The Mermaid's Pearl (Tears of the Deep Book 1) (17 page)

We sat there for several moments, eyes locked on each other, each testing the waters to see what
would happen. He began to lean in slowly but didn’t close the distance just yet. I licked my lips in anticipation as I tried to make myself pull away. The soft sound of the waves was like music to my ear. It was perfect.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I want you to know I’m doing my best to be honest with you.”

“Why?”

He didn’t answer me; rather, he closed the distance between us, pulling my face to him. His lips were just as rough as I remembered, chapped from the sun but fantastic upon mine; drowning out any anger in me. His hand slid around the back of my head to deepen the kiss. A low moan fell from my lips and into his mouth as I pushed against him. The movement tipped us over onto the ground with me on top. His hands ran down my body, over my curves slowly, enjoying every turn his digits made.

It was more complicated than I ever thought. He wasn’t simply a monster trying to steal my kingdom and destroy my people. He was a lonely soul, so broken he didn’t know how to survive without the pain. A man who was healing every day with me. This was simply Aiden, the one who was nice to me when his crew wasn’t around, and the one whose soft touch had been a comfort to me when I found myself alone on the large pirate ship.

I kissed him back, ferociously, as if I could never get enough of him, and perhaps I would never be able to. This pirate made me feel more at home than my own people miles below the surface. He made me feel alive with every touch of his hand, made my heart flutter with every glance. It was everything I ever wanted, but why did it have to be with a human of all people. I feared I was falling in love with Aiden.

He was no good for me. He lied to me, made me feel like a fool, and tried to boss me around. But he also let me be myself, let me be strong, and let me be his equal. He made me feel pleasures unlike any I’d felt before, taught me how to use a sword, play the piano, and to survive among the pirates. It was hard to remember the cruel things he did when his lips were on mine, because they made me want nothing more than to be in his arms. 

I placed my hands on the coat beneath us and pulled back to address him. I needed him to know that he couldn’t treat me with such disrespect again. If he wanted any sort of chance, we had to be taken seriously.

Before I got to speak, a pair of large, rough hands grabbed me by the arms and ripped me out of his hands.

“Aiden!” I threw my arms out to try and grab him, but it was too late. A cold steel blade pressed against my throat, and I froze.

Aiden jumped to his feet and put his hand at the hilt of his sword.

“Draw your weapon and the girl is dead,” a gruff voice said from behind me. His voice was cold and serious, no ounce of emotion in it.

“Ahoy, mate. Me bird and I were just about to leave,” Aiden said as he let go of his weapon and held out his hands. He smiled at the man, hoping to charm him I guessed. He was good at talking others into things they didn’t want to do.

“I came for you and the girl. Save your breath.” He didn’t seem to be the one to change his mind.

Aiden took a few steps closer, his smile fading from his face. “Is that so?”

“Yes, my master wishes to speak with the both of you.”

“And who would that be?” Aiden asked, eyes roaming over at me. 

I let him see the fear on my face as I struggled not to move. The blade was suffocating me, and I really wanted to get out of the grip of this man. My eyes grew wide as two other men stepped out of the darkness. Each of them grabbed Aiden by an arm, but he let them. He didn’t fight back.

If he didn’t do
something
we were going to be taken by these idiots. I couldn’t believe he would just let them lead us away from the safety of the ship and away from any semblance of familiarity, but he did. I didn’t want to be any further from the ocean, and I couldn’t be when the moon became full. I would miss my chance to escape. Why was he letting them take us?

“My master is someone you don’t need to worry about. Don’t pull any funny business, you’ve already thwarted our attempts once.”

“It’s going to be alright, Rae,” Aiden called out to me as my captor swung me over his shoulder and began to follow the others.

I wanted to believe his every word, more than I wanted to believe anything else he’d said to me, but I had a sinking feeling things were
not
going to be okay. No matter what he said.

Chapter Eighteen

With all my strength, I kicked the door, but it didn’t budge. Pain shot up my leg. They weren’t strong enough to help me. I grabbed ahold of the doorknob and shook it, trying to get it to open. Nothing worked.

I stepped back from the door and sighed as I looked around. The room was small and devoid of furniture. Everything in the room was made of wood, with no windows, and a solid door. Only a single light bulb fell from the center of the ceiling to shed any light in the room.

Ropes held Aiden to the wall in front of me without any weapons. The strangers had taken it from him before knocking him out.

“Aiden,” I whispered, loud enough I hoped it would wake him, but quiet enough I hoped it wouldn’t bring our captors back.

He didn’t move.

I walked over to him and grabbed his shirt, shaking him a couple of times before his eyes shot open. He jerked forward on his restraints with anger in his eyes, and I jumped backwards.

“Ah, love, it’s just you.” He sighed and regained his composure. He looked around the room and shook the bindings at his wrists. “Where are we?”

“I have no idea, Aiden. You’re the one who just let them take us.”

His eyes twinkled with mischief. “But what an adventure this could be.”

“It’s not an adventure, Aiden. It’s dangerous. Those guys stole us away, far from the ship, far from the ocean!”

