part0024

“How is this possible?” he managed to get out. Shiny blood smoothed the surface of the ocean. The rich sweet scent of death filled his nostrils, and his inner beast pushed against his skin, trying to break free. He wanted nothing more than to drown in the Siren’s blood. “How can the Siren walk on the boat? Where did she get her legs?”

“Emma.” Wendy’s voice cracked on the name, and she had to look away. Her ankles were still in the water, her pantaloons drenched by water, salt, and blood. “If a Siren kills a witch, her power is distributed to the nearest Siren. Usually, it goes to the one who rips into her heart. Because Kelia killed the one who killed her, one of the Sirens must have found the heart after it was dropped into the ocean and eaten it.”

Drew clenched his jaw and scanned the horizon. From what he could see, there weren’t any other Sirens. That did not mean the sea witches weren’t there, lurking just beneath the surface, waiting for the opportune moment. In fact, if Drew had to hazard a guess, he would say that was exactly what he expected from the vicious creatures.

Regardless, he needed to get to Kelia.

“Drew,” Wendy said again. It was strange hearing his sister sound so broken. Wendy was one of the strongest women he knew, and yet, the way she was now, after the loss of Christopher and now Emma, she was shattered into pieces.

“What?” Drew tried to keep his voice gentle, but he could not muster the energy when his mind was focused on finding a way to ensure Kelia was all right.

“Do you think this is really worth it?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

Just as he spoke the words, he caught sight of a path to the boat. If he followed the docks and hopped from one boat to the next until he reached Kelia’s, he would reach her without touching the water. It could work.

“I cannot let you get her.”

“What?” Drew pulled his attention away from the boats and back to Wendy. “What are you talking about?”

“Kelia,” she said. “I can’t allow you to go to her.”

“I’m sorry?” Drew curled his fingers into fists. “It’s not your decision, I assure you.”

“I will not lose someone else I care about,” Wendy said. “And, I do apologize, brother, but I do not think she is worth it.”

“I disagree,” Drew said. “Do not get in my way. As much as I love you, Wendy, I will do what I must to get to her. You can either help, or you can step aside and let me go.”

“I said move .” Drew roared so loud the surface of the ocean vibrated with his voice.

Daniella stepped over to them, completely soaked from having pulled Emma’s body out of the water and moving it to the sand. Grains of sand soiled the majority of her clothes, her hair, even her face, but Daniella did not seem to care.

“What’s going on?” she asked.

“I’m on my way to get to Kelia,” Drew snapped.

“And I am not letting him do that,” Wendy finished.

“Why not?” Daniella narrowed her brown eyes at Wendy, and surprise tickled down Drew’s neck. He and Daniella had had their differences, but at least she put that aside when it was important. Perhaps, just perhaps, he had been wrong about her. “If he wants to go to Kelia, let him. We all saw what happened with Emma. And what you did to the Sirens…” She lifted her hand until it touched her neck and made a face. “Brilliant, but haunting, Wendy. I did not think you could do such a thing with your powers.”

“When you are trapped in a breeding facility with small minded men, you begin to think of different ways about how you will use your powers and cultivate them to help you with your revenge,” Wendy said. “Daniella, you are an ignorant fool and a raw witch with powers you do not understand.”

“And yet Auntie would rather take her under her wing than you,” Drew pointed out.

Wendy snorted. “Auntie is losing her own mind,” she said, dismissively. “She’s been alive for too long. She needs to realize that just because she’s the one who makes suggestions does not mean it’s the best decision. You going after Kelia is senseless. She can take care of herself.”

“You know nothing,” Drew said with a frown. “Get out of my way.”

“What’s this, Sisters?” a voice purred from the side of the boat. “Does the Wind Witch and the Shadow have a difference of opinion? Perhaps we should not take them and let them kill each other.”

“Shame,” a second one said. “I thought the Queen would pay us handsomely for the Shadow.”

“She would,” the first said. “But I would rather watch the two fight until the death.”

“What are they fighting about?” a third asked.

