Page 79 of Wicked Tides
It was no use, though. As soon as they flung me in the boat, they were coiling ropes around my legs and adding more to my wrists like I was a carcass fresh from a hunt ready to be carried on a pole to the fire. Immediately, the men started rowing with vigor, despite how tired and hungry they looked. They must have come to the island for supplies and rest just as Vidar and his crew had, but with Sakari and me in tow, they were making a run for it.
And Collin could not hide the unease behind his pretend confidence. The way he was retreating revealed something to me that I doubted he wanted people to know. That he was afraid of Vidar. His eyes kept glimpsing the shore as the boat gained distance as if he was nervous he’d see him coming out of the tavern.
But he didn’t. Part of me wondered if Vidar cared that Sakari had been taken. I wondered if he cared that I’d been taken. Perhaps we were just two less burdens on his ship. Either way, I wasn’t going to be a quiet prisoner on another man’s vessel.
I began to struggle again, knocking one man into the water when I thrust my legs out. The men began to scurry about trying to control me. I twisted, opening my mouth enough to feel my jaw snap. It was painful. My cheeks stretched and an irritating discomfort shot up my temples. Many sirens could open their mouths wide during feeding, but it didn’t mean it was enjoyable. But, doing it meant I was able to push the gag out with my tongue. I twisted around, biting into the nearest limb. My teeth sunk through salty flesh and I ripped the large chunk away, realizing I’d bitten into someone’s forearm.
Horrified screams rang in my ears. The man stood and stumbled over his crewmates, falling into the water in a bloody mess as I spit the mouthful of skin onto another man’s lap.
The boat was in chaos after that, but my efforts were doused when the butt of a man’s pistol collided with my head. My skull cracked under the pressure and instantly, everything was black.
When I woke, the soft spray of sea air was kissing my cheeks. The sun was coming and going behind clouds, its bright light pulling me from my unconsciousness. That, and Sakari’s terrified cries.
When I realized what I was hearing, I instantly woke, my eyes bursting open with alarm. I was on a ship, but it was not Vidar’s ship. My memories returned and I realized it was Collin’s. I felt a terrible pressure on my wrists. I was so tightly bound that I could hardly feel my fingers. The ship was moving fast, rocking against the waves like it was off balance, making me realize how well-designed the Rose was in comparison.
I could tell the men of Collin’s crew were low on energy and unenthused… until it came to Sakari. A few of them were eyeing her hungrily while two of them were poking and prodding at her chest, trying to undo the ties that kept her breasts concealed.
I started to growl like a damn animal, flashes from my past overlapping with what was happening to the innocent girl.
“Finally awake!” Collin called out, strolling down the steps from the helm. “And just in time.”
“Don’t touch her!” I shouted. “She’s not like me. She’s human.”
“Then why are you so protective of her, witch?”
I didn’t know how to answer that in a way he would believe and I knew it wouldn’t do any good anyway. I glared as he came to crouch in front of me, just out of reach of my legs.
“You say we are monsters and yet you do not care whether it is one of my kind or a young human girl you are hurting.”
Collin only laughed at my comment. Shifting my eyes toward the doorway leading down to the lower deck, I saw the orange-haired boyemerging into the daylight. He had a conflicted arch to his brows when he saw Sakari in the men’s clutches and me tied to the base of the mast.
“Vidar loves you,” I shouted toward him. “I saw it in the way he looked at you.”
“Shut up,” Collin ordered.
“Do you think this man took you with him because he cares about you? No, it’s because he knows Vidar cares about you and he needed leverage. He reeks of malicious intent.”
“The gag!” Collin ordered one of his men. “Shut her up.”
“That girl,” I continued. “Her name is Sakari and she is human. Vidar was protecting her. He would not want you to be a part of this. A part of hurting an innocent girl.”
“And what about you?” David said, his eyes still glassy with indecision.
The back of Collin’s hand slammed against my cheek before I could answer, snapping my head to the side so hard, I tasted blood between my teeth. I felt it flooding my mouth and looked back at him with a half-smile, knowing that I was going to kill him, no matter what else transpired on his ship.
“Oh, I’m a monster,” I said, loud enough for only Collin to hear.
One of his other crewmen showed up with a black contraption. I barely got a look at it before it was being fitted over my head. The leather harness covered my mouth and buckled under my chin and behind my ears, preventing me from being able to open my mouth at all. I struggled until the men began harassing Sakari again, playing with her like she was a toy. When one of them managed to tear her top open down the front, I screamed profanities against my gag, watching her small breasts spring free. She curled in on herself, but the men began to grab at her arms, laughing as they ripped at her clothes.
David was watching nearby, mouth agape like he wanted to say something.
He wasn’t as vile as the other men. I could see it in his posture. If I could appeal to any of the damn humans, it was him. When his eyescaught mine, I shook my head, silently pleading for him not to let those men violate Sakari. He gulped, his jaw pulsing before he rushed in and grabbed one of the men by the shoulder. His intervention was as indecisive as his expression, but it got everyone’s attention.
The ropes around my wrists were tight. I tugged, testing them. The twine was rough and old. As the men got into a tussle over Sakari, I started to writhe against my binds. I pulled with all my might, tucking my thumb into my palm. When I felt the sharp pain of my joint giving, I pushed through it, watching David get overpowered by his larger, more violent companions. All the while, men started moving to fight over Sakari while she wept in the middle of the mob.
Hungry sharks, all of them.
With another tug, one hand slipped free, my thump popped clean out of the socket. Once one hand was free, the other slid out with ease. I rose to my feet and rushed into the mob, nails extended. I drove them into the side of one man’s neck just to get him out of the way as I shoved at the one with his slimy hands around Sakari’s arm. She screamed as I wrestled him off of her. Men shouted and the ringing of blades being drawn pierced my ears. But I didn’t care much about getting skewered, as long as I ripped some men apart as it happened.