He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Since when do you stop and think before you act?”

“Since…since some awful pirate trapped me on his ship.”

“No need to worry. I’ve got it under control.”

“You do?” I asked and leaned back against the wall, crossing my arms to mimic the laid-back appearance he often gave.

“I do,” he insisted.

Aiden stood on his tiptoes and pulled his wrists together. The fingers of his right hand barely touched his left wrist, but he was able to use his strength to pull himself off the ground. He bent at the waist to bring his boots closer to his face. With his teeth, he popped open a button and retrieved a very small but sharp piece of metal. Once he had it in his hands, he dropped his hold and began to saw away at the ropes at his hands.

“They never search in the boots, you see,” he explained as the first rope snapped and he landed on his left foot.

As he began to saw away at the rope around his other wrist, the door flew open. In stepped two individuals. The woman was tall and thin, clad in a tight purple dress. Her hair was a bright blonde color and her eyes an almost as bright blue. Her hair was pulled into a bun on top of her head. She was young and plain looking. The man was her height, with messy red hair on top of his head. Freckles spread across his cheeks but the same blue eyes stood out in his tanned face. The woman didn’t smile, although the man did in a maddened way.

“I’m William, this is Julianna. We require your services.” He bowed slightly.

“I’m not fond of being taken and told what to do,” Aiden growled as he finished undoing his binds and dropped to the floor.

William cocked an unhappy eyebrow at Aiden’s movements. “You are handier than we thought.”

“I told you to tie up the girl too,” Juliana spoke softly, almost quiet enough to miss.

I moved closer to where Aiden stood but kept my hands to myself. I wouldn’t show any sort of weakness in front of these strangers. They knew of Aiden, just how stealthy he was, but I wasn’t too terribly surprised. His reputation exceeded him. The real question was what did they want from him?

The woman took me in from head to toe, her expression turning sour as she looked back at my face. Her eyes hid whatever she was thinking, and she leaned over to whisper to William. He nodded and then began to step toward us. Aiden mirrored his movements and stood before me. He wasn’t going to let William near me.

“The girl is quite beautiful. How do you know her?”

“I don’t,” Aiden said.

William laughed loudly and ran his hands through his hair. There was anger and a glimmer of danger in his eyes when he looked back at us. “You don’t know? I find that hard to believe.”

“Well he doesn’t,” I snapped.

Thankfully it was the truth. He was learning me as a person, as a woman, but he still had no insight
into what I really was. He had no information to betray me. Even though I wanted to trust him, that bit of information helped me to feel secure. My secret was mine and only mine. Aiden couldn’t betray me if he wanted to.

I stomped forward with anger in my eyes. “You need to leave us alone before I show you exactly what I’m made of.”

Aiden caught me around the waist and pulled me to him. “Shh, lass.”

I fought against him, fear and anger fueling me to get to the two unknown humans in the room. If Aiden wasn’t going to fight, I would. We needed to get out of there. I could charm them if I got close enough.

“Feisty, isn’t she?”

This earned William an angry glare from Aiden. “I suggest you watch your mouth when talking about a lady.”

“Protective are we?”

Aiden balled his fists at his side, and I was surprised at his blatant struggle to hide his anger. He had been able to hide his emotions in front of his men…except for when I appeared to be in danger. He was protective, and it was going to get us in to trouble.

  “Listen, who I am is none of your business. I’ve spent almost a month on his ship, and he doesn’t know much about me. What makes you think
I
will tell you anything?” I asked.

William put his hands on his hips. “Because if you’re not going to play nice, we will just gut your precious captain here and now. What say you of that? Hmm?”

“Don’t tell him anything on account of me, lass,” Aiden whispered in my ear and then looked up at William to address him. “Whatever it is, I will do it for you. You only need to leave the girl alone.”

William considered his words for a moment. “You would, would you?”

“That I would,” Aiden replied.

“You’re in search of lost treasure, correct?”

Aiden stared him down, but nodded.

“Well then, we are in this for the same reason.”

“I don’t follow.”

William sighed. “What we are after is located in the same place of that you seek. You can fill your pockets full to the brim with whatever you would like, and we can show you where it is. All you have to do is get what we need.”

“And what is that?”

“Don’t do it,” I argued. I didn’t want to help them. It was going to be a waste of our time.

Aiden let go of me and pushed my body behind him, ignoring my comment and gesturing for the man to go on.

Julianna reached into the side of her dress and into a hidden pocket. As she pulled her hand back out, she revealed what appeared to be half of a round, dark blue stone with flecks of navy across it. “The other half of this.”

“And just what is that?” I asked.

When she bore her eyes into mine, it was unsettling. There was danger in those depths even William didn’t possess. I never met such a woman who appeared to have such evil in her. She was very quiet, so in control. It was terrifying. She wasn’t afraid of me
or
Aiden. I could hear it in her voice as she spoke. “The stone of prosperity. It grants immortality to those who possess it. As you see, we have half of it. We need your captain to get the other half of it. For our master.”

