Chapter 12

Aloud crash and the splintering of wood that shook the entire ship woke me from my slumber. I screeched and tumbled to the floor in a mass of blankets. My heart threatened to burst from my ribcage as I sat motionless, trying to make sense of what was happening. I glanced at the bed, noting that my sleeping partner was no longer there. Barnacles! I had slept more soundly than intended with the enemy at my side.

I threw on my dress from yesterday and rushed outside. Another loud boom, followed by more splintering wood, met me as I reached the deck. My mouth dropped open when I saw two large wooden beams protruding out of the deck of the ship.

"Stop knocking holes in my ship!" The captain's voice rang out loud and angry. "If you drop one more beam from up there, I will hang you by your cojones. Look what you've done to my deck!" Fury rolled off him like a tidal wave, so I steered clear of him and the men who obviously were having difficulties securing the beams above.

I watched in fascination as the men scaled the mast, swinging from pole to pole as they worked vigorously to repair the rigging and mast.

"Tie that tighter," Kai growled then, in seconds, leaped onto the rope ladder and climbed up to the men.

There was nothing I could do to help them. I would be more hindrance than aid if I got in their way, so I found a nice shaded spot and made myself comfortable.

"Here." Cael invaded my secluded spot, handing me a plate of food and a cup. I tentatively took it. I picked at the food, Cael"s watchful eyes following my every move.

My mind wandered back to the delicious food of my kingdom—seaweed wraps filled with succulent sea berries, kelp salads with a hint of salty ocean freshness, and my favorite pearl-like orbs that burst with savory liquid when bitten into. The memories of those flavors only intensified the disappointment of the bland and strange textured food before me.

"Cael, bring me that extra rope," Kai yelled.

Despite myself, I smiled at Cael, who released a frustrated huff as he lugged the rope up the mast.

The sun rose higher in the sky, bringing with it a suffocating heat. The men continued to work, and despite my efforts not to do so, I kept glancing at the captain. Kai had pulled his hair back, tying it out of his face, and had shed his shirt long ago. As he lifted the large wooden beams to repair the mast, his body glistened with perspiration. I glanced down, berating myself for finding pleasure in the way the captain looked. Masking such deadliness in an appealing outward package was a cruel ploy.

"Rat, throw me that rope!" Kai bellowed, causing me to glance back up.

Rat worked tirelessly right alongside the other men. I glanced at his Rat's nest, noting that no one was in the lookout tower. I stood and faced the wide-open sea. We were far from port, as we had traveled all night to distance ourselves, but we were also very vulnerable without any sails and a half-deconstructed mast and rigging.

My gaze swept across the horizon to ensure that no one was prowling around out there. Both my eyes and heart stumbled as a ship no more than a league away came into view. I eased closer to the front of the ship and squinted against the bright sun to see it better. It could be anything. Ships probably traveled through there often, I rationalized, trying to calm myself as panic clawed its way up my throat. I blinked a few times. This ship was bearing down on us, heading right in our direction at top speed.

My limbs began to shake as I turned. "Kai!" My voice trembled with anxiety as I tried to gain his attention to warn him of the impending danger.

"That's Captain to you," he yelled, never turning to me or taking his eyes off his work.

"Kai!" I yelled louder, completely ignoring his command to call him Captain.

Anger radiated off him as he looked down at me with dwindling patience. His gaze followed mine as I turned back toward the oncoming ship. A slew of curses left his lips as he scrambled down from above. "All hands on deck! Prepare for battle."

I never moved, my hands deadlocked on the railing and my eyes on the ship that grew closer with each passing second. The scraping of metal against wood caught my attention, and I looked down at the hull of the ship. At least a half dozen cannons emerged from the inner hull, aimed toward the oncoming vessel.

"It's one of Dante's ships," Rat yelled from above, and the blood drained from my face.

"I knew he let us leave port way too easily," Cael barked before he echoed Kai's orders.

We were vulnerable, like starfish clinging to a rock with no way to flee and no way to turn the ship to avoid a broadside hit.

"Get below!" Kai harshly ripped me from the railing, my body colliding roughly with his.

"No." Hot tears stung my eyes. "I will not die in that hole. I'd rather throw myself overboard and drown."

Kai stopped his mad dash and glanced at me with a hint of respect in his eyes. "Then get up to the helm and stay behind me."

I didn't argue and rushed to do exactly what he said as he continued to ready his men for the fight that was nearly upon us.

Kai joined me at the helm, snatching the wheel in a desperate attempt to get the ship to turn with the tide.

"Their cannons have greater reach than our own," Cael whispered.

"I know," Kai ground out between clenched teeth.

As if on perfect cue, the entire atmosphere shook as Dante's cannons exploded. My heart slid down to my stomach as Kai threw me to the ground, covering my body protectively with his.

