5

Sabrina

“Oh, I get it now,” Bettina says from behind me. Drat! I didn’t lose her around the Bahama Islands. “I knew if I followed you into the Caribbean, I would end up under a pirate ship.”

“And when I follow you on land, will I end up under a pastor?”

“I hate you sometimes, Sabrina,” she says, crossing her front two tentacles under her seaweed-wrapped breasts. Funny how many human gestures she uses in her Kraken form. She even covers herself with makeshift clothes when nobody under the sea cares. It’s almost as if her heart has convinced her to become human when she bonds with her soulmate.

“No, you don’t,” I say with a sigh. “Help me cut this line. Teeth’s alone at the helm. If I cut the anchor loose, the boat will drift for hours before he knows what happened.”

“How many anchors has he lost since you met him?”

“Seven, but I’m not counting,” I say as my blade saws through a deceptively strong strand. Where do they buy rope like this? I’ve never seen threads so thin yet stronger than a shark’s bite. While my hands busy themselves with the rope, I use six tentacles to dig the sand out from under the anchor. “Don’t tell me you’re worried about a few rogue pirates when boats fill our seas like sandfleas.”

“No, I’m worried my little sister fell for a pirate and will likely get herself hurt.”

“Too late,” I reply, bunching my tentacles around me in a comforting ball. The water temperature dropped. I’m cold, not sad. Yeah right. “He rejected me years ago and broke my heart. I’m not swooning over him. I’m plotting his demise.”

My sister’s smart enough to let it go but doesn’t reach for her knife to help me. This conversation has played itself during every season of every year since Teeth mistook me for a half-penny-upright in a seedy brothel. Should I have chased him despite the waning period of my human form? If I’d run to his ship, I could have turned into my Kraken form on the deck. My fear of Magda, the she-devil captain, and further humiliation kept me tangled in our musky sheets. Would I have had the strength to defend myself if Teeth rejected me and I was forced to battle a vampiress in my Kraken form? Or would they have welcomed me with open arms as Teeth’s soulmate and an other ?

I’ll never know.

The sawing of my knife slows as tears gather in my eyes. My arms are as sore as my gills. The sunset faded into the night while I worked my blade. The clear skies clouded with threats of rain. I’ve struggled with this anchor for hours. Even the sand pit I dug isn’t deep enough to free it. I misjudged the size of the rock they used for mooring. The new rope may defeat me.

He may defeat me.

“He won’t love you if you kill him, you know,” Bettina says with a prissy hum. “Murder will send you to hell—”

“Which is where a murdering pirate will go too,” I shout, venting my frustration at the nearest—not the intended—target. Thunder cracks overhead. “I’ll make our world safer by murdering his crew, so don’t spit your pastor’s sermons at me. It’s not like Teeth will smile down on us from heaven, knowing I rot in hell. How do you think he rose to captain on a she-devil’s boat—charity work? Feeding the poor? Half the bastards in the orphanage you tend are probably his. I didn’t get a miracle worker for a soulmate. Now, will you help me sink his boat or not?”

“Fine, he’s awful—even too awful for you. When will you let him go? Why let hate cloud your heart if you never intend to confront him?”

“Because the soulbond snapped into place the night we met.” My shouts turn to sobs as I sheathe my knife onto my belt. Bettina gathers me into her embrace and pets my hair. When my wails calm to tiny hiccups, she holds me at arms-length. I lower my tentacles to give her a clear view of the soulbeak over my belly. The tiny scale is smaller than my thumb but holds my soul’s tether. “I’ve had a hundred opportunities to sink his boat or throw him into the sea every hurricane season, but I right his ship to safety every time the waves tip it too far.”

“You still have your soulbeak, or you would be human. Why do you think your soulbond is in place with him?”

“Sounds strange, but where usually a soulmate must eat the soulbeak before we lose ourselves, I’m drawn to this man. My passionate feelings for him frighten me. If it’s not sorrowful longing, it’s blazing hatred. I know the bond isn’t in place, but I feel like a part of me sails up there.”

“I understand,” she whispers, gathering me into her arms again.

“You do?” I’m so confused. Bettina and passion are opposites, like sunrise and sunset.

“My feelings for Pastor Richard are as scary and wild as a ship on fire, blazing over the ocean. Hatred and love aren’t opposites. Trying to ignore your feelings will give them the space to burn out of control. You must acknowledge them and pray to release them—”

“Oh, for Pete’s sake,” I yell, pushing her away. “Stop parroting him! Don’t you have an independent thought left, or did he crowd them out with his rhetoric? Thanks for your help, but no thanks.”

Sand kicks up around me as I push off the bottom of the ocean. I spray ink at Bettina as I glide toward the surface at full speed. Bright yellow fish, Kraken snacks, flap their tails as they scurry out of my path. Sleeping manatees roll at speeds I didn’t think they could achieve. Did the current pick up? The shadows of sharks in the distance change their paths to follow the yellow fish…and away from my cloud of ink. Nothing like murky darkness to scare away a predator who hunts by sight!

If only Teeth didn’t have a handsome smile, muscular body, and smooth voice. He wouldn’t attract the attention of ladies who hunt by sight. The bastard would rely on the working girls like the rest of his scurvy lot. If he lost his teeth, would he still be Teeth? I’d be doomed anyway. That’s the nature of my kind’s stupid soulbond. Kraken carried soulbeaks before the advent of brothels, taverns, pirates, or scurvy. If Teeth is mine, then fate would find a way to bring us together. He would hurt me no matter what his face looked like or his chosen occupation.

