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“We’ll see,” I say and I start swimming, my tail moving as fast as it will go and I’m holding on tight to his hand, yanking him along through the water.

“Christ!” he swears, his words drowned in the water as I speed him along. I haven’t swam like this in a decade but it’s like second nature. I reach top speeds fast and it comes so easily to me that I’m actually smiling as I go, delighting in the feeling of being so lithe and nimble. While I love being above the water on two legs, I’ll never have the balance or the coordination in my legs to be especially graceful. But here in the deep, with the body I was born with, I take great joy in movement. It is the one thing I’ll be grateful for in this new life underwater.

But I push those thoughts out of my head before I have time to dwell on them. Right now, the crew of theNightwindare potentially in trouble, and whether it’s the Royal Navy or a galleon fleet that are heading in their direction, the pirate ship will be a sitting duck.

It’s when we get closer to them that the navy ships start to slow and we see the looming shape of theNightwindfurther down. It has turned broadside, ready to fire against their attackers and taking the defensive position.

“What are they doing?” Ramsay exclaims, his voice becoming clear as I slow down. “TheNightwindneeds to outrun them! They’ll never survive an attack like this.”

I glance back at him, terror dawning on me. “You’re not there. You’re the wind in the sails, Ramsay. You’re not on the ship.”

His eyes widen and I start swimming again pulling him with me until we’re breaking through the surface at the aft of theNightwind, out of the way of the battle. TheNightwindhas taken its first shots at the nearest navy ship, splinters of the boat falling into the water, but then it’s seconds later and the navy is firing back, a BOOM BOOM filling the air, smoke rising.

“I need to get up there,” Ramsay yells over the noise as he stares up at the sides of theNightwind, gasping for breath as we tread water. “We need to get the ship moving.”

I gulp, unsure of what I’m supposed to do.

“I’ll come back for you,” he tells me, pulling me to him and holding my face in his hands. “I promise I’ll come back for you.”

I nod and he kisses me hard. “I’ll be here,” I tell him, trying to sound brave.

But what if you can’t find me? What if I can’t find you?

The ocean is too large, too deep, and now too dark.

His expression crumbles for a moment as he looks at me, perhaps wondering the same things that I am. “I love you, don’t forget that.”

I swallow the tears in my throat. “I love you.” I nod up at the ship. “Go protect your crew. I’ll help in any way that I can.”

He nods curtly and then starts swimming for the ship. He brings two marlinespikes out from his holster and starts stabbing them in to the sides of the wood, climbing up the ship that way, until he reaches an open gun port and crawls in.

I watch, not sure what to do. TheNightwindand the closest navy ship are still firing at each other, the navy ship taking on far more damage. The constant boom of the roundshots deafen my ears and the smoke gets thicker.

But as the smoke parts I notice that on the deck of that navy ship is a silhouette that looks verily familiar.

A cold pang stabs my gut, followed by the heat of anger.

Captain Ed Smith.

The bastard that Sedge shot in the face survived and he’s come back to finish theNightwind, this time with the rest of his company.

I can’t just leave now. Even if theNightwindsails away, I need to do something to this man. This man deserves an awful death and I want to be the one to give it to him. After all, I’m already quite good at it.

I dive under the water and start swimming to his ship until I’m right under it, trying to figure out if there’s a weakness. Perhaps if I tried hard enough I could pull off the planks from the hull. After all, everyone on the ship is only three or four inches from death.

I swim up until my hands are running over the planks. Unfortunately they’re coated with tar as waterproofing, with barnacles making their home there too. My claws extend and I start trying to pry them off, but even with my strength as a Syren they don’t budge.

Maybe if I start at another part, I think and while I’m swimming along I hear a splash into the water.

I look over to see a naval man has fallen in and is attempting to swim. He’s not very good at it, barely able to keep above the surface.

I grin to myself and slowly swim over to him.

I poke my head up right beside his, giving him an awful fright.

“Hello there,” I say to him.

“Hello?” he says, spitting out water, his wig floating beside him. “How did…Who are…?”