stepped back and I saw just how much trouble I was in. There had to be twenty of them surrounding me with thirsty eyes and sloppy grins. I couldn’t tell any of them apart. They were all equally dirty and disheveled. Their clothes hung from their bodies in tattered threads. Their skin was crispy red from days on board in the sun. Empty bottles rolled from side to side over the deck as the boat swayed with the ocean.
“Ain’t no land out here!”
“She’s a witch!”
If only you knew. But I kept my mouth shut. I needed to bide my time to catch my chance to get away. We were still in the middle of the ocean. The sound of the waves lapping at the side of the wooden boat filled my ears. The sun beat down on me, warming my skin and drying some of my dress. The smell of saltwater filled my nose. I wanted to look around to find an escape from this. An idea formed in my mind but I hated it. The Seelie tunnel was my only option. If I could get back inside of it, I could get back out again.
“Maybe she’s Calypso…”
Her name is Keltie, not Calypso—
“Bring ‘er ta Blackbeard,”
I gasped. My eyes widened. Blackbeard?
OH NO.
NO, NO, NO, NO, NO.
Blackbeard was old…I used to hear men speak of him back when I was first cursed…which meant – no, no, no, no. I’d traveled back in time. I had to get back to the Seelie tunnel now.
The two men closest to me lifted me off my feet by my armpits. Their fingers pinched my skin and my soaking dress weighed down on my legs.
Think, Saffie. THINK. Where’s the tunnel?
I held my hands behind my back, hiding them under the heavy red curtain of my hair so none of the men would see my gold glittery magic coiling around my fingers. I closed my eyes and focused on the warm energy of my magic against my skin. Show me the tunnel. I flicked my fingers out—
“Ay, Captain? Got a wee present,” the man on my right grumbled.
A wave of sharp cold energy rolled over me. I opened my eyes – and my stomach rolled. A man stepped out of the shadows of the cabin behind him and strolled toward me. He was tall with broad shoulders, and the black hat on his head cast its own shadow. Dark black hair hung past his shoulders and his beard was just as long. Both had metal bands coiled around knotted strands. He wore a red coat with pistols strapped to his chest. A long saber was gripped in his hand.
I didn’t even need to be told his name. I would have known who this was by the long fuses sticking out of his beard on either side of his face.
Blackbeard.
Big black eyes latched onto my body. His gaze traveled down and back up again and my pulse quickened. I pushed my magic harder and felt it slide over the herd of hungry pirates behind me…but I didn’t feel the tunnel anywhere.
Blackbeard pulled the pipe out of his mouth and blew a puff of smoke. Then he grinned and licked his black stained teeth. “Guess I know what I’m having for dinner.”
The men cheered and my stomach turned. Bile rose in my throat. I needed that damn tunnel and I needed it now.
“Put ‘er in my chamber—”
There was a loud crack like thunder and then a massive wave shot straight up into the sky. The wave rolled over and crashed right down on us. Queen Anne’s Revenge rocked to the side and the mens’ grip on me lightened. They dropped to their knees but I threw my wings out and kept myself upright just as a huge ship made of solid gold burst out from under the sea. Waves crashed beneath it. Water sprayed like rain. Tall gold masts with sails of gold stood tall against the blue sky.
My pulse skipped.
Fire bloomed inside me.
He’s here.
Blackbeard rushed to the rail as his men shouted and scrambled. He turned back toward me and lit the fuses sticking out of his beard with a wild grin. “READY ON THE GUNS!”
The men shouted and leapt into action. The black sails dropped down lower. Blackbeard dove for the wheel and spun.
The golden ship charged for us faster than any human-made pirate ship could have. The gold glistened in the sunlight. Waves crashed into the side of Blackbeard’s. And then I spotted him. RIAH. Standing