“That’s not the point,” I argued.
“Then what is?” his voice thundered through my chest. I’d never seen him so upset.
I squared my jaw. “I worry that you’re doing all this to get me home, but you still have to live in this time. You will have to deal with the aftermath of your actions. Unleashing a monster on the sea…a sea you’ll soon have to cross when I’m gone.”
His heavy leather boots scuffed in the dirt and he impatiently tossed the sword on the ground. His arms slapped helplessly at his sides. “What do you want, Dianna?”
I blinked through sudden confusion. “What–”
“What,” he stalked toward me until his gargantuan height towered over me and I could smell the mix of leather and spice that always aired from him. “Do. You. Want.”
I peered up into those brown eyes I adored so much, the innocence and desire to be good glistened in them. But behind that, a layer of pain I’d never understand. “I-I want…” What did I truly want? Being void of most emotion had left my will scattered. “To go home.”
“You sure about that?” he challenged and closed in on me, forcing me to back up. “Because your behaviour lately tells me otherwise.”
Heat rose through my body and flushed in my cheeks. “What do you mean?”
He was so close, just a breath between us, and his long brown waves trickled down, brushing the skin of my cheeks. A low moan turned over in his chest and I practically felt the vibration pulse toward me.
“You know damn well what I’m talking about.” His voice was low but raspy. Deep and unnerving. “Do I need to remind you what you’re fighting for? What you’re trying to get home to.” I had no reply, and I pursed my lips to keep from saying something I’d regret. His eyebrows rose. “Because you say the word, Dianna, and I’ll stop. I’ll bury that sword so deep in the earth no one will ever find it. I’ll slaughter every siren in the sea. If it means…if you want to stay.”
The world around us melted away into shadows as we stood and stared into one another’s eyes. Neither of us willing to relent. I couldn’t tell Benjamin that I didn’t want to stay, couldn’t dare say that some part of me didn’t want him. Because that would be a lie. But to utter such words wouldn’t be fair to him, my friend who constantly risked everything for me. I didn’t deserve his love, not when I couldn’t even reciprocate it. I’d done many things in my life that I regret, but letting Benjamin love me was one of the worst. And now, I’d let this darkness, this…evil, enter my body, and it clawed at my insides for him. It played on my weakened will and blurred the line between who I was and who I was reluctantly becoming.
So, like the coward I was, I stepped away and let a breath of fresh air enter my lungs. He read my body language immediately and straightened his back as he let a deep sigh leave his body. I walked over to the sword on the ground and picked it up.
“So, what’s your plan?” I asked him and tried to ignore the tremble in my voice. “You just expect to summon Davy Jones and hope he doesn’t kill you on the spot?”
Benjamin stood with his back to me for a moment, his face cast to the sky. Eyes closed. When he seemed to have composed himself, he turned. “No. I plan to summon him and offer the sword as payment for his help. After all, I wasn’t the one who stole it from him.”
“And you don’t think he’ll just slaughter us both and take it?” I argued. “Why would he just help you?” He stood with his hands on his hips. I rolled my eyes and stalked over to hand him the sword. “We better get the others if we’re going to march into a trap.”
“It’s not a trap,” he defended.
I spun on my heel and began heading away from the mansion. “Life is a trap, Ben. The trick is figuring out how to escape in one piece.”
***
“Aye, lassie,” Finn churred as we clambered out of the boat that we’d rowed out to an empty beach. “Ye sure about his?”
Freya and Finn accompanied us on the quick trip to summon Davy Jones from the depths of his ocean prison. I’d hardly had the words out of my mouth when Finn grabbed his sword and told us to lead the way. Freya instructed the deckhands to stay behind and safeguard the ship, and to sail it home in the event that she didn’t return. Her lack of faith sat heavy in my gut.
“Ask Ben,” I replied. “It’s his plan.”
Benjamin hauled the tow rope across the sand and tied it to a tree before turning to face us and wiped his hands together. “There’s no reason this shouldn’t work. I’ll summon David and offer the trade. As long as we stay on land and away from the shore, we’ll be safe. He can’t step a foot on solid earth without this sword.”
