Chapter 33
The trip back to Naltania was quiet—too quiet.
It caused Asta to sleep restlessly each time they stopped for the night.
Asta had trouble sleeping the entire trip anyway since she could not perform her hair combing ritual.
At this point, they were only a one-day swim away from the siren castle and the crew was starting to run down.
After they had traveled a safe distance from Ryktarva, they had stopped to tend to Tova’s wound.
Soren had a suture kit in his pack and repaired the laceration with a steady hand as he told Tova a story about a young boy who was playing with a friend on the seashore one day, when a finned creature with pointed ears and fangs crawled from the waves and dragged his companion into the ocean’s depths.
The little boy had tried to run, but the creature returned, catching his ankle.
He had kicked the beast fiercely—far more ferociously than any child should be capable of—but the finned demon didn’t let him go.
Its claws dug into his ankle, scraping bone, and he had passed out.
When he had awoken, the little boy had been tucked into a soft bed and greeted by a ruby-haired Empress.
All the boy had left to remember from that day was a deep scar on his face—from where the finfolk had tried to take his life and failed.
The story distracted Tova enough that she hardly flinched during her mending.
Asta had left the subject alone for the days following his story, but knew that was Soren’s personal tale.
She had so many questions regarding the transformation that she wanted to ask him, but wasn’t sure if Soren was the type to share or if he had only wanted to offer Tova reprieve with a diversion.
Can you scent that? The scent of death that will give you life.
The ocean whispered in Asta’s ear, caressing her jaw with a wispy current.
Sweet, warm blood. They wait for you above, sea beast. Superior species. They are yours to harvest.
Asta clenched her fists and turned to Kaid who was weaving pieces of seagrass together in a plait. Was he experiencing the same calling she was? How did he always look so calm? They had hardly spoken since escaping the finfolk territory and she was carrying that heavily in her heart.
Asta’s gums throbbed as she looked up toward a ship at the surface, its presence so silent underwater. No one else acknowledged the ship, their resistance to cravings much more fortified than hers. That’s it, she could not take it anymore.
“Soren, that story was about you, right?” she asked the orange-finned siren who was once again applying salve to the minor abrasions on the kelpies with injuries. It made sense now, why she felt so at ease with Soren. He was turned like her—not a born siren.
Soren nodded, his attention remaining on his wound care. “I know what you’re going to ask, Princess.”
Asta’s back stiffened. His assumption made her defensive. “Oh, and what is it you think I’m going to ask?”
“It’s the same question anyone turned siren would ask first,” he met her eyes and smiled. “How do you make the cravings stop? Am I correct?”
Her face heated and she began cracking her knuckles. She looked to Kaid who was still focusing on his seagrass but clearly curious. Sirens had preternatural hearing, so there was no way every member of the group wasn’t listening.
“Yes,” she whispered. “It feels as though someone is digging twigs into my gums; as though I’ve never eaten once in my lifetime.”
Soren chuckled—actually chuckled at her suffering and insecurity. She had been starting to like him before this moment; now, she was aggravated. Or was that the intense hunger speaking?
“You’ll adjust. You just need to start feeding on other sources and eventually the sea gets the message and stops taunting you.
Though, you’ll always sense when humans are near.
Like right now, I could tell you that there is a crew on the ship above us containing twenty-nine females and thirty-seven males.
Eleven are ill in the infirmary and not good feeding sources.
Thirty-one are in their prime of life—the ripest harvest for us.
A draining of one of them would likely last you weeks.
Well, since you’re newly turned, maybe about a week as you need to feed more frequently.
It never goes away. Your tolerance naturally builds up over time. ”
Asta blinked hard a few times, her takeaway from this conversation an understanding that she needed to feed soon. Just not from a human.
“And what about…” Asta observed Kaid from the corner of her eye and watched his gaze dart between her face and her cracking knuckles. “Why doesn’t he feel the urge?”
Somehow, Asta knew Kaid was awaiting the answer as well.
“I’ve been pondering that, actually,” Soren tapped his index finger to his lips, “and the only answer that makes sense is that it is somehow related to his protection spell he lived under until now. The spell wouldn’t have diminished his cravings, but smothered them since his siren side was locked away. ”
Soren peered around Asta to Kaid, “Were you a particularly fussy baby, Your Highness?”
