Despite the peaceful start to the night, Jacob didn't sleep well at all. It didn't take long before images of his home in tatters dominated his thoughts, and his dreams. He lost count of the number of times he startled himself awake, each time feeling relief that the dreams of his home being destroyed weren't real, only to remember a moment later that they very well could be real, just he wasn't there to witness it.

But being awake at night meant that he had plenty of time alone with his thoughts. And everyone knows that thinking in the middle of the night is never a good idea.

Jacob had gone through every single emotion. Despair, that his home could be in ruin, hope that maybe they would find a way home, fear that there was a good chance they wouldn't make it and that people could die, helplessness that he couldn't see a way out, determination that he would never give up, love for his family, and an overwhelming fondness for the boy in his arms.

Raephier took up a lot of Jacob's thoughts that night. It seemed somewhat cruel that this boy who had taken up home in his heart was actually his biggest mistake. In the dead of night, sleep deprived and feeling desperate, he wished that he had never bought Raephier, wished he had never laid eyes on the Siren. But then Raephier had wriggled in his sleep and pressed closer to Jacob, instantly making him regret that thought. It was selfish of him to put any of this on Raephier, he knew that. Even if they didn't have Raephier, they still wouldn't have a way of getting home. Maybe Tyler and Doug were right and the best they could hope for is that they could sneak past undetected.

But of course the crew had been told they had a new weapon to get them home, and Pete, James, Marco and Lyle would be expecting Raephier to help. But Jacob knew that wasn't going to happen. How was he supposed to break that to them? He knew that Pete and James would be disappointed, but he also knew they would understand. But what about Lyle? He already seemed to hate Raephier, so when he found out that he was effectively useless to them, would he hate him even more? Enough to maybe do something?

This time it was Jacob who felt himself pull Raephier closer.

And then of course, there was that one last thought niggling at Jacob. The one that he tried to keep pushed to the back of his mind. The one he dared not dwell on. But of course, in the middle of the night his mind was weak, and it kept creeping closer and closer into his thoughts until he could ignore it no longer. What if he could persuade Raephier to help? He would never force him, he was not that kind of man. But maybe Raephier would want to help. After all, he seemed fond of Jacob and interested in his home, so maybe he would agree to do his thing and help them get home.

Jacob nearly gave out a snort of disgust at his thought. How could he even be thinking of that? How could he ask someone to turn into a cold blooded killer just for him. Raepheir was no killer. Despite his awful life, he had still managed to maintain an air of innocence about him which was adorable, and no matter what torturous acts he'd been put through, he'd never taken a life. Jacob couldn't ask him to help. He just couldn't. Could he?

As soon as Jacob saw the first rays of sunlight peeping through the curtains, he got himself up, washed and dressed before gently rousing Raephier.

"Come on, we need to get going," he said when Raephier looked at him with sleep filled eyes.

Less than an hour later they'd been filled up by another of Barny's monster breakfasts and were saying goodbye to Sally.

Jacob didn't miss the way Sally pulled Raephier into her arms and whispered something into his ear. And he certainly didn't miss the blush that covered his cheeks at what she'd said.

As soon as they were heading back towards the ship, Jacob couldn't help but ask,

"What did Sally say to you?"

This resulted in Raephier's face turning an even darker shade of red than before and putting his face in his hands to cover it.

"Please don't make me say it," he said through his hands.

Jacob laughed. But he also felt a shred of guilt at Raephier's words. Did he really think that Jacob would 'make' him do anything?

"It's fine to keep it a secret," he said with a smile, "I was just curious, that's all."

"Isn't there a saying on land? Curiosity killed the cat?" Raephier said, shooting a quick side glance at Jacob.

Jacob, on catching Raephier's nervous smirk, felt like his heart gave an extra hard thump. He couldn't help the giant smile that threatened to split his face in two.

"Well look at you giving me sass!" he laughed, giving Raephier a light shove.

Raephier gave out a small chuckle and shoved Jacob right back. If the ship hadn't been in sight, Jacob wasn't sure what he would have done next, but he knew that his whole body was thrumming with energy, making him want to reach out and touch Raephier.

As they walked onto the ship, Jacob reached into his pocket and pulled out the key for his cabin.

"Here," he said, handing it to Raephier. "Go get yourself settled. I'll be back in a bit to introduce you to all the crew."

Raephier just stared at him with wide eyes.

"I'll be coming out?" he eventually asked.

Jacob chuckled. "Yes, the whole ship is your home now. And you can come and go from our room as you please."

Raephier just continued to stare for a moment. He swallowed hard, then nodded before making his way to Jacob's quarters without another word.

Jacob turned around to see Lyle and a few other members of his crew watching. Lyle was scowling as usual.

Jacob walked over.

"Here," he said, thrusting the bag of muntle seaweed that he'd bought from Fingers into Lyle's hand. "I'm no longer taking any, and Raephier is going to be free to walk about the ship. Take as much or as little of it as you want. There's enough there for anyone who wants any."

