Chapter 21

My dive from the ship was far from graceful. I hit the water hard, the impact stealing the air from my lungs. I fell into a never-ending pool of darkness. Dark Water hissed and bubbled away from me as I fought my way back to the surface. I broke through the water, gasping for air and blinking to clear the salt water from my eyes. Dark Water was all around me, reaching out for me like the monstrosity it was. The locket glowed brightly against my breastbone, and the evil blackness shrank away. I gulped away my rising fear. I would be fine as long as I had the locket.

When I glanced around, I couldn't see the ship in the dark, moonless night. A tightness squeezed my chest once I realized they could already be dead. I could not shake the vision of Dark Water, slithering up the side of the ship and pulling it beneath its poisonous waves.

"Rhea!" Kai's voice broke through the whip of the wind and the angry hiss of the dark waves. Relief flooded through me, even though I knew I shouldn't care that he was still alive. He likely wouldn't be for long, and I had to live with the fact that I could do nothing about it. He brought this travesty upon himself by making a deal with the sea witch. Maybe she would spare their lives if he cried out to her instead of me. It was doubtful, though.

The familiar pain that I had come to welcome rendered my lower body. In a matter of minutes, I had my beautiful tail back and dove deep beneath the ebony waves. I tried to ignore the pain that continued to build in my chest. The farther I swam away from the ship, the more my heart cleaved in two. If I were entirely honest with myself, it was not the act of leaving the ship that induced this feeling, but Kai. My eyes stung, and it wasn't because of the salt in the water but the tears pouring from them.

I increased my speed as my anger gave way to fury. Kai wasn't worth my time or my tears. It was my fault that I had fallen for his treachery. All the glimpses of kindness and tenderness he had shown me were to bend me to his will. Anger snaked through my veins, causing my internal temperature to rise several degrees. If Dark Water didn't kill Blackheart Kai, I would. If it were the last thing I ever did, I would find him, reach into his chest, and crush his black heart with my bare hands.

Kai

I seizedthe railing so hard my knuckles blanched white. When Rhea leaped into the swirling black abyss, I was sure that what remained of my heart jumped right in after her. My emotions were warring with themselves. Should I follow the little sea demon who was swimming away with my tattered heart, or should I uphold my duty to my crew?

A strong hand gripped my shoulder and squeezed. I didn't need to turn around to know it was Cael. He stood behind me in silent support, and that was all I needed to decide. Rhea had Poseidon's heart around her neck. She would be safe from Dark Water, or so I hoped, but my crew needed me, needed their captain.

"What are we going to do?" The panicked voice of one of my crew members rose above the hiss of the Dark Water.

I turned in their direction. All eyes were on me, awaiting my orders. I opened my mouth, unsure what I would say to alleviate their fears as Dark Water drew nearer.

"Capitán! Off the starboard!"

I turned around, looking to the right of the ship as inky black tentacles latched onto the railing. Every muscle in my body tightened as my men picked up spears and others drew swords.

"Stand down," I ordered, and they all looked at me, confusion written across their features. "This particular sea monster is an expected guest."

I stepped closer, noticing how Cael's dark brows drew together and his hand danced above the hilt of his sword.

The sea witch pulled her massive body over the railing, landing with a thud. She shook her pearly white hair like a wet dog, sending the deadly water flying in all directions. Dark Water splattered across my ship, eating holes in the places where it fell. My anger increased a notch at the way she disrespected my vessel. Finally, she looked up, her soulless black eyes meeting mine. She smiled at me insincerely, displaying her fangs.

Her gaze brushed over my men and then back to me. "It seems a certain siren is missing."

"Leave us," I boomed, leaving no room for argument. Questioning glares were thrown my way, but my men heeded my instructions and went below. Rat scurried down from his lookout tower and followed the rest of the crew below, closing the door behind him.

"Where is she?" the sea witch questioned, drawing closer to me.

I leaned against the railing, hoping my indifferent attitude would annoy her as much as her presence did me. It seemed to work. Her lips pulled tighter into a flat line, betraying her aggravation.

I turned, motioning to the water. "She jumped ship mere minutes before you arrived."

The sea witch's eyes followed mine and rounded in horror at my words. "You lie, she would have died. Unless…"

"Unless she had the locket of Poseidon around her neck," I completed her sentence.

"You insolent fool!" she hissed, striking out at me with one of her ebony tentacles.

She was swift with her strike, but I was faster. I pulled my sword from its scabbard as I avoided her blow. The tip of her tentacle was inches from my face. With one quick swipe of my blade, I amputated it. She squealed in pain as the tentacle flopped against my deck like a decapitated snake. Her dark-blue blood showered my deck as she pulled the nub protectively to her body. I watched in mock amusement as the tentacle quickly grew back like nothing had ever happened.

Sink me.

She glared at me. "Your speed is impressive." She seemed to be changing tactics, but I wasn't sure why. "Tell me how a mere siren escaped the mighty Blackheart Kai's grasp?"

And there it was. She was fishing for information, but she was going to come up empty-handed.

"Just a mild setback," I assured her as I wiped her tainted blood off of my sword with a bandanna I had shoved in my pocket. I let the fabric fall to the deck with a sneer of disgust. No doubt the sea witch's blood was deadlier than Dark Water itself.

