Chapter 15

Iscanned the smooth surface of the water, my gaze snaring on each ripple. My muscles tensed, stretching taut across my chest and shoulder blades, ready for anything the Blood Cay had to offer.

The birds took to the air, and the melody of wild noises reverberating through the air died to a deafening silence. My grip on the hilt of my sword tightened.

"What is it?" Rhea whispered, squeezing my forearm with urgency.

The answer to her question broke through the surface of the water, adjusting her body on a rock in a tantalizing manner. Her eyes slithered to mine, batting unusually dark lashes at me. She flipped her long golden hair over her shoulder, exposing her chest with a deadly smile.

"Sirens," Rhea mouthed, barely audible in astonishment.

"Bloody hell," I cursed as the siren flipped her aquamarine tail back and forth in a captivating motion through the water.

She licked her sun-kissed lips, opened her mouth, and started singing a song that echoed throughout the lagoon.

"Humph, you call that a song?" Rhea mocked.

"Cover your ears! Drown out her song. Don't let that sea nymph hypnotize you." My voice rang out, and my crew hurried to follow my command.

"I thought we were sea demons?" Rhea contended, arms crossed angrily over her chest.

"No, that title is for you alone." I rushed past her, heading for the ship's bow with the intention of lopping off the siren's head to stop her song once and for all.

"Kai," Rhea warned, stopping my mad murderous dash.

I froze in place as about a dozen more heads broke through the shimmering water's surface. They bobbed up and down in the water, smiling and flirting with the men. As if on cue, they all opened their mouths, mingling their songs in perfect harmony with the one perched on the rock.

The men may have had a chance against one, but a chorus of sirens singing was too powerful to drown out.

"Secure the deck!" I bellowed, snatching rope from the rigging.

The men rushed to the sides of the ship, hellbent on a suicidal leap over the edge. I grabbed anything I could—shirts, arms, hair—shoving them back with all my might, but they kept coming, lured to the depths of the sea by the singing.

Rhea screamed, sending a jolt of adrenaline down my spine. I focused on her as she attempted to block Cael from diving overboard. Cael dragged Rhea to the railing like a rag doll, her efforts no match for his determination and strength.

Rhea threw herself in front of him to block him, but he was a man possessed. I could not reach him in time, even if I tried. Desperation clawed at my throat as I shoved the rest of my men back and hopelessly watched as my friend neared his death. In a swift motion, Rhea lifted her knee, nailing him in the groin. "Sorry," she muttered apologetically.

Relief washed over me as Cael went down on his knees.

"Rat!" Rhea cried, and I followed her horror-struck gaze up to the mast.

Rat leaped off the mast, rope in hand, swinging like a marsupial as he made his way down to the water.

"The grappling hook!" I yelled to Rhea as she finished tying a rope around Cael, anchoring him in place.

Rhea's head swiveled until she spotted the grappling hook attached to a long rope. She snatched it from the deck and tossed it to me.

Rat dove for the water, releasing the rope that kept him airborne. I watched him free fall, his hands in front of him in a perfect dive formation. I slung the grappling hook, praying my aim and timing were perfect. Rat screeched when the hook scraped across his back, catching his vest. I quickly tied the rope off, leaving him dangling above the water like fish bait.

Rhea's hands flew to her mouth as she cut off a scream. Blood sprinkled on the deck, the grappling hook obviously coming in contact with more than just Rat's vest.

I rushed to Rhea's side as a few more of my men bounded to the edge. "It's better than him going in the water," I ground out as I shoved my men back.

I glanced around, ready to stop any more of them who bounded toward the railing, but none came. Rhea bent over, gasping for air.

My heart raced, and I spun around as the sound of sloshing water reached my ears, followed by a resounding thud on the deck. A siren had breached the ship's edge, dragging her body toward one of the men tied to the main mast. I rushed to his side. She screeched and slashed at me with her razor claws, but I was too quick for her. I stabbed my blade through her torso. She shrieked and sputtered as my sword anchored her to the deck, preventing her escape. She fell over dead, her head slamming against the wooden planks.

"Kai!"

The hiss of more sirens as they climbed over the edge of the ship nearly drowned Rhea's voice. I cut another one down that was closest to me and threw a dagger at another one that teetered on the railing. The blade sank deep into her chest, and her wail almost shattered my eardrums before her lifeless body fell back into the sea.

