Save the Sea (Saved by Pirates #3)(12)

“From his home?” I ask, wondering who it could be. He never told me much of his home, but I remember him saying there was a friend called Shan. A friend he grew up with. Maybe that’s who it is. But why would they need to see me?

“Yes, all the people of Sixa have apparently left their homes, and come to join the war,” Hunter continues, walking over to the side of the cave, and I follow him over. Looking down the mountain, I see a huge group of people in big fur coats, with massive white tigers next to them. There must be over a thousand people standing there, but I can’t see much more about them.

“They have disobeyed the king and sided with the mountains. With you,” Ryland says as he steps next to me.

“Wow . . . why?” I ask, but Ryland isn’t the one that answers me. A female does in a demanding voice, and I turn to face her.

“Because, changed one, we believe you can finish him. You can win a war, but you will need my help,” the woman states, standing about ten feet away from me. She is stunning, with long black hair and a long white fur cloak covering her body. Zack walks at her side, with Jacob on the other, and four massive guys follow behind her. They look like a wall of muscle, and the protective way they stand guard over the woman lets me know she is someone important to them.

“Who are you?” I ask, and Zack walks over, holding my hand.

“This is Wynn, and these are her husbands. They saved me once, and I consider them friends,” he explains to me and turns to Wynn. “This is my fiancé, Cassandra.” Her whole face lights up in a big smile, and it makes me smile, too. She is clearly happy that Zack is settled.

“Congratulations, Zack, you lucky bastard,” the big guy says, walking over and patting Zack's shoulder as Zack lightly laughs. The man turns to me, holding out a hand.

“My name is Shan. I hope you love my friend, or I’m going to find out if chucking a changed one into the sea will actually kill them,” he says in a friendly manner, and I laugh, ignore his protective threat, and shake his huge hand.

“I can tell you it wouldn’t work,” I chuckle letting go of his hand. Ryland moves behind me, wrapping his hands around my waist possessively, and resting his chin on my head.

“And I can tell you that you wouldn’t make it within two inches of our Cassandra. She would kill you before we could even get to you,” Ryland says, and both of them stare each other down until Wynn slides in between Shan and me.

“Boys, stop with the manly bullshit. We have other, more important things to discuss,” Wynn snaps, and grins up at Shan when he wraps his arm around her waist. They look at each other like there is no one else in the world, and it makes me smile. This is what life is about, these simple moments of love. These moments of something pure.

“We need to show her,” one of the other men says, carrying an old-looking box over to us. The other two men talk quietly with each other, before coming over. We all hear a loud roar, followed by a few bangs. I look over at Hunter, who is looking over the cliff.

“Seems your people have started a fight. You might want to look into that,” he darkly chuckles, and there’s another loud roar from the crowd below.

“Someone needs to check on the people, so we will go be with them,” one of Wynn’s men says with a slightly worried look that he shares with his friend. Wynn kisses them both before they leave.

“I’m Fen, nice to meet you all,” the man that stayed behind says, and hands Wynn the box as she comes back to us. She walks over to me, holding the box out in front of her.

“Open it,” she says, and I look over at Zack, who nods. He clearly trusts her. I smile at him, before lifting the box open and seeing the old map inside. I lift it out, and stretch it wide. It’s a map of Calais, and it’s extremely detailed and very old.

“I can’t read a map like this, so what are we looking at?” I ask, and Ryland steps over to me.

“Why don’t you let the pirates have a look at the map? It’s kinda what we are good at,” he says, but it’s playful and makes me laugh.

“No, you can look and then explain to me,” I exclaim, and he chuckles kissing my lips softly.

“And you say I’m stubborn.”

“You are,” I laugh. I look around, spotting the rocks on the floor, and walking over to them. I kneel down, placing the rocks on the corners of the map gently.

“It’s a map, and it leads to the only place I don’t want to ever return,” Hunter says, leaning over, and Ryland examines the map on my other side. He takes my hand pointing to the three circles that are engraved in the Lost Sea, just below Thron.

“That is where the mermaids live. Their castles are below the sea,” Ryland states. There’s silence between all of us as I stand up and look at Wynn.

“What is located there?” I ask, but I know the answer. This looks like a map to the crown, to the only place it could be, but how did a girl from Sixa get it?

“The lost crown, the one the king hid. This was also in the box,” she pulls out a long purple stone, shaped almost like a stick. There’s a power to it, I can feel it from here.

“And what is that, exactly?” I ask.

“I don’t know, but the mermaids will want something in exchange for the crown . . . I believe they will trade for this," she says, walking over. Wynn hands it to me, but holds her hand over mine on the stick. Her eyes lock with mine, and I see enough emotion to not want to move.