Chapter One

 

Boris has always been a wise man. I should have realized he was right when he said living out the rest of our lives on a boat was an unrealistic notion on my part. I poked fun at him at the time, but after three days of sailing on Alek’s ship, I realize he was right. The endless motion of the boat on the open sea is something my stomach wasn’t trained to endure. Not only does it constantly sway from left to right, but it also bobs up and down. The nonstop movement has made it almost impossible for me to keep any food in my stomach, and I ruined my dress the very first day when I failed to reach a nearby bucket quickly enough. I was forced to change into the leather outfit Alek laid out for me, but at least it was easier to clean up the second time I lost the contents of my stomach. Not eating became preferable, but this just seemed to worry my captor.

“You’ve got to eat, Ivy,” Alek says, staring at me, clearly concerned for my welfare.

“Like you care what happens to me,” I groan, tightly clasping my arms around my belly as the motion of the ship continues to wreck its havoc on my body. “If you did, you wouldn’t have kidnapped me in the first place.”

Alek sighs and shakes his head in dismay. “If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you a thousand times already that I’m sorry it came to this, but my people need you. If we’re going to maintain our humanity, we need your help. It’s the same reason Damon and Simon want you. Why is that so hard for you to accept?”

I sit down on the bed in Alek’s quarters in a vain attempt to steady myself.

“Everything you said about leaving the life of a pirate behind to start a horse stable in Midnight, was it all a lie?”

“Of course, it was a lie,” he scoffs. “What was I going to say? That I planned to kidnap you myself the first chance I got? Damon would have had me tied and quartered if he’d known that was my plan. In fact, I’m surprised he even let me take part in the tournament. He gave us all false hope that we would be able to win your hand, but it’s obvious now that he never intended for anyone else to have you but himself. I have to say, he played his hand well, but I should have known he would never willingly let you go. He would have been a fool to do that, and after spending some time with him, I quickly learned that Damon is no fool.”

“You know when he finds you he’ll make you pay for what you’ve done,” I say smugly.

Alek’s lips stretch into a cocky grin. “Which is exactly why we’re going somewhere he’ll never find us. At least not until you have my child growing inside your belly.”

“Fat chance of that happening, you son of a bitch! Unless you want me to slice off what manhood you have left, I would advise you stay as far away from me as possible.”

Alek begins to chuckle which only fans the flames of my anger even further.

“I wholeheartedly believe you would do that too, if given the opportunity,” he says, looking amused by my threat of bodily harm. “But if you give me a chance, I think you might find me more than able to satisfy your needs.”

“What I need is for you to take me back home.”

Alek tilts his head as he considers my words. “And where is that exactly? Dawn? As soon as you step foot in Simon’s territory,  he’ll lock you back up inside that tower of his. Or maybe you think Midnight is your home now? Damon will never let anyone else have you, and he’ll be forced into a fight to the death with Simon. It seems to me that I’m the only one giving you a genuine chance at a real life. You may not be able to see it now, but with me, you can have the freedom to do what you want when you want. I won’t even force you to live with me and our children if you don’t want to.”

“Are you nuts?” I practically shout. “Like I would let any child of mine become a low-life pirate like you.”

Alek’s face contorts into a mask of rage. It’s the first time since I woke up on this boat that he’s shown an ounce of anger toward me.

“At least I work for what I have,” he thunders, eyes blazing with fury. “I’m not like your precious kings. I’ve never lived in a fancy castle surrounded by servants who would wipe my ass if I ordered them to. Our children will understand what it means to work and earn an honest living.”

“Pfft,” I scoff. “You earn a living by taking what other people have worked hard for. You may think you’re different, but you’re just like Damon and Simon. They tax their people for money. You just steal it. Tell me, oh wise one, how is that any different?”

Alek’s scowl deepens, but he doesn’t make a reply. He can’t. He knows I’m right.

“Get out of here,” I say, turning my head away from him in disgust. “The sight of you and your hypocrisy is making me even sicker to my stomach than I already am.”