Drew stepped over to the side of the boat to distinguish who was talking. He still needed to find Bethany. He still needed to get to Kelia.

Was Wendy right? Could Kelia handle herself? If he let her, would that make him a fool? Or would that make him someone who believed in her capabilities, even if he wanted nothing more than to protect her at all costs.

“What says you, Shadow?” the first one asked. She had long blond hair that covered her breasts and big, wide eyes with freckles across her nose. “You have a perplexed look about you. Should we use smaller words?”

“Maybe you should shut your mouth entirely,” Drew said as casually as he could muster. He wanted nothing more than to look over at the boat Kelia was on, but he did not want to alert the Sirens that he was concerned about anything, lest he give them the upper hand. “You’re wasting precious air.”

“If you want, I can give you more of it,” Wendy said, coming to stand next to her brother. “Your companions appreciated it, to say the least.”

The Sirens growled. Their eyes flashed. Drew wanted to place a hand on his sister’s shoulder and squeeze—a gentle reminder to keep her mouth shut. However, he did not do such a thing. It would make Wendy look weak.

Still, they were surrounded by Sirens, and as powerful as Wendy and Daniella were, Emma’s loss would hurt them greatly. They needed to be smart about their next move, especially since they needed the Sirens to help bring down the Queen.

“Let us start again,” Drew said tightly. “Your kind and mine need each other.”

There was a moment of stillness before the Sirens laughed. Some threw their heads back, others slapped the surface of the water. A few smiled but did not take their eyes off of him, as though he was their next meal and they were waiting for the appropriate time to eat.

“Shadow, are you as stupid as you are handsome?” one Siren asked. She had a ring through her nose and dark curls. “We need no one.”

“The only one we choose to follow is the Queen,” another put in.

“Ha!” Wendy exclaimed. “That’s a laugh! Did you say you choose to follow her? You choose nothing, fish. You don’t even choose the color of your scales.”

“Remember Auntie’s words,” Drew said through his teeth, trying to keep his voice light but finding it extremely difficult to do so. “We need them.”

“Auntie also said she would rather take Daniella than me under her wing to teach her what it means to be a witch,” Wendy snapped, turning her head to face Drew’s profile. “Sorry, Brother, for choosing to not accept her words at face value.”

“I’m sorry,” the first Siren remarked, “are we interrupting a family squabble?"

“Where’s Bethany?” another one murmured. “Did she not retrieve the heart?”

“She would not eat it, would she?” another asked.

How could he forget about Emma’s heart?

Because she was an earth witch, Emma had the power to create life. Should she have chosen to settle down and reproduce, her fertility would have allowed her to produce lots of offspring. Consuming the vessel that kept her alive was thought to give the consumer special powers. For Sirens, it was believed to give them legs and allow them to walk on land. The only way Drew even knew this was because he overheard his aunt speaking to a client of hers long ago, when he had first been turned into a Shadow and had run from the Queen.

He refused to think more on Emma, about the fact that she was now gone. They would never have that conversation he intended to have. They would never speak again.

Drew gritted his teeth and pushed all thoughts of Emma aside. For now. He needed to focus on what was presented to him.

“I’m getting tired of waiting,” the Siren with the ring in her nose said. “The Queen wants him. Let us take him to her and reap the rewards.”

“Perhaps we shouldn’t give him to her,” another voice remarked. “What if we simply killed him?”

A ripple seemed to go out among the Sirens. Drew stilled. He had not expected them to consider killing him, not when the Queen made it clear she wanted him alive. What would be the benefit to them then? There would be no reward if he were dead.

“Mydera,” a Siren said. “What you suggest goes against our Queen’s wishes. Some might even declare it as traitorous.”

“Yet it is for the good of our Queen that I even suggest it,” she said.

Drew did not have a moment to think on the logic behind such a statement. A Siren came up behind him and slid her claws into his back. If she had been stronger, there was a good chance she would have been able to penetrate through his chest cavity and rip out his heart.

