“Aye.”
“Good. Now the captain tells me you could be invaluable in helping her control her abilities, thereby helping us survive the pirate king. Do you think she’s right about that?”
He closes himself off, his face turning away slightly.
I’m shocked when a weak “Yes” comes out of him.
“You risked your life for Roslyn once already. You very nearly died for her. Tell me, if the pirate king catches up to us, do you think he will spare her because she is a child?”
His head whips back around. “No,” he says, stronger.
“No one is ordering you to do anything. I just think it’s important for you to see things exactly as they are. You could tilt the odds in our favor, Riden. Remember that when you’re trying to sleep at night.”
And then she just walks off. Leaving me to deal with Riden.
With shirtless Riden.
“I swear I didn’t put her up to that,” I say. “I told her to leave you alone. I was just venting to her, and she got it into her head—”
“It’s all right.”
“Is it?”
“You will recall I was once a first mate. We can be a stubborn bunch.”
He scratches a spot on his arm, and I focus on that instead of his abdomen.
“She’s right,” he says suddenly, drawing my gaze to his face. “I don’t like it, and I can’t promise that I won’t lash out afterward—but we need to do this.”
“If there were any other way for me to do this, I wouldn’t have asked. I’ve tried my whole life to control this. My father put me through all kinds of—never mind. That’s not important. I’m just saying that if the pirate king ruled it out as a lost cause, then I know you really are my last option.”
“Hmm” is all he says.
“When should we start?” I ask tentatively.
“Probably the sooner, the better.”
“Probably.” A pause. “So … now?” I venture.
“Yes.”
I nod. “Let me make some arrangements.”
*
It takes a quarter of an hour to get things ready—and only that long because I took my time. I am in no hurry to use my abilities in front of Riden again. To see his disgust and anger. If we succeed, it will make an insurmountable difference in the battle against my father. But if something should go wrong, if I should hurt anyone while lost to the siren—
I’m walking a very fine line.
When I reappear at Riden’s side, he says nothing, only follows me belowdecks. All the other men have been ordered to cover their ears with wax by a smug Niridia. Sorinda is waiting for us in the brig, outside my cushioned cell.
“Doesn’t Mandsy usually help you with this?” Riden asks, surprised at seeing the assassin.
“Should things get out of hand, Sorinda is here to put a stop to them.”
Calmly, he asks, “You mean she’s here to put me down if I’m pulled under your control?”
“No,” I say, horrified at his accepting tone, that he would think I’d allow such a thing. “She’s here to make sure I don’t hurt you.” You imbecile. My eyes dart down before immediately returning to his face. “Go put on a shirt before we start.”
“It’s hot,” he says, and I can guess what he’s thinking. This is going to be miserable. The least you can do is let me be as comfortable as possible.
I have two choices. I can let him think I’m being unreasonably cruel, or I can explain things. He insists I never open up to him.
Fine. I’ll explain things.
“Sirens want two things from men. Gold and pleasure. Do you have any gold on you?”
“No,” he breathes.
“The siren in me would have you moaning in pleasure as she whittled holes into you with a knife. She’d strip you naked and watch you dance until your feet peeled away to the bone. Once you bore her in life, she’ll enjoy dancing with your corpse under the sea. Do you want me to tell you how much that thought delights her? She’s thought it about you before.”
Shattering silence is all he has in response.
“I thought not. Put on your shirt. Let’s not make her hungrier than she needs to be.”
He leaves the brig, and when he returns, he has a sterner expression on his face. But at least his top half is covered now, too.
I step into my cushioned cell, handing Sorinda my weapons, my corset, my boots. Anything containing metal, everything sharp. All the things the siren can use to try to escape.
She locks me in, then does the same thing for Riden, making him hand over his weapons, and locks him into the cell across from me, where I cannot reach him.
But I will be able to hear him.
“On the island with Vordan,” I say, “when he put me in that cage and forced me to sing to you, you kept me sane enough to do as I was told, so he wouldn’t kill you. You should have died. I’ve never stayed human so close after replenishing my abilities. Those pirates poured water onto me, forcing me to take it in over and over again. But just by speaking to me, you kept my head clear. It took some effort. But I think toward the end of our stay on the island, it was easier.
“Stocking up my power is different from being submerged under the sea with all that power endlessly flowing through me. But we’ll start small and work our way up. If there’s any progress to be had,” I add.
“And provided I don’t die,” he says.
Sorinda pulls her rapier from its sheath. “You’re not going to die. Not on my watch.”
“I promise this isn’t going to be any more fun for me than it is for you,” I say.
Right now my power is at its fullest, so I sing to expel some of it. I’m not enchanting anyone. My song doesn’t have to be a command. Riden flinches anyway. I pretend not to notice.
When I’ve depleted it some, I dip a finger into the water. I almost ask Riden whether or not he’s ready, but I realize neither he nor I will ever be ready for this.
I pull the water through my skin, let it fill me. It’s like taking a cool drink of water into a parched throat. The way the drained abilities within me crave strength and power. Crave the water.
I take in my surroundings with new eyes. Eyes that can see the individual fibers of wood on the walls, the stains on the floor, the flecks of gold in the human man’s eyes across from me.
The humans have trapped me again, but this time they were kind enough to leave me someone to play with.
“Alosa,” he says firmly, as though it is a command. Worthless human. No creature commands me.
“Alosa.” He says it again, but this time it’s different. It’s soft, pleading.
Where before there was just another human, now there is Riden. My Riden.
Mine.
The siren still pushes to the front. She is ruthless and brutal. Hungry for her own enjoyment. Hungry for power. But I place a cage in my mind, put her behind it. I don’t need her now.
“It’s me,” I say.
Riden lets out a long breath.