time I was dragged down, I had nothing. I didn’t care if I lived or died. My body was broken, my soul crushed, and my mind part delusional.
I was not delusional now. I embraced the frantic anxiety rupturing my heart. It vibrated through me, pulsing in my body just as my heart beat.
“I will kill you if you pull me under again,” I promised, and pushed away from Alessia, kicking her in the gut as hard as I could.
Spinning around, I deflected one of the mermaid’s blows. I had but a second to snatch the pocket watch from my breast pocket before Tethys slammed into me. Before she could swim away like last time, I whipped the chain around her throat and jerked back. My shoulder popped. A surge of pain ripped through my arm. I laced my legs around her waist, desperate to stay clear of her tail.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw more fins than I cared to see in a lifetime. I tried to imagine what they’d do to me if they all reached me again. This time I was certain their strikes would be crushing. They had no intention of letting me live if they couldn’t torture me in this locker. A rush of anxiety mixed with apprehension flooded my body. I would die by their hands or slip through their fingers.
Oh, how I wanted to end Tethys’ life. I held on tight, but my concentration couldn’t stay on the mermaid. I needed to focus on time. So, I focused on the seconds, counting down each one.
Tick. Tock. Tick.
Tock.
Tick…To…ck.
Ti…
I pushed away from her. If I had anything sharp I would have taken her life, but I needed to save myself if James had any chance. The recognition of the spell I’d worked hung in her gaze, just like it had with Peter when I slowed time to escape the condemned Jolly Roger. She may be stronger than me, especially down here, but I would not go quietly.
I pushed up, kicking as hard as I dared. Each time a new surge of pain flowed through my body. If I hadn’t harnessed time, I swore the seconds would have lasted forever anyway. My body ached. My lungs burned. My eyes stung. My one leg struggled to keep up with the other, but I pushed through. I had to. The darkness closed in on my vision as I neared the shimmering surface.
I barely broke through before a coughing frenzy took over. Red, warm liquid spattered from my lips. Blood. I couldn’t take a deep breath. Sharp pain shot through my skull with each movement, but I wasn’t dead. Like Hope, I’d escaped. Somehow.
Exhaustion slowed me, but it would only be a matter of time before my grasp on time wore off and the sadistic mermaids came back after me. Needing to hurry, I squinted, searching for James.
He wasn’t in sight.
Neither was Neverland.
Where was Davy Jones’ Locker? How far had the mermaid dragged me?
Frantically, I spun around, ignoring the pain as best I could. It didn’t matter if I’d escaped their watery cemetery if I couldn’t get back to shore!
I focused on my panic, allowing it to swell. It only took them a matter of seconds to drag me. It would take me… I couldn’t calculate how much time I’d waste swimming in the ocean searching for an island I never wanted to step foot on so badly in my life. I imagined James cursed by their song and beauty. He’d never be satisfied again. My fear grew, as did my anger at the thought of seeing him cursed. It quickly turned to rage. The fury burned through my veins as I thought about them taunting me.
Ice formed around me as the winds picked up, whipping cold gales against my shivering body. My finger beds turned white as I reached out to my sides. The water froze where it met my skin and then seeped outward. My lip curled. I could feel my body freezing, my heart slowing down. I barely recalled extending my arms, but I felt the wind at my back. It was a natural feeling. Before I’d simply spread my wings, allowing them to rise above my skin and let the gales take me.
Now, I pulled my body onto the ice forming around me. I pushed myself upright and fell. Under the thin layer of glass were the mermaids.
“Captain!” I screamed, but my words came out as a sob. “Where are you?”
I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. I couldn’t lose it. Not now. So, I ran. I ran toward the horizon until I saw a shimmer. It was faint. It could have easily been mistaken as a collection of waves crashing, but I knew better.
I ran. I ran as the air tore at my lungs, as my broken ribs cut my breaths short. I ran as my feet slipped out from under me. I ran as the ice started to crack from under my weight. I ran until my body could barely carry me. Until the ice started to sink underneath me. I ran until the shimmer became more than a figment of one’s demented imagination.
And when my legs finally collapsed from under me,
James caught me. I made it back to Neverland. Back to the place where everything I touched fell apart simply because I was a horrid, evil being.
