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 don't know how long we spend on that tiny boat, pushed at top speed by a set of sirens. If it's my last hour with Bluff, I want to make sure it's the best it can be. I want to fill myself with him. With us. With what we were and what we could have been.
At some point I look up and in the distance I can see land. My stomach flips but I don't react. Not yet.
I tell Bluff how disappointed I was when he kissed me on the beach, and then stopped. How badly I wanted him. He smiles at this, though he's supposed to feel guilty. I suppose it helps to know what comes after.
I move on to the next morning and the immense relief I felt when he finally let go. When he finally let himself fall the way I'd been falling for days.
"I loved you before you loved me," I whisper in his ear.
His lips curl into a smile and my stomach flips.
I look up again, and can buildings. There are other ships around now. How far will the sirens push us? The closer we get to land and to sailors, the bigger their risk. If a sailor attacks while they aren't at full power... well that's the only time they could be killed.
Bluff begins shaking in my arms.
"Stay with me," I plead. "We're almost there."
His eyelids shutter closed, then open. "Bluff," I say desperately. "Please." I grip him harder, but and suddenly unsure we'll make it in time. Even if we get to the port in time, how long will it take to find a doctor and get him there? If no one is expecting us, it could take another half hour or longer. I don't think he'll make it that long.
My blood goes cold.
I thought we could make it. I thought...
"I love you," I tell him again. Because if he dies I want that to be the last thing he hears. "I will always love you."
We fly past several ships, heads whipping towards us. A strange sight, I'm sure.
Apparently saving Bluff is worth the risk. I'm not sure it's enough though. Bluff can't keep his eyes open now. His skins is so cold.
Our boat is pushed right to the shallow end of a dock where a man in a white coat waves at us. Two sailors jump into the small dinghy and grab Bluff from my arms and straight onto a gurney where's he's rushed off, away from me.
I sit there, whole body shaking. Confused. I turn to the water next to the boat when the siren girl who offered help's face is visible just under the surface. This reminds me of the moment I was taken. When they pulled me into the water and hypnotized me.
I shiver, but remember what she just did to help us and I can't manage to be mad. Even if it were their fault to start with.
"What happened?" I ask her. "How did the doctor already know?"
She pulls up just enough for her lips to be above the surface. "We sent messengers ahead and paid a large sum for the best care possible."
I blink back my shock. I know siren's can't ever be trusted, and if they did this, it was for their own good—not ours. But I still feel such an immense amount of gratitude I don't know how to react.
"Thank you," I gasp out. Then climb out of the boat and rush down the dock after the doctor.
