Vowed to Hades (Romancing the Seas #4)

9. Georgette

GEORGETTE

G eorgette’s head throbbed as she slowly regained consciousness. The muffled sound of hissing and screeching filtered through the haze clouding her mind.

“I swear to the gods, I am going to snap your bones like twigs and claw out your eyes for this!” Serena’s shrill voice stabbed Georgette’s head, like millions of tiny daggers.

She blinked, trying to make sense of her surroundings. The world swam before her eyes, the sharp sting at the back of her head making it difficult to focus.

As her vision cleared, she realized she was trapped in a net, her limbs tangled in the coarse ropes.

Serena was in a net on the other side of the ship, swinging as she thrashed about. Her elongated nails sliced the air as she frantically tried to strike the sailors who surrounded her. Their faces were twisted into sneers as they jabbed at the net with sticks, taunting Serena.

The cruel amusement in their eyes made Georgette’s blood boil, but before she could react, a commanding voice barked out.

"Enough! Back off, all of you!" The voice was sharp, authoritative, and the men immediately halted, lowering their sticks and stepping back.

Georgette’s heart pounded as she struggled to sit up, rubbing the dull ache at the back of her head.

“Who are you?” she demanded, her voice hoarse and shaky as she tried to muster some semblance of strength.

A figure stepped into the dim light, his movements smooth and deliberate. He was tall, cloaked in dark fabric that billowed slightly in the wind. The light caught on something glinting at his shoulder, a broach shaped like a scorpion.

“My name is Magni,” the man said, his voice calm but laced with an underlying menace. “I believe you’ve already met my uncle.”

Georgette’s heart skipped a beat, her eyes widening as she looked at Serena, who had suddenly gone still.

Serena’s mouth dropped open in shock, her eyes fixed on Magni with an expression Georgette couldn’t decipher.

You know who he is? Georgette asked Serena silently, her thoughts a frantic jumble .

Serena’s eyes flickered in Georgette’s direction for a brief moment, a flash of recognition and something else—fear, perhaps? —before she quickly looked away, her lips pressed into a thin line.

Whatever Serena knew, it was enough to unsettle her, and that alone made Georgette’s pulse quicken with dread.

Magni chuckled, but the sound had an edge to it. He gestured to his men, two of them moved closer, and they each pulled out a knife.

Georgette lurched back.

“Do not fear. We are friends.”

“That’s what Loki said before he slaughtered our father,” Georgette spat.

Magni stepped forward, as one of his men worked on cutting the rope net. When the moonlight illuminated Magni’s face, Georgette was taken aback.

He glowed with youth, and the sinews of his neck bulged. He stood imposing and strong. And the dangerous glint in his eye had Georgette’s heart racing.

This was no mortal man.

“I find it peculiar to hear you call him father,” Magni mused as he surveyed Georgette’s face like he was observing a wild animal he could not understand. “After all, did he not abandon you?”

How does he know so much about us?

Georgette’s nostrils flared as she clenched her jaw .

His words struck a nerve, but she was determined not to show it.

She glanced at Serena who was now out of her net, but had her hands bound behind her back. She had stopped struggling, as though she was more interested in getting answers than to go clawing people’s eyes out.

Georgette turned back to Magni as one of his men yanked the rope net over her head, freeing her from her prison. Only to roughly take her by the wrists and bind her hands.

She kept her focus on Magni, the imposing god-like man who stood before her.

“And you––” he turned to give Serena a penetrative stare. “Have you never wondered why Poseidon hid in his kingdom for all these centuries?”

Serena looked affronted, but she did not speak.

Georgette couldn’t work out if it was because Serena knew something about Magni that made her hold her tongue. Or whether she had lost her voice from all the screeching.

Nevertheless, Magni clapped and gave an exaggerated sigh. As if kidnapping a pair of sirens was simply another monotonous day at work.

“Hold them in the cell. Separately.”

The men roughly handled the two sirens, carrying them below deck. Then each was unceremoniously thrust into a cell on opposite sides of the ship from the other.

Serena wrenched at the iron bars, which groaned in protest but did not budge .

Then she huffed and curled up in the corner, hugging her knees.

Meanwhile, Georgette looked around her, struck by a sense of nostalgia.

“What are you smiling at?” Serena asked.

Georgette walked her fingers down the rough surface of the bars to her prison. “The first night Captain Stone captured me…he offered me a choice. Spend the night in his bed, or in his cell.”