Frantically I reached for James, pushing his hair out of his face. I had to know—had to see for myself—was he enchanted? Had he seen what could not be unseen? Were his actions of his own accord, or commands he carried out for his mermaid master?
A whimper fled my throat when I saw his wide, bloodshot eyes. He bore the same expression my cimarrón had: agony and demented hopelessness.
I could barely get the words out. They’d enchanted him. “You’re cursed.”
“Aye, I believe so.” His voice was rough and strained, not like his usual self. “And I don’t think it can be undone.”
Chapter 4
Miss Bell
My heart splintered. Cursed men were obsessed. Some would fixate on everything they couldn’t have after seeing a mermaid. Some obeyed their master’s every request. Others were completely intoxicated with the finned creatures; they wouldn’t do anything unless it benefited them. I’d seen many go mad. Many walked out to sea and drowned because it meant they’d sink to the locker and be with mermaids. I’d witnessed others starve while surrounded by a tropical garden because they were too fixated on the sea, hoping to spot one again. But others knew they must obey, even if they hated what the mermaid asked.
I tried to keep more traitorous tears from slipping down my cheeks, but it was no use. I had nothing left, no strength left to fight. I didn’t want to lose James to any horrid sea creature.
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been…” I forced myself to take a deep breath. It shook on the way out. I tried again. But each time I drew a breath in, my chest constricted and my throat clogged, I couldn’t get air to my lungs. “You can’t…no…you can’t be cursed,” I said, trying to keep my voice even but failing.
“What is done is done. My fate was sealed with your kiss long ago,” he said, brushing the hair out of my eyes.
Worry lined the bottom of his darkened eyes. His cheeks had sunk in a bit. His hair was disheveled. The sun had left its mark on his skin. His chest was red and dark. Salt lined the bottom of his pants like he’d been standing in the water for days.
“Oh, my love, what did they do to you?” he hushed, taking in my body—starting with my torn feet.
He was the one with the blood-stained bandages around his arm, yet sorrow touched his face for me. Careful not to press too hard, he lifted the edge of my skirt. Black and blue marks lined my right leg, darkening my thigh as he pulled back the fabric.
“How far up does the bruising go?” he asked.
I didn’t know. I didn’t want to know. I didn’t want him to know either. He was the one who was truly hurt. I tried to keep him from lifting the corner of my shirt. He winced at the mess of blues and blacks.
“Your breaths are uneven,” he said and lightly pressed on my abdomen.
I cried out. “Please, stop.”
“Your ribs are broken.”
I was very much broken. “I need a little sleep and I’ll be fine.”
He dropped the shirt and cupped my face. Affection had vanished from his eyes, replaced by worry once again.
“Your pupils are unusual sizes,” he noted, and then examined my head like he was searching for something. He dabbed my temple. His fingertips came back stained a dark red.
Instinctively he scanned the terrain. “You need protection.”
“Just rest.”
He stared back down at me like I had lost my mind. But he didn’t argue with me when I closed my eyes.
“Before sleep takes you, I need you to do two things for me, my love.”
“Anything.”
Hesitating, he lightly traced my face like I was so fragile I might break. He rolled his thumb over my cheeks, wiping away the wetness dripping down them. “Let me see those beautiful green eyes.”
A weary smile touched his face when our gazes locked, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Hello, gorgeous,” he said, like his words weren’t beautiful lies. “I just need you to help me with one thing, my love.”
“Hmm?”
He sighed, his shoulders slumped. “I need something to free myself from these bindings.”
A makeshift rope was fastened around his wrist. Woven with a shirt, it was soaked in grime and dirt. Around his leg was another rope. Angry red marks lined his skin. Both were anchored to the boulders that had fallen from the cliffs.
“I threw all the bones I could dig up out of reach,” James admitted. “Some were sharp and could be used to cut the ropes.”
“I don’t understand.” Why had he tethered himself to the beach? And if he wanted means to free himself, why did he throw the sharpened bones? “Why did you tether yourself to the beach?” I asked.
He couldn’t maintain my gaze, staring off into the distance like the unforgiving sea was easier to face than me. “A mermaid came for me and sang to me for the better part of a night. I had to do something to keep myself from following her into the sea.”
