Page 45 of Of Song and Darkness

Cael stood, his brows knitted so tightly together it looked like they were about to touch. “You can’t uphold the sea witch’s bargain, and you know it. Who do you think you are fooling?”

Chills shot through my body at the mention of the sea witch. I placed my hand over my heart in an effort to stifle my heartbeat, afraid that it would alert them to my presence. It drummed in my ears so loudly that it almost drowned out the voices of the men in the room.

Kai took an intimidating step toward Cael, bringing his body into view. “I told you that nothing or no one would keep me from getting the Wraith.”

Cael shook his head, brushing his gaze to the floorboards. “You love her,” he whispered.

“I don’t love anyone. I never have, and I never will,” Kai growled.

“You’re actually going to stand there in front of me, of all people, and tell me that you still plan on killing that siren?” Cael scoffed.

My knees buckled, and I sank to the wooden floor. Kai was going to kill me. I gasped for air, finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. It felt like someone had reached inside my chest and squeezed the organ that resided there—someone was squeezing my heart, and that black heart’s name was Kai.

Kai stood taller, making himself all the more threatening. “Make no mistake, nothing has changed. I will kill that sea demon, take that locket, and hand it over to the sea witch just like she asked me to.”

Sea demon. Tears spilled over my eyelids at the spite in his words. I had become all too familiar with him calling me that, and it was starting to resemble a term of endearment when he spoke it, but now…

I reached up and touched the locket around my neck with trembling hands. This had been Morgana’s plan all along. She wanted me to find Kai for a reason. She wove that plan so perfectly I was now confident it was her who had washed me up on the beach that day. She wanted me dead, and she wanted this locket. Who better to do it than Blackheart Kai, the sea monster slayer?

Desperation clawed against my skull as I took a tentative step back. I turned with the intention of running but bumped into a barrel. I watched in horror as the empty barrel teetered and then crashed to the floor. Boots scuffed against the wooden planks, and I heard the squeak of the door opening, but I did not wait around for them to find me. I raced up the stairs to the deck.

When I hit the railing of the deck, air burst from my lungs. I looked across the inky water. I couldn’t jump, and I couldn’t stay here. Either way, I was doomed.

“Get away from that railing.”

I spun around as Kai and Cael slowly approached me. Their movements were slow, like I was a timid seal about to flee, and I was.

My eyes brushed against the Dark Water that sloshed below the ship. Would I survive if I jumped in? I gripped the locket that seemed to glow brighter in my palm. I would be safe as long as I had this.

“Rhea.” Kai’s voice held a subtle warning, and something flashed across his expression that I could not read in the moonlight.

I was about to jump when Rat slung down from his watchtower above. Concern danced across his features as he reached a hand toward me. I had come to care for many of the crew members aboard this ship. Most of all for the captain, who had reached into my chest and yanked out my heart, crushing it beneath his shiny black boot.

I hesitated for another moment, wondering what would happen to them if I jumped in and took Poseidon’s heart with me. I had seen the destruction Dark Water caused. With it gone, Dark Water would likely swallow this ship like it was nothing more than a wayward shrimp. I mustered up enough strength to stare Kai in the eyes. He stood there like a statue, cold and uncaring, like he hadn’t tricked me or ripped my heart in two. I was startled to realize that I wanted him to say something, to deny the words I’d heard, but he couldn’t. They were true.

I didn’t want Cael, Rat, or any of the other crew members to die, but what were the lives of a few pirates worth when it came to everyone and everything that resided in the ocean? If the sea witch or Kai got their hands on this necklace, all would be lost, and the Seven Seas would cease to exist.

Kai stepped toward me, and that was all the incentive I needed to throw myself over the edge of the ship and into the swirling Dark Water.

My dive from the ship was far from graceful. I hit the water hard, the impact stealing the air from my lungs. I fell into a never-ending pool of darkness. Dark Water hissed and bubbled away from me as I fought my way back to the surface. I broke through the water, gasping for air and blinking to clear the salt water from my eyes. Dark Water was all around me, reaching out for me like the monstrosity it was. The locket glowed brightly against my breastbone, and the evil blackness shrank away. I gulped away my rising fear. I would be fine as long as I had the locket.

When I glanced around, I couldn’t see the ship in the dark, moonless night. A tightness squeezed my chest once I realized they could already be dead. I could not shake the vision of Dark Water, slithering up the side of the ship and pulling it beneath its poisonous waves.

“Rhea!” Kai’s voice broke through the whip of the wind and the angry hiss of the dark waves. Relief flooded through me, even though I knew I shouldn’t care that he was still alive. He likely wouldn’t be for long, and I had to live with the fact that I could do nothing about it. He brought this travesty upon himself by making a deal with the sea witch. Maybe she would spare their lives if he cried out to her instead of me. It was doubtful, though.

The familiar pain that I had come to welcome rendered my lower body. In a matter of minutes, I had my beautiful tail back and dove deep beneath the ebony waves. I tried to ignore the pain that continued to build in my chest. The farther I swam away from the ship, the more my heart cleaved in two. If I were entirely honest with myself, it was not the act of leaving the ship that induced this feeling, but Kai. My eyes stung, and it wasn’t because of the salt in the water but the tears pouring from them.

I increased my speed as my anger gave way to fury. Kai wasn’t worth my time or my tears. It was my fault that I had fallen for his treachery. All the glimpses of kindness and tenderness he had shown me were to bend me to his will. Anger snaked through my veins, causing my internal temperature to rise several degrees. If Dark Water didn’t kill Blackheart Kai, I would. If it were the last thing I ever did, I would find him, reach into his chest, and crush his black heart with my bare hands.

Kai

I seized the railing so hard my knuckles blanched white. When Rhea leaped into the swirling black abyss, I was sure that what remained of my heart jumped right in after her. My emotions were warring with themselves. Should I follow the little sea demon who was swimming away with my tattered heart, or should I uphold my duty to my crew?

A strong hand gripped my shoulder and squeezed. I didn’t need to turn around to know it was Cael. He stood behind me in silent support, and that was all I needed to decide. Rhea had Poseidon’s heart around her neck. She would be safe from Dark Water, or so I hoped, but my crew needed me, needed their captain.

“What are we going to do?” The panicked voice of one of my crew members rose above the hiss of the Dark Water.

I turned in their direction. All eyes were on me, awaiting my orders. I opened my mouth, unsure what I would say to alleviate their fears as Dark Water drew nearer.

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