Serena blinked; her impression impassive. “And this is a good memory because…?”

Georgette chuckled, replaying the night in her mind. “I chose the cell, of course. And I didn’t sleep at all. I was next to a dying man. I can still hear his constant groans.”

Serena pulled a face. “That sounds horrible.”

Georgette smiled to herself, knowing that she must look positively unhinged. “The next morning, Captain Stone visited me. When I complained about the old man, he took his knife and killed him, right before my eyes.”

Serena’s brows lifted. Then her gaze moved to the side, and she snorted.

“Prince Edward ripped off a pirate’s arm and beat him to death with it when he threatened me.”

Georgette stepped back, shocked at the revelation. That was not the prince she knew.

“Stone destroyed his own crew for me,” she replied.

Serena shrugged. “Yes, well. You always have to win, don’t you? ”

Then her voice entered Georgette’s mind. I bet your Captain has never called out another woman’s name in bed.

Georgette gasped. “What?”

Serena’s cheeks were like hot lamps, red and bright, even in the dimly lit space.

“I really hate the fact you can read my thoughts,” she muttered.

Georgette slid to the hay strewn floor and sighed, dazed at the news.

He never courted anyone. Who could he possibly…?

Serena’s eyes flashed on Georgette, and she promptly stopped the train of thought.

Like I said, you are the favorite, Georgette. Though I cannot understand why.

“Oh, Serena…I’m sorry, I don’t know what to say.”

A rush of understanding coursed through Georgette as she looked at her twin sister in a whole new light.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Her strange behavior. The prickly attitude. The sarcastic comments, always aimed at Georgette.

If Captain Stone uttered another woman’s name, it would have been unforgivable. But if the name was a person she had to spend so much time with, it would be nothing short of torture.

Serena sniffed and looked away, but Georgette edged closer to the bars. And tilted her head. “You must know, Edward utterly adores you. He cherishes you. I’ve never seen him look at me the way he looks at you.”

She stopped to swallow the emotion rising in her. “You are, and always will be, his favorite. I don’t know why he did what he did, but it was a terrible mistake. I’m sure he’d cut out his own tongue to avoid making it again.”

Serena’s glowing eyes lit up, and a faint smile crossed her lips.

But then she shrugged it off and turned away. “We should sleep. We’ll need our strength to face whatever is coming, I sense a long journey ahead.”

Serena was right.

T hey sailed for fourteen days and nights.

The boat rocked, sometimes with great force, knocking them side to side.

Georgette rested her head against the side of the ship, squinting out of the tiny cracks between the planks above her head. Shadows and footsteps became her only source of entertainment.

No one came down to see them, except for the lanky young boy, who filled their water and tossed a stale piece of bread each morning.

If they were lucky, sometimes they got a cold bowl of fish soup. But Georgette’s excitement died at the sight of a fish head floating in the middle, its eye staring at her .

She sighed and returned to her spot, thinking about her Captain Stone.

Serena stayed quiet for most days. Even her thoughts were silent, and Georgette was unsure if she had developed the ability to block her out. Or if Serena could force her mind to stay blank.

Either way, the days rolled by like weeks. And the weeks were like months.

On the fifteenth day, the ship lurched to one side and the bowels of the ship wailed like a banshee.

Georgette jumped at the sound of Magni’s booming voice barking orders.

“Take them to the camp.”

Serena and Georgette were roughly marched off the ship, their wrists bound tightly behind their backs as the sailors prodded them forward.

Georgette thought the rope was unnecessary, they had successfully weakened her to the point that she had no desire to escape. Instead, she looked around with curiosity, rather than looking for a place to run.

The island they were taken to was a forbidding sight, composed entirely of jagged cliffs and smoldering volcanoes. The air had a bite to it, sinking into Georgette’s skin, and chilling her to the bone.

The sky was beginning to lighten with the first rays of dawn, but the oppressive atmosphere of the island made the approaching day seem ominous and foreboding rather than a fresh start.

As they trudged along the rocky path, Georgette’s stomach growled loudly, the sound betraying her despite the tension in the air.

Magni, who was leading the way, turned slightly at the sound, his eyes glinting with a mix of amusement and something else she couldn’t quite place.

He motioned to one of his men. “Make our guests some proper food. They will need it.”

Georgette blinked, her mind struggling to reconcile this gesture of hospitality with the cold, calculating demeanor Magni had displayed so far. “You’re feeding us?”

