Chapter 23

Something whizzed by my face, the wind from whatever it was brushing across my cheek. I wasn't foolish enough to believe that the creature had missed due to its proximity. When I heard a screech rip from the creature's throat, I pried my eyes open. It reached up, trying to dislodge the arrow protruding from its forehead. I froze in shock as its eyes rolled back in its head and the creature fell over dead, splashing into the tainted black water.

Hope blossomed in my chest as more arrows soared through the air, burrowing into the creatures' skeletal bodies. I spun around to see a massive ivory-colored ship with masts and rigging reaching toward the heavens. It was ladened with weapons and gliding through Dark Water like a dream, and at the stern, with a bow in hand, was Kai.

I blinked several times, my mind refusing to comprehend what my eyes were witnessing. How had Kai found me, and where did he get this hauntingly beautiful ship? My muscles quivered when I realized that this must be the Wraith and the driving force behind his deceit. Something sinister leaked into my bloodstream. The sea witch had spared her minions' lives and sent them after me in a vessel capable of riding the deadly waves.

Arrows and spears continued to litter the air, and one by one, the creatures fell. Fate was a cruel mistress. I would rather die at the hands of these monsters than at the hands of Blackheart Kai. These creatures were hungry, and my death would only serve as a physical need, but with Kai, I would be another trophy kill to add to his collection.

The creatures circling me in the water quickly abandoned me, focusing all their attention on the more significant threat. They swarmed like barracuda around the ship, trying to claw their way aboard deck.

Kai was shouting, and he and his men were moving as one seamless fighting entity, but I could not understand his words above the boom of battle and the wind that whipped the tears from my eyes.

I sat there in stoic silence, unable to move from my perch on the coral. I was stranded without Poseidon's heart. The vicious creatures may have abandoned me, but Dark Water had not. It eased closer, attempting to slither up the rock to reach me. My eyes shifted from the battle scene to the dark waves surrounding me. The thought of throwing myself in and ending it all before Kai got his hands on me flitted across my mind, but my thirst for vengeance spoke louder than my desire to take the easy way out. If I had the chance to see another day, I would use the very last breath in my lungs to ensure Blackheart Kai met his doom.

I jumped as the boom of a cannon engulfed the surrounding area. The creatures caught in the line of fire combusted, while those that remained unscathed plunged beneath the inky surface. I scoffed to myself. I shouldn't be surprised that Kai had so quickly ended the attack. That was, after all, what he was good at—destroying sea monsters.

The massive ship glided closer to the coral reef I was marooned on.

"Need a lift, sea demon?" A crooked grin pulled at Kai's lips, and my stupid traitorous heart skipped a beat.

"Being swallowed alive by Dark Water sounds more appealing," I hissed, baring my teeth at him.

His smile widened, and mischief danced in his sea-blue eyes. "Perhaps, but I'm not giving you that option."

He tossed down a rope that landed across my tail. I stared at it like it was a sea serpent. If I accepted his help, I would betray myself and my people all over again. I wrapped my tail tighter around my body as Dark Water slithered further up the rock. A tightness squeezed my chest, threatening to crush my lungs. What other option did I have?

I reluctantly picked up the rope and tied it securely around my waist. The air whooshed from my lungs as the rope tightened, hoisting me above the rising Dark Water. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as I swayed through the air like a fish on a fisherman's line. Once I reached the railing, I grabbed on and pulled myself up. Kai stepped toward me in what looked like an effort to help me, but the hiss of warning I threw his way had him halting in his tracks. I slung my tail over, flipping it back and forth in an anger-fueled motion as the crew stared at me. I combed my fingers through my salt-laden hair, ignoring them and their infuriating captain.

Kai's eyes locked on my chest. Sirens seeped lust, but anger like a bolt of lightning shot from his cold oceanic eyes, indicating that was not the reason behind his hard glare. I glanced down. The creature had left jagged claw marks when it ripped the necklace from around my neck. Blood dripped down my torso, mingling with the scales that began at my lower waist.

Kai walked off without a word and returned quickly with a cloth in his hand. "This would have never happened if you'd stayed aboard my ship," he growled as he handed me the fabric.

I grabbed it from his hands, waving it angrily in the air. "No, this would have never happened if you hadn't made a deal with the sea witch. One with a stipulation that included my death." I pressed the cloth to my chest, wiping away the blood.

The crew members who crowded around very wisely chose that moment to busy themselves elsewhere.

Kai stepped toward me. "Rhea…"

I snarled. "Don't you dare say my name. After what you did, you are not fit to speak it.,"

Kai's eyes bore into me, but that did not stop the anger that oozed from me like ink from an octopus.

"And I see that you received your reward." My gaze skimmed the perimeter of the ship. "But let me guess, the conditions of the agreement have not changed, have they? I'm sure the sea witch still wants me dead."

"She does." Kai didn't even attempt to conceal his ploy, which ignited my anger like whale oil to a flame.

Kai stepped closer, which was the mighty pirate captain's mistake. I snatched a dagger he had strapped to his belt. Anger and hurt pulled a veil over my eyes. All I could see was red. I leaped from the railing, dagger raised, aiming for the black heart that resided in this pirate's chest.

