Page 362 of Kingdoms of Night

I tensed.

I might just die tonight.

“Let me go,” I yelled. “Captain Elian won’t stand for this. I am under his protection.”

The big fellows laugh did nothing but anger me. But, his words sent terror into my soul. “The little mermaid wants you to let her go. Thinks we care about good ole’ Captain Elian’s protection.”

My blood ran cold at hearing him call me a mermaid. He knew. How could he know? Even more so, he didn’t seem to care about Captain Elian.

“Yes. We know what you are,” he said. “You think I didn’t notice that little magic ring of yours? I wouldn’t be a good pirate captain if I let little details like that go unnoticed. Hold her down.”

Dear goddess, he was another pirate captain.

The slick ground was wet, with a foul smell. The left side of my face was pressed against it by a strong hand. The moon reflected its light off of the steel of a sharp blade. I eyed it, my chest heaving as I fought to control my breaths.

I couldn’t lose control. Not now. I needed to focus, and I lifted my gaze to the captain as he knelt down before me. Everything about him was dark—his hair, eyes, and long coarse beard. Even his rubbery skin had a swarthy tint to it.

The smell of a cigar wafted from his mouth as he licked his lips and stroked my cheek with his rough, cold hand.

“Tsk, tsk. What a waste.”

I swallowed. “Who are you?”

A humorless smile came to his thin lips that were nearly hidden by his beard. “Not that it’ll matter much in about a minute, but you can call me Blackthorn, Captain Blackthorn.”

I sucked in a breath as someone pressed my face harder into the ground. “You don’t have to do this.”

His brows knitted together as if I’d said something he couldn’t comprehend. “But, I do.” He took out a flask and poured fresh seawater onto my cheek.

My eyes fluttered closed as the sharp tip of the blade was pressed to the scales on the side of my face. I knew why he did it. My scales weren’t visible without the seawater.

But…did he not realize it also increased my power?

I sucked in a deep breath, pulling in as much air as my lungs could handle. I could feel my lungs expand, and burn as I stretched it to capacity. When my eyes opened, Blackthorn grinned as blood began to trail down my cheek.

That grin was quickly erased from his lips as I released the air in a loud boom. The sound was deafening. All pirates were sent crashing backward in all directions as a cold, salty wind escaped my lips like a strong storm wind. All of the rage and angst from the pain I felt from seeing the dead bodies of my sisters was released. All of the sorrow I felt for having to say goodbye to my kingdom was released.

Every single moment of fear, and anger, and thirst for revenge was set loose like the storm winds that had ravaged that bay days ago.

I didn’t stop, I pushed myself to my feet, all the while blowing out every ounce of air I’d collected, until a raspy wheeze came from my chest, signaling that my air supply was depleted.

I took account of the amount of pirates lay sprawled around me.

Seven.

I rubbed my ring with a glare.

Not enough.

CHAPTERFIFTEEN

SOUL TIES

Captain Elian Westin

Ihad all the elements and materials I needed for the spell—rare ingredients I’d acquired from my travels—and we were now in the shadow period of the full harvest moon.

What impeccable timing for something as complicated as this. The moon’s light would add power to my spell.

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