“Sang to you?” I repeated, and then I understood what he couldn’t bring himself to say. “She wanted to make you hers.”
“Aye.”
“It worked?”
“Miss Bell, I threw every sharp object I could because I didn’t trust myself.” His body was flexed tight. “But I didn’t dare leave the beach because you hadn’t returned. I would never leave until I saw you again. I couldn’t even if I wanted to.”
Those were the words men said about mermaids, not me. That’s when I realized what he meant when he said he was already enchanted.
“I cursed you,” I whispered.
“Long before any mermaid sang to me,” he acknowledged, and the affection in his eyes gave me the impression he wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I don’t want your free will,” I said. “I don’t want you to obey my every word.”
He chuckled softly. “Miss Bell, when has that ever been the case?”
He slipped his good arm under my legs, catching my back with his bad. I opened my mouth to protest being carried, but he cut me off.
“Miss Bell, I need you to recover that sharpened bone,” he said, walking as far out as his rope would allow.
He’d thrown a small bone—no bigger than the size of my arm—just out of his reach. I tried not to notice how the sand by the bone was not smooth, like he’d tried to retrieve it himself.
James carefully lowered me down to my feet. I wavered. He kept a hold of me until I got my footing. Frown lines were edged along his forehead. His jaw was clenched tight. Yet his grip on me was gentle, holding me until I stumbled out of reach. I reached the bone and tossed it over to him. It took just one slow blink for him to cut himself free and race over to me.
He acted like I was made of glass. “I won’t shatter,” I said when he slipped his arms around me again.
He kissed my forehead. “Always so fierce.”
He picked me up again, cursing as he adjusted me in his arms. I didn’t want to tear his wound open, but each time I tried to wiggle free, he tightened his grip. I wanted to tell him to stop, that I could walk, but the lie stopped in my throat.
Instead, I muttered, “Where are you taking me?”
“To the northern beach. It is edged with a forest, which offers us more protection. We’re exposed here, and that fucking mermaid knows I’m here.”
“Who sang to you?” I asked, not sure if I’d inquired about that already or not.
“A bitch with a black tail,” he said, his lip curling as he spoke.
“Alessia.” I acknowledged and crinkled my nose. “I thought Tethys would have been the one to make your ears bleed.”
“Tethys?” he questioned.
“She’s still upset about Hope and now Mario…” I lost my train of thought when I caught sight of the beach again. It had been Mario’s home for so many years, and now it was buried under mounds of sand and boulders. “My cimarrón spent so many years on Neverland. Now th
ere isn’t any mark that he’d even existed.”
“Marks have been left,” James said and wiped away a tear from my cheek—a tear I didn’t notice had fallen.
As he carried me away, blood dripped from his wound. It left a trail of blood in our wake, but he never groaned in pain. Only the lines around his eyes gave any hint to his suffering. My heart ached knowing he hurt. It tore at my soul. I needed to do something, anything, for him.
“You can relax, my love. I’ve got you,” James whispered in my ear like he knew my thoughts were keeping me from sleep. “You’re safe now, and I’ll do everything I can to keep you from shattering. That is a promise.”
Chapter 5
Miss Bell
Darkness engulfed me. I awoke in the blackness, barely able to breathe. The magic called to me, especially in my sleep. I breathed it in like air, filling my body with the darkness. With each breath, more and more of the powers filled me. I could feel my old self returning with each passing second on this island—the place of my birth.
Just as my mind raced, I couldn’t move my body. It wouldn’t obey me. My eyes wouldn’t open. I couldn’t push myself up. I tried to open my mouth to scream, but nothing fled my lips. My voice refused me.
Panic surfaced. I was trapped inside my own body. My heart pounded. Pressure formed on the backs of my eyes, but tears never fell. I forced myself to calm down. My throat felt tight but I couldn’t force out a slow breath. Time felt like it was standing still—just like it always did when I worked the timepiece spell.
Each time I used the clock piece to slow time, I closed my eyes. Decades could have passed or it could have been one slow blink. It happened after I burned Davy Jones’ vessel, the Atocha, and awoke on his son’s warship. Again, after I burned my captain’s ship I had taken refuge in the moment between sleep and consciousness—where I knew what was going on around me but not able to wake.
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