Page 88 of Vengeance of the Pirate Queen

“It’s your doing, you know,” he says. “When you stabbed my heart, you connected us. I was so entranced by what I saw, that moment when you made your first kill, that I knew we were meant to be. And while we’re on the subject of your memories, we will need to talk about this Kearan lad. He can’t have you, because you’re mine.”

I don’t know which memory of mine made him delusional enough to think thatanythingis happening between Kearan and me, but he’s as misguided as I once was.

“Those memories were not for you to take.”

“I didn’t take them. I shared them with you.”

“You cannot share them! They’re mine. You shouldn’t have—”

“It’s all right, love. I’ve seen your darkest secrets, and you havenothingto be embarrassed or ashamed of. You are extraordinary. If anything, I’ve only seen how short I fall compared to you.”

“Stop talking to me like that.”

“Intimacy scares you. I understand, but—”

I leap away from him as he tries to step closer.

“No, no,” I repeat. “You don’t understand. If you did, you would know how wrong all this is. You cannot keep me here. You cannot force me to be with you or to help you with whatever your ridiculous plan is. You cannot take so much from me and then expect me to thank you for it.”

He’s too still as he stands there. Chest unmoving. Eyes unblinking. Not so much as an itch to scratch or a muscle to stretch.

It’s unsettling.

“I am sorry for how this all played out. I cannot help what I am or how our first meeting went. I—”

“That’s a load of shit.” I call him out on it. “You chose to be like this. To fuse with the panaceum so no one else could use it. You chose to kill and to hurt. You may not have chosen the consequences of those actions, but you are responsible for what you are.”

His eyes narrow. “What I did, I did for—”

“Your sister. Yes, I know. I saw. She was in pain, and you wanted to help her. That’s why you sailed this way. But it seemed to me that you lost your purpose along the way.”

He glowers at me. “Ineverlost my purpose. The second Kayra was born, my life was about her instead of myself. I spent every second of my day with her, ensuring she had everything she needed. I had to witness her in pain day after day. My parents called for the most expensive physicians, but none could find the source of her agony or help to ease it.

“When rumors spread that the king was sending a crew in search of a cure to all maladies, I made sure I was hired for it. We sailed for months before reaching this island, and then we searched even longer for the mystical object that would heal our loved ones.

“I was the one who found it, and do you know what happened when I presented it to the rest of the crew?”

“They tried to take it.”

“They wanted it for the king. They wanted titles and glory and money. All things that a man in power could provide. But I knew what would happen if our monarch got his hands on such a thing. An artifact that can heal any disease or ailment? He would sell cures to the highest bidders, grant longevity to the most important individuals. The rich would live forever, and people like my sister would be utterly forgotten and alone.

“So I ran. I kept it, and yes, I made it a part of myself so it would be mine to share with those who truly needed it. The poor. The desperate. Those who are in pain. Those who need relief. And do you know what happened next?”

I shake my head slowly.

“The sirens found out I had taken it. My crew was quick to lay all the blame on me, and since I could not be killed or harmed, they did the next best thing. They cursed the land to bring forth snow and ice. Then they cursed me to sleep until I was woken. Cursed me to live in an icy tomb until my sister was dead and all those I wanted to help were gone.”

The siren was as beautiful as she was dangerous. Her hair was whiteassnow,aswereherlips.Shewasnakedasshewalkedtowardme, risingoutoftheocean,hercharmtrailingbehindher.

Ididnotknowtrueterroruntilthatmoment.

Her voice grated on my ears like a hailstorm battering the roof ofa house. “You will sleep until all those you love are gone, Threydan. Youwilllivewithoutlivinguntilyouarewoken.Ihopethemomentdoesnot come until the end of time.”

And then there was music. The most beautiful, painful music thatmade me want to weep.

Then nothing.

“I’m awake now, Sorinda,” Threydan says, pulling me out of the memory. “Everyone I’ve ever known is gone, save you. Do you know what it is to sleep for a thousand years, dreaming of the world passing you by? It was agony, but I held out hope that one day I would rise again. One day, I could claim vengeance on the sirens who did this to me, all because I wanted to help the less fortunate.”

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