Chapter 17

Chapter

Seventeen

MINKA

B reathing in the salty air, I let my leather boots sink into the sand with every step as I searched the empty beach for seashells to gift Cordelia. Theia walked at my side, her white mane flowing in the breeze freely as she twitched her wings. My thighs and ass were still sore from riding her all morning, the muscles not used to gliding through the skies on a Pegasus.

I snorted at that.

Once, that thought would've never been a possibility but Selene made the impossible, well, possible . The Pegasus snorted near the sand as a crab tried to snap at her nose, sending tiny granules into the air. Shaking out her silky mane, she snickered and trotted further down the beach.

Turquoise blue caught my eye, a cowrie shell peeking out from the sand where the crab crawled back in. Snatching it from the ground, I blew off the tiny grits of sand and held it up to the lackluster sun. Emerald blue and pearly white reflected the light, the shell's swirled design utterly beautiful. Smiling brightly, I stashed it into my pouch of shells.

Cordelia's coiled hair was always littered with the sea's gorgeous creations and I constantly wanted to find the perfect adornments for my perfect Siren. She enjoyed small trinkets, sparkly stones, and glittering seashells to keep herself close to the sea when she was away. For weeks, I'd been building up a small collection to give her after this war was over, only giving her a new shell every now and then to make her days brighter in the meantime.

Each time I looked into the sack of treasure for Cordelia, my heart soared with hope for our future. She deserved all the finery this realm had to offer but all she wanted was me.

Me.

Tiny, human Minka with no magical powers and not a cent to her name.

So I would search this realm for anything I could give her to make that gorgeous smile pull across her face. I'd do anything for her to lovingly gaze at me like I was her most prized person in this realm.

A flash caught my eye, causing me to squint as the sun reflected off of a group of empty abalone shells in the distance. Their blueish-pink centers sent light off into the misty air and my footsteps picked up the pace as I ran to get a closer look to see if they were good enough for my Cord.

Gods, they were beautiful, almost as stunning as her with their array of pinks, yellows, blues, and light greens that caught the light of day perfectly. Theia's hooves thudded heavily against the sand as she came to my side and nudged my shoulder lightly. "Beautiful, isn't it?" I asked the Pegasus who only prodded me again, more urgently that time.

Reaching into the shallow water of the tidepool, I removed one of the shells and held it up to the sun, grinning at its brilliance and the sunset pink of its center.

"Perfection," I sighed and shoved it into the pouch on my hip, right next to my favorite dagger. The seashells glittered, sunlight glowing brighter the longer I stared at the other cascades of colorful shells. The Pegasus stomped her foot impatiently and I looked up into her golden eyes. She jerked her head towards the upper part of the beach covered in driftwood and lush grass, causing me to chuckle.

"Okay, okay," I patted her snowy mane. "One second and we can go find you a snack."

I just needed one more for Cordelia, one that I could give her when she came back out. "Blue, blue, blue, where are you?" I sang under my breath, searching the wet sand for more shells that would match the shade of Cordelia's cerulean eyes.

Something wet and slippery wrapped around my wrist the further I delved into the sand, almost like a coil of seaweed but coarser. Theia's hooves pounded in the tidepool as she whinnied, trying to stomp away the disgusting sea foliage. My breathing picked up and I tried to withdraw my hand as Theia snapped her hooves like a viper but there was an iron grip holding my hand in the shallow pool of water. "What in the Gods?" I heaved as sweat beaded across my brow and alarm mixed with confusion filled every fiber of my being.

Did I get myself tangled into that seaweed or was it quicksand pulling my arm into the tiny pond of water? Either way, it had my hand caught in an iron vice with no escape.

With an irritated grunt, my heels dug into the sand as I tried to hoist myself out of the water but it was no use. It wouldn't budge and the more I fought against it, the stronger the suction became. The Pegasus' large head leaned down right over my restrained hand and bit down onto the foliage but as quickly as she bit it, it grew back. It slithered tighter and further up my arm, hoisting my body flat onto the sand as it dragged me.

Horror took over and I started to shake because it was no longer just my wrist buried beneath the surface—now the sand was up to my elbow, the wet coil pulling my wrist at an uncomfortable angle. Theia whinnied loudly before she grabbed my booted foot with her mouth and pulled , my hip popping uncomfortably.

Tendrils made of thin seaweed came up from the water, reaching out to me like phantom arms as I kept attempting to pull my hand free. With wide eyes and panic flooding my system, I grabbed my dagger with my free hand and started slashing at the tangle of seaweed that kept regenerating.

I knew it wouldn't do anything, wouldn't stop it but I would never stop fighting. "You're not going to be the one to kill me," I snarled and drove my blade into the sand, severing the connection for a brief moment before it reformed in a burst.

