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“He’s been sticking his cock in the princess,” Sterling rasps. “She was captured for ransom but now her husband the prince is dead and none of us, save the Captain, have any use for her.”

“I have not been…” I start, then close my eyes and give my head a shake. When I open them I give Nerissa an imploring look. “You don’t want the princess. She’s not even a princess anymore. She’s worth no money and she’d be a lousy member of any crew. All she does is talk back and look pretty.”

“Is she a human?” she asks.

“Possibly?” I answer with a shrug.

“Possibly?” Sam repeats under her breath.

“Hmmm,” Nerissa says, her lips pursed. “I suppose this might make a fair arrangement. Though I am a little confused by her possibly not being human.”

I lift a shoulder. “It’s hard to tell sometimes.”

“Yes. Well, let me lay eyes on her,” she says taking on an air of command. “Take me to this princess.”

Oh, hell.

My head spins and I’m trying to think of what to do. I need Sedge back but I can’t let her take Maren either. I can’t let her take any of our crew.

“Is the captain seriously considering not trading a useless cunt for one of his own crew?” Sterling challenges, noticing my hesitation.

I glare at him. “Not at all. Let’s go.”

I lead them down to the quarterdeck and to the stairs below, my mind desperately trying to figure out how to get through this. Could I offer myself to the witch? Nerissa would probably like that even though her curse would never work on me.

We pass by Thane who is looking at me sharply, perhaps not believing what I said I would do.

Nerissa pauses by him for a moment and runs her finger over his chin. “You and I have destiny together,” she purrs at him then continues following me.

I lead her and the rest of the crew down to the hold and over to the room where Maren is locked up.

Only to find Page John unconscious on the ground, half-naked, and the chains empty.

Maren is gone.

CHAPTER18

Maren

I don’t careif he made me see stars and shot his seed all over my belly, I don’t trust the captain not to kill me. He’s one step closer to finding out what I am and I won’t have my blood siphoned to feed him and his crew, even if it brings me closer to Edonia. I won’t let what happened to my sister happen to me.

You could have thought about that before your desires got the best of you, the voice of reason says.Before that pirate stuck his skilled fingers inside of you and made you buck and moan like you never have before.

I ignore that voice. I had a plan and it didn’t exactly unfurl as I had hoped. Part of me thought that perhaps I could seduce the captain into letting me go. The other part of mewantedto seduce the captain, but for my own pleasure. The moment I felt the Syren energy flow through me I knew my blood was changing, the moment I ate Aerik’s heart the urges I had were inevitable.

But now I have only one thing I need to do, and that’s escape. I may not be able to control my monstrous features at will, which is proving to be most unfortunate thus far, but I can still seduce a man, especially one that isn’t the captain. With a young strapping boy like that Page John, it was easier than I thought. The minute he admitted he was a virgin and I promised I would let him see heaven with his own eyes, he was unlocking my restraints as quickly as he could.

The damn fool didn’t see me coming when I knocked him out with the butt of his own sword. Then I made quick work of things, taking his shirt and putting it on me, then his holster which I tied around my waist, the shirt long enough to cover my thighs and rear. Before I could leave I went to my torn gown and fished out Nill’s shark-tooth necklace and tied it back on around my neck. With Aerik dead, I was free to wear what I wanted and do what I wanted.

And what I wanted now was to escape.

I run out of the room with the chains, leaving an unconscious John behind, and start looking for a way out. I can’t go above deck and from the way the boat is suddenly turning, causing me to stagger off-balance, I have a feeling we’re turning around, no longer heading in the direction we should be going in.

But it is the direction back to the islands. Now if I jumped overboard, there’s a very good chance that I could get my ability to swim well. Perhaps my legs would morph together into a tail the moment I hit the water. At any rate, I finally have a chance to swim and I’m going take it.

My sister wanted me to be free.

I run toward the opposite end of the ship, a place I’ve never explored before, hoping to find a weapon of some kind but there’s nothing. Nothing but some faint moans coming from the hold.