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person who draws up lists of ‘pros’ and ‘cons’ before making a decision. I feel it in my gut. And right now, my gut is telling me to stay here with Kally and the others.”
    “You can’t do this!” At last, Jez was able to string a sentence together. “Connor’s right—your whole life has been geared toward your becoming a pirate. Eight— eightyears —ago, we joined The Diablo . Are you going to throw all that away because of Miss Wonderwheels and a gut instinct?”
    Bart gave Jez a dark look. “Don’t call her that,” he said. “And don’t think for a moment that this was an easy decision. We’ve been talking about it all day. If I could split myself in two, I’d be a happy man. One Bart could go back with you to TheDiablo . The other could stay here and help out Kally and Flynn.”
    “Help out?” Jez was incredulous. “What do you mean , help out?”
    “Flynn’s getting old,” said Bart. “He’s done an amazing job looking after the fishtails, but every day he’s losing strength. There’s only so long he can go on as captain of The Lorelei . And, as independent as the fishtailsare, they need someone to assist them. They can’t survive on their own.”
    “Wow!” said Jez, shaking his head. “She’s certainly worked her sorcery on you!”
    “Sorcery?”
    “How else do you explain it? You stepped onto this ship not twenty-four hours ago as a rational pirate, and suddenly you’re ready to give everything up for her!”
    “It’s not just about Kally.”
    “Come on, Bart,” said Jez. “I’ve known you way too long for you to pretend this is about a higher purpose. We all know you go weak in the presence of beauty. And Kally is beautiful. There’s no doubt about that.” He shook his head once more. “But she’s a beautiful mermaid .”
    “They’re fishtails ,” said Bart, surprisinglycalmly.
    “Call them what you want,” said Jez, “fishtails…kulullu…naiad…nixes.…It doesn’t matter what you call them. It all comes down to the same thing. They’re half human and half fish, and they lure sailors to their deaths.”
    “Even if that was true,” said Bart, “she isn’t luring me to my death. I’m not talking about dying . I’m talking about living —here,on The Lorelei .”
    Jez shrugged. “That isn’t a life. Not for you. It’s a living death.”
    As the pirates’ words grew louder and more heated, Connor noticed that the fishtails had stopped what they were doing and wheeled their chairs along the deck. Suddenly, they were all around them. He exchanged an uneasy glance with João.
    Bart and Jezstood in deadlock, their words and emotions spent.
    Suddenly, Jez realized that he was surrounded. He looked around in anger. “Bloody mermaids!” he cried, pushing through the wheelchairs and marching angrily to the other end of the deck.
    Kally wheeled over to Bart. He looked at her sadly, then back toward Jez.
    “He’ll come around,” she said, squeezinghis hand. “He just needs some time to warm to the idea. I promise, by the time we get to Calle del Marinero tomorrow, he’ll have changed his mind. You’ll see.”
    Connor looked along the deck. Jez was right up by the bow. He could go no farther without jumping overboard. And, in the middle of the open ocean, that wouldn’t be a smart option.
    Connor glanced back atBart. Could this really be the end of the Three Buccaneers? It might feel right in Bart’s gut, but Connor’s gut told another story. Something was wrong on The Lorelei .
    Once more, he saw Grace’s face. He heard her warning. Danger. Underwater. Well, now he knew what that meant, didn’t he? The danger was Kally and the others. They had lured Bart away from his friends, awayfrom his pirate family. Connor didn’t want to be forced into choosing sides, but he had to go and comfort Jez.
    Bart had Kally now. Jez was on his own.

Chapter Eight
The Shark
    Two hundred fathoms below the surface of the ocean, Sidorio—the renegade