The metallic sound of Alek turning the doorknob fills the uncomfortable silence between us.

“We’ll be arriving at the island I told you about in less than an hour. Maybe your attitude will change once you’re onshore.” He opens the door and steps out, leaving me all alone yet again. All I can hear is the sound of rain hitting the glass of the windows and the creaking of the ship as the turbulent sea pounds against the hull.

An hour. That’s all I have to endure before I can find respite from my nausea. The stench of my own vomit in the bucket beside the bed does nothing but intensify my queasiness.

I lie back on the bed and close my eyes wishing I was anywhere but here.

For three long days, all I’ve been able to do is worry about Boris and wonder what Damon must be thinking right now. Is Boris even still alive? When I left him, he had lost a great deal of blood, and Margaret was tending to his wounds from the intruder. The castle’s “ghost” wasn’t a spirit at all but a man dressed in an odd looking white outfit. Who was he and why was he so intent on killing me?

Whoever my attacker was, he’s dead now. Boris and I made sure of that. Unfortunately, all of his secrets died along with him. Is that for the best? I’m not sure, but at least Damon knows for certain that his father wasn’t the one haunting the corridors of his castle.

Damon . . .

What is he doing right now? Is he trying to find me? Does he even know who abducted me this time?

I’m getting sick and tired of the men in my life pulling me this way and that like a toy just so they can ensure the legacy of their people. All of them, even Damon, seem to view me as a pawn they can trifle with, but I’m no one’s plaything.

Well, that’s not entirely true. I don’t mind the way Damon plays with me. In fact, I find it quite pleasurable, but that’s beside the point. I should be able to decide my own destiny, but I fear the only way that will be possible is if we go into the Barrens like we discussed and find more of the serum Margaret used to cure the wolf pups in Midnight. If we can do that, maybe . . . just maybe I can reclaim my life and live where I want to.

But where is that?

Do I want to stay on the path of my original plan? Do I really want to live out my days with Boris in the woods? Or do I want to stay with Damon and possibly build a life together? With Margaret’s cure, I can have a family of my own with children who would always know a mother’s love. It was something I never had a chance to experience. Boris did his best while raising me, but I missed the touch of my mother. It’s something I can’t adequately explain to anyone else. In all honesty, it’s a little hard for me to understand it myself, but I’ve always felt like a piece of me was missing without her in my life.

I was never given the opportunity to meet my parents. In fact, I don’t even know who they were or why they left me with my Grandma Mable. Were they ashamed of my humanity? Were they sickened by the mere sight of me? Maybe I was better off not knowing who they were if that’s the case.

Yet, deep within my soul, there’s still a scared little girl who yearns for the love of those who gave her life. A girl who desperately wants answers to her questions, but who also knows she will probably never get them. I don’t even know if my parents are still alive, and worse yet, if they are, they’ve never presented themselves to claim me as their own.

When I open my eyes, I feel warm tears slide down my face. They’re tears I’ve cried a thousand times, and I know they won’t be the last ones shed for the shadows lurking in my past.

Almost an hour later, I hear the crew of the ship shouting to one another on the deck. I assume it means we’re approaching this secret island Alek has been referring to for the past three days as his home. I mostly tuned him out during his visits because I didn’t want him to assume any attention he gained from me was because of interest in getting to know him better. I have absolutely no desire in learning more about his life as a pirate, and considering the fact that he never once asked me about my own past, I have to assume he has no real interest in getting to know me for who I am either.

That’s fine by me. He’s nothing but a heartless kidnapper who stole me away when I was at my lowest, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to forgive him for taking me away from Boris when he needed me the most. Part of that blame falls on Margaret’s shoulders because she basically ordered me out of the room and told Alek to take me for a walk, but I don’t have it in me to be mad at her for that. She had no way of knowing what Alek’s true intentions were. Her primary focus was on Boris, and I pray she was able to save his life.

When I hear the sound of running footsteps outside my door, I quickly stand up from the bed.

Alek slams the door open. The look of horror on his face instantly tells me that something is very wrong.

