In the Grotto Lyx
In the Grotto
Lyx
Quit playing with your food. Kill him.
That thought chases Lyx all the way back to the sirens’ nest. She darts through coral and plants and hovers on the outskirts of the sunken ship.
It’s the sirens’ most impressive trophy, a massive hull covered in barnacles and lichens, tipping precariously on the continental shelf. Another prized possession bobs overhead; a metal buoy stolen from the nearest island, now stained with blood and rust.
Sirens do enjoy their toys.
Shrieks rise in the distance. Two of the other sirens are fighting.
Lyx could sense it long before she could hear them, but their voices grow louder now, carried through the water until it’s suffocating.
She can’t deal with them. Not today. Not when a pirate who should be long dead is hijacking her thoughts.
Ducking low, she follows the edge of the chasm.
A jagged hole in the shipwreck serves as the main entrance, but she searches instead for the crack that runs from bow to stern.
There’s barely enough room for her to squeeze through, but she does, fingers scraping moss as she wiggles her hips and pushes inside.
The ship blots out most of the sound. Lyx exhales and swims deeper, enveloped by groaning boards and slanting beams. When she reaches her room, she stops short.
Something is off. The netting hanging from her walls are empty.
Beneath it, her box of hooks has been strewn open.
On the floor, a beam of sunlight glints off mutilated metal and broken glass.
Her collections have been tampered with. One of her siblings was here.
Rage boils inside her. The destruction is no surprise; it is the way of sirens, creating discord wherever they can. This disruption feeds her. Already, she can feel it in her throat, clogging her gills until she can do nothing but gasp. She should indulge in it, but instead, she gags.
Returning here was a mistake. She’s felt the ominous churning for days: schools of fish fleeing, whales falling silent, pandemonium waiting to be unleashed.
All of the sirens can sense it. It draws them together, conducting chaos like electricity.
It’s a vicious cycle; the more of them that gather, the quicker they combust. Sirens may share this transitory dwelling, but they share no affection or blood. The only thing they share is hunger.
A lone pirate in this territory won’t stay alone for long. Once one siren gets a whiff of him, the others will be sure to follow. Lyx’s tongue presses to her fangs to keep her mind sharp. That’s why she’s keeping Cav a secret. She’s territorial. She doesn’t want to share. That is the only reason.
Outside the wreckage, the feud has died away. It won’t be long before it kicks up again. Lyx should seize the chance to flee — but not before swimming the length of the ship and smashing any trinkets she comes across.
Revenge is good. She’s practically glowing when she wedges through the crack in the ship.
It’s freeing to escape this place. She’s not the only one who thinks so.
Below her, creatures scuttle toward the open ocean and disappear into its depths.
She could be like them. She could dive deeper and vanish, away from her siblings. Away from this mess.
“If it isn’t my favorite little sea jelly.”
Lyx’s head jerks toward the edge of the reef. There lies Sinoe, blue hair swaying as she lounges across a rock.
Her silver eyes glint. “What was all that racket in the ship? Surely you weren’t getting into trouble all on your own.”
Lyx doesn’t speak, but she’s not fool enough to think Sinoe doesn’t know the answer. Sinoe always knows.
Sinoe pouts, releasing a stream of bubbles. “You know I hate the silent treatment, Lyxy. It’s been a week since I last saw you. I was starting to think the last rip current swept you away.”
Her barracuda tail flicks absently, but her fins are sharp and pointed. Turbulence ripples through the water, like something big is circling closer. Lyx wants to look behind her. Suddenly, the open ocean feels dangerous, but she knows it’s just Sinoe making her uneasy. That’s what Sinoe does best.
There’s only one way to combat it. With a shrug, Lyx forces her tentacles to unfurl and floats closer to the reef. “I get tired of listening to you all bitching.”
“No,” Sinoe hums, a smirk settling on her lips. “It’s not that.”
Lyx’s chest tightens. Sinoe scans over her, gaze flitting from her neck to her shoulders before her eyes latch onto Lyx’s hip.
Sinoe’s head tilts eerily. “What’s that?”
Lyx doesn’t look. She doesn’t have to. She remembers the burning pain, the stick alight with Cav’s fire in the grotto. The lie comes easily. “Shocked myself again. Always lose track of one tentacle or another.”
Sinoe’s nose twitches. “You haven’t stung yourself since you were a child. Do you think I don’t know my own sister?” She arches like a cat in the sun. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you’ve been on land.”
Lyx swallows roughly. The accusation isn’t damning. It’s not unheard of for sirens to hunt on land, but her voice is trapped in her throat.
Sinoe’s scales shimmer. “Not that I can blame you, of course. I was just thinking what fun it would be to have a pirate as a pet. But where could I keep him?” She taps her chin with one long finger. “An island. A rowboat. Or perhaps you could lend me that grotto of yours.”
Lyx’s heart pulses in her gills. Sinoe knows. She’s found Cav. She’s been watching them.
Sinoe calls over her shoulder. “What do you think, Mollo? Should I go hunting for my next meal?”
