Black Hearted

Part 53

Captain Silver pressed her sword against Nate's neck, hissing out at the Elder. "I don't care. I make my own hope. And it starts with the death of pirates. These two in particular." The Elder climbed to her feet, then froze as one of Silver's tentacles removed a pistol from her belt to aim at her. The Merfolk on the ship stiffened in horror. Silver smirked at the Elder, cooing out. "Don't be stupid. I'm not in a giving mood today. Not after their bedmate tried to feed me to a fish!" Mark snorted but tried to suppress the rest of his laughter. Silver locked eyes with Mark, growling out. "You think that is funny? Let's see how funny it is when you see your mate hanging from the gallows!" Mark's smile died and he told her seriously. "Let him go. You want a pirate? My bounty is far more than his. Take me. I'll put up less of a fight." Nate gawked at him, snapping back. "Mark, god damn it! Don't!" Mark inched forward, dropping his weapons as he told him. "I can't find him. You can. He needs you."

Silver started pulling Nate backward toward the edge of the ship, purring out. "How touching. How about I just take you both?" Nate shot a hard glare at Mark, uttering out through his teeth. "Mark, don't. We both know what the Spanish government does to pirates here... We might not reach you in time." Mark swallowed, answering bluntly. "Then take care of him for me." Silver rolled her eyes, sneering back. "I'm taking him. So, suck it up." Mark shook his head, uttering out firmly. "No. You're not." Silver huffed at him sarcastically. Giving Mark the hesitation he needed from her. Removing a pistol from the back of his belt, he quickly aimed and told Nate grimly. "I'm sorry." Pulling the trigger, he shot Nate in the shoulder. Nate screamed and Silver released him in complete shock. Nate fell to his knees clutching his shoulder as he shouted at him. "You fucking asshole!" Before Nate could react, Mark dropped his gun and ran straight for Silver. Silver barely looked up in time to see Mark slam into her, sending them both over the edge of the ship.

Nate stagger to his feet, leaning over the edge to see Silver racing through the water with Mark wrapped up in her tentacles. Nate struck the edge of the ship, groaning in louder frustration. Turning around, the Elder woman put her hands on him, asking him gently. "Let me see it." Nate leaned on the side of the ship for support. The pain from the bullet had him seeing spots. The Elder woman pulled his jacket and shirt aside to examine the wound. Her gentle fingers feeling like daggers as she touched around it. After a moment, she told him. "That human is very brave. Giving himself up for someone like us." Nate gritted his teeth, heatedly groaning out. "He's an asshole. The governor of this port knows him... they'll beat him long before they finally hang him." The Elder woman smirked a little, calmly retorting. "That's good. That buys you more time than the firing squad, a quick routine hanging, or a public flogging would have given you. Your friend is a good shot. He hit nothing important. Let's make his sacrifice count."

Nate huffed, smirking as he mumbled out. "He still shot me." The Elder woman chuckled, pulling his arm to sit him down as she stated out distractedly. "I thought pirates did that all the time. A show of their affection when you live from it." Nate tilted his head back against the wall, chuckling out darkly. "Why? Because dead men tell no tales?" The Elder woman accepted tools from a merfolk that ran up to help her. The Elder woman told the younger merfolk in a rush. "Hurry. Help get this out of him so that he can go find Sean." Nate clenched his jaw as the Elder woman picked up a long dagger with a thin curled end. Taking deep breathes, he grabbed the nearest rope and shut his eyes tightly. Hissing and wailing in pain, he banged his heel against the ship. She dug the tip of the dagger in deep, searching for the small round bullet. When she finally pulled it out, she told the young merfolk. "Hand me the rum and a we'll seal this up." The young merfolk handed a bottle of rum to the Elder, but Nate snatched it to chug some of it down.

It helped to numb the pain pulsing across his shoulder. After lowering the bottle, he grumbled out. "When I get Mark back... I'm going to punch him. God it hurts..." The Elder tried to keep him from getting up, but he pushed himself up the wall. Once he was on his feet, he gave the Elder the bottle and told her. "I don't have time to wait. You can seal it when I get back." The Elder tried to talk him out of it by commenting firmly. "Nate, that's an open wound. You jump into that salt water-" Nate gasped, leaning forward to grab the side of the ship to keep his knees from buckling. Clenching his jaw, he took deep breaths to relax. He preferred this over the pain Sean was in before... but it certainly was distracting. The Elder grabbed his arm, asking him perplexed. "Are you alright? Should we go with you?" Nate shook his head, straining out between waves of pleasure. "No. Cornering a Siren only makes them more dangerous. I can handle them on my own." Nate swung his leg over the side of the ship and whimpered slightly, before adding out. "I think... At least, it's not eating him anymore... In a way..."