"Kaelan," I repeated his name softly, tasting the shape of it on my tongue, feeling how it rolled through my mouth like water over stones. His eyes flickered at the sound of his name in my voice, something raw and hungry passing across his features before he controlled it. His pale fingers pressed harder against his chest, over his heart.
"I'm Riven." The scarred one spoke next, his voice a growl wrapped in silk that seemed to vibrate through the air between us. He bared his teeth in something that was almost a smile,showing those sharp, predatory points that should have terrified me and somehow didn't. His golden eyes blazed in the fading light, fierce and hungry and somehow tender all at once, molten amber that seemed to glow from within. Scars crisscrossed his bronze skin, pale lines that spoke of battles survived, of violence endured, of a life lived hard and fierce.
"The one who caught your ribbons." He lifted the pink one slightly, pressing it briefly against his scarred cheek, his eyes falling half-closed as he breathed in its scent. Then he returned it to his chest, holding it over his heart. "I have not let it go since you gave it to me. I will not let it go. Ever."
Riven, who moved like lightning through the water, who held my pink ribbon against his chest like it was the most precious thing he owned. Riven, whose intensity made my breath catch and my pulse race, whose golden eyes seemed to see straight through me.
"Riven," I said his name, letting it roll off my tongue like a prayer. He made a low sound in his throat, almost a purr, almost a growl, something primal and pleased that vibrated across the water and seemed to resonate in my very bones. His claws extended slightly, digging into his own palm, as if the sound of his name in my voice had affected him physically.
"I'm Thane." The warm one drifted closer still, his honey-brown hair floating around his gentle features like a halo of spun gold, his amber eyes soft and bright as autumn sunlight. His smile was open, earnest, without any of the sharp edges the others carried—pure warmth and hope. He pressed one hand to the cream ribbon at his throat, his fingers stroking the soft fabric like a talisman, like something precious beyond measure. "I'm... glad you came back. Every evening, without fail, you came to the railing." His voice caught slightly, thick with emotion. "I counted the hours until sunset. I was afraid you wouldn't come. Afraid something would happen to you on that ship, and we wouldn'tbe there to stop it. I worried every moment you were out of our sight."
Thane. Sweet Thane, who waved back at me, who looked at me like I was something wonderful instead of something to be used. His voice carried such genuine warmth, such tender concern, that I felt tears prick at my eyes.
"Thane," I whispered his name like a secret, like something precious, and his smile widened, bright as the sun that was sinking behind me. His amber eyes glistened, and he pressed the ribbon tighter against his throat, as if trying to hold onto this moment.
I turned to the silver-haired one, waiting for him to introduce himself. He was watching me with those shifting blue-green eyes, his perfect features arranged in an expression I couldn't quite read. His silver hair floated around him like moonlight made tangible, drifting with each subtle current. His sharp smile had faded into something more vulnerable, more uncertain, a softness that seemed at odds with his devastating beauty. He held himself differently than the others—there was a tension in his shoulders, a tightness in his jaw that worried me.
He opened his mouth, his perfect lips parting, and I leaned forward eagerly— Nothing came out.
His jaw tightened, frustration flickering across his beautiful features like lightning across a summer sky. He tried again, his throat working, his lips forming shapes that should have been words—but there was only silence. No sound at all. Not even a whisper. His hands clenched into fists at his sides, tendons standing out against his pale skin, and I saw something like anguish flash through his blue-green eyes. He looked away, silver hair falling to hide his face.
"That's Vale." Kaelan's voice was gentle, and he reached out to touch the silver-haired one's shoulder, Vale's shoulder, in a gesture that spoke of long familiarity, of comfort offeredand received countless times before. His pale fingers squeezed briefly, reassuring, and Vale leaned slightly into the touch. "He cannot speak tonight. His voice has been... temporarily taken from him."
"Cannot speak?" I leaned further over the railing, concern flooding through me, my heart clenching at the frustration on his beautiful face. I wanted to reach down and touch him, to comfort him somehow. "What happened? Is he hurt? Is he in pain? Please, tell me what's wrong."
Vale shook his head quickly, his silver hair swirling around him like a cloud of moonlight. He pressed a hand to his throat, his long fingers splaying across his skin where his voice should have been. Then he made a gesture I didn't understand, fingers spreading wide, then closing slowly into a fist, like something being taken away, something being captured and held by another.
"He paid a price." Riven's rough voice carried an edge of something that might have been guilt, might have been admiration, might have been fierce protective anger. His golden eyes flickered to Vale with an expression of deep respect, of brotherhood forged in shared sacrifice. "For something we needed. Something important. His voice will return at moonrise tomorrow. The bargain was for two days only."