Finn looked to me with a hint of concern, and I gripped the hilt of the sword that hung at my side. “But, just in case things go South, be ready.”
He nodded dutifully and gripped the handle of his weapon before motioning for his sister to follow. Freya was geared up with a sword at her side and a bow across her back. Despite the tension that had grown between us, I was grateful for her help.
“Thanks,” I told her as we followed Benjamin across the beach.
“Fer what?” she replied, her blazing hair blowing in the breeze.
I swallowed my pride. “For everything. For the ship, for coming with us. For being here today.”
“Aye,” she said with a sigh. “My brother loves ye like kin, Dianna.” She peered at me from the corner of her eye. “That means yer kin to me, too. Whether I like it or nae.”
A quiet chuckle rolled from me. “So, which is it?” She looked at me curiously. “Do you like it, or…not?”
Freya stared ahead as we continued to trudge through the warm sand. I couldn’t quite read her expression, but I caught the slightest hint of a grin pinching at the corner of her mouth. “That’s yet t’be determined.”
The four of us came to a stop near the middle of a long stretch of beach. A vast stretch of land behind us. And, most importantly, no one around to get caught in the crossfire.
“Take a few steps back,” Benjamin instructed, and we put about twenty feet between ourselves and the water. “Good, good,” he added nervously. “Now, stay there.”
We watched as he headed toward the shoreline, and I cringed when he took a knife from his pocket and dragged the blade across his palm. Even from twenty feet away, I saw the luscious crimson pool to the surface and fill his cupped hand. I held my breath while he squatted and submersed his bloody hand into the water and muttered something none of us could hear from where we stood.
I wasn’t sure what to expect, what to look for, but the breath I held went cold and tight in my throat as I realized that…nothing was happening. My eyes raked over the gentle wave, scanning for any sign of movement. The sound of our heavy breathing clashed with the rushing waves and the sea fowl that circled in the distance. Benjamin walked backward and joined us in our watch.
“Maybe he can’t be called,” I suggested. “Maybe too much time has passed.”
“No,” Benjamin said with certainty and kept his unblinking stare on the water. “He’s coming. I can feel it.”
“How–” And I suddenly felt it, too.
The earth below trembled, and the sand started to shift under our feet. What was solid seconds before was now turning to quicksand faster than I could process it in my mind. The air became dead, and I gasped as I turned to run, but it was too late. My feet were held in place, anchored by some otherworldly force in the water that now rose above the toes of my boots.
I looked to Finn and Freya, but they were in the same situation and fought uselessly against the hold. We were like toy soldiers, bound at the feet with nowhere to run. At least Benjamin had the right mind to run back toward the beach. I craned my neck and threw him a glance over my shoulder. Benjamin’s wide-eyed stare sparkled with regret and looked to me apologetically. In the near distance, the sea pulled away from us, sucking in on itself, and we had no choice but to stand there and watch as the tip of a massive vessel began to emerge from beneath the surfac
e.
“Ladies! Brace yerselves!” Finn bellowed at me and his sister.
It seemed to never end. Just a constant length of off-white bone, carved and rounded in places where cannons and portholes lined the sides. When it finally fully emerged and slapped on top of the water like a fat whale, an enormous wave pulsed across the shore and there was nothing I could do to stop it from forcing me down under. With my feet firmly planted, I took on the full lashing of the water. Sucked it in through my mouth, my nose, my arms flailing helplessly. When my lungs burned from the salt and lack of oxygen, an arm scooped in and yanked me upward.
I gasped for air and it fought its way in through the water that I coughed up at the same time. An arm’s distance away, Freya stood half soaked up to her neck. Her long red hair drenched and glued to her tall frame. She gave me a quick nod, and I mirrored it. We had no time to exchange words.
At the far end of our modest line, Benjamin’s face paled, and I noted how he tucked the sword to the back of his belt. In the space between the ship and us, a figure emerged from the depths of the water. Not a man, but not a creature like anything I’d ever seen before.
