The Sea Witch's Revenge (ON HOLD)

Chapter Twenty-Three

Victoria sits on the edge of the bed, frozen. The captain stays quiet, waiting for her to process it.

"So you mean," Victoria begins, "that all I have to do is give you my kiss and your curse would be broken?"

"To put it simply, yes," he replies, not looking at her.

Victoria gulps and nods her head, then stands.

"I don't understand. Mermaids aren't creatures that cannot love. We do love, it's just we're very picky," Victoria says, muttering more to herself.

"I'm guessing that a mermaid's 'pickiness' and the fact she was planning on helping the Order of Severed Fell hunt your kind until there are practically none of you left, is why she chose the kiss as a way to break the curse," he sighs. Victoria spins to face him.

"It isn't," she whispers.

He frowns.

"She didn't have a choice," Victoria continues. "Do you know how powerful a kiss from a mermaid is?"

"It is enough to turn the person receiving the kiss into a mer themselves," he replies.

Victoria starts pacing, biting at her nails as she thinks.

"It's more than that, Enzo," she says. "A true mermaid's kiss can only be given freely and be received freely."

"Both parties must be consenting," he says.

"Yes, because the result of a true kiss from a mermaid is more than just being transformed. It ties the couple together, creating a mated pair. That bond is so pure, so magical and wonderful, that the love between them would break whatever barriers were in the way of them. We'd inherit each other's strengths, each other's weaknesses. We would be connected on a deep, emotional level."

Victoria spins on her heels to face him.

"Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yes," he sighs.

"My father was on his deathbed after being stabbed multiple times by his insane captain, but my parent's love story is for another time. Anyway, when my mother gave him her kiss, the kiss healed him, completely. If a kiss is powerful and pure enough to heal such deadly wounds..."

"Then it is powerful enough to break the curse."

"Yes," Victoria sighs. She rubs her temples and sits back down on the bed. Pain settles behind her eyes and she lets out a long sigh.

"I'm not kissing you," she then says.

"I don't want you to," he replies curtly.

"Good," she mutters and lies on her back, staring up at the red canopy of the four-poster bed. An awkward silence hangs between them before the captain clears his throat.

"Well, now you know," he says.

"Now I know," she mutters and lets out a long sigh.

"What about your secrets?" he asks, changing the subject, which Victoria is grateful for.

"Ah," she says, remembering that she was the one who insisted on no secrets between them.

"Well," she gulps and licks her dry lips. "You know my main one."

"Obviously," he mutters sarcastically. She rolls her eyes and sits up. Looking into his eyes, she takes in a shallow breath. Her body clenches with tension at the thought of saying out loud what she's about to say.

"My real name," she begins, her voice starting to tremble. She hasn't said or heard her name spoken out loud for a century. The thought of saying it now, to Captain Lorenzo of all people, makes her tongue feel heavy.