When Whitley winds up on the top of a pirate hit-list thanks to her con-artist father, she must hide her identity and board another pirate ship, trusting in one shape-shifting pirate named Bluff to help her escape. Too bad you can never, ever, trust...
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Whitley
I'm so cold.
Water covers my whole world. My soul is... drowning. My mind spins, sputters, trying to pull myself to the surface. There's something I need. Someone that needs me. But I can't move. I can't...think.
The song is still there, drifting in and out. Soft then harsh. Perfect harmonies and then off key, screeching. It's all I can hear one moment the next I hear a soft voice in my ear.
I love you.
The shock of those words jerks me forward and the world around me blinks into focus. I see Bluff, his eyes red, his expression angry. Pained. Fearful.
I try to call to him but my focus blacks out again. There's a pressure on my chest. Someone holding me down from the inside out. Desperate to keep their control over me. The song turns fearful. Panicked. The sirens are scared of losing.
Let go, I think but my body won't react. I can't move. The words don't leave my lips.
But at least now I can feel. Bluff's body holding onto mine. A cold and sharply scaled hand gripping my arm. Her pull is stronger.
I drift lower. Deeper.
"You can't have her." He tells them and my heart leaps. Don't let me go, I beg inside my head.
"She's belongs to us. You've lost."
Her grip tightens over my soul, crushing me. I writhe in pain but fight back. I must reach him. "Bluff!" I call, and for a moment my sight is opened again.
I can see him. He can see me. His face is so full of fear and he reaches for me but I'm pulled away, several bodies ripping us apart, moving between us.
Then I'm in the ocean, water covering everything.
I can still see, but blue ripples cover the bright sun and this time when everything goes black I know it's because I'm in the depths of the sea.
