Sea Of Treason, Pirate's Bluff #1

Destroy Them

Bluff

My stomach swirls with hope and doubt.

I search her eyes, but I can't see anything beyond the color—a mixture of red and gold. For a moment I thought Whitley was still there, but I'd be stupid to believe that. Everything around me tells me it's over. She's gone.

I don't know why she said my name, but it wasn't for the reason I'd immediately hoped.

Still, a new command doesn't come and the first has already faded. Though my mother tells her what to order me to do, she doesn't speak. Why?

Simon steps forward, his shoulders back in an aggressive stance though he tries to hide his anger. "Do it." He tells Whitley. Her eyes don't leave mine. They don't soften. They just... are.

He rips a sword from his belt and holds it out towards her, pressing it to her neck.

"Fool! Put that away." My mother calls to him.

"She is mine. I was promised the chance to use his power! To control it. Now she won't do it."

"Patience." My mother says, moving forward. "She made her first command. It worked. That's is enough for now. She's weak and needs time to settle into her new power."

Simon turns to Whitley with rage, pulling the sword back in her direction. "You better do as you're told or I'll make your life a living hell."

Whitley's gaze turns to him, eyes narrowed, head titled slightly. "Will you?"

Simon blinks like a child, confused. Then he pushes his shoulders back again and stomps over to me. I wince as he reaches me, just in time to miss his arm flying at me, slamming into my cheek with a sickening crack.

A gasp leaves Whitley's body. I open my eyes to watch and for the first time a human emotion crosses her expression. Anger.

Then I feel the magic again. This time it's stronger, the buzz along with a rush like the wind blowing. Except that it affects no one but me.

It surrounds me. Fills me. This is the power I needed. This is what I could have used to destroy them. And now I don't even have control over it.

The hands  gripping me release immediately their eyes growing huge as I rise higher, my toes leaving the ship floor. My breathing turns heavy, heart racing.

"What is happening?" Simon calls.

My mother lets out a sinister chuckle. "She's using her power."

***

The power builds and changes, shifting like the weather.

Or maybe it is the weather. The wind blows harsh through the sails, the sky turns dark with clouds, black and rolling. I'm nearly a foot off the ship, floating as the rain starts pouring from the sky.

I know this comes from Whitley, though I have no idea how. But still, it doesn't feel the same as when she forced me to rise. That was a jerk. That was painful. In that, I had no choice.

This feels more like her power is lifting me. I can move my arms, though up here it does me no good. But maybe if I can move my body I can control some of the magic too.

If I can, maybe there is something I can do. Maybe I can get my revenge before it's too late.

I try to push my body back down to the ground. For a moment the magic resists, but then I slowly drift down until my boots hit the deck with a small click.

The pirates around us search for cover from the coming storm—and from Whitley. The sirens stand still, watching in awe.

Whitley steps towards me, her eyes softer than before but still... inhuman.

I wince as she approaches. Closing my eyes, because he hope is too strong. I don't want to see what's really there. I don't want to see he absence of her.

"Bluff." I shiver at her voice. I expect her to sound like my mother but she doesn't. She sounds like Whitley.

And honestly, that's worse.

"Don't." I beg her. She stops moving.

"What do you want?" she asks in a hoarse voice like the words pain her.

"To pay them back for what they took from me. To destroy them."

"Then do it."

I look up quickly, surprised at her response. I blink at the pain in her eyes. Siren's don't feel emotional pain. Then a power rushes me. Fills me. And for the first time, I have full control.