Davy Jones.
Humanoid in form with two arms and legs, a head on top, but his appearance was comprised of a variety of scales. Shimmery siren flesh in some places, while the blubbery skin of a whale made up others. Tooth and bone and kelp dangled from his limbs as he stalked toward us, and we had no choice but to stand there and await his approach. When he was just a few feet away, I noticed his hollow torso, empty–save for the dirty seawater that sloshed inside–and encased in sea glass.
“Who dares summon me?” he demanded with moist lips that slapped together like drenched bits of flesh.
“You mean resurrect you?” Benjamin replied gruffly from the beach.
Davey’s large fisheyes ogled Ben with scrutiny and a flash of recognition twinkled there. “You, boy. I’ve seen your soul before.”
“Yes,” Benjamin affirmed. “You nearly took it from me many years ago.”
I threw a glance at Finn and Freya from the corner of my eye, but they just stared ahead, unblinking at the sight of this monstrosity of a being. Like a heap of discarded sea life. He was already drying in the sun, and the stench of fish wafted toward me.
“And you escaped?”
With a grin, he revealed the sword from behind his back. “Barely.” Davey’s eyes lit up with anger. “My brother took this from you a lifetime ago.”
Davey moved swiftly between us and stopped where the brim of the sea met the sand so he could face Benjamin. “You! You cursed me to this eternal prison!”
Ben clucked his tongue and waved a taunting finger. “No, my brother, Abraham, did. I was merely caught in the crossfire. I wanted no part in it, no more than I do now.”
“And you come to rectify the sins of your kin now, do you?” Davey chided sarcastically.
“Not exactly,” Ben replied and made a show of admiring the sword in his hands. “I came to make a deal.”
“A deal?” guffawed Davey. “I should drown you where you stand.”
Benjamin laughed purposefully. “Where I stand is beyond your reach. And if you want this sword in one piece, I suggest you listen to what I have to offer.”
Davey moved with unnerving slick sounds as he crossed his deformed fin-like arms. “I may not be able to touch you, but your friends are at my mercy.” They entered a stare down for what felt like an eternity, but it was Davey who succumbed. “You have one minute, boy, before I fill their pretty bodies with seawater.”
Benjamin tipped his chin toward me. “My friend is looking to get her soul back. And, since that’s what you deal in, I thought you could help.”
“I do not possess the girl’s soul.”
“We know that,” Ben replied. “But surely you could find it for her? Or, at the very least, tell us how we can retrieve it?”
He inhaled long and deep. “I’ll make your deal. But the terms are that I shall look for your friend’s soul, and you’ll return my sword, unscathed.”
“Just as you’ll leave us,” Ben added. “Unharmed. Now and forever.”
“Fine,” he snapped wetly. “Agreed.”
“Agreed,” Ben repeated with a terse nod.
Davy Jones whipped his head around and eyed me with sharp, impatient scrutiny before sloshing through the water to come and stand at my feet. That close, the stench of rotten fish was almost too much to bear. His googly eyes turned in their socket and two slits where a nose should be widened as he inhaled the air around me.
“You positively reek of sin,” he stated with disgust, and I recoiled. “Nevertheless.” He snatched my hand. “Let’s see what I have to work with.”
Before I could process what he was doing, Davey’s fin-like hand revealed a sharpened piece of bone and he flicked it across my palm, slicing the tender skin. I winced as he squeezed my hand, drawing blood, and my stomach toiled when he brought it to his chummy lips. His tongue lapped at the blood.
After a moment of consideration, he flung my hand back at me and my arm dropped to my side. “Tell me, girl. How did you lose your soul?”
Finn, Freya, and Ben all watched me with baited breaths, urging me with their eyes. My mind scrambled for a response. “It’s a bit of a long story–”
“Spare me the details,” Davey snipped. “Who or what possesses your soul?”
I swallowed hard against the sudden dry tightness in my throat. “The sirens. I traded it to save my husband’s life.”
