No. It couldn’t be.
The ship was large and unmistakably royal. Its sails heaved against the night’s winds, buckled in black and red. The colors of my father’s kingdom. Tensing my core and kicking my steed, I maneuvered back below the water. Back to Hylos.
I had to get him out of here. I needed to save him.
They would hurt him. Or worse.
Hylos’s position was more shallow now, as the ship’s men hauled him in. I grappled with the stubborn netting, trying again, but I was too weak. But Hylos was strong. If he was awake, he could easily break free.
That small song the monoliths showed me warbled through my mind. My song. It was how the sirens communicated. How they carried their voices. I reached for it. Tried wielding it. I tried to sing-speak as he did.
Hylos, you must wake up, you are in danger.
Nothing.
Focus. I had to focus.
I chased the words over the ridges of mountain peaks that framed my world and jutted through my mind. My song, hasty, happy, and beautiful like a woman playing the virginal too well for the comfort of others.
And from my very soul that song swelled.
Hylos, wake up!
His eyes flew open. He heard me. Thank the Holy Mother herself, he heard me! Together, we tugged at the netting, but it was useless.
He met my gaze. “Back up!”
Hylos pushed his finned palms towards the netting that separated us. Quickly I turned my mount to follow Hylos’s demand, but I wasn’t fast enough.
A deep, rumbling note ripped through the water. Hylos’s glow intensified until it blazed like a beacon. Then everything erupted.
The force hurled me far from Hylos. I clung desperately to my mount, barely keeping my seat.
Another hideous shriek tore through the depths. How were they doing it? I scanned the water, searching for Hylos’s light. At last, I spotted him. That faint, familiar blue flickering in an ocean of black.
Gripping the reins, I kicked my mount hard, slicing through the currents with desperate speed. Hylos’s glow dimmed with every heartbeat, and I knew if it vanished, he’d be lost forever.
At last, I reached him and pulled his limp body into my arms. His light was faint, his form motionless. He was completely unconscious.
With another swift kick, my steed surged forward.
Away from the ship. Away from that dreadful noise. And away from my father’s grip.
Chapter 32
We broke through the pool’s surface into Naiadon. My lungs expanded for the first time in hours as I hacked up salt water.
Hylos and I poured off my mount. My hands shook and my palms burned from pulling at that thick netting that had entangled him.
The truth was slamming into me.
Hylos was right all along.
My father knew of sirens. He could take them straight from the sea. Hewascapturing them.
Hylos shot into consciousness. His storm-blue eyes opened wide and ready. He staggered to his feet, raised his palms into the air, and let out a deep sonorous note that clattered my teeth.
Exhausted, he hunched over, his hands on his knees as he panted. “Do you believe me now?” he spat between breaths. “Or do you need more proof?”