Kai latched onto my wrist, stopping my attack. He banded his other arm around my waist, and my body dangled above the deck as he pressed his muscled torso to mine. He twisted until I was forced to release the dagger. It fell to the deck. The way he held me so gently and intimately, even after I attempted to kill him, confused me, igniting my fury. I used my tail, sweeping his feet from beneath him. We both crashed to the deck. He was on top of me in seconds, subduing my next assault.

"Get off of me," I hissed through clenched teeth.

He pinned both of my arms above my head. "Not until you calm down."

I thrashed violently beneath him, trying desperately to dislodge him. His rigid body was so close to mine, and his masculine scent teased me, further poking at the open wound in my heart. I screamed through my frustration. I couldn't get him off me. Sirens were strong, but this evil being of a man was as solid as a mountain. I went deadly still, stopping all my vain efforts to free myself and hurt him.

"Why did you do this?" My voice cracked with unexpected emotion, and only then did I realize I was crying.

The tears increased as my tail split and I once again had legs. Kai stood, pulling me up with him, but he refused to relinquish his hold. He crushed me to his chest, his eyes swirling with too many emotions for me to read.

He released me, pulled his shirt over his head, and handed it to me. I quickly donned the shirt, cursing its intoxicating scent of fresh salty air and spices. I folded in on myself, hugging my arms across my chest and making myself as small as possible.

Kai took a step toward me. "You were just a means to an end."

I recoiled. I didn't know why I expected him to lie to me to soften the blow. That was not who he was. His blatant truth hurt worse than him reaching into my chest and crushing my heart with his bare hands.

He stepped toward me so quickly that I did not have a chance to evade his touch. His hand reached for my face, his palm brushing my cheek as he anchored me in place by wrapping his fingers around the back of my neck. I tried to ignore the flash of remorse in his eyes, refusing to fall victim to another one of his schemes.

"Then go ahead," I urged. "Kill me."

I stood as tall as possible, laying my vulnerability at his feet.

The pressure of his fingers increased on my neck. "I didn't come here to kill you, Rhea. I came to save you."

I scoffed at his words, allowing my regard to travel up his bare chest and stopping at his eyes. "Do you honestly expect me to believe a word you say?"

He released me, letting his hand fall back to his side. "No, but I hope my actions speak louder than words."

Kai turned away from me. "Cael! Get this ship underway. Let's get out of this godforsaken wasteland."

My bruised heart skipped a beat as the men began preparing the ship to sail. Against all common sense, I stepped toward Kai. "We can't leave." Kai turned to me with a stern expression on his face. "We have to stop the Dark Hydra."

Kai quirked a dark brow at me. "I didn't come to stop the Dark Hydra. I came for you." He closed the distance between us. I desperately wanted to believe his words, but no matter how hard my feelings pulled toward him, I refused to relinquish.

"Why?" The word tumbled off of my tongue before I could swallow it back down. I didn't want to know why. If I allowed myself to wonder why, I was allowing myself to believe his words were true.

His menacing glare seemed to swallow me whole as he searched my face. I could see the war that was waging in his stormy eyes. "Because you are the only thing in this world that I have ever cared about."

Kai broke me all over again with his words.

Warm tears flooded my eyes, clouding my vision. "I want to believe you." I choked on the words.

Kai reached up, his rough thumb brushing away my tears. "Then you should because I have never spoken truer words."

"Then prove it. Help me stop the Dark Hydra." The words tasted like poison on my tongue, coating my heart in the same vile substance. I couldn't believe after all he had done that I was pleading for his help. "The locket was destroyed." I reached up, idly brushing my fingertips along my collarbone where the necklace used to hang.

Kai's gaze followed my hand, searing my skin wherever his eyes touched. "I don't know what you expect me to do." He turned away, done with the conversation.

"You're Blackheart Kai!" I screamed after him, voice thick with emotion. "Your entire purpose is to kill monsters."

"The Dark Hydra isn't a monster. It's pure evil orchestrated by Hades. Not even the sea witch would risk coming this close to it." He was in front of me again before I could process his quick movements. "How do you think I was able to trick her into giving me this ship before I fulfilled my end of the deal?"

I scanned the ship, covering every inch of the craftsmanship. "Please help me save my family."

My body shook all over in desperation as my cheeks were saturated anew with my tears.

A growl of frustration vibrated in Kai's chest as he angrily shoved his fingers through his unruly hair. "I don't know if I can."

I rushed up to him, gripping his hand and entwining my fingers with his. "All I ask of you is to try. If we die, we die together."

Kai reached up, brushing his knuckles across my wet cheek. "For you, sea demon, I would sacrifice my life."

Kai crushed my body to his as he claimed my lips as his own. Hoots and whistles from his crew members were the only things that kept me from losing myself in him completely. Kai pulled away, determination set in his rugged features.

I chewed on my bottom lip. My emotions were all over the place. I was foolish to trust anything Kai said or anything I felt at the moment, but I could not deny the way my flighty heart beat for his. "How will we get to the Dark Hydra without that fragment of Poseidon's heart?"

Kai walked over to the railing of the ship, a strange, foreboding haze in his eyes. "Why worry about a piece of that bastard's heart when you can have his son?"

My entire body broke out in a cold sweat as Kai hoisted himself onto the railing and dove overboard.