The sound of the door thumping closed seemed to echo round the room. And then there was silence.

Jacob was torn between running after Pete and James or hiding under the covers with Raephier pretending that never happened.

Getting caught in a passionate embrace was embarrassing, there was no doubt about it, but Jacob could live with that. What worried him the most was the look on Pete's face. He'd known Pete long enough to know when something was really wrong. And even though Pete had never even set foot in the cabin, the look on his face had dropped the temperature below freezing.

"Are you ok?" came a timid voice from his side.

Jacob turned to look at Reaphier. Despite his dishevelled appearance, Jacob still thought he looked beautiful.

"I'm sorry," Jacob said, "I shouldn't have done that."

"You shouldn't have kissed me?" Raephier asked. And Jacob felt his chest tighten at the worried look on Raephier's face.

Jacob was already beginning to worry about the repercussions this could have. And above all he was concerned about the repercussions it might have for Raephier.

"Yes, I really, really shouldn't have done that," he said, feeling his anger at himself start to spike. "What was I thinking?! I need to talk to them," he said, jumping up.

"Wait!" Raephier said, scrabbling off the bed to join Jacob at the door.

Jacob turned to look at Reaphier, but Raephier just stared at him with wide eyes, clearly not knowing what to say.

Jacob grabbed hold of Raephier's hand, giving it a squeeze.

"I am really sorry Raephier. I take full responsibility for what happened. I hope you can forgive me."

Then Jacob picked up his coat and left to go and speak to Pete.

Jacob suspected he knew what the problem was. After the pressure he'd been under by the crew to use Raephier as a weapon, and then to lose Marco, it looked even worse that he had now been caught being intimate with the person that he'd been protecting.

The truth was that Jacob loved every member of his crew and would do anything for them. He would never put one person above another. And the same went for Raephier. He would not sacrifice Raephier for the sake of his crew. He would gladly sacrifice himself though.

Jacob slowed to almost a complete stop when he saw the entire crew gathered on the main deck, James and Pete in the centre. He knew at that moment that this was probably even worse than he already thought.

He watched as a show of hands went into the air. He had no idea what they were voting on, but he could guess. He stared at the one man who mattered the most. Pete.

Jacob watched as Pete cast his eyes around the crew. Most of them had raised their hands, though not everyone. Slowly, Pete raised his hand too, and Jacob felt as though the wind had been knocked out of him.

He took a few breaths then strode forwards.

"So am I not even allowed to defend my actions?" he announced loudly, making every head abruptly turn his way.

He saw the guilt in his men. Only Pete and Lyle were brave enough to maintain eye contact.

"It's not forever," Pete said, stepping towards Jacob. "It's just until we can be sure that he's not affecting you in some way."

Jacob snorted. "He's not affecting me in the way you think."

"So you admit he is affecting you then," Lyle butted in.

Jacob turned to look at Lyle, trying not to glare too hard. "He's affecting me in the same way that you all do. I care about him, just as I care about all of you. Raepheir is not a weapon. I made a mistake in buying him. I'll hold my hand up to that and I'm sorry for letting you down. But every decision I have made since then is of my own free will and with everyone's best interests in mind."

"And what about Marco's best interests?" came a voice from the back.

Jacob couldn't be sure who said it, but he was sure others were thinking it too.

"I'm as upset about the loss of Marco as you are. But Raephier doesn't have anything to do with it."

"Of course he has something to do with it!" Lyle said. "We used the rest of our money to buy a weapon to get us home. Raepheir is that weapon. He's a Siren isn't he? He should be made to do his job!"

"I can't make him kill someone, and I shouldn't have to!" Jacob said, feeling his temper rise.

Pete put a hand on Jacob's shoulder. It could have been to calm him down or it could have been a warning to back away from Lyle. Jacob wasn't sure anymore.

"Let's look at this logically," Pete said. "If we assume that Jacob is right and we can't use Raepheir as a weapon, why don't we sell him and use the money to by some more armoury?"

There were some nods and murmurs of agreement going round the crew.

Jacob rolled his eyes.

"I can't sell Raephier like he's some sort of commodity. He's a person with actual feelings. I'd be no worse than those slave traders if I sold him on."

"He's not a person though is he?!" Lyle argued. "He's a Siren. He's cursed. And on top of that he's half fish! You're wrong to treat him like everyone else. He's different and he's dangerous. You should have kept him in a cage where he belongs."

"How much could we get for him?" Pete asked, before Jacob could reply to Lyle.

"Not as much as I paid for him," Jacob replied.

"How do you know? Did someone make an offer?"

Jacob wasn't sure what to say. If he told the truth would they head back to the trading port of Jachico and sell Raephier to Fingers? But if he lied and was caught out in the lie, things could get even worse.

"Yes, the guy who I bought him off made an offer. It was considerably lower than what I paid for him."

"And you turned it down?!" Lyle cried out. "Even though you knew by then that he was of no use to us?"

"Erm, I wouldn't say he was no use," Tyler said, edging forward. "He did save my life afterall."

Lyle scoffed. "I'm sure he had some ulterior motive."

"You should have taken the offer," Pete said quietly.

Jacob looked at his best friend in shock.

"You really think that?"

