Save the Sea (Saved by Pirates #3)(2)

“Why do you call me little bird?” I ask quietly. It’s strange; I know there are so many people in the room, but it is so quiet. So peaceful and silent.

“When I first saw you, you looked like a little bird that wanted to fly away, but I didn’t want to let you go,” he says, and I feel a hand on my shoulder.

“We all agree with never wanting to let her go, brother,” Ryland says, and Hunter reluctantly releases his hold on me. I turn to see Chaz and Ryland right next to me, both watching with equal looks of relief and of love. Zack and Jacob move to their sides, and I don’t know who to run to first. I feel pulled to all of them, and don't want to choose. Jacob’s eye gets my attention, and I walk to him, lifting a hand, placing it on his cheek over the long scar. The scar makes me so angry, knowing the king or his guards must have had something to with it. Another cost of this war with the king.

“What happened?” I ask carefully, and he leans his head into my hand.

“It’s a long story, maybe we should sit as I tell it?” he asks me, and I nod, moving my hand away, but he grabs it and links our fingers.

“Good idea, we have a lot to discuss. Like where exactly you have been for the last year,” Ryland says.

“And what exactly the Sea God wants from our little fighter,” Zack says with a grin, and the guys all nod. I look around at them, taking in the fact they are all much more muscular than I have ever seen them. They look like they are ready for a fight, and in some ways, it makes it easier to tell them that a fight is what we have coming. If we want a future, we are going to have to fight for it. I keep my thoughts to myself as we all slide into the seats in the small kitchen to sit down. The kitchen is simple, small with wooden cabinets that have seen better days. There’s a fireplace for cooking in the corner, with several pans and a kettle resting on it. My eyes instantly go to the boxes and jars of food I can see, knowing that the mountain must have access to a lot of food. The world is starving, but the changed ones are clearly not. I move to sit next to Jacob as he sits down, but he pulls me onto his lap, clearly not willing to part with me, even to just the next seat.

“Why don’t you explain what happened when you escaped, and then I will explain what happened with the sea god,” I say, wanting my answers first, and Ryland chuckles.

“Still as stubborn as ever, I see,” he says, and they all laugh as I roll my eyes at Ryland’s reply. He grins at me; the seriousness of his usual expression is nowhere to be seen for a second, until he seems to remember everything we have to overcome.

“Are Everly and Laura here? What about Roger and Tyrion? Even Salty Sam?” I ask, naming them off quickly, and Chaz answers me.

“All safe and alive, don’t worry about them for now.”

“What about the ship?” I ask.

“Our ship is hidden behind the waterfall with the others.” Chaz replies. Relief flitters through me, everyone is safe . . . for now. I have no doubt, it won’t be that way for long. War is coming, and the king won’t stop until I’m dead. Along with all of my chosen also.

“Why don’t I start the story off?” Chaz asks, leaning back in his seat as I look him over, and my eyes lock on his green ones. He looks older, more serious than the last time I saw him. My playful healer, the sweet and kind man I first met is still somewhere deep inside him. Thankfully, he looks better than what he looked like at the castle. I don’t think I will ever get the memory of seeing him beat up on that floor, covered in bruises and hanging onto life, out of my head. He never deserved that, not for one second. I try to push the memory of how he looked out of my mind, and focus on his face now, how not one bruise mars it. I nod my head, leaning back against Jacob, who slides an arm around my waist, his thumb rubbing circles on my hip in a soothing motion.

“Once we saw you fall, we knew we had to escape. Hunter and Jacob tried to run into the fire after you, but it exploded. It sent them flying backwards into the cave, which collapsed on top of half of us,” I widen my eyes in shock, but Chaz continues with his explanation. “We all wanted to come after you, to save you from the sea, but we couldn’t. It wasn’t something we could do, even though we desperately wanted to. The cave was blocked, Everly and Laura were stuck under rocks, and most of us were hurt from the collapse,” he says.

“We knew you were still alive, our bond told us that much. It's what made it possible for us to pick ourselves up, and get out of the cave,” Ryland says.

“I’m so sorry you all had to wait so long for me to come back. I would never have left you intentionally."

“Where were you, Cassandra?” Ryland asks in a lost voice.

“With the sea god; he saved me. For me, it was an hour or less that I was gone, while I was awake anyway," I say, still not believing that the sea god took so much of my life with my chosen away from me. I am thankful he saved me, but he could have warned me that so much time had passed. I watch as my pirates look between each other, none of them look impressed or disbelieving. I know they believe me, without question.

“What else happened when you escaped?” I ask into the silence, and Chaz clears his throat before he starts speaking.

“Everly and Laura weren’t harmed too badly when we got them out, and with our help they could stand. Laura is still struggling with the stress and some of her injuries from the collapse, but Everly is fine. We had to carry Jacob and Hunter through the caves, as they were knocked out when they hit the cave. It was difficult, to say the least, until they woke up and could walk for themselves. That’s where things really went wrong,” Chaz says, drifting off as he looks at Jacob. I look up at him, holding my hand out to his face.