My heart slams against my ribs.No. That can’t be.
The monkey fuckingspeaks.
It crawls toward me on its front arms, eyes glinting like shards of glass, and I’m frozen—paralyzed. It jumps onto my legs, stillsubmerged in the water, and climbs slowly up my body. Its weight presses down on me, impossibly heavy for something so small. I try to breathe, but my chest is tight, locked up, like the air’s been sucked out of the world.
When it pushes onto my chest, I fall back. My shoulders hit the riverbed, the cold water closing over my skin. My face barely stays above the surface, and my breath shallows.Move. Fight. Do something.
But I can’t. My heart—is it even beating anymore?
“You want the sea, and the sea wants you,” the monkey purrs, its voice slithering out of its mouth like smoke. “Yet, when the time comes, you don’t answer the call.”
What?My mind floods with questions, panic roaring through me, but when I try to speak, the water rises, filling my mouth. It’s cold, bitter, choking me.
“Shh,” the monkey hushes, pressing its weight down harder on my chest. My lips seal shut, my eyes wide with terror. I can’t move, can’t speak. “You need to listen. I carry a message for you.”
A message? The thought barely cuts through the fear racing through me.
“The Lady is not pleased with you,” it whispers, its words crawling under my skin, into my bones. “She wants you to know that if you reject the invitation again, there will be consequences.” Its lips curl back, baring sharp little teeth. “The Lady is not patient. Oh, that she is not.”
The Lady…No. No, no, no.It can’t be real. It’s all just stories, legends, myths told to keep sailors from going mad at sea.
But as the words spill from its mouth, memories flash before my eyes—stories I’ve heard all my life, the tales Silverbeard swore were true. The ones I’ve spent years trying to forget.
I try to speak, but the water rises higher, nearly drowning me. If I open my mouth, I’ll choke.
“You understand, don’t you?” the monkey’s voice is calm and mocking. It knows exactly what it’s doing to me. “You are bound by the sea, by her will. Deny her again, and you will face her wrath. This is your only warning. There won’t be another.”
The water surges, covering my face, filling my mouth and nose. I’m drowning, sinking beneath the weight of those words. I can’t breathe, can’t think, can’t escape.This is it. This is how I die.
The monkey’s words linger. I hear them over and over again. Their message is clear.
If I offend the Lady ever again... I’ll die.
There’s no question about it.
16
Gypsy
Isuck in a deep breath, so deep my lungs feel like they’re about to burst.
But it’s not enough.
Water surrounds me, thick and suffocating, pressing in from all sides, cold as death. Panic spikes in my chest like a harpoon, digging deep and twisting. The more I fight, the more the water crushes me, like the whole sea is bearing down on my ribs, trying to squeeze the life out of me.
If I didn’t need to breathe so damn badly, I’d scream until my throat tore open. One thought pounds in my skull.
Get out.
Get out, get out, get the hell out!
I thrash, my arms and legs cutting through the water with frantic, desperate strokes. I don’t care if I’m dragging myself deeper or closer to the surface—justmove. My lungs burn. My body begs for air. Every inch of me is screaming to get free, to break the surface and suck in the sweet taste of oxygen, but I can’t. I’m trapped.
And then, like first rays of warmth on a cold night, I hear it—a voice.
“Easy, Gypsy. Easy. Slow down.”
Zayan? No. I’m imagining things. This is just my brain short-circuiting, playing tricks as I drown. But even if it’s not real, his voice is like a lifeline, pulling me back for a second, grounding me in the madness.
