“I was just trying to help,” I said. “Silas is in trouble. He needs your help. Is there someone I can barter with for assistance? I don’t even know where we are, or—”
“You will use this on Silas,” the mermaid said. “Only Silas. The call of our blood is strong. Do not let it lead you astray.”
“Never,” I said. “I only want Silas to live. I need him to live. You need him to live, too, because he’s the only one keeping this preserve alive and well.”
She nodded, her silvery hair cascading over her back like a waterfall. Then she reached into the water, took a jagged rock, and dragged it across her wrist. Blood the color of rubies poured from her arm.
She lifted a seashell from the water, let her blood trickle into it. Then she passed the shell along to me.
“She’s right. My sister knew it,” the mermaid said. “You have returned.”
“Me?” I asked. “What do you mean?”
“Hurry, for Silas’s time grows short,” she urged, and then she was gone—slid into the water and vanished like a mirage.
I raced back to Silas, found him right where I left him. As I knelt by his side, I felt it—the gentle pull of the mermaid blood. A lustful sense of betrayal, a cry from the depths of my soul. Those black parts of everyone that we tried to keep hidden.
Drink me, the blood whispered.I shall give you power.
I can be yours, and nobody will ever know.
I gently angled Silas’s mouth, then I lifted the shell and let the blood roll into his mouth.
“Please,” I said, dropping the shell next to me. “Please, Silas. Wake up.”
I moved his head into my lap, wondering what the mermaid had meant.
You have returned.
It was a similar sentiment as the words in the sky the other night outside of Lily’s bungalow. Except those words had been full of terror. The mermaid’s had been full of awe.
For what, I was still clueless.
Silas’s wound started mending itself in minutes. Apparently the rumors were true—mermaid blood was downright miraculous. I thought of the siren, of her teeth, of the way the mermaid had spoken of her fallen sister—likewhat had befallen her was the ultimate tragedy, a fate worse than death.
I considered the way mermaids had learned to protect themselves, their blood. I thought of the love they must have for Silas to offer it so freely and willingly. This place, the Preserve of Wonders, this island—it watched out for its beloved inhabitants, and Silas was one of them.
He stirred awake slowly, gently, almost reluctantly—like he couldn’t believe it.
“Alessia,” he murmured, his eyes flickering open.
“Oh, thank god,” I blurted. “I thought you weredead.”
Silas rose to a seated position. His wound was healing faster now, a faded pink line on his countless abs. He reached for me, his face worn and mud-streaked, the exhaustion evident on every level.
His hand snaked around my neck as he pulled me toward him. Then he kissed me, freely and hungrily, like I was his reason for existing. His lips met mine with the gentle fury of a man returning from the verge of death. Like he knew we’d been seconds away from ever getting to experience this moment, this rightness. I savored the dark and powerful taste of him. The sharp, earthy tones of his scent, the freshness of his breath that hinted of mint and saltwater and destiny.
When we parted, I felt like my breath had vanished. Like I wasn’t technically breathing, just floating along and existing because my reality had been shattered.
“I couldn’t...” Silas looked down, almost apologetic. “I couldn’t die without doing that.”
“Silas.” I moved closer to him, a hand resting on his cheek. “What bond was Atlas talking about?”
Silas stood, pulled me to my feet. His hands clasped in mine as we stood chest to chest.
“You need to understand, Alessia, this will change everything.” His gaze met mine, our fingers, minds, souls linked. “You are Fae.”
Chapter 13
