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“And so now what?” I ask clumsily. I jerk my head at Sedge. “Remember you promised you would fix him.”

“Such little faith you have,” he says, his eyes gleaming. “We are going to get theNightwindback. Turns out Nerissa abandoned her crew here for mine, and now Sterling has taken over as captain. I aim to get my boat and crew back and get these boys their witch back.”

“You’ll never catch them.”

“But you remember that the gift of wind is for me,” he says, and he nods his head toward the sails. “And she’s filling the sails with all she has. Might take a few days but we’ll catch theNightwind, mark my words.”

“With Sterling at the helm, they might not even be going to Acapulco anymore,” I attempt to say.

He frowns and cups a hand to his ear. “What was that? Sorry, it’s hard to understand you with that thing in your mouth.”

“Aaaarrrrgh!” I roar, trying to lunge at him but bony hands shoot out and hold me in place.

“And that’s exactly why I’ll be keeping just as you are,” Ramsay notes. He nods at the crew. “Take her back down to where you found her. Sedge is staying up here with me.” He grins at Sedge. “You’ll be my first mate now, is that alright with you?”

Despite how tired and awful he looks, Sedge nods, seeming pleased.

Me, however, I’m led away, cursing Ramsay to his grave.

* * *

The sound of waves smashing the bow of the ship wakes me from a fitful sleep, my body both numb and in pain from where the ropes cut into me.

I slowly sit up and look to the window where the sun is just starting to set, the sky shades of purple and pink. After the crew brought me back down here, I spent a good hour just bashing my shoulder against the door trying to break through or trying to break the porthole window to escape, though I know there is no chance that my ample rear would fit through that narrow space.

Then I fell asleep, exhausted beyond belief from the events of the day and night before. Even though I only had Sedge as a companion in this narrow hold for a few hours, I miss him already. I’m glad he’s Ramsay’s first mate for this voyage, but part of me wishes that I could be something more than just cargo and future provisions.

I shared my body with that man. I bared myself to him in ways I had never done before with Aerik. He spilled his seed inside me while I brought him to the highest levels of pleasure, and I did indeed see the heaven that he had promised me.

That meant something to me, and it shames me to admit it. He showed me how two people can truly unite in a physical way, enough so that it almost felt spiritual. Granted, I was soon aware right after that the man is not one that I can trust, and that he is still my enemy. But to put all of that aside for a few moments and experience a godly connection like that made me realize why Syrens sought out men for their own satisfaction.

It also made me realize why they kill the man when they’ve finished using them. Which is more or less what I had tried to do.

Had you done that to him, then you could never experience the pleasure of his cock again, a voice reminds me. I hate that the voice is right. There’s even a chance that I might miss Ramsay’s company, much like one could miss a mosquito in their ear.

But when the door opens and Ramsay steps in with a plate of food in his hands, both looking as delicious as ever, I have to tell that voice to shut it.

“Princess,” he greets me as he closes the door behind him. “I have to say that even though you were a princess in your undersea kingdom, I’m not sure the term suits you anymore. You think of a princess and you think of someone stuffy and formal, one who looks down their nose at you. That doesn’t seem to be you at all. Except perhaps that last part.”

“What do you want?” I say through the chain, but my words are not only incoherent but barely audible.

He slowly walks over, his boots echoing and stops right in front of me before coming down into a crouch. I glance at the plate in his hand. It’s a raw fish head and I know that wouldn’t seem appetizing to many but it makes my stomach gurgle ravenously.

“I want you to be a good girl,” he says.

I glare at him and try to take the plate from him but he holds it back out of the way. “That’s not being a good girl, luv.” He puts the plate behind him and then reaches out, grabbing my chin between his thumb and forefinger and I’m forced to meet his eyes.

“Did you know that one of the tricks we have as the Brethren is to compel humans?” he says in a low, smooth voice. “Some of us can make them do almost anything, at the very least we can get them to lower their defenses. Makes it so much easier to prey on them. But you, my luv, I never had that effect on you. I tried, of course, but it never worked. You would never yield. One of the many things I like about you, even if it infuriates me all the same.”

I grumble at him, though I feel a burst of pride in my chest that I never succumbed to his supernatural manipulations.

He keeps a firm grip on me. “It’s because you’re a monster like me, not a creature of the night but a creature of the sea, and humans all around the world would fear us if they knew exactly what the both of us were capable of. Don’t you think, then, that we belong together? We could rule the seas as leaders of a new empire—a dark empire. You were never meant to be a princess, Maren. You were meant to be a queen. Perhaps my queen.”

I don’t trust a damn word that comes out of his mouth.

Nice speech, I think, still glowering at him.

“Hmmph,” he says, giving me a crooked smile as his eyes flit over my features. “I suppose you need time to think about it. We have a long voyage ahead of us, so there is plenty of time for that. And, so you’re aware, I do know that Sterling is keeping course for Acapulco. Even without you to trade, they’ll want to stick to our usual route for the galleons. Old habits die hard, so they say. It won’t be long until I’m reunited with my ship and my crew. Which brings me to my next question…”