Then without waiting for an answer, Jacob walked away.

When he got back to his cabin, he saw Raephier perched on his bed looking anxious.

"Everything ok?" Jacob asked.

Raephier smiled, but Jacob could see that it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Are you sure about this?" Raephier asked.

"About what?" Jacob said.

"About the crew knowing about me," Raephier explained.

"Well it's a bit late to worry about that now," Jacob said with a laugh, hoping to calm Raephier's nerves.

"But what if they don't like me. What if they're scared of me?" Raephier asked, and the worry in his eyes made Jacob want to wrap him up in his arms and never let go. Instead he settled for sitting next to him on the bed, close enough that their legs were touching.

"It'll be fine," Jacobs said as soothingly as possible. "James and Pete already know you and like you, and I know that a lot of the others will like you too. And don't worry too much about Lyle. His bark is much worse than his bite."

"He bites?" Raephier asked looking concerned.

Jacob bit back his laughter.

"Sorry, that's just an expression. What I mean is that he comes across as all mean and moody, but actually he's a proper mother hen. Sorry," Jacob said on seeing Raephier frown, "mother hen is another..... I just mean he's really protective and cares about everyone, sometimes a little too much. He's just worried that's all. And I think he's got some history with Sirens that might not help. But I know Lyle, and he's loyal to me, and so he won't go against my orders."

Raephier nodded but he didn't look too convinced.

"Look, we'll just take it one day at a time, ok? And this cabin is as much yours as it is mine while you're on the ship. If you want to get away from everyone, then just come in here. Nobody will disturb you in here."

Raephier smiled. It may have only been small, but Jacob was relieved to see it looked genuine.

As soon as the ship had sailed away from the coastline and into smoother waters, Jacob took Raphier to introduce him to the crew. Of course no one but the select 4 knew what he was, so he was treated as Jacob expected, as a guest of the Captain.

It took a while, but Jacob was pleased to see Raephier relax more the longer he was out of the cabin. It helped that James had decided to take him under his wing during the times that the Captain was busy and that young Gabriel also seemed taken with him, and followed him round a bit like a puppy.

Jacob couldn't help the warmth he felt when he secretly observed Raephier interacting, and laughing and smiling with his crew mates. He felt as though he was riding high on the crest of a wave and nothing could bring him down.

But of course given their situation, he should have expected to come crashing back down soon enough.

Jacob was on his own in the navigation room when Pete came in and shut the door behind him. Jacob knew straight away that Pete had something important to say, and he braced himself to defend his decision to allow Raephier access to the ship.

"I think it's time we had a talk about the Siren," Pete said.

"He has a name," Jacob snapped back, already on the defensive.

"Hey, hey!" Pete said holding up his hands in surrender, "I know, I just thought it was easier in some way to separate the two. When he's on the ship, playing nice with the crew and being all shy an' that, then he's Raephier, but when he goes into full on kill mode, I think I'd rather think of him as somat separate, you know? So when I said I want to talk about the Siren, I meant talk about what'll happen when we get attacked."

Jacob thought through what Pete had said.

"Fair enough, I understand your point, but I'm not sure Raephier is able to separate the Siren part of himself quite so neatly. So what do you want to talk about?"

"Well, how does it all work exactly?" Pete asked. "How does a Siren actually work?"

Jacob sighed, and then explained to Pete how they sing and what effect this has on everyone who can hear it.

"Wow," Pete said, looking amazed. "But how can we make sure that we aren't affected by it?"

Jacob hadn't really thought that through. "The Muntle seaweed I guess?"

"Ok," said Pete, "so at the first sign we are about to be attacked, we all take a piece of the seaweed?"

Jacob frowned. He knew he should tell Pete the truth, but he honestly felt too ashamed to. The whole crew had put their trust in him and he had let them down. And Raephier had only just been introduced to his crew. It didn't didn't seem fair to give them reason to dislike him already.

"Yes, I suppose so," Jacob said. "But just so you know, using Raephier is a last resort. If he sings there is a chance that literally everyone on the attacking ship dies. They don't get a chance to surrender. Once he starts singing, there is nothing that can be done. So if we can fight without him, we do."

Pete looked surprised at this, but then nodded his head. "Yeah, I suppose you've got a point."

"Good," Jacob said, "now if you'll excuse me, I have something to attend to."

Jacob walked out of the navigation room and headed back to his cabin. He felt jittery and uncomfortable in his own skin. It wasn't a feeling that he was familiar with, and he hated it.

He flopped back onto his bed and covered his face with his hands.

Why couldn't he just tell Pete? He never lied to Pete. That was why they made such a good team. They could trust each other implicitly.

Jacob sighed, and made a resolution that he would tell Pete before the week was out. Afterall, he was probably doing him a favour by delaying the news. Who wanted to live with the knowledge they were heading into enemy infested waters without a plan or defence. Maybe in this case ignorance truely was bliss.