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I didn’t wait another second, and I whipped out my second blade, twirling it in my hand as he drew his own sword. I charged first, meeting his cutlass with my cross blades. He pushed back, the sound of metal grating as our swords sparked. I spun to escape the gridlock, giving him a split second to take the next swing.

I ducked to avoid his reach, and whirled my sword across his knee. He stumbled with a grunt of pain, and I didn’t waste a second taking the opportunity to kick him in the same joint I’d just cut open, feeling the bones crunch against the force of my boot.

With a cry that sounded sweet to my ears, he toppled backward. I threw myself at him, my blade ready to plunge straight through his windpipe. He managed to deflect me with his cutlass, knocking my sword from my right hand. Without a second thought, I ripped my flintlock pistol from the holster at my chest and slammed the weapon across his face.

For the first time, I could actually sense fear in Thane. The way he fought against me shifted, and his attempts to hold me back became truly desperate. And it made me fight him harder.

He managed to turn the gun on me, and I headbutted him just as he pulled the trigger, but to my luck, nothing came out but a hollow click.

“Wet powder,” I grinned, leaping over him as his disorientation gave me an opening to grab my other sword.

Thane tossed the gun across the cave. Even with his injured knee, he came for me fast, still able to maneuver enough to charge with his own sword drawn. I whipped around just at the last second to come down on his raised arm, slicing through his arm at the elbow.

He shrieked in agony, a sound that shook me only because I never expected to hear it from someone as unhinged as him. He normally reveled in pain, even his own. But he held the severed end of his arm as thick blood streamed down and pooled at his feet like syrup.

The siren song in my head battled for control once more. Leave him and dive into the Fountain pool, it said. But I wasn’t finished here. I wanted to see Thane dead. And I would.

I pulled back my cutlass, ramming the tip of the blade just up under his rib, where I twisted it back and forth as it ground through his flesh. Blood blossomed onto his tunic. By now he was barely recognizable as a man. He was barely more than a body, covered in bruises and blood so thick it distorted his features.

Suddenly, I could hear Katrina all over again, just as clearly as the day I killed Thane’s crewmen in the streets.

“Don’t become like them.”

Since that day, I often heard it right before I killed someone in battle at sea. And sometimes it was enough to stop me. Most times it was. But it wouldn’t be enough to stop me now.

The siren in my head begged me to hurry back to the pool, that I was wasting time. But I didn’t move. I jutted the sword further forward, drawing a hazy whimper from Thane’s lips.

“Enjoy killing me, Harrington. You certainly earned it.” He smiled through the blood in his teeth.

Katrina’s voice mixed with the siren call, becoming one. Suddenly, I knew it was her. It was her. She was calling me. And begging me not to take this life. Not for her. But for my own conscience.

The sword dropped from my hand with a cold clang against the cave floor. I stepped back, leaving Thane to crumble to his knees in his own puddle of blood. I jumped when I heard Clara’s voice reverberating through the chamber. Soaking wet she stood at the entrance, heaving and wringing the water from her hair.

“You found it.” She said coldly, glancing from me to Thane to the trickling water along the rock wall.

“Aye, I found it.” I nodded, breathing hard as I stood over the battered man at my feet. “But I can’t leave this piece of shit here knowing where it is too.”

“So kill him. Looks like he needs to be put out of his misery.” Clara stepped forward, studying Thane without so much as a hint of empathy in her eyes. He refused to meet her gaze, keeping his own fixated on the ground below.

“She won’t let me,” I muttered, worry creeping into my mind at the prospect of Thane having access to a fountain that would keep him young forever. I hated the siren for holding me back.

When Clara cocked her head at me in confusion, I didn’t elaborate. How was I to explain the siren song in my head without making her think I was delusional? It was too much to explain right now.

“Wait,” Clara said, her focus shifting entirely as she knelt and yanked back Thane’s matted bloody hair to see his face more clearly. “I know this bastard.”

She nearly stumbled back, but I noticed how she fought to keep her footing as her voice shook. “You lied to me. You tricked me. You and yer despicable men violated me. You took everything from me. And you ran while the rest of us paid for your mistake. And if you’d fought like a man back then instead of abandoning us, maybe you wouldn’t be dying here like a dog for the same reason.”

My eyes widened at the realization that this was the same man who’d done all those horrible things Clara had told me before. And I fumed, realizing why the siren wouldn’t let me kill him. Because he wasn’t mine to kill. And this wasn’t where I belonged.

“He’s at your mercy now,” I said, walking to Clara and placing my captain’s hat on her head. “Captain Reid.”

“What are you doing?” Clara stammered.

“I’m following my North Star,” I said. “As you must follow yours. The Falcon and the crew are yours. I couldn’t leave them in better hands.”

Clara gave me a knowing nod. It was the first time I’d ever seen her speechless, but I knew she was thanking me in her own way. With tears in her eyes, she shakily touched the hat on her head.

“Thank you, Harrington,” she whispered.