"Look, you know I feel the same about the slave trade as you, but this is our families we are talking about. They're dying, Jacob. And we're their only hope. I don't like the idea of selling Raephier either, but on this occasion, I think you'd have been justified in doing so."

Jacob shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but I would never agree with that."

"Then I'm sorry, but I'm going to be taking over the Captaincy. A vote has been made."

Jacob stared at the faces of his men. He couldn't believe it had come to this.

"What do you expect me to do? Leave my own ship?" Jacob said, trying his best to contain his anger.

"You'll be locked in your cabin," Pete said. "As soon as I'm satisfied that you're unaffected by the Siren, you'll be reinstated as Captain."

"And how can I prove that when you won't believe me?" Jacob asked.

"With this," Lyle said, bringing out a small brown bag that Jacob recognised.

"You want me to eat some Muntle Seaweed?" Jacob asked in disbelief.

"Yes. You'll eat a sprig of this a day until we sell the Siren."

Jacob clenched his jaw in an effort not to argue. He was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He wanted to defend Raephier and tell them that he wouldn't harm them, but he also knew that the more vocal he was with his defence, the more they'd be convinced that he was under some sort of spell.

"I'll eat it," Jacob said. "It won't make a difference but if that's what it takes, I have no problem in doing that."

"Good," Lyle said, and threw the bag to Pete. "I'll go move the Siren," he said to Pete, making Jacob's heart beat harder.

He didn't say anything until everyone had dispersed and he was left with just Pete.

"I'm begging you Pete, please don't harm him. He's done nothing wrong."

Pete looked Jacob in the eye, and Jacob felt as though he was trying to read his intentions.

"You know Lyle's bark is worse than his bite. He'll be rude to him, but he won't harm him. He shared his story with us earlier today, and it wasn't pretty. It's no wonder he can't stand the sight of him. I don't blame him."

"I'm sorry for whatever he had to go through," Jacob said, "but that wasn't Raephier. "If your brother was killed by a tiger does that mean you kill all the tigers in the jungle?"

Pete just looked back at Jacob, having no answer. Eventually he sighed.

"I'll make sure he's ok, I'll promise you that," he said.

"Thank you," Jacob said gratefully. "And just talk to him. That's how I know for sure that he wouldn't do this. I got to know him."

Pete chuckled. "That's what got you into this mess in the first place. I will be spending as little time with him as possible."

Their conversation was interrupted when Lyle and James emerged from the direction of Jacob's quarters with Raephier, his hands bound together with rope.

Jacob felt himself automatically take a step forwards, but Pete's arm was there holding him back.

"Don't!" Pete said through gritted teeth.

Jacob knew Pete was right. He couldn't react. Things could be even worse for the two of them if he showed how much this was affecting him.

As they passed, Jacob looked down at the wooden deck under his boots. He knew Raephier would be looking at him with confused, pleading eyes and he didn't know if his heart could stand it.

As soon as they had passed, Pete nudged Jacob forward in the direction of his cabin.

"Where are they taking him?" he asked Pete.

"To his cage."

The cage had long been removed from Jacob's cabin and was currently placed in the hold.

Jacob shook his head.

"Just make sure he's fed and has a blanket to keep out the cold."

"I will," Pete said. "Even if I have to sneak him food myself, I'll make sure he's not left hungry."

When they got into Jacob's cabin. Pete took his key off him.

"I'm sorry for doing this," Pete said. "I really didn't have a choice."

"You did," Jacob replied, but there was no anger in his tone. He was now resigned to his fate. "I saw you vote against me."

Pete looked momentarily surprised, and then he smiled while shaking his head.

"I should have known you'd be watching. And if you were watching you'd have seen that I was last to vote. I'd already decided to go with the majority. If most of the crew still believed you were capable of being Captain, I'd have supported them and stood in your corner. But as soon as I saw the majority had gone the other way, I knew that I needed to vote with them. If I'd gone against the majority, they may have not let me take over the Captaincy, or let me talk to you. I figured that if someone would have to take over your beloved ship, you'd want it to be me."

Jacob gave a resigned smile. Pete was right. There was no one else he'd rather Captain his ship. If it had been anyone else, he might have questioned their motive. But not Pete. He knew that Pete had never aspired to be a Captain. He always said he didn't want the pressure of being the guy in charge. Jacob needed to trust him right now.

"Fine," Jacob said. "Now leave me alone. I want to sleep." And then he threw himself down on the bed.

"Aye Aye Captain," Pete replied quietly, before leaning over and patting Jacob's shoulder. Then he walked out of the cabin and locked the door behind him.

Pete's words made Jacob give a little smile into his pillow, but it quickly faded away. Today had possibly been the worst day of Jacob's life. He'd lost a close friend and crew mate, his ship had taken extensive damage, and the battle had no doubt drawn the attention of other ships in the area so it was only a matter of time before they were spotted again. But all this seemed to pale in comparison to what else he'd lost, and Jacob wasn't sure why that was.

His bed still smelt of him.

Jacob quickly rolled over onto his back. He was tired down to his bones, but even so, he knew he wouldn't be getting any sleep tonight.

Because how could he sleep when he knew Raephier was trapped back in his cage, sleeping on the cold floor, scared and alone.