Riven rose to meet them.
The first man to hit the water was a beta I didn't recognize—some deck hand, nobody important. Riven's claws found histhroat before he'd even registered the cold of the ocean, tearing through flesh and cartilage with a wet, satisfying sound. Blood bloomed in the water, dark and warm, and the man's eyes went wide with confused terror for just a moment before the light left them entirely.
More splashes. More bodies hitting the water.
I kept singing, my voice never wavering, drawing them out one by one while Riven worked below. He was efficient but not rushed—each kill precise, each death earned. A beta who hit the water thrashing was grabbed by the ankle and dragged down, down, down until the pressure made his eyes bulge and his lungs collapse. An alpha who tried to fight found his arms removed at the shoulders before Riven opened his belly and let the sea do the rest.
Then Brennan appeared at the railing.
The old beta's weathered face was slack with enchantment, but even through the magic, I could see the permanent disapproval etched into his features. The man who had grunted orders at Lily, who had assigned her the worst tasks, who had looked at her like she was something scraped off the bottom of his boot.
He stepped off the railing and plummeted into the dark water.
Riven caught him before he could sink, claws hooking into his shoulders, holding him suspended just below the surface. The enchantment shattered on impact with the cold, and Brennan's eyes cleared—cleared and filled with pure, animal terror as he realized what had him.
"There was a girl on this ship," Riven said, his voice a low growl that vibrated through the water. "Quiet. Worked hard. Kept her head down."
Brennan thrashed, trying to break free, but Riven's grip was iron. Water flooded the man's mouth when he tried to scream.
"You made her scrub decks until her hands bled," Riven continued, almost conversational. "Gave her the jobs no one else wanted. Looked at her like she was worthless." His claws dug deeper, drawing ribbons of blood that swirled away into the darkness. "She wasn't worthless. She wasours."
He pulled Brennan deeper, letting the pressure build, letting the old man feel his lungs compress, his ears rupture, his eyes strain against their sockets. Brennan's mouth opened in a silent scream, bubbles streaming upward like escaping souls.
Riven held him there, watching, until the thrashing stopped. Then he let go, and Brennan's body drifted down into the abyss, just another piece of debris sinking toward the bottom of the world.
I kept singing. More sailors came. More sailors died.
Decker was next.
I'd been waiting for him. The lean man with the scarred lip, the one who had made tormenting Lily into a personal hobby. The fish guts by her hammock. The deliberately missed meals. The whispers of‘cursed’and‘bad luck’that had followed her like a shadow.
He climbed onto the railing with the same sneer he probably wore when he kicked over her water cup, and he stepped off with the same casual cruelty he'd shown in every interaction with her.
I stopped singing.
Let him wake up. Let him understand.
Just after he jumped, I stopped singing and Decker’s eyes widened with understanding before he even hit the cold water. He saw me first—silver hair floating around my face like a halo, sharp teeth bared in something that wasn't quite a smile.
"Hello, Decker," I said, my voice carrying that melodic quality that made humans shiver even when I wasn't using power. "Do you remember a girl named Lily?"
He tried to swim, tried to flee, but Riven was already there, circling behind him, crimson tail cutting through the water like a blade. Trapped between two predators, Decker's cruel confidence crumbled into something small and pathetic.
"Please," he gasped, water sloshing into his mouth. "Please, I don't—I didn't?—"
"Didn't what?" Riven's voice was silk wrapped around a razor. "Didn't dump fish guts by her bed so she'd wake up choking on the stench? Didn'tforgetto tell her about meal times so she'd go hungry? Didn't tell everyone she was cursed because she was on the ship?"
Decker's face went white. "She—she told you?—"
"She told us everything." I swam closer, close enough to see the individual hairs of his pathetic beard, close enough to smell the fear-sweat mixing with seawater on his skin. "Every petty cruelty. Every small torment. She has nightmares about you, did you know that? Wakes up shaking because she can still hear you calling her worthless."
"I'm sorry!" The words came out in a high, desperate whine. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—please, I'll do anything?—"
"Yes," Riven said, and his claws sank into Decker's shoulders, punching through muscle and scraping against bone. Decker screamed, water flooding his mouth, cutting the sound short. "You will."
He dragged Decker down slowly, letting him feel every inch of descent, letting the pressure build gradually. I followed, watching, savoring. Decker's eyes bulged. His eardrums burst, sending twin streams of blood spiraling through the water. His lungs compressed, and I could see the exact moment he realized he was going to die—the moment hope left his eyes and pure, animal panic took its place.
Riven didn't give him the mercy of a quick death. He held him there, suspended in the crushing dark, and hewaited.Waited while Decker's body convulsed. Waited while his mouth gaped open in soundless screams. Waited while the life drained out of him one agonizing second at a time.
