A Pirated Heart

His Feelings and the Pirate's Secret

Maera cursed again when she finally reached the place where she’d last seen her target. All she found was a decimated Navy ship and almost a hundred dead sailors.

Ashik. She thought instantly, until she noticed most of men suffered from sword wounds. She could see the damage to ship was from Ashik changing forms, but the men had been killed by a human weapon. A Leviathan who hated humans was not to blame for these men’s deaths? If Maera weren’t staring at the wreckage herself, she would’ve instantly opposed the idea.

The only other person she saw heading toward the now sunken ship had been…Arabella.

Was she to blame? If so, the thought troubled Maera immensely. After all, she had taken down an entire naval vessel all on her own basically.

Then Maera felt it: the residual magic that oozed from the wreckage. Her entire body started to hum, until her heart seized and Maera cringed. This magic was different and bitter. It was nothing like Ashik’s magic.

Arabella.

She wasn’t supposed to have magic. The curse she had placed on the young girl kept her from dying and finding Maera. She was a human without magic. How had she acquired such a strange and powerful magic in such a short time? It should be impossible.

This changed her plans drastically. She wouldn’t be able to face off against the woman. Not the way things were. She needed a plan that let her kill the human man without letting Ashik and Arabella know who or what she was. Maera cursed.

“Worthless creatures,” she hissed before she sank beneath the surface of the sea and disappeared.

***

Arabella’s words were cold and Kaden could only stare at her.

What had happened to make her like this? Was this the witch?

No. No this was something else entirely. Kaden could feel it in his bones. Despite his better instincts, Kaden reached out and grabbed Arabella’s hand in his. Her skin was covered in an unmatched iciness, but Kaden didn’t let go.

“Stop hurting them. Do you really want to hurt children, Bella?” Kaden questioned as he felt his strength slowly returning to him. Arabella’s glossy, out of focus eyes were beginning to focus on him.

“Come on, Bella. Let it go. Killing them is not going to make you feel anything.” Kaden remarked as he kept his hold on Arabella’s hands. He moved closer to her. His breathing became easier. It was just like last time. Arabella was the cure to these seemingly random attacks. Kaden didn’t have time to question it as another man crumpled to the ground and the crowd started to scatter in fear. Confusion and panic were beginning to spread through the port and trickling into the town.

“Bella.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re better than this.” Kaden whispered as he leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Arabella’s. Her eyes widened and suddenly the children stopped crying and the people who had fallen unconscious started to come to. The iciness that had clung to her skin melted as Kaden pulled her into a hug. Just like before, she didn’t fight him. She slumped into his embrace and stayed there, listening to the people around them start to slowly calm down and run home. Kaden and Arabella didn’t move and people left them be thinking they had also been victims of the strange epidemic that had swept through the dockside.

“What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Arabella answered quietly. Kaden sighed. His breathing was returning to normal. He looked down to find Arabella clutching the lapel of his jacket tight between her fists. He could tell she was struggling to quench her rage.