Something splattered across my face and the other exposed appendages of my body. When my brain registered that the substance was blood, I screamed. A wretched, rotting smell assaulted my nostrils.

"What the hell is this?" Kai's chest rumbled against my back as he stood, pulling me with him. He was drenched in blood and guts.

I glanced around the ship, and my legs nearly buckled in upon themselves at the carnage all over the deck. The men stood, staring blankly at one another, each covered with the same blood and gore. It was peculiar that I did not see any human body parts. I reached down and picked up what looked like an iridescent tentacle.

The cannons exploded again, and Kai slammed my body against his, wrapping an arm around my waist and using the other to force my head onto his chest. I guess there were worse ways to die.

Debris rained down all around us. I carefully pushed myself from Kai's embrace and looked up at him. Inky black blood dripped down his face, with guts and slime in his hair. I wanted to laugh, but the look on his face forbade me from doing so.

"They're leaving, Cap'n!" someone yelled, prying his attention from mine.

"What was the point of that?" Cael thundered as he came alongside Kai. "We got out of that easy, other than we'll all have to soak for a week to get rid of this awful stench." Cael reached up, plucked a tentacle from his shoulder, and threw it to the deck in disgust.

Leaning down, I picked up the discarded tentacle. I turned it in my hands again, trying to determine what it was. Suddenly, it hit me like a typhoon.

I bit my lip and glanced around the ship, putting pieces of the mutilated animal back together like a puzzle in my mind. "Kai, I'm pretty sure this is a cirrata." I was certain that was what Dante shot at us out of his cannon.

"I don't care what it is," he snarled, combing his fingers through his wavy hair to remove the waste.

"Kai," I repeated. "Cirratas are nearly extinct. That's why it took me a minute to figure out what it was. I haven't seen one in years. They were nearly wiped out by—"

"Leviathans," Kai interrupted.

"Good thing there aren't any around. If a leviathan scented just a drop of a cirrata's blood in the water, it would travel miles to get to it," I said, tossing the slimy tentacle to the deck.

An explosion of salty water rained down on us, followed by the ship bucking wildly in the sea. Water beaded and dripped from its body as the dragon-like creature with tentacles emerged from the depths of the ocean.

I looked up at the creature that had to be at least four times longer than the massive ship and gasped. "A leviathan."

"Sink me," Kai spat as the beast opened its mighty jaws and roared so loudly I was sure the pain in my ears was from busted eardrums.

"Fire!" Kai thundered, reminding me that the weapons were already loaded and prepared for the other ship's attack.

The cannons exploded in unison with a deafening blow. I reached up to cover my ringing ears, not that it did any good. The massive leviathan flinched as the cannonballs ripped into its flesh, but it was no more than a mere nuisance to a being that large. The men rushed about the deck as the beast bellowed again, flinging its tentacles at anything that moved.

"Cael, the blades!" Kai flipped and ducked as the beast swiped at him.

Cael rushed to a lever I had not noticed before, grunting and straining his muscles as he flipped the wooden switch. The ringing of steel against wood and metal echoed in the air. I looked down the side of the boat as massive jagged blades protruded from all angles along the ship.

Kai grappled with the wheel, causing everyone to tumble to the deck. The beast screeched as the blades dug into its skin, slicing off at least two of its eight tentacles.

"That's it, my beauty! Raise the harpoons!" Kai"s malicious laughter echoed, the sinister tone sending a chill through me and setting my nerves on edge.

I jumped out of the way as more than a dozen wooden contraptions that looked like giant slingshots rose from beneath the ship's deck, all armed with sharp-tipped harpoons. The size of the spears would quickly end the sea creature much easier than the cannonballs.

I stood there in momentary shock. I was on a floating death trap. How had I forgotten that this was Blackheart Kai's monster-hunting ship? Everything about it now was deadly, the perfect killing machine. When the leviathan rose from the depths, I'd thought we were all goners, but as the ship shifted into a weapon, I was confident the leviathan was the one who didn't stand a chance.

"Fire!" Kai boomed.

A dreadful feeling sank to the pit of my stomach as a few of the harpoons were launched, sinking deep into the leviathan's flesh. It screeched, eyes widening, and looked for an escape.

"Rope that devil," Kai ordered.

Nets attached to ropes anchored to the boat shot out from below the ship's hull, trapping the creature and preventing its escape. The leviathan struck out with its one free tentacle. I was moving, but I was not quick enough. The tentacle struck me, pulling my legs from under me and swiping me over the railing of the ship.

I screamed as I fell into the ocean. The billowing water consumed me immediately. I gasped for air but only swallowed a mouthful of salty water. I kicked and pulled with my arms, but these stupid legs of mine would not tread the water like my beautiful tail. My fight was useless, the current caused by the thrashing leviathan too strong. I was pulled deeper into the abyss.