One Year Later
The pain of being deprived breath was potent, but like any other pain, it could be conquered.
I peered up at the crimson orange hues dancing across the surface of the water above me, my lungs on fire and begging me to inhale.
My bare feet stomped on gritty sand, carrying me across the ocean floor.
In my hands was a heavy stone, keeping me submerged.
I felt as if I’d taken a hundred steps, but of course I wasn’t focused on counting.
When I finally could not take it, I dropped the stone and pushed off the sand, launching myself to the surface of the water.
I sucked in a deep breath of air as soon as I emerged, sweeping the water from my eyes with one hand.
Sitting on the dock nearby was Mullins, his britches rolled up and his bare feet dangling in the water. He was staring at a little gold device in his hand attached to a broken chain like it was a puzzle.
“Well?” I urged.
“Uh…” He shrugged, putting the pocket watch in his lap and scrubbing the confused look off his face. “Three minutes.”
“You jest,” I said, treading water as I contended with his answer.
“Seven minutes!” someone called from up the beach.
David was standing with his hands cupped around his mouth and I waved, thankful someone else was counting.
“Agh, this thing makes no sense,” Mullins complained. “Don’t know why people carry ‘em.”
When he drew back his hand to toss the thing into the water, I stiffened.
“Don’t!” I watched it arch over me and disappear in one of the waves. “The thing’s worth gold, you idiot.”
“Huh. Don’t know why I did that.”
“Go get it, then.”
“You go get it. I been staring too long at the damn thing and you’re the one who wants to be a damn fish!”
Just then, a ghostly shape moved past me in the water, surfacing at the dock. Mullins yelped, pulling his feet out of the water as Meridan emerged, holding up a delicate hand with the pocket watch dangling between her fingers.
“Lose something?”
“Don’t do that!” Mullins chided. “There are sharks in these waters.”
“We know.”
He took the watch, tossing it onto the dock before reaching for a beige shift that was draped over one of the posts. As Meridan climbed out of the water, her legs halfway shifted from her long, white tail, he handed it to her, letting her pull the garment over her head before she sat beside him.
“Where is Dahlia?” I asked.
“She patrolled the east side. She’ll be along.”
“Any trouble?”
Meridan shrugged, leaning back on her hands. “Far less than a few months ago.”
I took a few calm, deep breaths, preparing my lungs for another plunge.
When I ducked under the water, all I saw was the sand and thickening darkness beyond where the sunset lit up the waves like fire.
I emptied my lungs, letting myself sink further into the water, and watched those shadowy depths, listening to the strange silence that was the vast ocean.
My heart slowed. My muscles relaxed. I floated, between the surface and the floor, waiting, when subtle chirps started to echo from beyond the shadows and rhythmic clicking noises started to bounce off every surface like pebbles.
Since hearing Dahlia and Meridan in the water for the first time, I knew I could never tire of it, but Dahlia was uniquely beautiful to me.
To the untrained ears, it was nothing but an ambient sound rolling on the rhythm of the waves, but to me, it was her voice.
Her true voice. And as her dark shadow materialized from the murk, her onyx tail shimmering with silvery-violet undertones, my heart thundered in my chest as if trying to go to her.
She glanced my way, the length of her flowing hair gathering like smoke around her head.
She pivoted her body toward me, cutting gracefully through the water like a snake across grass, long and gorgeously lethal in her effortlessness.
There was something in her hand, but I disregarded it, elated just to see her.
I watched her circle me like a shark, winding around my body once before settling in front of me.
Those same little chirps and clicking noises surrounded us and I knew they were coming from her, despite seeming as if they were all around us.
On her ribs, three crescent slits fluttered softly as she breathed me in.
I longed to spend more time beneath the surface, but my time was cut short by my mortal need to breathe air. I pushed off the bottom and Dahlia followed, mirroring my pace until we both breached.
Under the darkening sky, her eyes practically glowed as she shed the blackness. She smiled softly at me, her fangs still sharp.
“You’re getting much better.”
“Aye. Still no gills, though.”
She slowly started to circle me again, sucking her bottom lip between her teeth as she ogled my bare torso. Her tail, at least twice the length of her legs, encircled me fully, rubbing lightly against my legs.
“The water’s quiet, like yesterday,” she said.
“Good.”
“The sharks are out for blood, though. You’re brave to be swimming at this hour.”
“I think we both know that the only thing in this water to fear at this hour is you.”
That devious smirk returned to her somewhat gray lips.
“Is that why you’re heart’s pounding so fervently?”
“Perhaps? You’ll also find my cock equally enthusiastic.”
She moved in closer, her lips feathering across mine. “Miss me, did you?”
“Three days is quite enough,” I whispered.
“Then we should retreat to the beach. I have something to show you.”
“I don’t think that’s what it means,” Mullins said, pointing at the smudged map laid out on the table. The very map Dahlia had pulled from a leather map tube when we returned to our cabin. “I think it’s a skull. The kind of skull that says ‘come here at your own risk.’”
“It’s a moon,” Meridan argued, spinning the map upside down as if it would change the image we had all been trying to decipher for half an hour.
“It’s not a moon or a skull,” I groaned. “It’s a smear of ink that dripped on the parchment during its creation.”
“That happens to look like an omious skull?”
“Ominous,” Meridan corrected him.
“I think it is a drip of ink,” Dahlia said, squinting at the abstract blur.