"A price?" I looked between them, confused, my brow furrowing as I tried to understand. "What kind of price takes someone's voice? Who would demand such a thing?"
The four of them exchanged glances, a silent communication that spoke of years of knowing each other, of bonds forged in depths I couldn't imagine, of trust built through centuries of swimming these waters together. Something passed between them, a decision made without words. Finally, Kaelan spoke, his dark eyes holding mine with an intensity that made my breath catch.
"There are things in the deep that trade in... unusual currencies." His voice was careful, measured, each word chosen with precision as if he were walking through dangerous waters. "A sea witch who lives in the trenches, in the places where light never reaches. She is older than the ships that sail above, older perhaps than the land itself. She has things that cannot be obtained elsewhere—potions, magics, knowledge. And she demands payment in kind."
"Vale gave up his voice for two days," Thane added softly, his amber eyes warm with something that looked like gratitude, like awe, as he glanced at the silver-haired merman. His voice was thick with emotion. "One full day of silence, from moonrise to moonrise. His voice—the most beautiful voice any of us have ever heard, given to the witch to use as she pleases." He swallowed hard. "In exchange for something we needed desperately. Something we could not obtain any other way."
"Something for you," Kaelan finished, and his voice dropped low, intimate, carrying across the water like a secret meant only for me. His dark eyes held mine, and I saw something fierce burning in their depths. "Something that will let us show you our world. Something that will let you swim with us, breathe with us, see the things we have longed to share with you."
For me.
Vale had given up his voice—Vale, who I somehow knew was meant to speak, meant to sing, meant to fill the world with sound—for something meant for me. A stranger. A human. A runaway omega hiding on a fishing boat. I stared at the silver-haired merman, at the frustration and longing written across his perfect features, at the way his hands kept moving in gestures I couldn't understand, words he couldn't speak struggling to escape. He had given up his voice for me. Had let himself be silenced for me.
"What could possibly be worth that?" I whispered, my voice barely audible above the gentle lap of waves against the hull. My throat was tight, my eyes burning. "Your voice—I don't even know what it sounds like yet, and I already know it must be beautiful. Why would you give that up? For me?"
Vale's sharp smile returned, softer now, tinged with something that looked like longing, like hope, like a thousand things he couldn't say. He raised his hand and made a gesture, pointing at me, his finger steady and certain, then sweeping his arm in a wide arc that encompassed the ocean, the sky, the depths below. Then he pressed his hand to his chest, over his heart, his fingers splaying wide, and his blue-green eyes met mine with an intensity that stole my breath.
I didn't understand the specific meaning, but I understood the intent. The emotion behind it was clear as water, bright as the setting sun. Whatever he'd traded his voice for, he thought I was worth it. He would do it again in a heartbeat.
"We wanted to show you our world," Thane spoke softly, drifting closer to the ship, his amber eyes warm with hope and longing. His honey-brown hair floated around his gentle face as he tilted his head back to look up at me. "Take you beneath the surface, let you see the things we've discovered over centuries of swimming these waters. The coral gardens and the glowing caves and the places where light bends in impossible ways." His voice caught slightly. "But humans cannot breathe underwater. Cannot survive the pressure, the cold, the depths we call home. It seemed like an impossible barrier between us."
"The potion Vale's voice purchased will change that." Kaelan continued, his dark eyes never leaving mine, his voice low and reverent as though speaking of something sacred. His pale fingers touched the pouch at his hip where he kept my pearl. "It will let you breathe water as easily as air. Swim with us. Divewith us. See the wonders we want to share with you, wonders no human has ever seen."
Breathe underwater. The words didn't make sense at first, couldn't make sense. Humans couldn't breathe underwater. It was impossible, absurd, the stuff of fairy tales and children's dreams. Then again, so were they. Four impossible creatures floating in the water before me, speaking to me, wearing my ribbons like sacred relics. If they were real, why couldn't the potion be real too?
"You want me to..." I trailed off, overwhelmed, my mind spinning with the implications. My fingers had gone numb from gripping the railing so hard. "You gave up his voice—Vale's voice—so I could swim with you?"
"We gave up far less than we would have," Kaelan's voice rang with fierce conviction, something absolute and unwavering that made my heart stutter. His pale hands clenched at his sides beneath the water, and his dark eyes blazed with an intensity that stole my breath. The blue ribbon around his wrist caught the fading light. "For you, we would give anything. Everything.”
