Ashley sat at the other end of the small vessel, her hand gripping the handle of the outboard motor as they flew over the whitecaps. “Welcome back, sis. Sorry I didn’t have time to grab your hat.”
Where was Drake? The last thing she remembered was seeing him pinned to the table with a knife. No doubt he was free now. Ashley’s magic probably gave them a head start.
She struggled to sit up. Her arms were bound behind her with what felt like duct tape. Adrenaline laced her bloodstream with almost as much force as the wind whipping her hair around her face.
“Why are we out here, Ash?” Heather shouted over the roar of the engine.
Ashley choked the outboard motor, slowing the boat. “For whatever it’s worth, I tried everything I could think of to avoid this.”
“Avoid what?”
Ashley checked the horizon and then the depth-finder radar. “I think this is close enough.”
“We’re in the middle of nowhere.” Water surrounded them for miles on every side. No sign of land. Even if her hands weren’t tied behind her back, Heather wouldn’t know which way to swim if she escaped.
“No, we’re not.” She lifted her head, meeting Heather’s eyes. “We’re right where I died.”
Heather blinked, sure she misheard. “Where you what?”
“The fishing trip with Dad, remember? I fell overboard that day and hit my head on the way. If I’d been wearing the life vest, maybe things would’ve been different.” Ashley clasped her hands together in her lap. “In a few minutes, none of this will matter, so you might as well know the truth. That was the day I made a deal with Davy Jones.”
That was also the day her relationship with her twin fractured. Ashley had never been the same after their father died. Heather had always chalked it up to grief or jealousy, but she’d been wrong. Maybe it had to do with making a deal with a demon of the sea.
“You were only fifteen.” Heather had never wanted to rub her temples more in her whole life. “You’re telling me you’ve had the figurehead hidden for fifteen years without any of us finding out?”
“Not exactly.” She tucked her dark hair behind her ear. “He bonded us. I’m one with it.”
Heather shook her head. “How is that possible?”
“The Flying Dutchman is real, sis. It’s a massive ship that requires thousands of souls to power it. When I realized where I was, Dad had already jumped into the water, splashing around, searching for me. I was too young to die, so I made a deal.”
A sick pit formed in Heather’s stomach. “You traded our father’s life to save your own?”
“I was only fifteen. Dad was nearing retirement anyway. I needed more time.”
“You doomed his soul to be trapped on that ship! That’s why I never hear his voice.” Heather ached to shake her twin. Rage roared through her entire body. Ashley killed their father. Everything everyone had been saying about her sister was true. Heather twisted her hands behind her back. The tight adhesive burned her skin. She hardly noticed. “So am I next? Will my soul buy you more time?”
“I know you won’t believe me, but I did try to keep you out of this.” Ashley spoke as she removed her jacket and tied it around her waist. “That night in the Bonaventure Cemetery when I saw you with Drake, I thought maybe I could give Davy Jones a big strong man in my place. It would just be a perk that it would leave you brokenhearted. How could I have known his soul wasn’t up for grabs? Leave it to you to fall in love with an immortal guy.” She tucked her hair behind her ear, meeting Heather’s eyes. “Then I formed an entire coven of witches searching for someone strong enough to take the figurehead from me. None of them were a match, either. Then I figured it out. You’re my twin. You’re the only one who can take it back to the Flying Dutchman in my place.”
Keep her talking, angel.
It was her grandmother’s voice, followed by Ella Fitzgerald crooning “I Remember You.” Drake. He must be coming for her. She needed to buy some more time.
“If you were trying to keep me out of this, why pretend to be my friend? Why did you make up Queenie?”
“It was a joke at first. I warned you about playing those online games, and I had planned to gain your trust and hack your computer just to show you how easy it is. But”—she shrugged, tightening the knot in the jacket around her waist—“I didn’t expect to enjoy being your friend.” Her gaze locked on Heather’s. “It’s been a long time since you and I were on the same team.”
A familiar pang tugged at Heather’s heart. She loved Ashley. She always had. For years she’d wanted nothing more than her sister’s friendship.
This wasn’t it. This was manipulation.
Heather shook her head slowly, forcing rational thought to rein in her emotions. “I’ve been defending you for weeks. Even when others told me what you’d done, I believed in you. I’m through, Ash. You’ve been hurting people I care about, and you brought me out here to dump me in the ocean. We haven’t been on the ‘same team’ since we were kids.” Her eyes blurred with tears, but her voice was steady. “I was stupid to believe my sister was still inside you. She died the day you sacrificed our father to Davy Jones.”
Ashley stiffened. “Believe whatever you want. I don’t regret being Queenie.”
“If that were true, I wouldn’t be sitting in this boat, burning in the sun, with my arms taped behind my back.” Heather kept wringing her hands; her sweat was weakening the adhesive, but not fast enough. “Queenie was my only friend.”
Ashley rolled her eyes. “That’s bullshit. I was there, remember? You told me about all the Sea Dog crew, and every day that passed you were online less and less. You took our