I crossed my arms. “Thank you.”
“Either way, it doesn’t give us answers.”
“I think that there is a destination under that smudge.”
“When did you become so gullible?” she asked, narrowing her eyes.
“Me? You’re the one who brought this back from a shipwreck.”
“Yes, but I didn’t think it was going to be so unclear.”
“And I’m not gullible. I’m curious. As are we all. Nazario has managed to recruit a dozen men for the Amanacer, our crew is fit for a long journey. Two ships, enough gold to buy a hundred.”
Meridan raised a brow. “Why do we need a hundred ships?”
“It’s an example. We don’t need a hundred ships. But we’ve hunted these waters enough. Trade routes are back in use. Fishing is back to being a lucrative business. This,” I pointed at the map, “Is the future of the Storm Weaver.”
“Treasure hunting?”
Mullins and I tossed each other a glance and grinned like two boys about to cause mischief.
“Treasure hunting,” we said in tandem.
“I don’t see the appeal,” Meridan sighed.
“You wouldn’t,” Mullins chuffed. “You’ve never needed gold to survive. Gold is good. Gold is what we all want. What makes the world go round.”
“Gold is a shiny metal that has no use. You cannot eat it. You can’t wear it. It’s too soft to turn into a weapon.”
“Meridan, what is the harm?” Dahlia chuckled.
She stopped for a moment, opening her mouth to answer, but when she realized she had no argument, she almost seemed surprised.
“I suppose there’s no harm,” she shrugged.
“Perfect!” Mullins exclaimed, marching out of the room. “I need some good ale.”
Meridan followed him, arms folded as if she was about to school him on something. Once we were alone, Dahlia and I locked eyes and sighed like we’d just finished wrangling toddlers.
“There’s news, by the way,” I grumbled, relaxing back into a chair.
“News?”
“From Atoll. Someone has been sighted in a very unlikely place.”
A slow realization parted her lips a tad.
“Lyla,” she muttered. “Who’s seen her? How do we know?”
“Cathal, of all people, sent word with David. He swears that he saw her, dressed in civies, disguised as a human.”
She sat down in the chair across from me, lightly drumming her fingers on the wooden tabletop.
“I know what you’re thinking,” I continued, crossing one ankle over my knee and slouching further into my seat.
“You’re thinking that now we have to postpone our plans, go to Atoll, and find her.
But there’s been no unusual news of killings in that part of the world.
No attacks. No mysterious disappearances.
Not enough to warrant suspicion, that is.
Atoll is so disconnected from all this, they’ve likely never even thought twice about a siren being in their waters or on their shores. ”
“Exactly. They wouldn’t know how to handle it if they discovered her. And if Cathal is the one to have seen her, the chances are high that it wasn’t just a coincidence. Vengeance is hard to let go of.”
I smirked, leaning forward and reaching across the table to take her hand.
“For one, Cathal chose to go to Atoll to take care of personal business. Two, he is quite capable of taking care of himself. And three…” I raised a brow.
“Actually, I’m not sure I had a third point, but what I’m saying is that he didn’t send word with David that he needed help.
If he truly was in peril, he’d have returned with him.
Maybe, what’s happening on that side of the world is not our business. ”
“Then why’d you bring it up?”
I shrugged, stroking my thumb over her knuckles. “Perhaps I know you too well. I know you’ve dreamt of her more than once, which means you’ve been thinking about her.”
“Because she could slaughter an entire town if she desired it.”
“Which she hasn’t done.”
She narrowed her eyes with suspicion. “You’re trying not to worry me because you’re so eager to hunt this treasure.”
Excitement spread across my lips. “We’ve never hunted treasure before. Nazario swears it’s quite exciting. And I’m sure there will be plenty of violent encounters on the way. You brought the map back. What did you expect?”
She stood, trying to remain stern and unmoved, but I could tell she was becoming just as enthused the more I talked about it.
“I’ve already expressed my willingness to sail for that damn smudge,” she groaned, biting back a grin. “But, to be honest, I thought it might be a map that was easier to follow.”
“A difficult map is just a longer adventure. And Lyla?”
Taking a deep breath, she said, “She wanted to live a life. I assume that’s what she’s doing. I hope that’s what she is doing.”
“Aye, let’s leave it at that, then.” I stood, catching her waist in my hands and tugging her body flush with mine.
“I’ve been tethered to land too long, love.
The Weaver is ready to go. Repairs have been made.
We’ve done more than our part in hunting monsters for little to no pay.
So, I say we search for trouble elsewhere. ”
She gripped the front of my leather great coat and rose up on her toes to meet my lips.
“I am inspired by your enthusiasm. As long as I am allowed a healthy diet of crooks and degenerates on the way.”
“I’ll fill the hold with them if you wish.”
Shaking her head, she whispered, “I rather enjoy a good hunt.”
A low growl shuddered hungrily from my throat as I leaned in to press my mouth to hers again. My teeth grazed her bottom lip and she moaned at the threat.
“Three days,” she whispered. “Three days I’ve missed your body against mine. I need your ferocity. Then, perhaps, we can talk about the smudge a little more.”
I reached a hand around the back of her head, gripping a hefty handful of her hair.
“Anything, Dahlia. You can have anything you like from me. Always.”
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Thank you SO much for reading book 2 in Wicked Tides! If you enjoyed, please consider leaving a review. They are so helpful for little authors like myself.