“Captain…” Lou’s hands, much smaller than my own, gripped my wrist, pulling my gaze downward. Her amber eyes pleaded. She wanted this kill, believing it would avenge her fallen crewmate.

Mesmerized by the brutal honesty reflected in her irises, I lowered my arm, against my better judgement, and passed the bronze weapon to Captain Lou. She wrapped her fingers around the hilt and, without a moment’s hesitation, slammed it through the siren’s back, piercing her heart.

The creature’s body convulsed and then dissolved into the sand from the ocean’s floor, leaving a grainy, foamy film. The sight of the sea retrieving its monster consistently captivated my crew, but to me, it was a grim reminder. Poseidon always reclaimed what lived in his kingdom. The will of the gods was, and would always be, inevitable.

Chapter six

Lou

I tucked Dara into bed, pulling the covers over her shoulder, and slid in next to her. Wide awake, I watched a net hung on the curved wall sway with the waves. Lanard had cleared this room of half its mops, fishing lines, and other jumble of tools to make way for the small bunk set, but it still felt like being squeezed into a barrel. Soon, snores as ferocious as a wild boar echoed through the little makeshift cabin. How someone so small made such a sound, I couldn’t fathom, but with ringing ears, I let her nestle closer. I held her like a sun-warmed talisman to banish the cold thoughts of Lianna’s knees hitting the deck, that horrible gurgle, the gush of dark blood.

Just yesterday, Lianna stood at my side at the rails, walked the deck with me as she had done with my father, searching for treasures and besting other pirates. But Father had never led her into the claws of a siren; he had carried his whole crew across entire seas without ever encountering one. Now, since my father’s death at the hands of our trying host, the sirens stalked our same waters, hunted our same ships. It was as if they declared war against my reign as captain. I’d let that pompous, reckless Rylander on my ship, let him best me, lure me with the promise of ending my enemies, himself included, in one blow. I’d never consider him an ally, but I’d still let him take charge, and he’d led Lianna to slaughter. Which meant I might as well have slit her throat myself.

The icy hand of fear squeezed my heart. I was unfit to lead The Freedom. The poisonous truth seeped into my bones, feasting on everything I thought I knew about myself like the plague.

A warm hand gripped my shoulder, nails digging into my skin. “Stop it,” Krinny commanded in a harsh whisper, leaning over the upper bunk’s edge. “Lianna’s death is not your fault.”