All of this was for nothing. All my brides…
Their names rang through my head like mourning bells.
Amarylis.
Kalia.
Tira.
Nadia.
Cassia.
Vivienne.
Autumn.
Inek.
Eight names. Eight brides. Eight lives cut short. Eight hopes dashed. Some I had loved, some were in it for the treasure I promised them, some had truly thought they’d be the one who would beat the curse. Vivienne had believed in the power of true love’s kiss, and I, starry-eyed, had wanted to believe it was true.
Each had been taken by the creature or the curse she’d cast.
Each had broken my heart.
And I’d kept condemning them anyway, kept hoping, kept giving in to the treasure’s cursed allure.
“How could you?” I demanded, my back shaking. Buthow could I?What had I done? How could I have valued my life and that of my crew so far above theirs?
Sofie waited so long to speak that I turned, a stab of fear in my chest as I checked to see if she’d lost consciousness.
“I freed her,” she said. “I freed all of you. There is always another way.”
“Then my wives died for nothing,” I spat. “All of it was meaningless.”
Sofie’s eyes widened. “Are you just now figuring that out?”
I pointed. “That treasure would’ve saved lives. With the Queen of the Sea, even the Diam Sea would’ve been no obstacle. All of those poor magical creatures trying to get to Nox—Carabossecould’ve delivered them all.”
“And how many of your fellow pirates would you have killed in the process? What would you have plundered from the coast ofthe southern wolding, or taken from the northern isles once you were free to roam the sea however you wished? That power was locked away here for a reason, Jax. Now, can we get out of here, or would you like to keep breathing fumes?”
I was so furious that for a shameful moment, I thought of leaving the cavern without her. Chastened, I made my way back to her, skirting the pile of ash, and lifted her gruffly.
“You’ll have to walk through the mouth of the cave on your own,” I said, setting her on her feet.
She swayed, but stayed upon them. How she managed to appear haughty as she stumbled sidewise through the narrow passage is beyond me.
Sofie was extraordinary, alright. An extraordinary pain in my posterior.
She was also my wife.
What was I going to do with her now? Or the more pressing question, what was a sorceress with so much power she couldmelt enchanted objectsgoing to do withme?
Chapter twenty-one
Jax
IfSofiewassurprisedwhen Jovus collected my bedding and surviving personal effects from the captain’s cabin, she said nothing of it to me. Nor did we speak after Violet returned to her usual bed onTemerityand became her new bunk mate.
