Lunars of the Caribbean

Below Decks (33)

As the rope receded back onto the ship, Thorne gripped Cress by her arm and let the rope hoist them out of the water and onto the deck. They fell onto the ship with a PLUNK and soaked the wood with sea water.

"Scarlet," Thorne shouted. "Get us out of here!"

A moment after, the ship lurch forward and sped out of the view of Dead Man's Island. As far as Thorne could tell, everyone was on board. Spades, he'd get an earful if he was wrong.

He did a head count. Snapping ginger, check. Wolfman, check. Hidden Princess, yep. Her boyfriend, here. Magical Princess, present. Mean old Mr. Mcneedstokeephisstupidopinionstohimself, was on deck.

Thorne couldn't remembered bringing anyone else on the journey, so that must have been everyone. Oddly enough, Thorne hadn't expected his plan to go so well.

"Uh," Scarlet balked, holding a pistol in one hand. "Is that ... Crescent?"

Thorne glanced back to his mermaid, and saw that she still retained her coarse skin and other animalistic features. Something those mermaids did brought out the worst in Crescent.

Oh yeah, Thorne remembered. One of them kissed me. That could be what ticked her off.

Thorne knew that if he ever saw someone kiss Cress against her will, he'd beat them til their bones were pulp. And deep down, Cress was a mermaid. Thorne nearly forgot that after getting to know her as ... well, human.

She hissed at Scarlet and the rest of the crew. Cress scooted towards the rail and gripped it to stand. Without thinking of her sharp nails and teeth, Thorne grabbed her arm and scolded, "Don't you dare."

Her eyes widened in rage. A look that Thorne found hard to be comfortable with. Still, Cress had used surprising aggression and immediate action to frighten the mermaids that tried to drown him. When she did it, it worked. Maybe it could work on her now.

Swallowing his deep seeded fear of what Cress could do to him, he gave her a stern look. "You're not going back in the ocean. You're staying on this ship, you hear!"

Cress didn't like that. Thorne guessed she wasn't as easily intimidated at the mermaids she scared away. She swiped at Thorne and tore his shirt, but thankfully not his skin.

"She's gonna kill you!" Scarlet hollered. She aimed her pistol at Cress, and before Thorne could protest, Cress knocked the weapon from her hands with a whip. A whip that was part of her.

The entire crew - save Thorne and Kaito - went on the defensive. Somewhere in the background, Thorne swore Jacin said, "I knew rescuing her was a bad idea."

Cress disarmed them all faster than they could get their hands on new weapons. She strung Scarlet up by her boots and plopped her on the mast with little effort, leaving the pirate weaponless.

Since scolding and coldness had only made things worse, Thorne thought gentleness and love would do the opposite. Praying to the stars above for Cress not to kill him, Thorne threw his arms around her and held her as tight as he could.

At first, Cress perceived the act as an attempt to harm her. She hissed and tried to cut and bite Thorne. Before she made a hit, he pressed a kiss to her temple, again and again.

Her body lost balance, and Thorne held her up. Her head fell to one side, listless and tired. Thorne felt her skin soften under his grip, as if she was melting. Her nails and teeth retreated, her waxy whips shrank into nothingness. Her form was back to the woman Thorne knew. The woman he loved.

Now, Crescent was falling asleep, and Thorne scooped her up in his arms. She deserved to rest for a week after everything she'd gone through. She needed to sleep.