Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 106107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 106107 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 531(@200wpm)___ 424(@250wpm)___ 354(@300wpm)
Nill, I think to myself, opening my eyes to the dark seas. When we left Limonos, Maren’s shark, Nill, stayed behind to wait for her. He was never my shark, but he was part of the family, and it hurt to leave him behind, even though he insisted.
But Limonos was in a whole other ocean, one where icebergs didn’t exist, where the water was warm and full of bright coral and colorful fish. That’s where Nill belonged, not here in the icy darkness of the southern seas.
The rudder, the voice says. I see something attached to the rudder.
I strain my eyes, trying to see through the murky water constantly churned up by the swells and currents. Someone is talking; I know I can hear them. Perhaps another shark?
This time, I am asking for food.
Hello! I yell. Is anyone out there?
Oh my Lord, I hear another voice say in awe.
But this time, the voice isn’t just familiar.
It’s the voice of my heart.
The missing piece of my soul I’ve been looking for most of my life.
Maren! I yell.
Larimar! I hear her reply.
It can’t be. It can’t. I keep staring into the sea, expecting to be hallucinating, hearing things. It can’t be her or Nill—they both can’t possibly be here. Nill is a stretch, but Maren is an impossibility. She traded her fins for legs! It’s not possible for her to be a Syren again.
And yet, it was possible for me.
My heart clenches into a tight little fist, holding out all hope.
Maren, I’m here! I cry out.
And for the first time on my own, I pray. Oh God, if you exist as Priest thinks you do, please, please, please.
Let this be her.
There’s silence for a moment, and then suddenly, out of the murky waters, two shapes appear, swimming toward me.
One is a shark.
One is a woman in a dress, tattered at the end with a tail sticking out, pumping up and down furiously as she propels herself forward.
Details appear slowly and then all at once.
The red of her dress, standing out like a bloodstain against the deep.
Then, flowing black hair.
A teal-and-purple tail.
Her bright blue eyes.
Her wide, heartbreaking smile.
She’s so much older than I remember, not the girl I imagined in my head, but that doesn’t make her any less beautiful or any less her.
Maren.
I know I told Priest Syrens don’t cry underwater, but I feel the tears spill from my eyes anyway, carried off into the currents.
Larimar! she cries out. She swims right up to me and keeps pace with the ship, her hand on my cheek, marveling at my face while Nill circles around us, excitedly waving his tail back and forth. I can’t believe it’s you. I can’t believe we found you.
You were looking for me? I ask in surprise. I’ve been looking for you since the day you left. All this time, all those years, I’ve been looking for you. I try to swallow the lump in my throat. Asherah too.
I know, she says, but before I can ask how she could, she gives her head a shake, her expression pained, though her smile is soft. We have so much to talk about.
But how did you find me?
She nods at Nill. He helped.
How did you find Nill? You were gone for so long; how do you even have a tail again?
Magic, she says with a knowing grin. Come on, let’s get you free.
How? I ask as she starts swimming along the chains, running her hands over them, her red dress swirling around her. Your claws can’t break through. I don’t think Nill’s bite could do it either.
I could try, Nill says. But I think there is a better solution.
He’s on the other side of what he called the rudder, nosing a part of the chain. I can’t twist my head back enough to look.
I can pick this lock, Maren says determinedly. Nill, I need one of your teeth.
Happy to provide.
I can’t see it happen, but I hear Nill give a small noise of discomfort and then Maren apologizes to him, having pulled a tooth from his mouth.
Won’t be much longer, Maren says as I hear the tooth scraping against metal.
Where did you learn to pick locks? I ask her. Would have been helpful to know when I was captured by Priest. Then again, if I had escaped the first chance I had, I would have never known what it was like to give myself over to someone like him. I never would have experienced those blissful highs.
Never would have experienced those terrible lows.
I’ve learned a lot over the years, she says. But my husband taught me, amongst other things.
I stiffen. The prince? I heard you married a prince. That’s why you made the deal with the witch.
I did marry the prince, she says, her voice hard. But I left him…in pieces.