Bit by bit, I shredded the grass of the sea but more sprouted forward with every slice of my blade. For every one I cut, five more came back with a vengeance and snapped at my limbs as I fought in a frenzy. I couldn't hear Theia behind me, all I could feel was her pulling on my legs, my feet, trying to anchor me.

Panic turned to hysteria as I was overwhelmed by their deadly grasp and before I could cut apart another, those coils of seaweed grabbed ahold of both my shoulders. Rearing back, I sliced and sawed as those tendrils latched onto my neck and tugged me closer to the water's edge. The seaweed lashed out, hitting my dagger from my hand and it went flying, landing silently in the sand, just inches away from reach.

The coils went up my neck, their stringy and slimy tendrils making my skin itch and burn. All of my upper body was encased and my fingers clawed against the confines, trying to grasp onto anything solid as I was pulled into the bone-chilling tide pool.

The moment that dark water encased me, my hand was released and both of my arms were thrown out behind me. Theia's cries were muffled by the bleakness as an all-consuming silence enveloped me. Pushing with my aching legs, I tried to swim upwards in the thick water to grip onto anything.

Whatever that thing was now held onto my feet as I kicked and pushed against its suffocating grip. My screams didn't echo through the tide pool as I cried out for help.

Down and down and down I was dragged into the seemingly endless depths of the tide pool until all light in existence winked out. My head thrashed as I fought and tried to hold onto anything that would give me leverage. But I couldn't see anything. Couldn't feel anything but the coldness seeping into my bones, into my soul as my eyes burned from the salt water.

There was no use in trying to see, though. I couldn't even make out the pale of my shaking hands in front of me or the bubbles that left my mouth from my soundless screaming before. It was a pure black, endless void. So silent, yet loud from the roaring in my ears.

The calm that once encased me while holding that shell had disappeared, along with the calmness in my bones, and now all I felt was dread and fear and panic. Pure trepidation sunk into my chest and stole the last breath that I was attempting to keep within my lungs.

I was going to die at the hands of this, this beast, or whatever the fuck it was.

A Godsdamned seaweed monster was going to be the end of me and there was no escape in sight, but I wouldn't stop.

I would never stop.

Curling back my upper lip, I thrashed back and forth, trying to get the monster to release its bruising grip on my leg.

I wouldn't give this vile creature the satisfaction of my death, I wouldn't give it what it wanted—and based on the way its disgusting coils wrapped tightly around my leg, it clearly wanted me. Kicking harshly again, one of the tendrils came loose on my foot. I came in contact with a hard body made of pure muscle and mass, too large to be human or fae. Its skin was so slimy that my booted foot slipped off of its form before scummy tendrils encased both of my legs again, cocooning them and causing me to panic further.

My head became lighter by the second and I could've sworn I was floating if it wasn't for those vicious talons wrapped around my ankle, cutting into the bone, and taking me further into the abyss. I was losing oxygen and blood and my fucking mind in this numbingly cold water. My teeth chattered and my arms shook as I flailed around and tried to reach anything to grab a hold of but my movements became slower, more subdued like the fight was leaving my body by the second. Light flooded my vision as my erratic heartbeat slowed into a lulling tempo.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

The light dissipated, tiny black dots taking over my vision as that same soothing pace flooded my eardrums. My rigid shoulders slumped as my body went lax and my eyelids completely shut, closing out the world before all I could feel was calming, comforting darkness.

"One! Two! Three!" a clamorous voice shouted as piercing pressure jolted onto my chest. "One! Two! Three!" My throat burned and ached, along with my lungs before I rolled over onto the sand and spit up blood and salt water. Strong, large hands rubbed at my back while patting it lightly as I threw up stomach bile and more of the Circadian Sea that my lungs were holding captive.

"You're okay," the stranger said as my body continued to shake, goosebumps breaking out across my skin. His calloused palm touched the back of my neck gently and my immediate reaction was to swat it away from me or even bite it. I didn't know who this stranger was but I knew he was a male and I wanted distance and I wanted it now .

"You're safe," he spoke out again, but I didn't feel safe. I didn't feel okay at all.

Where was Cordelia?

Where was Theia?

Where the fuck was I ?

Warmth seeped through my soaked tunic as he kept one hand anchored to the back of my neck while the other patted my back. I tried to roll away again but my limbs wouldn't let me do anything besides cough up blood and more salty spit. "I need..." I rasped out but couldn't get the words past my cracked lips and the burning in my throat. "I... I..."

