Chapter Twenty-Seven

"Aragon," Cruz says as he pops his head into the doorway of my cabin. "You told me to tell you when it's time. It's time."

I get out of bed, putting down my book. I have a rare talent for being able to read when the ship is heaving and hoeing and not get seasick. Abe has been on the top deck most of the last few days, his focus glued on the horizon and looking a cumbersome shade of green.

I follow Cruz up the stairs to the deck, my body immediately buffeted by strong winds and light rain and bitter cold that even I can feel seeping into my bones, the sun hidden behind clouds, making it dark as sin in the middle of the day.

I smell it before I see it: the familiar scent of a heartbreaking land.

Nombre de Jesus.

Cruz points to the shore to our left. Abe and Maren are standing at the bow, staring at it. Maren is dressed in a red gown that stands out amongst the endless gray, like a splotch of blood in the fog. I go to join them, wobbling as I go as the ship hits wave after wave.

"This is it," I say, taking my place beside Abe. "I didn't think we'd get here so soon."

"I remember the strait being calmer than this," Abe says, tucking his scarf around his neck, only for it to unravel again.

"Your memory is tainted," I tell him, though I'm sure mine is too. "The water was often wild here. We were just safe on shore, that's all."

"There really is nothing left," Maren comments. "You burned it all to the ground."

I know I should feel shame. The only remains of the settlement are a few charred structures. Even the church is completely gone, reduced to ash and blown away in the constant wind. Only a few graves from the cemetery remain, sticking out in the now-decimated surroundings, the last signs of humanity amongst the bent pines and canelo trees and the occasional guanaco.

I suppress a shiver. I can still taste the blood of that animal. I remember being a monster and starving, as if my insides were eating up my soul—at least, whatever was left of it.

But what I was really ravenous for was Larimar.

And being here now, all the feelings come flooding back.

Are you alright?Abe's voice slides into my mind, always concerned.

I swallow thickly and give the slightest nod. I don't want to talk about it, not in my mind, not ever, not anymore. It was one thing to try and grapple with my feelings, to come to terms with what happened on that fateful night and the years of degeneracy after. It's something else to be here again, sailing past the village where my entire life came crashing down for the second time, leaving my bleeding heart and fractured mind in my hands.

And now that I know we've plotted a course to find Larimar, everything has become more important and terrifying than ever.

I haven't told Abe what Maren told me a few weeks ago: that Larimar is her sister. I don't trust him not to flap his gums, especially now that I know he's susceptible to rum. I always knew he had a weakness, but I didn't think it was the god-awful grog they brewed on board.

No, I've kept it to myself.

I've stewed over the knowledge that seeing Larimar again isn't a fruitless task. My obsession with finding her these last few years has existed only in the darkness of my heart. I dreamed of what I would do to her if I found her, how I would make her hurt. I wanted to bite her, drink her blood, defile her. I wanted to keep her in chains again, nail her to the wall, make sure she couldn't leave. I wouldn't make that same mistake again. I'd deny her legs, make her keep her tail, and I would fuck that cunt anyway.

I wanted to make her bleed.

For me.

And for all time.

But some part of me knew that finding her would be impossible. I tried. For those years, I tried as the monster, but to no avail. Even when Abe found me and said he would help me get her back, I knew it wouldn't happen.

I truly didn't expect him to send a letter to Ramsay to ensure we could board the Nightwind and have a shot at it. Even when we did become part of this motley crew and set off sailing down the coast of Chile on the expedition to Roche Island, I thought the idea of locating Larimar was a fever dream.

Now, though, everything has changed.

Maren's sister is Larimar. She was the one Larimar talked about, the one the witch gave legs. I keep running it over and over again in my head, trying to dissect everything Larimar told me, to see if there was anything else she had said, but she kept her cards close to her chest.

She did say she was looking for someone—someone who didn't want to be found.

I have to assume it was her sister. Maren told me she disappeared and left her father and sisters behind in Limonos, never to see them again. She would later divulge that she ended up being found by a prince and married him, a mistake she wouldn't elaborate on. She was with the prince for ten years, traveling the world.

I wish Larimar was here now so I could ask her, so she could tell me what she went through, if she was searching for her sister this whole time.

But I know that if Larimar was here right now, she wouldn't be talking. She would be gagged with a chain. The only sounds coming out of her would be whimpers and cries of pain until she apologized for what she did to me.

