Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 144411 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 722(@200wpm)___ 578(@250wpm)___ 481(@300wpm)
“No,” I say softly, out loud. “Please, not him.”
“What are you doing, woman?” Aerik moans. “Talking to a fish?”
“Shut your mouth or I’ll shut it for you!” I snap at him viciously before turning back to my sister.
Please tell me father is okay, I can’t bear it, I plead.
She gives her head the subtlest shake. He died. A broken heart, some said. After losing our mother, he couldn’t stand the idea of losing you and he lost the will to live.
Oh, gods. No.
The tears are rolling down my face like a river.
So many of the Syrens are gone now, she goes on, giving my hand a faint squeeze back. We are a dying breed, Maren. We have been for a while. I shudder to think how many are left. Soon they will be less one.
No! I cry out, holding her hand to my face, her skin clammy and cold. My tears roll over it. You are not going to die. I will protect you from them. I will pick you up and take you to the water and you will be free.
But how free can I really be without my dear sister? she says sadly, giving me a soft smile. You were so reckless and selfish and brave, and I have missed you so.
“I have missed you too,” I say through a sob, ignoring Aerik’s mockery behind me. But I will free you, I promise. You will live.
I am dying, Maren. They captured me many moons ago. They’ve been slowly drinking my blood ever since. Her gaze moves to her wrist and I hold it away from my face to see a deep wound that looks like it’s been scarred over and over again.
Monsters, I growl. I will kill them all.
They are already dead, she says. I only helped them feel alive but it’s something they will never be. I may be in pain, but I will die and my pain will be over. Their pain will never be.
I don’t care about them, I care about you!
And I care about you, so much, she says. I know you have a new life here, but from the looks of it, her gaze goes briefly to Aerik, perhaps it’s not all that you were promised it would be. I am so glad to see you alive and I hope to the gods that they don’t discover what you really are.
I practically growl. Is that so? Because now I hope they do. Now I wish I had your power to rip everyone’s heads right off. Let’s see them try and take my blood.
She manages a smile, showing just a hint of translucent pointed teeth. That’s my sister. That’s my Maren. So much anger and rage for such a small creature. That’s the Syren I love so dearly.
She reaches up with her hand, pressing it against my cheek and I lean in, briefly pressing my closed mouth against hers. But instead of feeling her dry lips, there’s a faint buzz of electricity passing from her mouth to mine and I pull back to stare at her.
Perhaps a Syren’s kiss even works while she’s dying, she says.
I go still. Did my kiss give her the power to rejuvenate herself, like the elders spoke of reviving drowned sailors?
But she doesn’t seem any stronger.
If anything, I’m feeling stronger. My heart is racing fast and I feel my blood starting to boil white-hot, a not unpleasant feeling, considering.
Your rage will free you, my dear sister, she says to me faintly.
I’m contemplating what she’s said when I suddenly feel another presence in the room.
“What in damnation is going on here?”
I turn to see Ramsay standing in the doorway, staring at me aghast. I must look quite odd kneeling beside a mermaid in a tank, her hand in mine.
“Stay back!” I tell him, getting to my feet. “I can’t let you hurt her! I won’t!”
He shakes his head, utterly befuddled. “Did I not just tell you all the stories about what vicious beasts they are?”
“Vicious beasts or not, she is dying, can’t you see? How cruel of a man do you really wish to be? You want to drink her blood and torture her further?”
His dark brows come together and he walks over to me, staring down at my sister in the tank. “She’s dying,” he agrees quietly, his words little more than a noise in his throat.
“She’ll be no good to you,” I tell him. “She can’t give you what you want in this state, there’s nothing left inside her. The right thing to do would be to let her go.”
He nods slowly, running his hand over his jaw as his eyes flit over her Syren form. “You’re right, Princess.”
My heart swells with hope and I look back down at my sister adoringly.
You’re going to be okay, I assure her. He’s the captain of this ship and he might be a good man at heart.