Page 2 of The Pirate and His Siren

“Yes, well, I stopped by to warn you that itsVelade ia cietratomorrow. I can’t state how important it is for you to stay away from any merperson on their wretched holiday.”

“Of course, Mother. I was hoping to go ashore.”

“No, the humans like merpeople. You’d be best to stay away from them too.”

“Of course. I’ll swim to the deepest parts in the Bay of Udira.”Lie.

“Good. The last thing I want is for my daughter to be influenced by the magic the merpeople conduct on that day with her celebrative rituals.” She grips my chin with her long-nailed fingers. A siren doesn’t have claws, but my mother’s are close enough to having them. She turns my head from side to side, the tips of her nails digging into my skin but not enough to draw blood.

“You take after me in looks.”

It sounds like she is complimenting me, but her words contain a hidden barb, especially when she lowers her eyes to my breasts. Her mouth pinches in a hard line. “But it’s such a pity about these.”

My mother and I share the same olive skin with golden undertones, dark hair, and eye color. Our tails are an ombre of cyan blue blending to a purplish pink down the center, but that’s where the similarities end. My hips andlower dorsal fins are a blend of rainbow colors edged with black.

My tail is the most colorful a siren can have. The only other with such a tail is the Siren Queen herself. My mother often brags it’s because our bloodline came from a usurped queen who ruled long ago.

Hence, why she always criticizes my behavior and looks. I don’t act like I was born from royalty, even though neither of us have any royal ties or claims to the throne.

I always suspected my mother was jealous of my breasts but chose to put me down as a way to belittle me.

An agitated flick of my tail is the only outward reaction I allow myself to show.

Inwardly, her words score across my heart like the stinging tentacles of a jellyfish. However, I’ve learned how to deal with my mother over the years.

Luring a male requires confidence, an act, and the art of seduction.

So I use those skillsshetaught me to put on an act of confidence, never to let her see how her words cut into me. Instead, I did the opposite and grew confident in my body. Still, it never stops her cutting remarks.

But the best way to disarm her is to smile prettily and push my boobs up even farther.

I wrench my face out of her hand, gritting my teeth at the scratches they make, and swim to the entrance, indicating she should leave.

My mother grabs my arm as I move past her, speaking softly to me, “Don’t disgrace our family’s name. Stay away from the festivities, lest you be affected.”

“Of course, Mother. I’m not some simpering mermaid.”

She huffs and twists away, flicking her tail near my face. “Make sure you keep it that way.”

Once again, I hide how the insult affects me.

CHAPTER TWO

KYNAN

Ipalm a handful of coins from the coffer on my desk. “Is that all?”

“Aye, Captain.”

My heart sinks, and I throw the coins back into the chest, making satisfying clinks as they hit the others. But it was only one full chest. We still have several other empty ones to fill.

“Fuck.” I sit back and lift my eyes to Leo Roberts, my quartermaster, and Varon Flinders, my first mate. I gaze at the two of them. Our skins are tanned from working on ships since our teenage years. Despite not a drop of blood shared between us, we are brothers all the same since we were all young lads on the cusp of our teenage years.

We’ve been that way since I caught two starving runaways pilfering the meager possessions I owned in the hovel of the tavern wall I used to sleep in. I took in their disheveled state and gaunt faces and found I couldn’t bring myself to berate either of them. Later, I was glad I hadn’t when I learned they’d come from a bad place.

Roberts never likes to talk about it. The terror of theirtime often reflects in the surface of his golden-brown eyes, but Flinders told me all about it the night we had our first taste of liquor. Rum is definitely too strong to give to a lad of fifteen.

The story sobered me up, and I made a vow that night I’d do anything I could for them.

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