Chapter 19

Anger still simmered under my surface, threatening to consume me in a blazing fire. I stopped once I reached the upper deck. The only evidence remaining that Flynt was ever aboard my ship was the blood that seeped into the wood of the deck. Henry, my cabin boy, fell to all fours and vigorously scrubbed the offending stain, creating a sudsy mess that turned an obnoxious shade of pink. Before long, the blood would vanish, much like Flynt's life. Regrettably, my fury would not be so easily extinguished.

"I don't understand what it is with you and our helmsman. We can never keep one longer than a year." Cael's voice slithered in my ear, his humor an attempt to calm the raging beast within me, but I was past the point of no return.

My chest still burned in the aftermath of waking up and not finding Rhea by my side. I had turned this cursed ship upside down, looking for her, until I realized she had gone after Medusa alone. That may have been the original plan. I had no intention of tangling with Medusa again or putting my men's lives at risk, but plans changed, and so had my concern for the brave little sea demon.

I walked up to the helm, Cael flanking my heels as I resumed control of my ship. "We don't need him."

Cael eyed me with concern, but I blatantly ignored him, hoping he would vanish. "What's our heading, Cap'n?"

I almost scoffed out loud as Cael prodded at the tender wound of my emotions. I had no idea where we were going or what my next move would be, and he bloody well knew it.

When I didn't answer, he motioned to my arm. "You want me to look at that?"

I glanced down at my arm, forgetting that Flynt had inflicted a wound. "It'll be fine. I'll have Rhea bandage it later."

A sly smile brushed across Cael's lips. "So, it's Rhea now, and you trust her enough to tend to your wounds?"

"Why don't you piss off?" I boomed, gripping the wheel so hard my sun-kissed knuckles blanched white.

Cael's smile widened. "Aye, aye, Cap'n."

The sun slipped into the ocean, taking with it the light and all the brilliant colors it left behind. I stood behind the helm, legs slightly spread apart to keep my knees from buckling in fatigue. My gaze kept drifting to the hull of the ship, causing my thoughts to go adrift. Whenever I thought about Rhea nestled in my sheets, my skin broke out in a cold sweat. Common sense and self-loathing rattled against the cage of my mind, trying to make me understand how stupid it was to react that way toward a siren. I shook my head as sleep weighed heavily on my eyelids. We had left Medusa's island hours ago, and I had been in this position since then. My body and foggy brain demanded a few hours of rest.

"Go below, Kai, before you run us aground." Cael's voice jolted me awake, jump-starting my lazed pulse.

Without another word, I released the death grip I had on the wheel, allowing Cael to take control, and dragged my exhausted, tightly wound body below. I stopped in front of the cabin door, arguing with myself, telling myself not to go in after that kiss I planted on her, but my hand lifted and turned the knob of its own accord. I quietly pushed the door open. To my surprise, Rhea had left a candle burning. My gaze snagged on the tiny dancing flame and the drips of wax as they ran down the length of the candle.

When I looked at the bed, my stomach hit the floor. Rhea was face down on the mattress, and red stains seeped through the pristine white sheets. I was by her side in a matter of seconds, pulling back the covers to find the source of blood. Rhea moaned into the pillow, hugging it tighter in her sleep. I moved as quickly and quietly as possible to keep from waking her. She wore one of my white shirts, now saturated in blood. I cursed under my breath for not noticing it before. She'd probably torn her stitches when she confronted Medusa.

I put my arms on either side of her, leaning down. "Rhea," I whispered in her ear.

She shifted and turned her head, batting her ebony lashes as she stared up at me, confusion twisting her brow.

I tugged at the hem of the shirt. "I need you to take this shirt off. Your back is bleeding. I think you tore your stitches."

Rhea gasped and sat up. She reached around to her back. Horror danced across her eyes as she looked down at the blood that stained her fingertips and then at the tainted sheets.

She bounded from the bed. "I'm sorry." Her gaze darted from me to the bed as she chewed her bottom lip.

"No need to be. Sheets are easily cleaned." I didn't know why, but it pissed me off that she was apologizing about the sheets. "I'm going to have some hot water brought down so you can bathe and clean your wounds."

"Thank you," she said, barely above a whisper.

