31. The Battered Ship

Chapter 31

The Battered Ship

The Pirate

T alia followed me above deck where the late afternoon sun beamed down on us. I noticed the dirty looks my crew sent my way, the way they sneered at Talia as if she'd bewitched me somehow. I glared at them openly, daring them to voice their thoughts. I knew what was on their minds, and they weren't entirely mistaken. Even now, with my eyes on the horizon where a dark storm brewed dangerously, my thoughts were on the noises Talia had made as I'd completely sheathed myself inside of her. The way that her body had begged me for more as I'd left her hungry for my touch. The way she enjoyed the dark mix of pain and pleasure, and how it turned me on even now as I recalled her bite along my neck. I didn't know how any of this would end, but I knew letting her go would be nearly impossible.

I'd spent untold years claiming everything that I wanted, being granted it all so easily. Now, I wanted her.

Not everyone stared at Talia as if she'd cast a spell over me though. Some had lost the fear they'd held regarding her and now looked at her with awe. She'd slayed one of the most dangerous creatures in all the seas, and she'd done so alone. She stood next to me, her hair blowing in the salty breeze as I watched her. There was more to her than just being the heir to the siren throne. She held secrets, and I wanted nothing more than to unravel those secrets.

"That storm," Talia murmured, her gaze pinned to the black clouds that darkened the skies ahead. Flashes of electric light zipped through their roiling masses, leaving the atmosphere ominous.

Patton locked the helm in place, making his way to stand next to me. "Zeus is in a shit mood," he said, giving his head a shake.

"Or Poseidon," Camilla added.

Talia stepped back. "Both of them," she interjected, turning to me. For the first time since I'd captured her, she looked to me with real fear within her gaze. "Turn around, now!"

"Why?" I said, wanting to reach for her. "It's just a small storm. This ship has seen us through far worse. Unless…" I lifted my hand, brushing the gentle curve of her cheek. "…is there something else you need to tell me?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. Talia chewed her lip, a very human expression on her face as she stared at the approaching storm. The first of the waves rocked the ship, and the rain broke through the sky as if it wept. Whether we wanted to avoid the storm or not, it was too late now.

I let my hand fall from her cheek, turning toward my crew as I hollered, "Secure the rigging!" The ship violently rocked under the wrath of the waves crashing the hull, and I wanted to tell Talia to go below deck where she'd be safest, but I knew she didn't need my protection.

Patton had already ensured that the crew had prepared for the storm while Talia and I had been busy below deck. Most of the men had gone below deck, and only those vital to keeping the ship afloat remained. The waves battered the hull of the ship, and Patton strained at the helm to shift our course so that we'd remain afloat. If we didn't keep our ship in the correct position, we risked capsizing.

Talia had found her way to the bow of the ship, the wind in her hair as the rain pelted her face. All of us stood drenched as we worked, and I watched, wide eyed, as part of the rigging snapped, and the ropes whipped out toward her. She didn't flinch, her back remained to all of us on deck as she stared ahead determinedly.

Racing forward, my feet slid on the deck as I reached for the end of the rope. I lost my balance, sliding across the wet planks as I held onto the rope and climbed to my feet again. Wrapping the end of the rope around the railing, I tied it off. I shot a glance toward Talia, noticing she didn't simply watch the storm.

With a hand held out over the sea, she stood rigid along the front of my ship as if she were holding something back. Her face strained with the effort, undergoing some unseen battle. My feet carried me closer before I realized what I was doing, my head cocked sideways as I pondered her actions. Air rushed past us, the flow of it almost unnatural. Her hair flew over her shoulders with it, drifting in the unseen force she worked ahead of us.

A large shadow fell over the deck, and I stopped dead in my tracks, my attention lifting skyward as I noticed a wave taller than any building I'd ever seen forming in the distance. The rain picked up in intensity, pounding into us all. My men bowed beneath the unrelenting force of it, but I stared ahead, my breath caught in my throat as I saw what appeared to be a face hidden within the massive wave. A face that seemed to be staring straight at Talia. Her hand still stretched outward, and it was as if her hand were the only thing holding it at bay, the only thing protecting it from sinking our ship within its cresting hold.

I raced forward, grabbing a coil of rope from the rails and tying one end around her waist. Fastening the other to my own middle, I held on tightly to the railing at her side. Whatever happened, we would face it together.

She lifted both hands then as I snaked an arm around her waist, providing her whatever support I could as I remained at her side. Rain and sweat dampened her brow as she held the force of the wave from coming any closer to the ship. I didn't know how she was doing it, but I was grateful to have her on our side.

"What the hell is that?" I yelled over the wail of the storm that thundered around us. The wave was abnormal, and it didn't behave as expected. The more she strained at the invisible force between us, the more space the wave gave us. Yet, I felt her body trembling within my hold, and I knew she was weakening.

"You think you can take from me? You think you are stronger than me? You are nothing!" A voice boomed from the sea, and I froze. It thundered as if it were part of the storm, shaking the very sea that we fought against, but it was obvious to us all that it was meant for Talia.

With her teeth bared, she growled. Her hands shook as she held back the force of the storm, her face reddening with the effort she wielded. "I am what you made me!"

A scream tore through her throat, and I felt it vibrate through my bones as I held her in place. She exploded with an unseen force that slammed into the wave, shattering it completely until it fell into the sea like a storm of raindrops. It created a momentum that hit my ship, shoving it over and propelling it away until it hit sand and reef. The ship fell over sideways, dispelling us all into the sea.