Her tongue shot out of her mouth, licking the seam of her blood-red lips. "According to your reputation, I expected her head to be handed to me on a silver platter, and instead, you have had a mild setback." The sea witch eased closer to me, her eyes scrutinizing me for any telltale sign of what actually happened.

I returned my sword to its sheath. "You will have the sea demon and locket in due time." A spark of anger ignited in my chest when I spoke the nickname I had given Rhea. I hoped that the sea witch had not noticed the change in my tone, but by the look of victory that rendered her face, my normally schooled demeanor had faltered, and it just cost me dearly.

"I see," she said in a voice that dripped with poison. "That little princess got to you."

My whole body went rigid with anger, and the sea witch smiled in triumph, having put a dent in the otherwise flawless emotional armor I wore.

"No one got to me." I plastered on a solemn expression in a desperate attempt to gain some of the ground I just lost. "But there is something that you can do to help us get to the siren before she reaches the Dark Hydra."

One of the sea witch's white brows shot up in question. "Me aiding you wasn't part of the deal." Her tentacles snaked closer to me, but I held my ground. "What exactly is it that you want?"

"We are at a standstill. You can clearly see Dark Water surrounds us and what it can do to my ship." I motioned to the holes in the deck that Dark Water had eaten away. "I need another ship. Preferably one made out of the impenetrable bones of a leviathan."

Now it was my turn to smile as her face fell.

"You think me stupid enough to give you the Wraith? It's my only leverage to ensure you do my bidding."

I walked up to her, towering over her massive form, and I swore I saw a faint spark of fear in her eyes. "Quite the opposite, but I seriously doubt you want to do your own dirty work." I leaned over her. "And I doubt very seriously that you are willing to go anywhere near the Dark Hydra."

Fear skipped across her facial features, and I knew she would not deny my request. She may be a witch, but not even she could control the Dark Hydra.

She struck out, latching onto one of my arms with her tentacle. The suckers underneath her tentacles bored into my skin, but I did not so much as flinch. "How do I know you will uphold our deal after I give you the ship?" She tightened her grip on my arm, and my fingers started to tingle from lack of blood flow.

I smirked at her. "You don't, but what other option do you have?"

She released my arm with a growl. "If you betray me, I will trap you and your precious Wraith inside one of my magic bubbles and take pleasure in each passing day as you wither away to nothing but bones."

Maybe I was demented, but for some reason, that did not sound as bad as some of the death threats I'd received in the past.

"Then stop stalling and get me my ship." I snarled in her face.

Her gaze angrily brushed down my body before she moved away from me. She held out her hand, and in a puff of purple smoke, a bubble appeared, the Wraith within it. My skin broke out in goosebumps with anticipation. I had waited my entire life for a ship like that and was finally about to receive it.

With an impressive arm, the sea witch threw the bubble into the swirling black sea. Knots of tension formed in my shoulders as I watched the bubble explode. Once the smoke cleared, there sat the Wraith in all its glory. It was massive and at least twice as big as my current ship. They had cut the bones of the leviathan into perfectly proportioned planks, which had an ivory color that contrasted starkly with the pitch-black water.

Dark Water slithered toward the ship, and I stepped near the railing to get a better view. It attempted to crawl up the side of the Wraith, but as soon as it touched the leviathan bones, it instantly disintegrated into powdery sea foam. Even with the sea witch scrutinizing me, I could not keep the victorious, hungry gleam from my eyes.

"I see that you are satisfied," she mocked.

I crossed my arms over my chest, leaning against the railing. "Ecstatic."

The sea witch slithered toward the edge of the ship, pulling her tangled mess of tentacles in her wake. "Good. Then get that locket and bring me that siren's pretty little head."

She jumped overboard, landing in the swirling Dark Water below.

I smiled to myself. "It will be my pleasure to go after that sea demon." I turned toward the hull with a sense of anticipation and adventure drumming through me. "Look alive, men! Ready our supplies. We just commandeered a new rig!"

They scurried from below like rats fleeing a sinking ship.

The sun had already started its gradual descent into the ebony sea by the time we moved everything from one ship to the other, and it couldn't have been a moment too soon. Dark Water quickly claimed my first ship, bending and snapping the wood until it sank beneath the deadly waves. A tiny thread of emotion wove its way through my body as I watched the mast slowly sink into oblivion. Where one chapter ended, a new one began.

"Our heading, Cap'n?" Cael's deep voice interrupted the homage I was paying to my old ship.

I turned to face him. He smiled at the helm of our new vessel like the cat who had swallowed a canary.

The salt-laden wind picked up speed, whipping through our sails and dancing across my skin. "To the Mariana Trench."

The home of the Dark Hydra.

Cael's eyes glistened with mischief. "Which route are we taking?"

There were two options. We could go the long way, circling the entire continent of Africa, or take the shortcut through the treacherous passageway between Africa and Asia that would lead us straight into the Indian Ocean. That particular shortcut had claimed the lives of many sailors, and it lived up to its name.

My gaze flitted across the deck of the stunning Wraith, which hummed with power and superiority.

I ran my fingers through my unruly, wind-tousled hair, using a thin piece of leather to bind it out of my face. "Through Hades" Pass."