I reached up to touch her face again, but I shoved my hand in my pocket instead. I walked over to the door, slung it open, and bellowed for Henry. He appeared in the doorway, hair sticking up in all directions and sleep stuck in the corners of his eyes. At sixteen, he wasn't a boy any longer, but I kept him on my ship to ensure he was cared for until he could fend for himself.

"Fill the tub with bath water," I instructed.

He threw his hand to his brow in a salute. "Aye, Cap'n." Then rushed off to do my bidding.

I stood outside the cabin door as Henry toted bucket after bucket of steaming hot water. "It's full, Cap'n."

"Back to bed with you then."

Henry nodded to me. "Aye, Cap'n."

I glanced inside the cabin as Rhea looked at me and then at the copper tub. "Be quick about it," I instructed and closed the door.

I stood guard outside the door, arms crossed over my chest as I waited for her to get in the tub. The sloshing of water indicated that she did as I asked. I stalled a few more minutes before pushing the door open and going inside.

Rhea watched me with careful precision. I half expected her to scream at me to get out, but she surprised me yet again as a smirk flickered across her face. "Isn't it improper in the human world for a man to watch a woman bathe?"

There was something in her tone that was as wicked as it was lovely. It enticed me to step forward. "You'd have to be a human first for that to apply." I stopped only a foot away from the tub. Against my rakish behavior, I kept my eyes above the waterline. Why I would show such respect to a siren baffled me.

She shrugged and continued to lather the soap on her smooth skin like my presence was little cause for concern.

I knelt beside the tub, dipped my hand in the warm water, and extracted a cloth. "Turn over, and let me take a look at your back."

She paused, mistrust evident by the way her shoulders pulled taut. She tossed me a warning glare before she flipped over, folding her arms across the edge of the tub and resting her chin on top.

As expected, a few of the stitches had torn. The lesions on her back were red and angry-looking, with dried blood caked across the surface. I dipped the rag into the water and gently scrubbed around the wounds to remove the dried particles.

"Something is warring within you. I see it in your eyes." Her melodious voice broke my concentration.

My attention had been so hyper-focused on her back that I missed that she had turned her head and was observing me. I refused to look her in the eyes or acknowledge that she had so easily read me. There was a war going on inside of me. The almost nonexistent part of me that felt bad for having to kill this siren was arguing with my all-consuming evil that always got what it wanted ahead of anything else. I knew which one would win this war, and it wasn't mercy. I didn't get the nickname Blackheart Kai for showing compassion, and at this point, I wasn't sure I had a heart at all.

Once Rhea must have realized I wouldn't share anything with her, she turned away, flipping her auburn hair over her shoulder, and I returned to cleaning her cuts. The thought of running my blade through her back leaked into my mind like poison. It would almost seem fitting to end her life while she was submerged in the water. Maybe I was showing a shred of compassion. To make her death quick and as painless as possible. I dropped the cloth in the water as I eased my hand toward the small blade I had tucked into the top of my boot.

Something tightened in my chest as my fingertips brushed against the metal hilt of the blade. My hand stilled when Rhea started to sing. It was low, barely above a whisper, and wove through the air. Her voice reached into my chest, past the evil that resided there, and latched onto my heart. She wasn't using her siren song. No, this was just her melodic voice, and something about it calmed the raging, vindictive beast that resided within me.

I abandoned my futile attempt to kill her as I knelt before her. Our eyes locked as she continued to sing. She reached out, threading her fingers through my hair. An electric shock, like lightning when it hit the sea, shot through me when she brushed her fingers against my scalp. Her voice, her eyes, her very being, everything about her enchanted me. Rhea had done what no one else had ever been able to do—calm the raging storm that constantly billowed inside of me.

She stopped singing and smiled at me as her hands ventured from my hair and brushed across my beard. "There, that's better. Your sea-blue eyes are clear again. They darken when you are angry or upset. Did you know that?"

Something inside me snapped at her words, and I shot to my feet. Rhea watched me as I retreated a few steps. I had never been scared of anything in this world, be it beast or man, but this siren frightened the hell out of me. She had the potential to make me a better man, and that was not something I would ever yield to. I flung the door open and bolted out of the cabin before Rhea could transform me into something I wasn't—a decent human being.