My battered men and I swam ashore, my body aching from being thrown against the railing of my ship as it hit the reef and became unbalanced. I cringed as bits of my ship floated alongside us, and as I crawled ashore, heaving bits of sea from my shattered lungs, I glanced back at my toppled ship. From what I saw, very little damage had been done, the bits that had floated onto the beach were minor breaks. I was hopeful that we'd be able to make the repairs with minimal time and effort.

Something tugged at my waist, and I watched her emerge from the sea, her scales already fading from her form as she lifted herself to her feet. Her hair hung in wet rivulets down her shoulders, and her clothing clung to her curves as her legs trembled beneath her weight. I closed the distance between us, my arms wrapping around her middle before she could fall.

"What have I done?" she whispered, disbelief evident in her voice as she leaned into me.

The power she'd used on the ship was beyond my understanding. There were only three gods in known history who could accomplish such feats as she'd displayed, holding the massive wave that would have destroyed my ship at bay while simultaneously guiding my ship away from it. I couldn't have seen what I'd seen, but from the sound of everything that had happened, it was as if this little siren had gone up against Poseidon… and won.

Her gaze was still wide as she stared back at the battered ship, and her terror spoke volumes as she flicked her attention around the crew who were collecting their battered forms along the sands of the shore.

"The ship will be fine," I said to her, pulling strands of her hair that had become stuck to her cheek with dampness and placing them gently over her shoulder. "We can repair it easily enough. It will just take time. We've done it a time or two before."

My fingers worked at the rope fastened around her waist, removing the ties that bound us physically together. Her arms crossed over her chest as worry creased her brow. "We don't have time," she said, her lip trembling with her words.

I stepped closer, dropping the ropes to the sand. "How did you do that?" I asked, trying to keep my voice soft, but even I heard the anger tinged within my words. I pulled her farther away from where my crew recovered. "You need to tell me who you are. I already know you're royalty; it's in your eyes."

Fear blinked up at me as she sighed, saying, "You do need to know who I am. I've put you all at incredible danger. I knew that from the moment you captured me, but I didn't care then. You've complicated things with this binding though…" She looked away from me, as if she couldn't bear to look at me as she shared her truth. Her voice shook with her next words. "I'm his daughter."

It was as if everything around us stilled. "Whose daughter?"

"Poseidon," she replied, turning from me as she stared out at the sea, her arms wrapping around her middle as she took a few steps away from me. She'd always held an air of defiance to her, but now she seemed almost vulnerable.

The sun glistened off her wet black hair, turning parts of it almost an odd shade of blue, like the feathers of a raven. She stared out at the horizon, watching the sea as the silence stretched between us. I approached slowly, my boots sinking into the sand as I came to a stop next to her.

She didn't turn, didn't speak, she just stood with her eyes glued to the ocean and its now gentle waves. I walked around her with a deliberate slowness until we were face to face, blocking her view and forcing her to meet my gaze. Lifting my hand to her chin, I held her soft skin with a firm hold. "Tell me, siren," I demanded with more force. "Why haven't you told me of this sooner?"

Talia swatted my hand away, stepping back and putting distance between us as anger flared behind her eyes. "Oh, so now it's siren," she spat back.

"When you lie to me, yes?—"

"—I didn't lie," she interrupted.

I stepped toward her, refusing to let her distance herself from me. "You left out some important information. That's the same thing."

She scoffed, giving her eyes a slow, dramatic roll. "Do you honestly think that I would reveal my deepest secrets to a man who captured and bound me to him?"

"I would, if it meant life or death," I countered, gesturing to my damaged ship behind me, and my crew still collecting lost cargo floating along the shore of this beach.

Talia stared at the men in the sand, gathering the resources before they were lost to the ocean. When she glanced back at me, her sharpened teeth snapped at the air between us, her anger palpable in the air around us. "No one died!" She pressed her fingers over her chest, her breath heaving from her as she glared at me.

I couldn't deny her words. Despite being scared for my crew, I knew she was nothing short of miraculous. She had proven that much repeatedly. The power that she had summoned was unimaginable. She was more than just a demigod of Poseidon's creation.

"Who is your mother?" I asked, trying to catch my breath as the pieces tried to fit together. She refused to look at me though. "Talia," I said quietly, "you can tell me. I was right in my guess before, wasn't I? The original siren queen was your mother."

When she answered, it was with a whisper that was barely audible. "Yes."

My jaw dropped and I slammed it shut as I stared at her. The siren queen, the siren queen goddess. It all made sense now. She wasn't just a demigod. She was a deity in her own right.

"I mean," she choked out, her voice trembling with the weight of her loss. "She was, but that was a long time ago."

I smirked, not understanding. "Gods and goddesses do not die," I stated.

"They can if another god or goddess more powerful than them want them dead." Talia shrugged. When she glanced at me again, her gaze held unshed tears that damn near broke my heart. She tore her gaze from me, turning toward the edge of the beach to where a fallen log lay. She took a seat, her shoulders rounding in on themselves as she rested her elbows on her knees. "I was supposed to take her throne, it's mine by right of birth, but it seems my father has other plans."

"What plans?" I asked, trying to digest everything she'd shared as I took a seat next to her.

I'd thought I'd chosen the perfect siren to help me break the curse of the sea witch, but now I realized how incredibly poor that choice had been. I couldn't explain what had pulled me toward her in the first place, but I knew I would never be able to control her. Yet, even now, the thought of letting her go struck terror within me, and that bit of darkness fighting to take control of me expanded within me, telling me that we would never let her go. That she was ours to keep.

Goddesses couldn't be kept by anyone though. They were meant for Olympus. My heart stilled at the realization. She could never truly be mine. It was a fact that I had always known at the back of my mind, but until now…

I'd refused to accept it.