Something other than the scraps one would usually give to a mutt?

Serena’s sarcastic remark was music to Georgette’s ears.

She glanced at her sister and flashed a small grin. It was nice to have her sister’s voice in her head again.

Serena returned the smile for a splinter of a second.

Magni shrugged, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “I appreciate that our first meeting wasn’t exactly cordial, but I would have you know that I’m not a monster. You need to eat.”

Despite the confusion swirling in her mind, Georgette’s curiosity got the better of her. “Who are you, really? And what does that scorpion symbol mean?”

Magni glanced at her, a faint smile playing on his lips. “It’s an emblem of a cause far bigger than any of us. If you wear it, then you’re on the good side.”

“Good side of what?” Serena hissed; her voice laced with suspicion.

Magni’s smile widened, as if he were sharing a private joke. “You haven’t figured it out yet? We’re in the middle of a historic war spanning millennia. A war that is once again gaining momentum. It’s rather exciting, actually.”

“Exciting? You call war exciting?” Georgette couldn’t hide her revulsion.

This man was toying with them, and the more he spoke, the more she realized how little she knew about the forces at play.

They reached the camp, a hastily set up area nestled between two steep cliffs.

The air was thick with smoke, and the scent of roasting meat wafted through the camp, making Georgette’s stomach rumble again despite herself.

A wild boar was turning on a spit over an open flame, its skin crackling as the fire licked at it. The sight of it made her mouth water, but she fought to maintain her composure.

As they sat down, their hands still bound, Magni settled himself on a nearby rock and began to hum to himself. The sound was light, almost carefree, in stark contrast to the tension that hung in the air.

“Did your father ever explain why he and Isis ended their union?” Magni asked suddenly, his tone casual, as if they were discussing the weather.

Serena’s glare could have turned stone to ash, but she remained silent, her eyes boring into Magni’s as if she could force the answers out of him through sheer willpower. Georgette, however, felt a gnawing curiosity in the pit of her stomach.

“No,” she admitted, glancing between her sister and Magni. “Why did they end it?”

Magni sighed, as if the question were a burden he had to carry. “Obsession,” he said simply.

He leaned back, staring into the flames as the boar continued to roast. “Isis became consumed by the idea of resurrecting her first love, Osiris. It was all she could think about, all she cared for. But time dulls the mind, even for a goddess.”

Georgette exchanged a look with Serena, her heart quickening. “What does that mean?”

Magni’s eyes gleamed with a dangerous light as he handed them wooden plates loaded with slices of the roasted boar. But the food, which had seemed so appetizing moments ago, was forgotten in the face of the revelation he had just dropped.

“It means…” Magni’s voice dropped to a near whisper, “That she has forgotten how ruthless he was. Why he was murdered in the first place.”

A heavy silence fell over them as the implications of his words sank in.

The food sat untouched in their hands, the questions swirling in their minds too overpowering to ignore.

“Why did you bring us here?” Serena finally asked, her voice steady despite the tension in her eyes. “What do you mean to do with us? ”

Magni tilted his head, a sly smile curling his lips. “Isn’t it obvious?”

Before either sister could respond, a blinding light appeared to their left.

Georgette raised a hand to shield her eyes and thought she could just make out the outline of three personages.

She looked at Magni for an explanation.

His face was lit up with joy, the expression so sudden and genuine that it was jarring.

“Ah, I’m afraid our little talk has been cut short.” He stood up and brushed off his cloak. He turned to his men; his tone suddenly brisk. “Take them to the cells.”

Before anyone could ask questions, Serena and Georgette were frog marched by two burly men deep into the caves, then thrust into a cell.

The stone walls were cold and damp, the only light coming from the flickering torches that lined the narrow corridors.

Georgette clutched her plate of food, her appetite completely gone now as she lowered herself to the damp floor, her mind churning with questions.

“Eat up,” one of the men said with a sneer as he locked the cell door. “You’ll need to keep your strength for what’s to come.”

Another man poured water into a trough in the cell, his expression twisted into a mocking grin. “Don’t forget to drink, little piggies.”

Serena scowled but didn’t move, her eyes fixed on the men as they left the cave, their laughter echoing through the dark, empty space.

Georgette stared at her sister, too lost for words.

Who were the people who just appeared? Judging by the golden halo of light, she knew they were gods.

And Magni was delighted to see them. So, she knew that whatever was coming, it would be anything but good.