He made a sort of blech sound and shook his head. “There’s nothing I can do for you.”
“What?” I cried. “But the deal–”
“I swore to look for your soul,” he reminded. “Not retrieve it. I’ve looked, it’s not within my reach. And a deal with the sea Fae is not a deal I can meddle with.” He sloshed back over to Ben and held out a slimy arm. “The sword, boy.”
“No,” Benjamin said, panic lacing his tone. “You deal in souls! It’s what you do! There has to be a way!”
The grim reaper of the sea moaned with impatience. “I cannot retrieve her soul while it remains in the clutches of the sea Fae. She’ll have to plead with them for its return.” He grumbled something under his breath when Ben put even more space between them. “But…I can do something about that pesky curse she’s holding onto.” He turned and shot a stare at me. “Or should I say…holding onto you?”
“Curse?” I echoed.
“Yes,” Davey replied with a snake-like expression, and he tipped his head to the side in mock concern. “The darkness you feel deep in your belly, the fingers that crawl around inside your chest.” A gurgled chuckle turned over in him. “The whisper in your ear. You feel that, right?”
It stunned me. “It’s a curse? You mean…”
“What did you think it was, girl?”
Freya and Finn exchanged a look of confusion. “What’s this about a curse?” Finn asked.
I ignored him. “I thought…it was something I did.”
In a flash, Davey was in my face again and I leaned back with a yelp. “No, dear. All you did was provide this lovely body for the evil to burrow in. Soul or not, it would have happened because the sirens planted it–” he poked a pointed fin at my chest. “Right here.”
Finn groaned a little too loudly. “Ye mean the wretched sea beasts cursed her, even after she gave them her bloody soul?” He turns to me. “Why didn’t ye tell me?”
I shrugged. “I didn’t really know. Besides, what could you have done? You were already doing so much to help me.”
“Dianna…” he replied disappointedly.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. Darkness, a whisper taunting me to do bad things, the emotions that made me human…gone. I motioned to Davey. “Can you tell me what kind of curse it is?”
“Not entirely,” he replied. “But it’s rooted deep.” Davey chuckled evilly. “The sea Fae must truly despise you.”
I tried to swallow, but my throat was dry
as a bone. “No, not me. My family. The whole female line of Cobhams.” If I could muster a tear, my eyes would surely brim with them and I looked at Finn, who was the only one who’d truly understand the weight of my realization. He paled, eyes wide, and gave me a slow pitiful nod. “They cursed me like they did Maria. If I don’t soon fix it, I’ll…”
“Turn into a soulless, murderous bitch just like yer sister,” Finn finished for me in a gentle, defeated tone.
I narrowed my eyes at Davey. “How do I break the curse?”
A quiet chuckle built inside of him and rose until it released in a loud, wet sound that filled the air as his back arched backward. He stuck a hand out at Benjamin. “The sword first.”
Ben checked with me and I nodded. Reluctantly, he held the sword out, and the flesh of Davey’s arm wrapped around the hilt, absorbing the solid shape until it fused with his body. Immediately, the sea receded, releasing the three of us, and we ran for the beach.
Davey turned to head back toward his ship, but Ben’s voice cut through the air as he held me back with a protective arm. “The curse, David!”
He only stopped briefly and cast a look over his hunched shoulder. “There are but two ways. The girl can take her chances and beg the sirens to remove it.”
I glanced down at the sleeves of my jacket that were stained with the sea Fae’s blood. “That’s…not an option,” I said.
“Then the only other way is to die.”
“Die?” we all exclaimed.
“Yes,” he replied. “You must die in order for the curse to leave your body. It’ll have no use for you if you’re gone.”
I felt the hot tension radiating from Ben’s body at my side. “And how do you expect us to just let her die?”
“That’s for you to figure out,” Davey said without a care. “Now, I’ve done my part, boy.” His unnerving glare narrowed at all of us. “I’ll hold my end of the bargain and I trust our paths never cross again.”
The Cursed Sea Page 9