Rhea's stare caught my attention, and I lifted my eyes to meet hers. She glanced sidelong at the men who were slowly but surely breaking the ropes that bound them, then to the sirens that continued to climb up the side of the ship.

I saw it in her eyes before she started shedding her clothes and discarding them on the ship's deck.

"Rhea, no!" It was more of a plea than a command, and the anguish in my tone caught me off guard.

She glanced at me one last time with sorrow in her eyes before she plummeted over the edge of the ship. The sirens climbing up the boat abandoned their tasks and dove after Rhea into the abyss.

Rhea

My lungs feltlike they folded in on themselves as I hit the water. I kicked and fought my way back to the surface, gasping for air when my head popped above the water.

"Rhea!" My salt-stung eyes blinked a few times, trying to clear my vision as Kai's voice rang out over the water. I glanced toward the ship but saw no sirens and heard none singing. The men returned to their senses and shed the ropes tethering them to the mast. Kai hit the railing hard, and it looked like he intended to jump in after me. Fear clenched my chest but instantly released its hold when Cael tackled Kai to the deck, the two of them disappearing from sight.

I spun in the water, disturbed by the eerie silence. Where were the sirens?

Claws ripped through the skin of my ankle. As I opened my mouth to scream, a sudden force yanked me beneath the surface, forcing me to gulp down a mouthful of the briny sea. I kicked and fought against the bone-crushing grip, but two more sirens swam up, seized my arms, and forcefully pulled me deeper into the abyss, overpowering me. My lungs screamed for relief as air bubbled from my nose the deeper they dragged me.

I smiled when the familiar excruciating pain shot down my legs. My transformations were unpredictable, seemingly triggered only when I immersed myself fully in seawater. However, when I leaped off the boat, there remained the possibility that I would retain my human form—a gamble I willingly embraced.

I breathed deeply, the water finally flowing through my gills. The thick muscles in my tail ached, but my anger outweighed the pain. With a mighty swoop of my fins, I knocked the two sirens still clinging to my arms away. The water instantly turned crimson with their blood.

Two more came at me, teeth bared and claws extended, seeking my blood. Kai's words rang in my ears, and I studied their every movement. When one attacked, I saw it coming. I flipped in the water, using my tail as a weapon. As I struck her in the head, the pop of bones snapping echoed throughout the water. Her body went limp and floated lifelessly to the bottom of the lagoon.

A sinister smile brushed my lips as the other sirens paused in the water, their pupils dilated with hate as they watched me. "Not so simple when you"re pitted against one of your own kind," I spat, bracing for another attack.

"Traitor," one hissed. "You will die for this."

She struck out at me, but I easily evaded her assault, sending her spiraling through the current.

A cry ripped from my lungs as another siren snuck up behind me, slashing her nails through the delicate skin along my spine. The open wounds felt like they were on fire as the salt in the water licked them. I slammed my fins into her perfect face, blood gushing from her nose and mouth. My breath hitched when more of them ascended from the depths, surrounding me on all sides.

"Enough!" The golden-haired siren that was serenading from the rock slowly eased from the shadowy depths, stopping a few feet in front of me.

I held my head higher despite the searing pain in my back as her gaze ventured up and down my body. With a flick of her tail fin, she pushed herself closer. "Who are you?"

I returned her leer, my eyes traveling over her form. "Rhea, Princess of Aquarius."

The surrounding area echoed with gasps.

"Liar," one with dark hair retorted.

"Why would I lie?" I countered.

She swam closer to me, her eyes boring a hole in my face. "To save your skin," she mused.

"Quiet!" the blond siren thundered.

I held perfectly still, refusing to shrink back as she ran her slender fingers through my hair, her sharp nails lightly brushing across my cheek.

She released my hair, and the crimson strand floated back toward me. "She speaks the truth. I have never seen the Princess, but everyone knows only she has such attributes." She pointed to my scarlet locks floating in the water around my face and then motioned to the iridescent pink scales lining my tail.

For once, I rejoiced in my unusual coloring. I often cursed the ruby-red hair inherited from my father and my mother's lustrous coral-pink tail, but not today.

The siren paused as if still considering me. "I am Genevien, Queen of the northern sirens, and these," she swept her hand through the water, "are my people."

