The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (boyxboy)

CHAPTER 8

He turns his icy glare on Az and stalks his way, reaches to grab both of Az's wrists and tugs them away from his ears.

"Don't be rude, Azaziah. Pay attention."

The words do register somewhere in his mind, but the sirens' singing hits him hard and fast — nothing like the gentle crescendo from before. And the tension floods from his body in an instant. He relaxes in Slade's bruising grip, head turning to look out to the sea where the sirens wait such a short distance away.

"Well?" Slade spits, drawing him back to reality with a shake. "Any bright ideas?"

"I..."

The sirens call, pulling his gaze back to the ocean once more. Their voices — soothing, warm, beautiful. And their magic, intoxicating like the sweetest of wines to a man dying of thirst.

"We have to..."

He trails off. He can't concentrate. He should concentrate, but-

He has to...

"...get in the water."

Disgust twists Slade's features, etching itself into his every pore. He scoffs, rolls his eyes, and slaps Az's hands back over his ears. An abrupt, very physical pain lances through his chest.

"Which one of you miserable rats didn't give him any wax?"

"No, wait!" Az yelps, tempted to reach and tug on Slade's arm to avoid upsetting anyone. "I'm serious. They'll only come closer if we bait them. They eat humans, right?"

He doesn't realise the logic in his statement until after he says it, because it makes Slade's eyes light up and his mouth widen into an infamous grin which is all teeth. A second too late, he clicks on to what Slade is actually thinking.

"Wait–"

Slade seizes his arm, catching him just above the elbow before he can scurry away. He is pulled to the side of the ship as the crew starts to encircle them. Why did he have to open his mouth again?

"Azaziah, your genius never fails to impress me," the captain rambles, seemingly not feeling Az's desperate pulling. "If they eat you, I'll certainly miss your innovative ideas if nothing else."

"I never said I was going to be the bait!" Az hisses.

"It is your theory, Azaziah, it's only fair you test it out for yourself. Now, up you go."

Az can't disobey him. He can't. Which is why, with his entire body trembling and his gut churning and twisting, he clambers up onto the railing, straining to keep his hands over his ears. On numb legs, he wonders if telling Slade he can't swim will save him the watery grave that awaits.

"Try not to look so worried," Slade offers with a laugh. "Here's a promise: if you make it back without a single scratch on you, you're free to go at the next port."

And before Az can even frown or think on that at all, Slade shoves him.

As the air burns his skin and screams past his ear, Az suddenly thinks of Ginger. How Slade had done this very same thing to the man. He'd lost weeks of sleep to thoughts of what it must be like to die that way. Trying to swim but unable, clawing for air that can't be reached. It must have been scary. It must have hurt.

He hits the water, so much warmer than he'd expected. It twists up over his head before he can properly suck in a breath, sucking him farther down and muffling his senses, stinging his eyes as it closes in and crushes. In that moment he forgets about the sirens, because he's not sure he can hear anything over the whooshing in his ears, and it's far too dark to see anything.