Page 2 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
As he stepped onto the wooden deck of the port, his dark eyes squinted against the low, dusky sun setting behind a formidable black ship. Teems of sailors boarded the gangplank,all wearing the same identical uniform as himself. Good. He’d swiped this from a sailor when he’d fled his family’s estate, in the hope it was the correct uniform, and it was a little big on his slender, bony frame.
Finlay had promised John he’d return home, but with everything at stake . . . he would lay down his life, if it meant saving hers. The sting of the false promise made him wince, that burrowed heaviness in his chest imploding into a scattering of shards, crystalising into his bones, and fortifying his resolve to make this sacrifice.
I’m sorry, John.
He wiped his clammy hands on his breeches as he filed into the stream of sailors boarding the ship, the heat of bodies causing beads of sweat to drip from his brow. Up ahead, he spotted a being with a head of gleaming white hair, donning a black leather jerkin, and two daggers strapped to her back. She stomped across the deck, barking orders at her crew.
With a deep breath, ash and ale swirling around his mind, the rebel leader took his first step onto the mightyHell’s Serpent.
Part One
The Demon Sea Siren
1
Kora
Kora Cadell had been tracking the pirates for three days.
Her heartbeat thundered in time with the rocking of her ship on the cresting ocean waves of the expanse of the Shaurock Sea, her eyes fixed on the horizon, scouting for signs of unruly sails. She’d been staring for so long that the endless blue swirled her vision, but she would not stop. Not with the thrill of the hunt sizzling beneath her skin.
A breeze ruffled her hair, short strands of sea-foam white fluttering into her gaze as she gripped the helm, keeping her ship steady against the persistent current. Kora inhaled deeply, savouring the cool, briny southern winds as the midday sun blazed down on her crew.
Three blisteringly hot days they’d been sailing off-course from their scouting mission near Scarlet Bay. They were royally fucked. But she wouldn’t admit that.
Before their return voyage from the bay, she’d caught wind of pirates gathering in Peril Cove, and her trusty, unknown voice—that wasn’t her own—had compelled her to hunt them down. She often listened to the mysterious voice inside her mind, not that she’d admit it to anyone. She wasn’t insane! But it’d kept her alive the past ten years, and was the sandy foundation to her whirlpool mind.
Now, it’d driven her to the notorious homeland of pirates—Peril Cove. At least, itwastheir homeland, until a brutal war raged over two hundred years ago, scattering pirates across the seas whilst their home was desecrated. Good bloody riddance. Kora would ensureallpirates were wiped from the world they’d stained, like an ink splotch on a map.
What else was a pirate-hunter meant to do?
The cove’s unique sharp, horseshoe shape loomed ahead, surrounded by reefs and archipelagos. It was troublesome territory to sail and navigate, and many shipwrecks happened in these southern waters. Northern towers guarding the pointed tips, armed to the teeth, making it impossible to enter. Except for Captain Kora Cadell.
Her eyes flickered to the deck. Exhaustion laid heavy on her sailing crew, and dehydration was rapidly setting in. Supplies were dangerously dwindling, and rumours circled that she wasn’t fit to be captain. But those were only rumours. It was fine. No big deal.
The stench alone of the lower decks was eye watering. They’d been out at sea for too long, and she tugged at the sweat-damp collar of her black jerkin. It’d be another mark against her carefully crafted reputation.
Kora cast her eyes to the port side ofHell’s Serpent. A few miles away, she could spot the edge ofthe Mist, lingering like a shade.
It spanned for miles, consuming the entirety of the western island, Galen. A mystery among these god-abandoned lands, the Mist was untouchable, and impenetrable, and no one had been able to contact Galen since it appeared ten years ago.
Shortly after the empire united the islands, ending the two-hundred-year war, Galen lit the fire for a secondary war when they’d refused to bow. But the Mist arrived as a blessing, and the hostile enemy the empire feared had met their demise, contained in a prison of nature’s creation.
Being this close to it unnerved Kora, and chills ran down her spine, snaking into her weakened limbs. She’d nearly lost her life in these waters, succumbing to an attack nearby the Mist. Luckily, the commodore had saved her life from—
“Go . . . keep going,”the deep, inviting voice whispered, dragging Kora from the depths of her mind.
The voice travelled on the ocean winds, it sang to her in her dreams, and it soothed her raging, vengeful heart. She steered the ship away from a rocky reef patch and paused to fill her lungs, tasting the thrill of sailing the barrens of the Shaurock Sea.
The night-black sails ofHell’s Serpentwhipped in the air, propelling them forward. Thick, dark-green ropes looped around the base of the central main mast, with rigging and shrouds dyed the same dreadful colour. An envious malachite stone, shaped like a diamond, and embedded in the heart of the wheel, sparkled at her. The colours of the Talmon Empire followed Kora everywhere.
The crew worked relentlessly hard, muscles stretching and straining, slick with ocean spray and sweat. Black-and-dark-forest-green uniforms, lined with golden buttons and stitching, were discarded in the heat of the sun. Kora absentmindedly scratched the embroidered insignia over her chest—a sharp four-pointed star, connected by an inner loop. The empireclaimed it was a symbol of unity, or some bullshit like that. Kora scoffed as she eyed the isolated, shrouded Galen Island.
“Captain Cadell.” A familiar, deep drawl sounded from the stairs leading from the main deck.
Blake Marwood rounded the corner, his dark hair blending in with the ebony wood of her fearsome ship. He prowled with a predatory stalk in his gait, and a tight smile stretched his handsome face, causing Kora’s stomach to sink to the depths of the brig.
“The crew are beginning to wonder whether you’re of . . .” he paused, “. . . unsound mind, with theseimpulsiveplunders. We’ve sailed too far.” His deep, green eyes fixated on her face as he stood close to her side. Close enough to feel his warmth radiating from him.
