Page 41 of Of Song and Darkness

Kai bounded over the railing, and I watched as he scoured the ship, searching for something—or someone—in particular. His muscles tensed under his flowing, half-opened white shirt when his gaze landed on Flynt.

“I have something that belongs to you.” A clear threat rang in the hollowed edges of Kai’s statement. Flynt retreated a step as Kai pulled Flynt’s sword from his belt.

I reached out, brushing the fabric of Kai’s shirt. “It’s over.”

Kai glanced down at me, and I saw a chasm as empty as the depths of the sea. I took a step back. The anger swirling in his irises was paralyzing, unlike anything I had ever witnessed.

Flynt’s gaze shifted to me, and his lip curled into a snarl. “It’s the siren’s fault, Cap’n! She bewitched me with her song and stole my sword.” Flynt’s eyes were wild with hysteria as he laid all the blame at my feet.

I kept my mouth shut. I had already said too much, which unknowingly landed us in our situation.

Kai tossed Flynt’s sword to the deck. The metal blade hissed as it scraped across the wood. “Pick it up,” he said through clenched teeth.

Flynt glanced at the sword and then back to Kai. His face turned ashen, and beads of sweat gathered on his brow. Flynt snatched a sword from another crew member’s scabbard and held it protectively before him. I didn’t miss how the blade trembled in his hand.

Kai began to circle Flynt with calculated precision. “I believe my instructions were clear. I said not to touch the woman.”

Flynt’s movements were quick and jerky as he shifted to keep eye contact with Kai. “She’s no woman. She’s a sea demon.” Flynt spat in disgust.

Kai’s lip curled upward in a threatening and unsettling way, revealing his pearly white teeth. “No one gets to call her that but me.”

The dark rasp of his voice sent goosebumps spiraling down my arms. Kai was out for blood. He struck out with such speed and agility my mind could hardly process his movements. Flynt barely had enough time to raise his sword to ward off Kai’s blow. Cael shoved me protectively behind him as the two opponents shuffled across the deck, locked in a deadly dance.

Kai was cunning, swift, and ruthless with his attacks. Everything about him was perfectly orchestrated to deliver lethal doses of fear into his enemy’s bloodstream. If Kai’s blade didn’t kill Flynt, I was sure he would fall over dead from sheer fright.

The clanging of sword against sword reverberated deep into my bones until I feared I could stand no more. A gasp was wrenched from my lungs as Flynt landed a lucky blow, slicing into Kai’s forearm. Kai’s blood splattered across the wooden deck as he deflected the next attack. The urge to jump in between the two men was nearly suffocating. I took a step forward, trying to wriggle my way around Cael’s broad form, and then froze in fear when realization dawned on me.

I fell back, gripping the railing of the ship to keep upright as the weight of shame pressed heavily against my shoulders. What drove me to put myself in harm’s way by using my body as a barricade between the two warring males was the same thing that had driven me into Kai’s arms after Medusa’s death. I cared for him. Kai was like a phantom crab. He had easily passed through the walls I built around my heart and had burrowed deep within.

A tear slipped from my eye, caressing my cheek as it fell to the deck. How could I betray my family and my people by caring for the one human determined to end all of us?

Kai parried Flynt’s blow, and my heart leaped to my throat, lodging itself there when Kai ran Flynt through. Flynt sputtered and swayed before his lifeless body landed against the deck with a loud thud.

“Clean this mess up,” Kai growled, wiping the blood from his sword on his black pants.

He turned to face me, and Cael quickly stepped out of Kai’s way as he moved in my direction like a predator. Kai gripped my arm, pulling me along behind him in the direction of the stairwell that led to the lower deck. Everything within me cried to escape his grip, but I shoved that part of me into the recesses of my mind and allowed him to pull me below. I could still feel the anger rolling off him like waves in a squall.

Kai opened his cabin door and gently pushed me inside. I stared at him as he stalled in the doorway, unable to say or do anything as more tears gathered in my eyes. Kai reached up, lightly brushing his knuckles across my cheek. His tender touch enticed more tears until they dripped from my eyes and onto Kai’s fingers.

“You’re safe now. Go lie down and get some rest.” Kai’s baritone was firm but laced with concern.

He ever so slowly pulled his hand away from my face and shut the door behind him. Once the door was closed, I heard the unmistakable sound of the scuff of his boots as he walked back up the stairs. I flung myself onto the bed, burying my face in the pillow, using it to stifle the sounds of my heart tearing apart.

As I lay on the bed, the weight of guilt settled over me like a suffocating fog. The image of Kai shutting the door and the echo of boots fading away stirred a haunting realization. He had killed one of his own crew members with disturbing ease, a reminder of the darkness that clung to him—a darkness I found myself drawn to.

Horror clawed at my insides, not just for the life he had so easily taken, but for the countless others he had ended as the feared Blackheart Kai, killer of sea creatures. The allure of his strength and the chilling reality of his deeds collided, leaving me torn between the attraction that drew me to him and the horror of the blood on his hands.

Anger still simmered under my surface, threatening to consume me in a blazing fire. I stopped once I reached the upper deck. The only evidence remaining that Flynt was ever aboard my ship was the blood that seeped into the wood of the deck. Henry, my cabin boy, fell to all fours and vigorously scrubbed the offending stain, creating a sudsy mess that turned an obnoxious shade of pink. Before long, the blood would vanish, much like Flynt’s life. Regrettably, my fury would not be so easily extinguished.

“I don’t understand what it is with you and our helmsman. We can never keep one longer than a year.” Cael’s voice slithered in my ear, his humor an attempt to calm the raging beast within me, but I was past the point of no return.

My chest still burned in the aftermath of waking up and not finding Rhea by my side. I had turned this cursed ship upside down, looking for her, until I realized she had gone after Medusa alone. That may have been the original plan. I had no intention of tangling with Medusa again or putting my men’s lives at risk, but plans changed, and so had my concern for the brave little sea demon.

I walked up to the helm, Cael flanking my heels as I resumed control of my ship. “We don’t need him.”

Cael eyed me with concern, but I blatantly ignored him, hoping he would vanish. “What’s our heading, Cap’n?”

I almost scoffed out loud as Cael prodded at the tender wound of my emotions. I had no idea where we were going or what my next move would be, and he bloody well knew it.

---