More heat radiated through me as the stranger moved his palm until it lightly rested in between my shoulder blades. My shaking ceased as that warmth encased me in calmness, love, and tranquility. The soothing liquid of relief moved through my veins, my mind slowing its rapid pace. My breathing became easier as that hand pressed further into my spine. Closing my burning eyes against the now blistering sunlight, I sunk into the sand's warm embrace and took a long, deep breath.

"Cordelia," my voice still shook but was slightly steadier this time. The hand never left my back, just kept soothing my aching soul with its pressure as I whispered, "Cordelia."

"Not Cordelia, but I will not harm you," the voice was deep and filled with mirth and usually would've sent me running towards the hills from the pure masculinity in it. But I felt peaceful at that moment, like something had taken over my body and the emotions within it. "You are okay," he kept repeating. "You are safe and must stay calm. Kelpies thrive off of your fear and chaos. Your panic was potent, making those beasts stronger with the emotions emitting from you."

Kelpies.

My eyes scrunched as pain lit up my lacerated ankle from their talons dragging me down into the tidepool. The tempo of my heart picked up again, coldness seeping in along with the reality that I had almost died.

Fuck.

"You're okay," the stranger soothed again, warmth blotting out the chill moving through my body. Taking another deep breath, I cracked open my eyes, and through blurry vision, I could make out a large High Fae male with dark brown skin. Crowsfeet lined his earth-colored eyes that gazed down at me with a concerned look echoing in the irises. His black hair was cut unevenly short along his arched ears, like someone had hacked at it with a rusty knife rather than properly shearing it.

Fear ratcheted through my system at his closeness but quickly came to an abrupt stop as that similar warmth moved through me once more. He wore soft linen pants with a stained white tunic that was drenched in seawater and my blood. "You're okay," he said again and against my baser instincts, I believed him.

The sloshing sound of water came from the distance along with heavy footsteps in the sand, bounding towards my form. Next was the pounding of hooves against the sand. But even with those alarming sounds, I couldn't stop studying the male who still had his hand on me until a gasp sounded from behind him.

My eyes moved towards a nude Cordelia, who fell onto her knees and snatched me into her awaiting arms and sobbed as she held me. "I'm so sorry." Theia stood behind my protective Siren, her head drawn down at the sand. She was disappointed, but not in me… in herself for not being able to stop the kelpie's call. The Pegasus had tried, she had pushed me away from the tidepool, tried to steer me away, but the call was too strong, too enamoring.

"I'll never leave again," Cordelia held onto me tighter, her body shaking more than my own. "I'm sorry, treasure."

She grabbed my shoulders next, pulling my body away from hers as she searched with her deep blue eyes for any lingering injuries on my body. I was sopping wet and covered in blood, sand, and saliva but the worry and care painted across her alluring face had my heart reeling.

Had me facing the blunt truth before my eyes. That it wasn't just the kelpie's call.

It was me .

I was so stupid and reckless, too consumed with my thoughts of her that I was almost killed by a creature she had warned me to steer clear of. She distinctly warned me to avoid the tidepools but in my haze, I disregarded her warning. My fear had been misplaced. Anxiety kept me up with the fear of what could happen to my loved ones, but never with what could happen to me .

I kept living for the now and not the future because I wasn't fearful of my death—but maybe I needed to be.

If not for me, then for Cordelia.

Because our love may have been infinite, but our lives were not.

My Siren let out a breath of relief when she found only the lacerations on my ankles from the beast's grip and no other lingering injuries. I wasn't invincible, even though Selene called me the Angel of Death. I was still a mortal, just a freaking human who could be killed within the blink of an eye, and Cordelia could clearly see that.

"Kelpies," the male stated but my sweet Siren didn't look his way. Theia moved closer to his side, her nostrils flaring as she sniffed his soiled tunic. "Usually they go after children, smaller fae, or animals. Easier, smaller targets—but it seems they've gotten more desperate for any prey over the past few months."

Cordelia ignored him and plastered kisses onto the top of my soaked hair as she sighed, "The tidepools." Cordelia lightly rested her hand on my chin and had me look into her guilty eyes. "I should've known better. I should've known they would've lured you, even with my warning. Gods, Minka, I am so fucking sorry that this happened."

My hands began shaking once more as I brought one to Cordelia's bare shoulder. "I'm okay now," I flicked my gaze to the High Fae watching us as he stood from the sand and brushed it off of his knees. The Pegasus gave him a wide berth but still studied him with curiosity as I said, "I think he pulled me out."

His body stiffened at my acknowledgement and I could see fear lining his brown eyes despite the kelpies being back within their home. His jaw ticked as he gulped while Cordelia swung her head to fully see the male that saved my life. From my angle, I could make out the side of her face and how her eyes went wide in surprise as she gasped once more in disbelief. "King Lennox."