All around me, the Drowned were dancing, drinking, and smiling. Their eyes lit up like they had at the Mourning, filled with love. I realized love was both life’s elixir and the most dangerous poison of all.
Evelyn gazed into the Captain’s eyes, and he spun her away only to pull her back against his chest. Nearby, Daniel and Edward waltzed, holding each other close, as if this had been what they’d always wanted, even if neither had found the words to say it.
The youth dancing with Skye grinned, his face shining with boyish delight as his hands wandered lower. She slapped them away with a sharp look, then rolled her eyes. “Okay, for one song.” The young soldier’s face lit up with glee as he eagerly slid them back down.
I spun around, linking arms with a woman in a full-skirted dress, then somehow found myself back at our table, tucking my hair behind my ears as the song swelled, tugging at my aching heart.
The bar’s swing doors burst open, the pianist froze midnote, and silence swept through the venue. I stiffened, heart pounding.
Teachie and Rackham were standing in the doorway.
18
Morgana
All eyes flicked to Teachie and Rackham as they sauntered into the venue. They stopped at the bar, arms folded, surveying the Drowned, still frozen on the dance floor, with matching wicked grins.
They were no longer the pirates I remembered. Rackham’s beaded braids hung limp, patches of his scalp exposed. The skin beneath Teachie’s right eye had peeled back above his old scar, revealing muscle and bone. Silver glimmered in the whites of their eyes and wreathed their skin.Mer blood.My stomach tightened as the memory of their rough hands on my body surged back.
“What the fuck?” Skye cried, letting go of the youth she’d been dancing with and clapping her hands. Her ecstatic magic evaporated.
Around us, awkward shuffling and low grunts filled the air as Skye’s influence loosened its grip on the Drowned, sending them retreating from the dance floor. Daniel and Edward released each other, and Edward hurried to sit beside me, his face flushed bright red.
Skye quickly scurried over, settling in next to us also. “Are they glowing silver?” she whispered.
“Mer blood. I’ll explain later,” I whispered out of the corner of my mouth.
The heavy clomp of a wooden leg echoed through the room as the Captain left Evelyn’s side and limped forward to face the pirates. “Teachie, Rackham, how nice of you to rejoin us,” he said, offering them a bottle of rum from the bar.
Teachie grunted, swatting the bottle from the Captain’s hand. It shattered against the floor, the sharp crack slicing through the silence. More silver-stained Drowned emerged in the doorway, as if the noise had been a signal.
The Captain glanced toward the table where Edward, Skye, and I sat grouped. His one good eye gleamed gold as it met mine, and something in his look twisted my insides.
I sucked in a breath as the Captain raised his right hand, fingers splayed. A hum filled the air as a golden orb materialized from nothing, hovering before the pirates. While their eyes were fixed on the light—distracted—he shot his left hand behind his back, and a wave of pale blue luminescence cascaded outward, like mist woven with moonlight. It rippled through the tavern, curving around me, Edward, and Skye until it formed a glittering dome that shimmered like a heat haze.
“Hey,” I cried, shoving back my chair and rushing forward, only to rebound. “Hey!” I pounded against the glistening veil of magic now enclosing the three of us, but no one looked our way. The Captain was shielding us.
Edward’s words rippled through my consciousness:No one knows much about the Protectors. It is rumored they have ancient powers, but they are dormant unless activated by the need to defend.
“Your magic won’t work on us anymore, old man,” Rackham growled,slashing his knife through the Captain’s glowing orb, unaware it was only a distraction. His toothless grin split wide as the light disintegrated.
“We are not here to fight with you,” Teachie proclaimed, addressing the bar. “We are here to offer you a kingdom. Join Manannán in fighting the Mer and live to tell the tale. Or stay with him”—he jerked his chin at the Captain—“and die.”
“You want us to fight against the Mer?” an old fisherman asked, looking around nervously.
“With the Lord of the Drowned on our side, we’ll claim their kingdoms,” Teachie cried. “I’ve seen the inside of the Neptunus palace—Mer Prince Aigéan tortured me for days in his stone chambers. But he got distracted, and I escaped.”
Wait, what?Finn had tortured Teachie. Could it have been because of me? No, I never told him who gave me the bruises; it must have been a coincidence.
“You saw the castle?” a woman asked. “What was it like?”
Teachie snarled. “While we wallow in ships like this one, they live in opulence.”
“This is madness. These men are almost rabid with Mer blood,” the Captain interjected.
“Enough time has been wasted,” Rackham grunted. “Join us and live, or stay with him and die.”
Chairs scraped back as the Drowned rose, shuffling to gather behind Teachie and Rackham. Only Evelyn and Daniel remained seated.
