Chapter Fourteen
I touched my lips repeatedly as I hurried back to the sisters. If they knew that I had left, would they be worried? Concerned? Nervous that I’d run off, and this would all be for naught? The light in my room shone down on the busy street. The humans stayed up to all hours of the night, laughing and spending time in the arms of others.
Like I had been doing. With Owen.
I still felt the phantom caress of his hands on my skin, and the need to bring him closer and closer. Was that the magic? Or was it just me? There wasn’t time for me to find out, but I was desperate to know. The memory of how sickly he felt when I started humming hit me like a slap, and I hated myself for it.
Why Owen? He was too good , his heart was so pure–
And that was why: good, sweet, pure-hearted, invisible Owen Harper. I’d lure him to the seas, and there would be no one to grieve his passing. Except for me.
My lips were tender to the touch. Every inch of me still burned from being so close to him. Was this what the songs were all about? The feeling of soaring through the waves while feeling them break inside of you–it was blissful. I swore to myself then and there: no more magic. None . If Owen was going to die a bloody, horrible, all consuming death in the seas, then he would have to walk into it willingly.
He’d have to love me enough to die for it, for me. There was no way that would happen within six more days.
The sisters either didn’t notice or question my absence; the door opened for me and I climbed the stairs. It was getting easier; the stairs didn’t feel like this insurmountable monster, but just a part of life on land. My small room was just as I left it. I changed quickly, braiding my hair much faster than I ever did under the waves, and laid on the bed. The lights were too bright here, and the sky that felt like it went on forever on the beach with Owen felt so very far away now.
When sleep finally claimed me, I didn’t think of the waves or the tides. I didn’t dream of my people, or my family. I dreamt of Owen’s green, green eyes and how precious his lips felt against my skin.