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“Yes, the world sucks. But that’s nothing new.” I set my fork down. “What about it?”
“You ask how I’m still alive? It’s because our kind were given a much longer lifespan than mortals. Hundreds of years. Because we don’t possess souls. When we finally die, we simply turn to seafoam.”
I shifted in my seat, unsettled at her words, though I didn’t know how much of them to believe.
“Katrina, the sea is angry. We are the sea, you and I. And mankind has taken too much from it. First it was the mermaids, soon it’ll be everything else.”
“With all due respect, didn’t you help Valdez hunt the other mermaids?”
Cordelia slammed her hands down on the table, rattling her silverware. Her eyes became piercing shards of ice beneath dark brows before I could even regret what I had just dared to say.
“Don’t say his name!” She spat the words out like arrows fired from a bow. “He tricked me. He used me to get to them. And not a day goes by that I don’t regret it. I was just a foolish, curious mermaid who broke the laws of the sea by falling in love. And you dared to set him free from his prison.”
I was speechless. I couldn’t fathom what I could possibly say as she denied her own part to play in the demise of her kind. She watched me with her jaw tensed and her pointed fingernails digging into the table linen. I nearly jumped when she stood up without warning. With a menacing swagger, she moved toward me, walking around my chair and standing behind me.
“Which brings me back to why I need that scale. That last bit of my magic was being used to hold the curse. But now that it’s broken, I have something much better in mind.”
“What are you saying?” My voice cracked.
“I’m saying, it’s not just about James anymore.” Her words slithered out like shadows. “Mankind. Men. Man is destroying this world. And the sea groans because she knows she can stop it. If we would just let her. Think of it like a reset, if you will.” She leaned over and placed her hands on my shoulders. I recoiled at an ice-cold touch I didn’t expect. “You see, we mermaids—sirens—draw our power from a source as ancient as the moon and tides themselves. But we have limits. Within the sea there is a power even greater. One that can release the tides from their bonds so that the sea can unleash her vengeance on mankind.”
“You want to flood the world?”
“Clever girl. This deplorable world is in need of a bit of a restructuring, don’t you think?”
“No,” I gasped. “No. I mean, yes, there is a lot wrong with the world. But you can’t wipe out humankind.”
“Katrina, you’re not understanding. You can’t think clearly because you, too, have fallen into the trap of man.” She reached down and placed her hand over my chest. “I can feel it. Your naïve little heart beats for one.” I wanted to free myself from her grip, but something held me frozen in place as she seemed to read my heartbeat before continuing. “Milo Harrington...hmm. I remember him. Always the guilty one. Always longing to be the hero. But I see through his façade. They are never what they claim to be. They are all selfish, greedy, and manipulative. He’ll use you like James used me.”
“No, he’s done everything for me,” I said. “I’m sorry Valdez hurt you, but you’ve let your pain turn you into someone just as bad as him.”
Her grip on me tightened. Those nails dug into my shoulders, cutting into my skin as she put her lips to my ear.
“That’s no way to speak to your great-grandmother.” Her words bit like steel. I fought against her hold, trying to stand up, but she began to hum, and I somehow lost the ability to fully control my body. But I recognized the tune, and it sent shivers through my soul.
“Stop singing my mom’s lullaby.”
“Your mom’s lullaby?” She laughed, still gently humming her siren song. “Angelfish, where do you think it came from?”
I swallowed, processing everything she’d said thus far. About Milo. About Mom. About me. Then she went on, adding to my mental burden.
“There’s a trident deep in the ocean. An oracle of power thought to have been left behind by the gods. Resting beneath the place the humans call the Bermuda Triangle, its power has been unconfined for centuries. It would be the thing responsible for all those unexplained disappearances and souls lost at sea.”
“What does this have to do with me?” I struggled against her hold.
“Sirens come from the same source of power. So only a siren could wield the trident for herself. But to do that, a siren must sacrifice a piece of herself—something more precious to her than anything—in the trident’s hold. But sirens are selfish. They’re nearly incapable of giving up the thing that means the most to them. That’s why we aren’t supposed to fall in love. Because it taints our nature... Hmm, I guess that was Poseidon's funny little way of keeping things in check.” She drew in a breath, hesitating before going on. “But I... I no longer have anything left to be selfish over. Nothing but a wretched scale with the last bit of my magic. So, I’ll be needing it back, angelfish.”
She held out her hand slowly in front of me. I could move now, but I no longer wanted to run. I needed to finish this conversation. I had to know exactly what she was planning.
“I…I don’t have it.”
“Where is it then?” Her voice hardened.
“Somewhere at the bottom of the ocean. I thought offering it to the maelstrom was the way to break the curse. I threw it in the sea before I realized it wasn’t the answer.”
“You did what?” She released me, her voice rising.
“How can you be angry with me? You caused all of this.”