He stuffs his right hand into his pants pocket and pulls out a small silver key as he rushes over to me.

He drops to his knees by the bedpost that my chain is wrapped around and unlocks the padlock that’s kept me prisoner during my time aboard his ship.

“I need your help,” he says in a rush of words as he stands back up. “We’re being attacked.”

“Attacked?” Surely, he’s joking. “Aren’t you the pirate here? Shouldn’t you be the one doing the attacking?”

“We’re not being attacked by people.” He grabs me roughly by the arm and proceeds to drag me out the door.

I wrench my arm out of his grasp.

“If we’re not being attacked by people, what exactly is attacking us?” I demand to know.

Alek grabs me by the arm again but this time he squeezes harder to make sure I don’t escape him a second time.

“Even if I told you what it is, you still wouldn’t know what it is,” he reasons before proceeding to drag me up the stairs toward the deck. “It’s an octopus.”

I hate to admit it, but he’s completely right. I have no idea what kind of creature that is.

The closer we get to the deck, the louder the screams coming from Alek’s crew are. Rain pours down the steps but we’re partially protected from the brunt of it by the wooden planks over our heads. An unnaturally loud clicking sound fills the air as thunder booms loudly and lightning crackles in the sky.

Alek stops us just short of coming eye level with the deck.

“Your poison,” he shouts over the cacophony of sound surrounding us, “it can kill animals too, right?”

“As far as I know,” I answer, just as loudly. “Why?”

“We need you to touch the octopus and kill it! This ship wasn’t built to fight one!”

“Then why in the world did you sail it out here?”

“We’ve only ever encountered them in this part of the ocean at night. They never come this close to the surface during the day but the storm seems to have emboldened this one. The bastard has us wrapped up in its tentacles. All you have to do is reach out and touch it before it drags us down to the bottom of the ocean!”

“That’s all?” I scream over the bedlam happening on the deck. I duck as the tip of one of the monster’s red tentacles flicks into the stairwell over our heads. Before it disappears, I see what look like rows of white suction cups on the underside of its appendage. Fear, like I’ve never known before, overtakes me. “I’m not going out there!”

Alek roughly grabs me by the arms and squeezes tightly. The desperation on his face tells me before his words do that our situation is dire, and I’m the only hope the ship and its crew has for survival.

“We’re all going to die if you don’t at least try.”

I believe him, but all I want to do is run back into my room and lock the door. Unfortunately, that option would be a sure death sentence.

“Look out!” one of the crew shouts.

Alek and I look up just in time to see the monster use one of its tentacles to break the ship’s main mast like a twig. The pole falls through the sky heading straight for the stairwell. Alek pushes me down toward the steps as he places himself between me and the pole, as if his body is enough to shield me from the debris. Luckily for us, the tumbling pole lands tip first on the first stair and falls over us instead of directly onto us.

You can do this . . . you can do this . . . you can do this . . .

You have to do this.

I say these words to myself to strengthen my courage and weaken my fear. It sort of works, and I know if I don’t try to save us now I never will.

I look up at Alek who is still using his body to shield me. “Help me get on deck!”

He nods. A look of relief removes the worry lines from his face. I almost caution him not to look so relieved just yet. We’re going to need a miracle for his plan to work.

Alek reaches out and takes one of my hands with his.

“Try to stay away from its tentacles. If it grabs you, you’re dead. It’ll either squeeze you to death, eat you, or drown you, understand?”

Awesome. I have one of three gruesome deaths to look forward to if I fail. It’s not exactly the pep talk I was hoping for.

“Then where am I supposed to touch it?” I scream over the roar of the creature as it seems to squeeze the ship tighter considering the sound of creaking wood surrounding us.

“You’ll need to touch its head.” Even as Alek says these words, there is a sea of doubt swimming in his eyes that I can get the job done.

I take in a deep breath.

“Let’s go!”

I fear if Alek tells me anything else about this suicide mission, I might lose my nerve.

