Page 28 of A Captain So Callous and Cruel

“You are an empath,” the smooth, deep voice of the captain sounds from behind me.

I’m about to answer, my body turning in place to face him, when a searing spark penetrates through me. My body physically jolts, the sensation so strong I know exactly what is about to happen.

Eyes widening, I step onto the plank, my only thoughts of how I must get to the water.

“Red?” Erickson questions in concern, but it’s too late.

Another jolt blasts through me, this time eliciting a moan to pass over my lips. My magic has been restored, the sharp tingles radiating through me. My skin takes on a glow.

“It can’t be,” he growls.

“One more truth,” I breathe out, the pain and pleasure of the shift mixing into one. My emotions are frayed, but I feel the strength in me, and I’m certain of what needs to be done. I look over my shoulder at him, my voice hardly above a whisper as he gapes at me. “Revenge is harder than I thought it would be. Forgiveness is possible, but it doesn’t erase the price of your mistakes. And it would have been easy, Captain Erickson. It would have been easy to fall into you.”

Behind him, the merriment grows louder, the sounds of glass shattering and boards splintering while rowdy men whoop and holler.

An apology is at the tip of my tongue, but as I look at Captain Jack Erickson one final time—really look at him—I can’t bring myself to apologize.

I have nothing to be sorry for.

Clara’s beautiful siren form fills my mind and I smile, missing my sister so wholly the only thing I can feel in the moment is love. Love, and the burning, consuming need for revenge.

My eyes meet Erickson’s at the same moment he takes a step onto the plank, his arm reaching out as though he means to grab me, and I swan dive off it.

As I descend, I hear him scream “Fuck!”, and then I breach the ocean.

Cold, delicious sea water envelops me and with the most perfect of timing, my body shifts into my true form—my siren form, and for the first time since stepping on board the Trident, I feel like I can finally breathe again.

CHAPTER 10

Captain Erickson

Chaos is coming.

I’m detached, standing in the midst of it, watching the men twist their heads up into the air. Their bodies change, growing tighter; they don’t understand what’s happening.

But I do.

I’ve seen this before, but it’s never happened on the Trident. I’m protected from the song I know will pierce through the air. There’s no point telling anyone what I saw. No point warning any of these scoundrels that the whore we thought we bought was secretly a siren.

She was in human form.

I can’t grasp it. I don’t even feel enraged by it.

Instead, I feel my lips twitch. She tricked me, and I can’t loathe her for it. She came for her revenge, but what the fuck had I done to her? I search my mind, seeking an answer?—

“I watched my sister die.”

I still, her words echoing inside my mind.

It was the only time I’d seen her so vulnerable. It was her first truth, therefore the most powerful truth of them all. And I know…I fucking know what I did.

Though I never killed the siren myself, I still played a part. I think of the tail hanging in the office of my kingdom. It was an expensive purchase, and I couldn’t deny the disapproval of my people when it was brought in.

Times seem to be changing. Views are morphing. The sirens are dying out, and there are kingdoms suddenly crying for a change.

It won’t come. It’s too late. In a matter of decades, the sirens will be gone.

But not if they’ve been living among us in plain sight.

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