The darker-haired one came closer to me with a flip of her tail. "Why is a siren princess traveling with cutthroat pirates?"

"Noethia, I will ask the questions," Genevien said with an air of authority. "But I would like to know the answer to that one myself."

I watched them with careful eyes, unsure if I should tell them anything about my death quest. "The pirate captain Kai helped me get here. I hired him to help me find Medusa."

"Kai." Genevien spat his name like it left a bitter taste in her mouth. I couldn't blame her. I had a similar reaction when the sea witch told me I had to associate with him. Genevien flicked her long golden hair out of her face. "Why do you seek Medusa? It is our responsibility to keep intruders out. Even though you are a princess, I cannot let you pass."

I was afraid she was going to say that.

"It is our only chance to stop the Dark Hydra and put an end to Dark Water spreading throughout the oceans."

Noethia's stare flicked to mine, the hate finally fading from her eyes. "Dark Water is real?"

"I've seen it with my own eyes," I assured her.

The gravity of my tone made Genevien pause. Her body language indicated she was carefully considering my words. "Let them pass," she finally ordered.

"You can't be serious. Do you know what will happen to us if we let them pass?" Noethia argued.

Genevien sighed. "Do you know what will happen to us if we don't?" She paused. "Besides, I doubt very seriously that any of them will survive the encounter with Medusa."

Noethia opened her mouth like a puffer fish but then closed it when the sound of something hitting the water with a splash interrupted her.

Kai. I bit my bottom lip as the water encompassed him, and he started swimming toward me.

"Let's go," Genevien ordered, and they all dove into the shadowy depths of the deep lagoon.

Kai was on me in seconds, looping his arm under mine and dragging me to the surface. He sucked in a breath of air when his head was above water. His eyes bored into mine, but he didn't say a word as he pulled me toward the shoreline. Once we were in knee-deep water, Kai bent down and lifted me in his arms.

I hissed in pain when his arm brushed against my lacerated back. Kai's face pinched with anger as his stare swallowed me whole. His bare feet crunched through multicolored pebbles that lined the shore as he carefully sat me down on a moss-covered boulder.

He bent toward me, concern flashing across his face. My heart ground to a halt as he pressed his sizable palm against the flank of my tail, his fingertips delicately tracing my scales, igniting a tingling sensation that coursed all the way down to my fins.

"Why did you do that?" he asked barely above a whisper.

I swallowed past the emotional lump that formed in my throat. A lie was on the tip of my tongue, but that wasn't what tumbled from my lips. "I had no intention of standing by and watching my kind slaughter the crew."

Kai stood, towering over me. His blue eyes that rivaled the color of the lagoon washed over me as he gripped my chin, forcing me to meet his stare. "Don't do it again."

It was not a question but a demand. He released my chin and walked around the boulder to see the damage inflicted on my back.

I focused on the sunlight glittering across the water instead of the big, burly pirate at my backside. I flinched when his fingertips danced along the skin on my back.

"It's deep," he said.

I shrugged, a move I wished I hadn't made when the skin on my back tightened, sending a shooting pain across it. "It will heal soon enough," I said through clenched teeth.

When Kai lifted a pistol in the air, and the weapon exploded with a resounding bang, I nearly jumped from the boulder. In a matter of minutes, the boats were loaded and hit the water, heading in our direction. Kai stepped in front of me as he watched his men.

I tried to ignore the heat simmering in my belly every time my eyes brushed across Kai's physique. Water beaded from his dripping curls, splattering across his sun-kissed skin. The salty water etched a path down his muscular back until it disappeared below his drenched black pants that clung tightly to his brawny thighs.

The scrape of wood against stones broke my trance as the boats reached the shoreline. The crew piled out, grabbed supplies, and walked toward us. I was surprised they approached me at all in my siren form, but they did not hesitate.

Cael handed Kai a shirt, who, in turn, gave it to me. I quickly used the material to cover my chest.

Cael walked behind me when Kai motioned to my back with a quick jerk of his head.

"This is going to need stitches," Cael's voice rumbled from behind me.

My head jerked toward Kai. "What are stitches?"

"They have to sew the skin back together, se?orita," Rat cut in with a worried expression on his face.

"That doesn't sound pleasant." I gulped.

Something that resembled a growl left Kai's throat. "It's not."