He took one look at me and saw me as less than a person.

Well, nobody humiliates a Kraken.

I breech the surface with an obnoxious splash. The truth smacks my face with the cool, salty air. I’m hopping mad because I’m mad at myself…and Bettina was right. I’ll dive into a fishing net before I admit it to her, but years of meaningless sex was my downfall—not because I caught the Bube. I caught feelings for my destined mate when he assumed the night we shared was meaningless fun. More than a soulbond, I like him. He’s wild, adventurous, and progressive enough to allow me to be wild at his side. I’m jealous of every woman on his boat—even the one who scrubs the poop deck.

I can’t let him go, and I hate it. My heart thunders behind my hand as I lean against the hull of his ship. Someone may see me, but I take the risk every night. If he stopped yelling into the void for his lady love, my heart would shatter. His absence would mean he’s found someone else. As long as he’s as miserable as me, we are in balance…and I don’t want to kill him.

“Where are you, love? Another sunset, and I still haven’t crossed paths with you,” Teeth calls from the railing above me. He hiccups. Blimey, he’s halfway into his bottle already. “I brought you a drink. I hope you’re a drinker. If not, I’m sorry you’re paired with a grog-blossom like mine. Of course, I’d give up the drink for you. I’d give up almost anything to make you happy…wherever you are.”

Even the storm clouds brewing overhead can’t overshadow Teeth. He doesn’t wear a colorful coat or fluffy hat like the other captains I know. Blond hair whips around his head, down to his elbows. His leathers are the same worn clothing he wore when we met years ago. He may have climbed the status ladder, but he’s humble—or no richer than when he was a ratclimber in the rigging.

My heart softens for the man the more I study him. Lightning crisscrosses the sky above him, but he doesn’t flinch. One strike would sink his boat, but he’s at ease. Does he not fear his death? I’d love to ask him. Not lightning, hurricanes, boarding enemy vessels, nor devil captains scare Teeth. He’s larger than life, but who’s the man beneath the leather, tattoos, and scars?

“How can you be so cruel?” Bettina whispers as she surfaces beside me. I put my finger to my lips to shush her, but Bettina never stops. Hopefully, the splats of rain on the deck will disguise her whispering. “The words of love you desire are said by the man you desire.”

“You’d be proud of me, love. I finished another book with Chub’s help. It was a Christmas love story—oh. Do you celebrate Christmas? We don’t celebrate on the boat because most of me hearties aren’t Christians. The sects won’t baptize the likes of us—with our drinking, premarital relations, and acceptance of all people. You see, love, my crew will love you—no matter your skin color, worship habits, or even your choice of drink! Hell, Magda drank a man’s blood if she fancied him, and the crew loved her,” he says with a laugh and another hiccup.

“How dreadful!” Bettina’s whisper is a heartbeat before Teeth pours his “mate’s drink” into the sea and over her head. Bettina sinks to rinse the booze from her hair. I submerge myself in the hopes the saltwater will dampen my laughter.

“Stay close to the hull where he can’t see you.”

“He doesn’t know you’re listening,” Bettina whispers with squinting eyes and shaking head. “He speaks to a mystery woman when you’re right under his nose.”

“Every night.” Tears run into my mouth when I speak. How long will we torture one another? Am I hurting myself by punishing him? Thunder answers me.

“He can’t be a heartless rogue and share a drink with the love of his life every night. Still, he’s a pirate, and tying your eternal soul to a pirate isn’t wise,” she says, wiping rainwater from her brow.

“He’s all bluster,” I grouse.

“For who’s benefit? He’s alone on deck and doesn’t know we’re here. Aren’t you afraid of rot? Hating him will rot you from the inside out.”

“And tempting a man of the cloth into premarital sex with a Kraken is pure as sea foam?”

“Fine,” she says, pushing off the hull. “I don’t have to take this abuse from you. See you in the deep.”

“Wait, I’m sorry!” I call after her, but she disappears into the dark water.

“Who’s there? Who dares to sneak up on Patricia’s Wish ? Climb our Jacob’s Ladder, and you’ll meet the sharp end of my sword—for you have interr...interr…” Teeth’s declaration is interrupted by the crashing of iron against the deck before he can remember the word interrupted. Poor drunk Captain—

Splash.

My dreams come true when Teeth falls head over heels into the sea. Unfortunately, he’s too drunk to recognize me. His brow lowers as he struggles to focus on my face. The building seas toss him. Thirstier than a fish, his mouth gapes for air, swallowing gallons of saltwater. One minute, I’m staring into his glazed eyes, and the next, his blond mane swirls on the waves.

He will surface any moment now. He’s not tricking me into touching him. Touching him is dangerous. I refuse to let go of my anger. I’ll wait for his ruse to end and buss his cheeks for faking his death. Not funny. As bubbles rise and pop where he disappeared, my mind quiets.

Is he too drunk to swim?

Pride be damned, I never wanted him to die! I dive under the waves. The Caribbean Sea is pitch black without the lingering sunset or churning sand to glitter in puffs. Even my enhanced Kraken sight with double eyelids isn’t enough to discern shadows from sharks. Teeth’s golden hair and shiny weapons make him a lighthouse. He’s a target for any sight predator.

Barracuda. Sharks. Jacks. Snappers. They can’t have him. He’s mine.