A shape appears behind her, long tail swishing like a ribbon. Mollo’s foggy green eyes land on Lyx. When she smiles, her branching teeth curve back into her mouth like a frilled shark’s. A baby siren babbles in her arms.
Sinoe looks over the child. “Where’d you find this one?”
“When I was hopping islands.” Mollo balances the baby on her hip, toying with the spiral shell hanging from her necklace. “It washed up right next to my other strange treasures.”
Sinoe’s nose wrinkles with distaste. “How come you always seem to find the little urchins first?”
Mollo sighs. “Maternal instinct.” Then she deposits the hapless creature on the ground and settles onto a branch of coral. “But we should go hunting. I’m starving for something fresh.”
Overhead, the sky suddenly rumbles with thunder. Lyx’s skin crawls. A gathering of two sirens was bad enough, but four… She needs to get out of here. She needs to get back to Cav.
Sinoe rests on her stomach, tail swishing behind her like a pendulum. “Come sit with us, Lyxy.” She extends her taloned hand. “Just for a minute. Just like old times.”
Lyx’s spinal fin grows tight and rigid. Even the urchin seems to sense something, its haunting eyes honed on Lyx’s face. Panic claws at her throat. Does Mollo know about Cav, too? Has she had her way with him?
That is a threat far worse than Sinoe, but Lyx can’t give anything away. She can’t be sure how much they know. She has to put them at ease so she can slip away. Slowly, Lyx eases toward the reef, but Sinoe and Mollo both reach for her, pulling her onto the grooved coral between them.
“Was that so bad?” Sinoe teases. “You act like you have somewhere else to be.”
“She’s ready to go hunting,” Mollo purrs, brushing a hand through Lyx’s hair. Her fingers snag in the tentacles, but Lyx refuses to wince. “Those pirates really are so easy to catch. They still haven’t realized we’re both the lure and the net.”
Sinoe winds a strand of Lyx’s hair around her finger. “What do you think, sister?” Her scalp twinges like Sinoe is rooting around in her mind, playing with her secrets like a dolphin toying with dinner. “Or have they begun to bore you?”
Lyx’s head radiates with pain. The baby begins to cry.
Mollo’s tongue drags over her lips. “They’re not so different from us, you know. That’s why we go together. They don’t love anything but themselves. They plunder. They pillage. They ravage.”
The wailing baby crawls toward the drop-off, its tail fluttering as it tries to swim. There’s no use saving it. In a week, this urchin will be lost to the tides or a passing shark. Sirens have to learn to fend for themselves.
“It’s a perfect circle,” Sinoe murmurs. “We hunt them, and they hunt us. We feed their appetites, and they feed ours.”
“If you’re lucky, you’ll find a real pirate.” Mollo tugs on Lyx’s tentacles. “One whose cruelty matches yours. One that can capture and trap you. That’s when you know. That’s the pirate you want.”
Lyx’s head pounds.
The baby howls.
“Silence!” Mollo screeches. The baby’s mouth opens and closes like a fish, but it doesn’t make another sound. Mollo’s necklace twinkles under her smug satisfaction.
“That’s how you want to spend your life?” Lyx can’t help herself. When she speaks, Mollo and Sinoe stare at her. Her voice is suddenly weak. “That’s what you imagine?”
“A never-ending feast?” Mollo cackles, digging a fingernail between her teeth to dislodge something fleshy and pink. “Of course. Even if your body is captive, your song can set you free. That’s our true power.”
A shadow passes over Lyx’s face. She tilts her head toward the surface of the water, watching ripples spread from the metal buoy.
“He must be awake now.” Mollo stretches on her side, staring dreamily toward the surface. “My latest plaything tied me to the bow of his ship for a week…so I brought him back and took his leg.”
Her grin widens, teeth flecked with chunks of skin and muscle. Overhead, there’s a muffled scream. The water churns faster, turning red into foamy pink.
Lyx’s mouth waters. Sinoe drifts toward the surface, forgetting everything but the wounded thrashing. Mollo snags her tail and jerks her back. “If I’m feeling generous, maybe I’ll let you have a taste.”
In the distance, a swarm of shadows appears. The other sirens are here, drawn by the promise of flesh and chaos. It is what they do, the one thing that draws them all in.
Mollo and Sinoe swim for the buoy, shoving and clawing each other as they fight toward the surface.
Lyx starts to follow them, but an errant thought darts through her mind.
The sirens will not be sated by one pirate.
They will be ravenous, gluttonous, clamoring for another feast — and Sinoe knows exactly where to find one.
Lyx’s stomach turns as she sinks back toward the reef, her body heavy with chaos. Sirens swarm the buoy. It’s a mindless feeding frenzy, teeth gnashing as they devour their meal.
Her blood thrums. She has to get back to the grotto. She has to end this before the others catch Cav’s scent. She has to do what she should have done the second he landed here.
She swims as fast as her fins will carry her. Behind her, the screams grow to a fever pitch.