I lowered myself in front of the gate, sitting cross-legged on the ground and letting the silence linger between us for a while. I imagined my presence still wasn’t something Lyla enjoyed. I didn’t much like her company, either, but I forced myself to learn it. I wanted nothing more than to understand.
“Our sister gave me this,” I said, dragging my finger along the raised scar that stretched across my throat. “For getting our mother killed. So, you see, you’re not the first sister of mine to attempt to kill me. You’re not even the second. Mother visited Akareth many times, each time losing more of herself to him. But she fought him. He told me as much when I slept. She tried to pull away from him and… it made him enjoy her that much more. The Reyna I knew was a vicious, heartless creature. I did not know if she loved me most days. I wasn’t sure she was capable. I do not wish that to be me. I thought of myself being that hollow for a time. I found myself begging for death.”
I rolled onto my knees, inching closer to the bars. “You have known only darkness and pain. Akareth did everything to make sure you knew nothing else because if you had, you would have had something to fight for. Like I do. There was so little room in my heart for anything but hate before I recognized Vidar for what he was. He was the thing that kept me alive, even before we found each other again. My need for vengeance drove me to him and my need for more than that has kept us together. There are few people in this world who truly know me. The ones that do, I will do anything for. You understand fear and pain, but never have you known fear of losing the ones you care about. It is the rawest and yet most wonderful feeling there is to know something is that dear to your heart.”
I raised my hand, wrapping my fingers around the cold bars. “Lyla, without Akareth, we’re all free. Free to choose. Free to live. I know it is what you want. You are not just a thing to be used and broken and bent. You are…” I took a breath, chewing on my words for a moment. Staring into that cell, into the eyes of a Kroan who was so much like me and yet could not be more different, made my heart feel painfully exposed. “Lyla, you are my sister,” I whispered. I took another breath, my fingers tightening around the iron. “I am going to kill him. I don’t know how, but I will. And when he is gone, perhaps I will learn who you really are. Perhaps you will, too.”
We are born on a sunset
Counting the moments before darkness comes
~Lilly Henry
I could smell Thorps from offshore as the wind blew across the crowded port. Even since our last visit, more ships bordered the lawless town. Pirates. Fishermen. Even a few merchant ships had anchored nearby, unwilling to risk the unruly oceans to bring their cargo safely to a distant port. Which meant Thorps was uncharacteristically rich at the moment.
I stood on the deck staring toward the shore where smoke from taverns rose up into the thick clouds. Meridan stood on my left and Aeris on my right, watching as the last boat rowed to shore for supplies. The ship fell silent, her body creaking with every soft sway of the ocean’s current. I never appreciated her strength before when Vidar was a hunter, and my ears had been filled with horrifying stories of the Burning Rose and her extensive body count. Now, I was realizing how many times her thick hull and swift sails had saved all our lives.
I never thought I could appreciate a ship, but I did.
“I hate it here,” Meridan said, crossing her arms. “Smells.”
“Yes, but I would rather deal with degenerate pirates than what we found in Dornwich.”
“Do you need to feed again?”
I shook my head. “Vidar knows our needs. He will fill the galley with as much meat as he is able. I don’t want to risk a hunt, no matter how intoxicated the local population is.”
“You trulyneedto feed on humans?” Aeris asked.
Both Meridan and I turned to look at her.
“From the mouth of a siren who’s never tasted one,” Meridan said.
“I have tasted humans. I have tasted Nazario.”
“Have you?” I quirked a brow.
“A small taste,” she said softly. “Only of his blood. Nothing like what you did to Vidar’s fingers.”
“And?”
“And… it was simple. I enjoyed his taste because I enjoy him. I have never felt an urge for more. I have tasted other men and every one has left me feeling ill.”
“Can you sense them?” Meridan asked. “The way you feel emotions, I mean. Can you feel that through someone’s blood?”
“Not really, but I’ve certainly wanted to retch at the taste of anyone other than Nazario.”
I sighed. “It doesn’t matter, I suppose. We won’t be feeding on anyone for some time. If we make it out of this alive, everything will change.”
“You really think there could be peace between sirens and humans someday?” Meridan asked.
“Someday, maybe. I doubt it will be in our lifetime, but what we’re doing will alter the entire ocean. I pray it will be for the best.”
“No matter what, it will be best for you. I believe that. For whatever reason, Akareth obsesses over you. I want nothing more than to end that.”
I bit my lip, faint images of my pregnant mother muttering to herself in the dark ghosting through my thoughts.
“Akareth claims the children of sirens from time to time,” I said. “We all know that. I believe he claimed my mother’s final offspring, not knowing she was to have twins. He took Lyla before realizing Reyna was giving birth to a second daughter. When he found out about me, I was grown.”