I’ve been responsible for enough deaths. I won’t live with the guilt of the ship’s crew losing their lives because I was too frightened to use my curse to save them. Maybe in this one instance, I’ll be able to use it to prevent deaths instead of cause them.

With Alek still holding my hand, we quickly make our way up the stairwell, past the fallen mast, and onto the deck. The sky is filled with dark clouds looming overhead like harbingers of doom. In the stairwell, we were partially protected by the rain, but up here on deck, it lashes us from every direction.

I raise my hand to shield my eyes from the pelting rain. It’s not hard to figure out where the body of the octopus is. It’s large, bulbous head towers over the bow of the ship. The creature seems to be the source of the loud clicking noise, but I can’t tell how it’s making the sound.

Just as one of the massive tentacles swings toward us, Alek pushes me down onto the wooden deck before either of us can be swept overboard. With my back pressed against the hardwood, I watch in horror as the creature’s appendage catches two unsuspecting crewmen from behind. Each man seems to become glued to the suckers on the underside of the tentacle. Their screams of terror mingle with the thunder until they’re dragged over the side of the boat, never to be heard from again.

I have no desire to know what happens to them after that, and I pray I’m never forced to personally find out.

“Come on!” Alek yanks me off the deck.

I barely have time to wipe the rain from my eyes before he pulls me across the main deck to a set of stairs leading up to the bow of the ship. Once we reach the top, my breath is snatched out of my lungs by fear.

Staring back at me is the massive bulging milky gray eye of the creature. In the center, is a black, soulless horizontal pupil that’s a thin black line at first but soon widens as if it wants a better look at me. While it’s attention has been drawn by our sudden appearance, I know I only have a few seconds to reach out and touch the octopus before it uses one of its massive tentacles to sweep us out of its way. If circumstances were different, I could see myself marveling at the sheer size and power of the monster before me, but time is not on my side.

I dart across the deck as quickly as I can, but that turns out to be a mistake on my part. The wood is so slick with rain that I begin to slide across the planks uncontrollably. Nevertheless, the result ends up being the same. I fall inelegantly onto the side of the octopus near its eye. As I touch its wet, rubbery skin, I realize the tables have finally turned in our favor. Now, I’m the bringer of death and my victim seems to realize this fact almost immediately.

In its death throes, the octopus lashes out. Before I can peel myself off its slick skin, the creature releases its hold on the boat and jerks its body back toward the churning ocean. Losing my support, I end up falling headfirst off the deck, following my victim into the murky depths below.

I faintly hear Alek shout my name, but there’s no way he can offer me any help. If the monster doesn’t drag me down with him in his wake, the turbulent sea will more than likely finish me off.

After I plunge past the surface of the water, I barely feel the cold. As swiftly as possible, I begin to swim toward the faint light of day pointing me toward the surface, even though the ocean keeps trying to drag me down farther into its depths. At one point, a strong current spins me in a circle, and I find myself facing away from the surface. I faintly see the octopus use its tentacles to propel itself toward the ocean floor and expel some sort of dark liquid from its body. Being directly in its line of fire turns out to be unfortunate.

I lose my sense of up and down in the darkness. Without the outside world to point me in the right direction. All I can do is choose a path and hope it’s the correct one before what little air I have left in my lungs runs out.

I make my decision and swim as hard as I can to what I hope is the surface.

A small glint of light tells me I chose wisely, but it’s so far away I know I’ll never make it there before I run out of air.

This is it. This is how my life will end.

Will Boris be waiting for me in the afterlife? If Margaret was unable to save him, his face is the one I want to see when I crossover. I hope he isn’t upset with me. I hope he knows I tried my best to hold onto life.

As my lungs use what’s left of the air in them, they begin to burn for more. Craving air, my body betrays me and automatically breathes in the salt water surrounding me. It feels like molten lava as it travels up my nostrils and down my throat to fill my lungs.

In that instance, I have a moment of euphoria where I imagine Damon swimming through a shaft of light piercing the darkness. As my lungs feel like they’re about to explode, I close my eyes and pray for a quick end.