“Well, your master can forget it,” I said. “I—”

Aiden interrupted my next crude comment. “And you’re sure this is the location of the lost treasure we’re looking for?”

“Positive.”

A smirk grew over Aiden’s face. “I would be glad to help you with one condition. You must keep the girl here with you.”

“What? No!” I exclaimed.

“Shh, lass. I have this under control.”

I looked at him in a mixture of shock and anger. “You just want the treasure.”

He reached out to put his finger over my mouth. “It has nothing to do with that.”

“Unbelievable.” I scoffed and crossed my arms. I couldn’t believe he was more worried about getting this “lost treasure” than he was with getting us to safety. Every time that I thought I understood him, he threw me off. I was ready to show these people just how uncooperative I could be, and there he was agreeing with them!

Aiden turned back to address William. “I will need reassurance that you’re being honest. I don’t trust thieves you see.”

“How ironic,” Julianna said.

“We’re more than just your average thieves. Our leader is magnificent,” William said. As he approached us, he motioned for my hand. I shook my head and glared at him. I wasn’t about to let him touch me willingly.

“What’s that mate?” Aiden glared at the object in the man’s hand. He didn’t trust them either.

“We can’t have you running off. This is the only way I know of to ensure you follow through. You care for her, yes?”

Before Aiden could respond, William pushed past him and grabbed my arm. He yanked me toward him and clamped the device around my wrist. He let me go, and I stumbled away from him.

Aiden grabbed ahold of me and pulled me to him. He held me against him for a moment, as if he was thankful to have me back, running his hand down my hair. Then, he pulled back to grasp my arm and analyze the object. He flipped my hand over to check the underside, neither of us seeing a way to remove it. It was black with padding on the inside, but it was heavy.

“What is this?” he demanded.

“Our reassurance that you will get things done. I’m giving you a deadline. If you do not return within the next three days, I will press this button.” William pulled a small, round device from his pocket and held it in the air. “It will cause that contraption to shoot venom into the pretty lady’s arm and kill her. Simple really. You retrieve the other half of our stone, and we will let her go safely.”

“Where did you get such technology?”

William smirked. “Like I said, our leader is—”

“William, would you shut up,” Julianna said and turned her attention to Aiden. “You must know, it is a very difficult quest we are asking of you, but you are known for your ability to retrieve the most
hidden treasures. I trust you will get this for us and quickly.”

“It won’t be a problem, I’m sure,” Aiden said with a cocky smile.

“Many have died trying to get the other half. If you don’t return, it’s not only your life hanging in the balance. Now, it will also be her life on the line.”

Aiden dropped my arm and pointed toward the man angrily. “You will return my weapons and show me where I need to go. I will get this stone for you, but if you harm her I will destroy the both of you. Mark my words.”

“That’s not a problem,” Julianna clarified, still not cracking a smile. “Once you return with what we need, she will be set free.”

“Here is your map,” William added as he retrieved a rolled up piece of paper and threw it to Aiden, who caught it easily in his hands. “I will show you another room to wait for when the time is right.”

“No waiting, I will go now,” Aiden insisted. He tried not to show the panic in his eyes, but I could see it.

“No,” William clarified with a malicious laugh, “you will do as you are told, or I will push this button now.” He placed his finger on top of the button to show he was serious.

“No need to do that,” Aiden said, stepping down and giving in. I had never seen him do that before, and it worried me. He was always the one in charge and didn’t let others have the control. Yet he was giving into the wiles of the enemy.

“Good choice.” William placed the button back in his pocket.

Aiden took my hand as the two of them led us out of the room and down the hallway. It seemed as if we were in a cabin of sorts. The walls and floor were made of wood. The hallway was snug with no decoration on the walls. If only we knew where we were, perhaps we could escape.

I stayed close to Aiden, one of my hands holding onto his shirt. Even if these people turned on us, he would fight his hardest to ensure our safety, and I would too. If there was one thing I learned about Aiden, it was he would protect me if I couldn’t protect myself.

They led us to another room, also without windows, but with more furnishings in it. It was bigger than the room they’d held us in earlier, appearing to be a living room of sorts, with a large round rug in the middle, and a circle of couches ran around the exterior of it.
Everything
in the room was circular.

“You will wait here until we return to get you,” William said as he shut the door behind him.

I heard the loud sound of the door locking behind him and let go of Aiden. Walking over to the couches, I sat down and buried my face in my hands.
As if this month could get any worse.
Now, I was stuck with a pirate captain in a place I didn’t know, away from the sea, and on the verge of being killed. It was not at all how I had foreseen this situation going. I expected to stay aboard the ship until the full moon when I could go home. Now I didn’t know what to do.

Hearing the rustling of paper, I looked up from my hands to see Aiden lying on the floor in front of me. The map laid in front of him, and he ran his
finger over it. I could tell he was in deep thought. He was one who always got his treasure, but this time something was at stake. Well, if he cared about me like he claimed to. He mumbled to himself,  but I couldn’t understand them from where I was.