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I drew in a sigh of relief. “No reason.” I pressed myself against her once more and stroked her hair. “I just want to know I did everything to protect you.”

“You always have,” she rested her head on my shoulder. “And now…now we’re free to start again.”

I glanced down at the tattoo on my arm, feeling the ink snaking its way across my skin. The map had formed and was complete now. But I doubted Bastian would want the Fountain once he discovered what it really was. I turned to look back at the strange upright wall I’d just walked through, like a mirror made of water, a doorway to something inhuman.

“How did you know I was looking for this place?” I asked, looking back around at her. “How did you know to come here?”

“It’s a long story. But I had a little help.” She turned to look back at two figures in the shadows of the cove in which we stood. Bellamy and—though I swore my vision deceived me—Serena.

I searched for the words to thank them, but I was as speechless as the stone surrounding us. I watched them both in baffled silence before Bellamy stepped forward. He slapped a hand on my shoulder and leaned in beside me.

“Glad to have you back, mate,” he grinned. “Now maybe you can keep this lass of yours under control because I’ve certainly had my run of it.”

I laughed. For the first time in I didn’t even know how long, I truly laughed. And not a laugh of humor, but a laugh born out of true, pure joy. Everything I cared about stood here in this cove, paling in comparison to all the gold a thousand ships could carry. And I smiled, knowing Clara would make a fine captain. My men would be taken care of. And my destiny stood right before me.

I pulled Katrina to me once more and kissed her, my blood running hot with the desire to make up for the years I’d longed for her. I couldn’t wait to be alone with her, to lie next to her and listen to every word she must’ve been dying to tell me.

“I don’t know how you’re here, alive again, but I’m glad you are,” I addressed Bellamy. “Thank you for keeping her safe all this time. I feared what might happen if she went to face Bastian alone.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” Bellamy gritted his teeth and his eyes shifted. “We’re not quite out from under his thumb.”

“What do you mean?” I asked, my concern growing. “What do you owe him?”

Suddenly a rumble shook the walls of the cave, just strong enough to dust us with small rocky debris from above. When the rumble settled, the prominent sound of footsteps filled the cavern, without a doubt the tap of heavy boots with thick leather soles.

A voice that didn’t belong here revealed itself as the figure walking in became visible. With a sly smile, he stepped into the dim light of the cove. Bastian Drake himself, of course, looking at Katrina and Bellamy with a hunter’s eye, and then at me. “They owe me everything.”

33

Off the Hook

Katrina

Bastian loomed there, a menacing look in his eye, and a sly hint of mischief that made my knees feel weak. Whatever he had up his sleeve, I could sense it wasn’t good. Bellamy shifted uneasily and put a protective arm across Serena.

“My tattoo,” Milo said, glancing at his arm and then at all of us. “It must’ve led him here. I’m so sorry.”

“You know, Harrington,” he laughed, stepping forward and glancing over all of us. “Looks like you did finally fulfill your end of the bargain…300 years later,” he laughed. “But actually no. You didn’t lead me here, thanks to that dreadful sun tribe you found who made it awfully hard to follow you. No, no. You didn’t lead me here. Bellamy did.”

Everyone’s gaze shifted to Bellamy, including Bastian’s.

“His father’s broken bargain still stands. And so does the mark I left on Bellamy. But even without it, he and I are forever linked by a bit of history and myth. Isn’t that right, lover of Atargatis?”

Bellamy didn’t respond, shielding Serena with himself as he faced Bastian like a dog ready to be unleashed for the hunt.

“But don’t worry, Harrington, you’re off the hook thanks to your little island friends. But no matter, because as you well know, the Fountain isn’t what I needed after all. I’ve no interest in sending anyone’s soul there, neither yours nor mine. No, that’s dear old Davy’s job.” Bastian pretended to study his knuckles as he walked to Milo. “You’re quite the lucky man. The only man to ever truly cheat death with the heart of a siren. If only we’d known back then that all we had to do was fuck ‘em instead of kill them. Would’ve been a whole lot more fun.” Bastian’s eyes slid over to me with a grin that made my skin crawl. “Speaking of which…Katrina, our little mermaid. Don’t you wonder how you got that pretty voice back?”

I straightened my shoulders, daring to appear as confident as possible, though I was terrified of being trapped in this cave with a madman like Bastian. “Our deal is broken. My voice returned to me because I didn’t do my part.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk…” he pretended to look at his fingernails as he brought a curled fist to his face. “The laws of my bargains are not quite that easy. You’re not off the hook, little fish. Your voice was meant to be a pawn to ensure you would do what I asked. But since you didn’t, it became mine to use or bargain with. And bargain with it, I did.”

“Wh—what do you mean?” I felt my courageous stance failing, the uncertainty coming through in my voice.

He snapped his fingers and a circle of shadow appeared, forming a floating frame beside him. In it, as I stepped forward to see more clearly, an image of a mermaid trapped in a tank back in his lair appeared, looking desperately out of the glass. It was my mom.

“Mom!” I nearly stumbled backward. “What have you done to her?”

“I only did what she asked,” he crooned. “She came to me and offered herself in exchange for your safety and your voice to be returned to you. I couldn’t argue with a deal like that. My very own siren at my command? A hell of a bargain, I’d say.”