A slow, warming smile spread across my lips as I considered my options. One glance at my surroundings and I found the one I liked best—one I liked more than any curse I’d ever cast before.
“...a splinter of wood.” I laughed, hiding the nasty burn of rebounded magic; he had some kind of protection spell in place, of a type I hadn’t encountered before. I hadn’t even detected it.
Covering my blunder, I then stepped over him as I entered the cabin.Mycabin. “Idowish you the best of luck, captain. Now. Have we settled the matter of who will be staying in this cabin? Or should I add a little more flavor to your current…predicament?”
As if the tightening spell prevented him from breathing, Bluebeard gasped and noisily sucked in air, rolling back onto his hands and knees. When he finally stood again, he wavered. “How?” he rasped.
“Goodness. My magic did a number on you, didn’t it?” I clucked my tongue as I moved past him. “An unintended consequence of mixing magics, I think, since I only meant to hurt you alittle.”
He said nothing, his nostrils flaring with anger as he continued to sway on his feet.
“Does that mean it’s true, then?” I prodded, straightening the coverlet on the captain’s bed—mybed. “Is the mighty pirate Bluebeard actually cursed, or is that just a convenient excuse for what happens to your brides?”
Did that meanIwas cursed, too? I didn’t feel any different, except for the persistent sting from my partially rebounded spell. My mind was racing.Did the little princess feel it, when I put the curse on her? What if it hurt her?I sat down on the bed, fighting a shiver that wasn’t entirely from the cold as I wondered what happened to the captain this cabin actually belonged to. But I was better off not thinking of the possibilities.
Now was not the time to let fear take hold.
I was playing with fire, challenging a man like Bluebeard in front of his crew.Humiliating himin front of his crew. He might decide I was more trouble than I was worth and toss me overboard, and we were nowhere near land right now.
I thought of the swift presences I’d sensed in the water, sharks and all manner of sea creatures. I didn’t fancy meeting any of them. So I reminded myself I was born to a shield-maiden of Aegle and a proud warrior father, and that I had bested better fighters than this Bluebeard with my magic. Even if hewastwice my size.
It was not a comforting thought, then, noticing how the cold water had sapped my strength. Fatigue was creeping in, working its way into my bones after the spells I’d just cast.
I needed to get out of these wet clothes. Fast.
All hope of that ended when Bluebeard slammed the cabin door shut behind him—with himstillinside the cabin.
Chapter four
Jax
Thesorceresssprungtoher feet, the tense lines of her body obvious thanks to her sodden dress. Since she had just vacated the captain’s bed, I seized the opportunity to settle onto it myself.
She winced as I sat down on the edge of the bed, and I fought the urge to do the same. A sweet and spicy and very feminine perfume rose from the bedding, reminding me of just what I’d gotten myself into. Again.
“What are you looking for?” I asked, knowing full well what she sought.
I watched as Sofie Dar’Vester pulled the key from around her neck—the one my crew had so easily removed while she slept—and opened the chest containing her personal effects. The gasp that flew from her lips would’ve done very well on the dramatic stage.
“You cut into the lining of my trunk!” she said as though I’d insulted her mother. “How dare you search my things!”
I kicked off my sadly waterlogged boots, tipped them out onto the cabin floor, then reclined onto the bed. Sofie’s face was thoroughly red by the time she looked up from her rifled-through trunk.
“That’s my bed!” she snapped.
“Not anymore. This is the captain’s bed, and I’m the captain. I let you use it last night as a courtesy.”
Sofie crossed her arms. “A proper gentleman, aren’t you? Need I remind you that you don’t want to cross me?”
“Go ahead,” I said, draping an arm over my eyes. Dozing in wet clothes wasn’t optimal, but this business of carrying a second curse was proving a bit…tiring. “Curse me thrice, and see what marvelous effects it brings.”
The bed creaked. She had propped her foot onto the wooden frame. “Are you sure you want to tempt me like that?”
“Are you sure you want to tempt the original curse? It’s a nasty one, I assure you.”
The sorceress let out a childish groan of frustration. “Just you wait. In a few days’ time, I’ll understand this curse you forced on me inside and out, and then you’ll know true peril. Better than that, I’ll befree of you.”
“It’s an unbreakable curse.”
