Page 51 of Of Song and Darkness

Cael turned away from me, booming orders for the men to prepare the ship for battle. If this whole thing took a turn for the worse, my men would stand ready to place themselves between the Dark Hydra and the rest of the world. A sense of pride bubbled up in my chest.

Rhea gripped my arm, pulling my attention back to her. “I haven’t turned back into a siren. I don’t know what’s wrong.”

I smirked at her. “I forgot.”

I stretched my palm toward her as she watched me with careful eyes. My power pulsed through the water, turning her back into her original form.

“It was you all this time,” she said, barely above a breath. “I thought the sea witch did this to me.”

“The sea witch wouldn’t lift a finger to help you,” I growled.

Rhea looked down at the water. “You saved me more than once by turning me.”

I guess I had. If I hadn’t transformed her into a human on the beach the first time I encountered her, she would have perished. I repeated the act when she was tossed into the water by the leviathan, dove in to vanquish the sirens threatening my ship, and once more when she unearthed my deception and flung herself overboard. I had been protecting her this whole time and hadn’t even realized how deeply I had fallen for her from the very moment I first gazed upon her.

Rhea smiled at me, lightening the dark corners of my heart. “And here I believed you were just a heartless pirate.”

I pulled her closer to me, and she came willingly. “Not so loud, you’ll ruin my reputation.”

Her eyes twinkled with mischief. “Come on, let’s go show this Dark Hydra what Blackheart Kai is made of.”

She dove underwater, flipping her iridescent pink fins in the air. I glanced back at my ship one last time before sinking below the surface and following her below.

I quickly caught up with Rhea. She was fast for a siren, but nothing compared to my speed when I was in the water. I took a deep breath, the water changing to oxygen as I inhaled. I didn’t even know how my own breathing worked. Rhea had gills that allowed her to extract dissolved oxygen from the water, but I did not. I could breathe in the water just as easily as I could on land with no other explanation than I just could.

The farther we descended, the darker and colder the water became. A sense of foreboding washed over me like a tidal wave. I wasn’t afraid for myself but for Rhea. The Mariana Trench was the deepest place in the Seven Seas. I didn’t know how much oxygen was in the water that deep nor what other hidden monstrosities might lurk below, but my true concern was that I wasn’t sure if I could protect her. On land, brandishing a sword, I feared no one or nothing, but in this submerged realm, I was forced to depend on a strength I had once considered a hindrance.

Rhea's gasp sent a jolt through me, my muscles tensing as I whipped around to see the creatures we had battled above circling us like hungry sharks drawn to chum. I didn’t know how these creatures would respond to me. I usually had to fight away the unwanted attention from all the sea creatures when I was in the water. They gravitated toward me like waves to a shoreline. Even aboard my ship, larger animals like sharks, whales, and porpoises would venture to the surface, actively seeking my attention.

I swam in front of Rhea as they drew closer. I held out my palm, allowing my power to pulse in the current. They blinked a few times, staring at me in confusion before lowering their heads and bestowing their honor and respect upon me. We continued toward the bottom with the creatures flanking our sides like royal guards. Rhea’s tail fin brushed my leg as she pressed in closer to me, obviously still not trusting the creatures who had nearly torn her in two earlier. I glanced back at her, throwing her a smile that I hoped alleviated her fear.

We both stalled once we reached the ocean floor. The crescent-shaped trench cut a jagged line through the bottom of the ocean, plummeting deeper into the Earth’s core. Dark Water shot out from the crevice like lava erupting from a volcano, promising death to anyone who neared it.

Rhea entwined her fingers through mine. I could feel the rapid thread of her pulse as it pumped. “It’s worse than I could have possibly imagined.”

Her fear did unspeakable things to my insides and invoked a surge of anger to erupt within me. I pulled her close to my side, staring deep into her eyes. “Go back to the ship? I’m not telling. I’m asking you to do this for me.”

I was not a man to beg. I issued orders and expected unwavering compliance, but her fear muddled my mind, disrupting all my thoughts and reasoning.

“No.” She flat-out refused my beseeching. “I will not desert you. It seems to me that you have had to deal with all of this on your own for long enough. No matter what happens, I will not leave you.”

And just like that, this sea demon, the creature I had taught myself to loathe, reached into my big manly chest and squeezed my black heart. She couldn’t possibly know how validating her words were nor what they meant to me. My grip on her hand intensified as I schooled my features, refusing to let her see the impact she had on me. “Then let’s do this, little sea demon.”

Rhea’s smile was so bright it had the potential of lighting up the dreary black water, or maybe that was just the effect it had on me.

Hand in hand, we neared the trench. The Dark Water parted, allowing us clear access. The creatures that were impervious to Dark Water went in first, seemingly clearing the way for us to enter. I started after them, but Rhea pulled against me, demanding my attention.

“Kai, no matter what happens, I want you to know that I am proud of you for swallowing your pride and putting the safety of others first. What you have done today, no matter the outcome, is the mark of a true ruler.”

“Rhea…”

“Don’t interrupt me, please. I have to say this. Even though we were set against each other from the very beginning, I would be doing myself a great injustice if I didn’t confess that I’ve fallen in love with you.”

My blood froze, and tension coiled between my shoulders. I didn’t know how to embrace her love since no one had ever given it to me. Before I could reply, she plunged into the trench, and the darkness that lurked there engulfed her.

Islowed my descent, waiting for Kai to catch up with me. At this point, I was running away from my emotions instead of him. I felt vulnerable and foolish for confessing my feelings to him. I was sure I would take that secret with me to a very near watery grave, but my thoughts pounded so relentlessly in my brain that the words slipped out before I knew what I had done. A small part of me was relieved that I had told him how I felt, but the other part of me still felt like I was betraying who I was and who my father raised me to be.

Dark Water hovered nearby, waiting for me to get too far ahead of Kai. Down here, I was at his mercy. I couldn’t get away from him even if I wanted to.

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