Dark Waters Rising

Split

"I don't want to leave you," Wesley whispered, hugging Valentine tightly. 

"I know," Valentine responded, squeezing him closer. He placed a soft kiss on the merchant's neck, holding him for a few more blissful moments before pulling back to look at his beautiful face. "But you must."

Wesley nodded, knowing the things he needed to do would take time. The sooner he left, the sooner he'd be done with it and the sooner he'd see his mate again. 

"Keep Evander out of trouble, will you?" Valentine asked, eyeing his younger brother with a mischievous glint in his eye. 

"And your mother," Wesley added, grateful that the saltwater hid his tears. 

Valentine chuckled lightly, hugging Wesley to him again. He didn't want to let go, but the both of them knew it was inevitable. Valentine was needed down below. Wesley was needed on the surface. There was nothing they could do about it.

"Especially my mother," Valentine responded. He kissed Wesley's forehead and whispered. "I'll see you soon, okay?"

Wesley nodded, leaning forward and connecting their lips briefly before freeing himself from Valentine's hold. The siren gave the party of three a curt nod to send them on their way. He watched them go until they disappeared into the depths. He felt like his heart was breaking, but swallowed it down and turned to the others. There was work to do, starting with the recruitment of more able-bodied fighters. 

----+------+----

"Tell me more about sirens," Castor demanded as soon as the sheriff opened the door of his office. Roman blinked a few times as he processed the words before opening the door wider and stepping back so the merchant had enough room to enter. 

It was a small room. Approximately half of the space was dedicated to a singular prison cell, which currently sat empty. The other half housed Roman's desk and a small cot against the back wall. Castor sat in one of the chairs facing the desk as his friend closed the door and sat down across from him. 

With his elbows on his desk and his fingers steepled in front of his lips, Roman asked, "What would you like to know?"

"Everything. What are their weaknesses, strengths? How do you kill them?"

Roman's green eyes swept across a few piles of paperwork absentmindedly before sighing and returning his gaze to the man sitting before him. 

"What would you do with the information?"

Castor fidgeted with a loose thread on his trousers. "Protect myself, I guess," he said. "If that siren ever returns, I don't want him to get control of me again."

Roman nodded, his eyes softening in understanding. Leaning back in his chair with a heavy creak, he sighed again and said, "Siren songs are notoriously hard to resist, but there are ways. One is to fill your ears with beeswax to dampen the sound. Another is to drown them out with louder music of your own. Lastly, it never hurts to focus your mind on someone you love. That love will help form a sort of protective barrier around your consciousness, though if you are not well practiced, any distraction can easily break it."

"What about killing them?"

"Killing is wrong, Castor."

"But say I had to. If it came down to me or them."

Roman looked into Castor's solemn face for a few heavy moments before he caved. 

"They heal faster than us, so simply wounding them is not enough. It has to be a killing blow. Head or heart."

Castor nodded, and the pair fell into silence. 

After a while of contemplation, the merchant opened his mouth again. 

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

A blonde brow rose on Roman's face. "What do you mean?"

"The Queen Adelaide is back from the shipyard and I've been asked to captain her."

"Congratulations," Roman said. "Captain Castor Williams. Has a nice ring to it."

"Thanks," Castor said, though he didn't seem as excited. 

Roman easily read the doubt on his face. "You're worried about another raid, aren't you?"

Castor's brown eyes flicked up to meet a pair of green ones. "The men are my responsibility now. I saw what the weight of it did to Wesley. The loss. If it comes down to it, I don't think I'd be able to protect them."

Roman folded his arms and rested them casually on his desk. "Encounters with pirates are relatively rare nowadays. Thanks to the new laws, there are few harbors pirates can safely dock in without being caught and forced to the gallows. That means most pirates will not be keen to fight since there are few ports they can patch their ships in. They'll only want to intimidate you so that you'll give up your cargo. Doing so will protect your crew in the majority of instances."

"You say that, but you weren't there last summer."

"Captain Cross is an anomaly. An infamous one among seafarers." Roman entwined his fingers and rested them against his desk. "And as we've found out, he's not even human."

Castor chewed his lip.

"Sirens are known for their bloodlust toward humans," Roman continued. "It doesn't surprise me that this one attacks ships just to kill people. It's what they do. I have known many men who have fallen prey to them."

"Really?" Castor's eyebrows furrowed.

Roman nodded. "My father, he hunted them. Hoped he could make trade routes safer for the rest of us. Unfortunately his ship was downed by the creatures years ago. They drowned him, though it happened close enough to shore that some of the crew was able to swim to safety."

"That's... awful."

Roman shrugged. "That's life. Honestly, I was kind of relieved when it happened. Don't get me wrong, I loved my father, but he was starting to pressure me into following in his footsteps. It never sat right with me, killing them. They're too much like us."

Castor nodded, standing up and gripping the back of his chair as he sent Roman a shaky smile. 

"Thanks for the information," he said. "In the unlikely event that I don't return..."

Castor wasn't sure what he planned to say, so the sentence hung open for a few moments before he came up with an ending. 

"...thanks for everything."

 ----+-----+----

A/N 

If you could live in any fantasy realm, where would you want to live?

Did you know there's an unofficial, fan-read audiobook for Dark Water's Rising? It hasn't been updated in a while, but it is a fun new way to experience the first few chapters. Find the link to listen on moramontgomery.com

Until next time,
-Mora Montgomery