Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
I’ve been trying to make sense of it all and my mind keeps coming around to two key points:
Mermaid blood is magic and they kill for it. More than that, they seem to view mermaids as monsters, which isn’t wrong. But if they were to ever find out what I truly am, I believe all bets would be off. I’d wager the captain wouldn’t hesitate to drain me of my blood in hopes that it might give him magic. Maybe it would, or maybe my magic was drained when Edonia was finished with me, but he would try.
The reason he needs the mermaid blood is because he needs it to help defeat Edonia. Which means that once he has the magic, he will go after her and possibly before he gets rid of me. If he does that, that means I’m one step closer to Edonia. He’s going to try and get his book back, but if I somehow got the book back first, I could use it to barter with Edonia and get my fins back.
So now it seems that everything has a purpose, and a plan could possibly fall into place. I just have to accomplish two things: keep my Syren identity a secret, and keep on the captain’s good side for as long as I can. That last one will be harder than the first since there’s something about that man’s face that makes me want to strike him with fist and nails. But if I can accomplish that, if I can help him get his book back, then double-cross him and steal the book and use that to get back to Limonos and life as a Syren, then that will solve everything.
For the first time in the last ten years, I can see everything I want in plain sight.
My freedom.
My return to my true self.
I’ll be going home.
It makes me pause. I suppose if I want to stay on the captain’s good side, that means I have to stay on his ship. That means I need to obey.
And yet I can see his breeches on the back of the chair, see the keys to my cage hanging from them. If I could find the cat and convince him to give me the keys…
And you think that will win you his favor? I think to myself.
I sigh and lean back against the cage. The ship has started moving again, which means that the boat must be back from dropping the men off on the island. The rocking movement and the thick heady smell of night air in the tropics lulls me off to sleep, for when I wake up there’s a terrible racket up above.
The sound of us under attack.
But there’s no cannon fire, no roundshots slamming into the ships. Instead there’s yelling and shouting along with the clang of swords, rattling sounds that might only be described as skeletons being dismembered, and the occasional shot of a musket.
And it all sounds like it’s coming from our boat above.
If any of the skeleton crew get down here, they could blow the captain’s lock off with a blunderbuss. I might be a sitting duck.
“Skip!” I call out again. “Time to make haste and free me please!”
Suddenly the cat appears, this time coming out from near the captain’s bed, and stops right in front of me, in no rush at all.
“Thank the gods,” I say, kneeling on the floor next to it. “Please, if you can understand me, I need your help. We are under attack. Your captain would like you to set me free so that I may defend myself.”
Skip tilts his head as if questioning me.
“I swear to it, Skip. And I promise if you free me I will find Sedge and the rest of the pork from last night. Or the fish, we barely touched the fish we were so full. I’ll give you as much food as you want.” I’m starting to feel ridiculous pleading with a cat but I go on. “If those skeleton people get in here, they’ll attack me and I know the captain would be very mad at you if you let that happen.”
The tabby opens his mouth in a big yawn, canines showing, then turns, showing me its rear, and pads its way across the room and over to the chair where his breeches are. I didn’t even have to tell him, he’s already jumping up on the chair and fishing out the keys. I hear metal being unclipped and then the jangling of the keys and the next thing I know Skip is leaping off the chair and trotting toward me with the ring of keys in his mouth.
I watch in awe as he drops the keys right outside the bars of the cell.
“Mew,” he says plainly.
I reach through and take the keys. “Thank you, thank you. Good kitty.”