Kaid’s award winning grin appeared for the first time since before his abduction and Asta’s stomach flipped.
Thank the gods her face was already red, or else her reaction would have been much more noticeable.
Kaid was still one of the most frustrating beings Asta had ever met, but something changed after the night they spent in the cave.
“Father said I was the fussiest,” Kaid replied with his chest puffed, clearly proud that he had been trouble right from birth.
Soren twisted the cap of the salve back on and stowed it in his pack. “Likely because you were craving blood and all he could give you was milk at first. He likely fed you rare meats when you were old enough to subdue the thirst. Which means, you probably—”
“Have the most obnoxiously fantastic anti-feeding tolerance known to sirenkind,” Revna stated plainly as she rolled her eyes.
As if Kaid needed one more thing to inflate his ego.
Asta had barely fallen asleep under the protection of Thurs when Annika let out a low grunt, her head lifting from the sand and observing the dark water surrounding them. Their night vision added with the start of dawn above gave them visibility, but it was extremely limited.
“What do you—” Asta’s question was cut off as a massive grouper burst through the kelp beside her, sending herself and Thurs rolling.
The fish circled back, massive snapping jaws filled with rows of small pointed teeth coming straight for Asta.
She sprung out of the way, the entire camp awake now.
Two more of the colossal groupers joined the first and barreled through the camp.
Revna already had her swords, cutting into the fishes' scales with each pass. “Morphling Groupers!” she bellowed.
Kaid floated frozen in fear directly in the path of one of the beasts. Without second thought, Asta grabbed the heavy chain floating at his side and yanked him out of harm's way by the cuff on his wrist. His body slammed into hers but her hands landed on his biceps to soften the collision.
Asta’s gums throbbed again. Her hunger was making her weak and she needed something.
Kaid snapped out of his frozen state and began using his chain as a weapon, a weapon in which Asta was quite impressed he had learned to control so easily.
She scrambled on the seafloor in search of her sword that had been knocked away from her during the first fish’s attack.
When her hand landed on the grip, she pulled the sword up and turned to swing the blade just in time to slice a deep gash into a grouper’s gills.
Black blood eerily similar to that of the finfolk poured into the currents around them. Revna speared a sword between her opponent’s eyes and the fish went still. The siren jerked her blade free and the fish floated away in the current. One down, two to go.
Even though Tova was still healing, she was helping Soren with one of the groupers. In her fully-healed state, Asta knew the sea dragon could easily take down one of these fish despite their size, but with one leg being weak, it slowed her.
Kaid continued to swing his chain toward the grouper specifically coming for the pair of them, wrenching scales from the fish’s body with the iron links.
The creature retreated, but Asta had grown accustomed to its attack pattern by now.
Each time it pulled back, it returned by rapidly charging them.
Her hands shook, but it wasn’t from nerves. She was starving. There was no time to think about that, however, because she was the only thing standing between herself and Kaid, and death. The male could only do so much with a chain.
The grouper rushed her, its mouth opened wide to strike. The only advantage these creatures had on their crew was the sheer size of them.
Asta held her sword up in front of her, letting the fish come dangerously close.
“Asta! Move!” Kaid roared.
At the last second to spare, Asta dug her sword high into the roof of the grouper’s mouth and rolled out of its path. The fish tried to snap its jaw down, but the sword was now lodged into both the roof of its mouth and underneath its tongue.
The fish tried forcing its jaw closed, shaking its head and slamming itself to the sea floor.
Something took over Asta when she saw the beast weak and vulnerable. Her siren nature, her half-finfolk heritage tugging at her.
It is a weakling. Eliminate. Eliminate!
Asta dove forward, sinking her teeth into the side of the grouper.
Her siren fangs bore deep into its flesh, striking veins and filling her mouth with warm blood.
This was not like the selkie blood she had ingested upon turning.
It was gritty and earthy, but not unpleasant.
Not like the black color would lead you to believe.
Her entire body relaxed as she drained more and more blood, pulling deeply and feeling the warmth of it slide down her throat like aged wine. Hands gripped her shoulder, squeezing lightly, but not pulling her away. They were comforting.
Asta drained every last drop from the grouper and pulled her face away. Its mottled body was limp and drifted away.
She turned to see who was holding her, but she already knew. Kaid pulled her into a tight hug, stroking a gentle hand down her hair.
Asta was not hungry anymore.