Until she knew what it felt like to have your heart ripped from your chest.

You're doing it again, Abe says, and I realize I'm tugging on my ear.

Maren seems to notice, looks over at me and frowns, but she doesn't say anything. I had promised her I wouldn't touch any Syren, most especially her sister.

I aim to break that promise.

"There's a bad storm coming," Ramsay says, stepping onto the foredeck. He puts his arm around Maren and nods at the dark clouds on the horizon. "As soon as we hit the South Atlantic, we're going to get walloped."

Maren nods. "We'll be fine. The ship will take care of us."

"Aye," Ramsay says. "That she will."

"Maren!" the Greek Drakos yells from the crow's nest high up in the mainmast, waving his spyglass at us. "There's a shark ahead!"

"Nill!" Maren says, leaning over the edge of the bow.

"Careful, luv," Ramsay says, grabbing her shoulder firmly to hold her back. "You want to make sure it's Nill first before you dive in."

She grins at Ramsay in nervous anticipation. "I can take care of myself."

Then, she rips herself out of her husband's grasp and leaps overboard. Abe and I lean over the edge, watching as she swan dives perfectly into the water, though she's immediately swallowed by the gray waves.

Abe sucks in his breath. "She could hit the ship."

"She's a Syren. She'll be fine," Ramsay says, though he sounds a little nervous as well.

All three of us stare at the waves as they smack against the bow and beat against the hull, growing bigger as we approach the entrance to the Atlantic. Even with the excellent eyesight of Vampyres, it's still hard to see.

But then the bosun yells from the aft. "They're down here!"

Everyone scrambles to the side of the ship, where Cruz and Thane are already lowering the ropes to pull Maren back up.

Ramsay reaches over and picks her up the rest of the way while Thane, Ramsay's brother, yells at Lucas to get her a blanket. Before my eyes, I watch as Maren's teal-and-purple tail flaps underneath her dress then slowly changes into legs, no spell needed.

"Fascinating," Abe whispers.

Lucas runs over with the blanket, and Maren is quickly wrapped in it. Her teeth are chattering, her skin pale and blue. I suppose in the water, as a Syren, the temperature has no effect on her, but the moment she's back to being human again, it all comes crashing down.

She tries to talk, but her teeth chatter too hard, and someone hands her a mug of hot tea, which she cups in her hands while Ramsay holds her close, rubbing the blanket across her back.

"Take your time," he says.

Can this shark really talk to her?Abe asks in my head.

Apparently so, I tell him. Yesterday, they had sent the shark ahead of the ship to try and locate the Syren colony at Roche Island. They explained that while none of them can communicate with the shark, Maren can, as well as with other creatures of the sea, including whales, seals, and the Kraken. I'm not too convinced by that last one, since the Kraken is supposed to be an animal of old legend up in the North Sea, but Ramsay says the beast certainly exists, and that Maren can control it.

Regardless, she can talk to a bloody shark, so perhaps the beastie really does exist.

"She-she's in d-danger," Maren finally says, biting out her words. "There's a whole co-colony and-and another ship, an English ship. The-they've captured them. They've captured Larimar."

"Larimar!" Abe exclaims.

I keep my face immobile. He doesn't know that's the name of the Syren they're looking for.

Maren looks at him. "Y-yes. My sister. That's why we've g-got to rescue her." Then she looks to me and frowns. Despite her blue lips and her chattering teeth and the news that her sister has been captured, there's a look in her eyes that says she underestimated me, probably because Abe just proved I never told him about their relationship. That I can keep a secret.

But that look is short-lived.

Suddenly, determination comes across her brow, and she gets to her feet, shucking off her blanket. "I've got to swim ahead and get her."

"Maren, no," Ramsay says. "We'll get her together."

She shakes her head violently, her wet hair flying. "Nill said the storm is bad, enough to slow down even the Nightwind. I'll be able to go under the waves. Nill will lead me there. I've got to go ahead—it's the only way I can try and save her before the ship leaves with her on board."

Did you know her sister is Larimar?Abe asks me. Ah, but you have known and you didn't tell me. Frankly, I'm hurt.

I don't have time to try and explain to Abe why I didn't tell him, because Maren suddenly starts running across the deck and leaps over the side, Ramsay screaming after her as she disappears.

A storm is coming.

And my Larimar is out there, captured by some other ship, by some other person who means to do her harm.

I wonder if now, of all times, my beast should be invited to return.