Save the Sea (Saved by Pirates #3)
G. Bailey
For those that belong to the sea.
Prologue
Cassandra
“I-I can’t do it,” I say, dropping the crown and dagger onto the floor, staying still as they bounce on the wood before settling. The sounds of dragons roaring, swords smashing against each other, and screams can be heard outside. Yet, the room is eerily silent in a way. Queen Riah keeps her eyes locked with mine, not blinking, not moving. She is like a doll, no fear showing in her eyes as I face her with a dagger. Not even when it is clear that I came here to kill her. Her lips mumble something, but it’s nothing that I can make out as actual words. I watch her lean down and picking up the crown, a glow floating up her arms.
“You must let me die. You have to save the future, you have to save the sea, Cassandra,” she insists. It’s the most I’ve ever heard her speak. Maybe the crown is giving her some power that she is able to use to speak to me normally. To be able to get past the damage that has been done to her by a man she once loved and trusted.
“You’re their mother, and I love them. I can’t do this to them,” I say, taking a deep breath. While I need to be strong, to be emotionless, I'm not. I can’t do this, and it will cost me everything.
“You love my sons. They are your chosen,” she says, and looks down at the crown for a long while. I don’t answer her, she knows the answer, anyway.
“They are fighting the king now, with my other chosen and my army. They don’t know I’m here, or what I came to do,” I explain to her, hating that I had to make this decision without them. And I still couldn’t do it.
“They wouldn’t stop you. It’s time that I died, and you will be able to send my evil chosen after me. I will make sure he pays in death. His soul will burn with the god of souls in hell,” she exclaims, and I believe her completely. I can see the determination in her eyes. She looks up, her eyes so much like Ryland’s as she smiles when her mouth parts in shock. She coughs, blood trickling out of her mouth, and I look down to see the end of a long dagger jutting through her stomach.
“Finally, I get to be with my chosen,” she murmurs as the dagger is pulled out. “Not that they ever really left me,” she whispers as the light in her eyes fades, and her soul leaves her body. She falls suddenly, and I catch her, holding her to me as I look up and see who has killed the queen.
“You . . . . How could it be you?”
1
Chapter One
Cassandra
“Yes, of course I will marry you. You never even had to ask. I’ve belonged to each one of you from the moment you saved me,” I say, watching as each of their faces light up. Hunter slides the ring onto my finger before he pulls me into his arms. I bury my face in his neck, sliding my arms around him as he holds me close. I breathe in his familiar scent, loving how I feel so safe in his arms, so right. He holds me tightly, almost like he never wants to let me go, and to be honest, I don’t want him to either. Hunter pulls back a little, smoothing his hands over my scar-free arms, with enough emotion swirling in his dark eyes that I never want to look away. I do, though, only for a second to take in his appearance, and how much one year has changed him. His hair is longer than before, hitting his chest. It’s smooth and dark, with the familiar feather back in its rightful place. Hunter has grown a slight beard, which makes him look older and meaner, but the love in his eyes reminds me that the most important thing hasn’t changed. I can feel my bond with all of them spark up inside of me, feeling alive with happiness at being so close to them all. I glance around quickly at my other chosen, seeing each of them watching me with content and happy looks. There’s a longing between us, but more for them as so much time has passed for them. It doesn’t feel like we have left the castle, and all its nightmares, all that long ago for me. How did they make it a whole year without knowing where I was? If it was the other way around, I don’t think I could do it. I would lose my mind, I would drown the world to find them. They are my loves, my chosen, my pirates, and soon will be my husbands.
“How are you healed? It doesn’t make sense. I saw my father throw a fireball at you. You shouldn’t look like this,” Hunter asks, snapping me back from my thoughts and back to my pirates. I look at my pale arms, scar-less and perfect, and part of me hates to see my skin like this. It makes it seem like my life has been perfect, flawless, and it’s not been. If anything, I love the flaws in my life, they've shown what I have survived. Reminded me what I need to fight for. There was a beauty to the scars I had, a beauty that shows I survived.
“The sea god healed me, but I don’t know how. I woke up like this,” I admit as he pulls me back to him, surrounding me with his warm scent. I feel him slide his hands through my long hair, just as I bury my face near his neck. I see his purple feather out of the corner of my eye, and it reminds me of home. Our home, my pirates, and everything we will have to fight for now. The king wouldn’t have been sitting around doing nothing for this last year, and that means he will have been planning this whole time. He could be better prepared than us. Even thinking of the king sends shivers through me.
“Then I have him to thank, not that the scars changed a thing about you, but you never should have had them. I missed you, little bird,” he says quietly, but every word is filled with emotion, his voice cracking as he calls me by the nickname he always has. How funny it is that the nickname I hated–that I never understood why he called me it–makes me so happy now.