How could he let himself get so distracted? Was that not the first lesson he had taught Kelia? All the pain he forced her to endure, the cold and callus words he shot at her like bullets, and he could not even listen to himself. Drew clicked his tongue in disgust.

He dipped low so his chest touched the tops of his thighs. He twisted his shoulder and swooped his arm until his hand had a good grip on the Siren’s hair.

Drew grunted. The way he contorted his body caused the bones of his shoulders to grind together roughly. He yanked the Siren off of him. Another grunt came from his mouth as she was forced to retract her claws. A sudden desire to bite into her took control of him, but he stopped himself. The last thing he needed right now was a dose of Siren’s blood.

“Perhaps we don’t kill him,” a Siren called from the water. “We shouldn’t risk the Queen’s wrath. She wants him alive, remember? And regardless of how we feel about that, we must obey. She is our Queen, just as much as she is the Shadows. She created us just as she created them. We must adhere to her wishes even if we wish to have our fun.”

“You make an excellent point, Sister,” the one fighting him called as she righted herself. “Although I must say he looks entirely too dry for my liking. It would be best if we rectify that.”

She moved with a speed Drew did not expect and pushed him over the bannister, into the water. A sudden gust of wind caught him. Thank God for Wendy. He did not know what he would do if he fell into the water. It was night, so it was not a matter of perishing, but while Drew learned to swim long ago, he was not at his deadliest in the water. In fact, he did not remember the last time he was in it.

A screech caused Drew to shift in mid-air, trying to see what happened.

Just as quickly as Wendy was able to swoop him up in the wind, she released him, and he fell hard into the cold ocean. Something must have distracted her.

Cold water slapped his face, and he forced his eyes wide open against the stinging salt, trying to get eyes on his sister and make sure she was okay. But he couldn’t see from this vantage point.

Drew blew out a breath with his nostrils and tried to scramble up. It was difficult to get a hold of his powers underwater. It was probably the only advantage Sirens had over Shadows. He felt sluggish, like his arms and legs were anchored down, forcing him to sink deeper into the black abyss. From his current position, he could not make out the bottom of the ocean. It looked like a black pit.

He needed to get up. He needed to hit the surface. Not because he would drown—breathing was not a necessity for a Sea Shadow since life had already been taken from him—but because he needed to gather his bearings, get on solid land, and take a moment to recalibrate.

Unfortunately for him, he did not have time.

Drew let out a roar as he whipped his feet back and forth. He had to shrug off his overcoat, letting it float away from him in the surrounding darkness. It weighed him down. He kicked up again and then again. It was not much, but each kick brought him closer to the surface. Bubbles masked his vision only temporarily after emitting the frustrated sound. He moved his arms above him, scooping the water back and trying to propel himself upward. It worked, but only slightly.

His hair floated in front of him, and he snapped his head back so it would get out of his face and he would be able to see better.

Something slid across his ankle, and he jumped. A shudder ripped down his back. He was not a fan of the ocean—of being in the ocean. There were too many unknown variables, including sea animals he had never seen before who did not care what he was and wanted to eat him.

Without warning, a hand shot out and grabbed his wrist before flinging him upward. The Siren had more strength than he anticipated. In seconds, he broke the surface. He gobbled down air out of habit more than necessity and then turned, trying to find the boat. Before he could get his bearings, something caressed his ankle once more. He jumped.

A Siren emerged next to him, laughing. Her voice sounded like bells ringing. She had long red hair and pale, nearly translucent, skin.

“Are you afraid of the sea, Shadow?” she asked.

Before he could answer, the water moved behind him. He turned. Three more Sirens surrounded him, blocking every direction. The only thing he could think of doing was pushing himself downward and going under. However, considering the water was their territory, he would not get far.

“There’s nowhere left for you to go, Shadow,” one of Sirens said, coming up and snaking one hand around his neck. “You’re ours now.”

Without warning, they sunk their claws into him. One at each wrist, one at each ankle. They hoisted him up horizontally, clinging to him as though he was some kind of sacrifice.

“You’re done, Shadow,” the Siren continued. “You cannot escape, and there is no one around to help you.”