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It would’ve been easier with my tail. It would’ve made swimming beneath the boat so much faster. But I didn’t have time to drown and transform. And I sure couldn’t risk letting go of the trident. Besides, it would make getting onto the yacht much more difficult without my legs. From underneath, I noticed the boat’s whirring propeller slowing until it came to a stop. And I knew for sure Cordelia had found McKenzie and Noah.
I surfaced on the left side of the yacht, opposite the side I’d seen Cordelia standing, and examined it for any possible point of entry. There was a ladder on the back, but it was placed high enough that the base of it was a good few feet from the water. I couldn’t reach it while carrying the trident. My plan would have to go just a little differently than I’d hoped. But that was okay. It might be good to practice my siren powers on something less important before trying to use them full force.
Keeping my head just barely above water, I reached for the scale in my pocket that I’d saved from my tail earlier. I was more than grateful to see that it had survived this far somehow without floating away or falling out.
I remembered the way the scale around Cordelia’s neck illuminated as she sang that song aboard the ship when she found us with the mermaids. She was drawing on its magic to be able to use her siren power, even when she was in her human form. And I was about to do the same.
I could faintly hear Cordelia talking to Noah and McKenzie, questioning them about who they were and how they’d gotten out here.
“Can you help us?” McKenzie asked.
“I suppose if I must,” Cordelia reluctantly agreed. “But you’re to stay in the cabin area below and not to come out during our expedition unless I approve it.” I heard her order the crew to toss them both lifesavers and pull them up.
Just a little longer, guys.
I waited for someone to walk near the back of the ship. The luxurious, gleaming white yacht was at least one hundred feet, and there were a handful of divers and crew members aboard still shuffling about on deck. I eyed a male, probably in his thirties, who looked to be a worker or maybe the skipper’s assistant of some kind. His lanky figure snaked its way toward the back, perhaps getting ready to drop anchor or check something on the engine. He was perfect for what I needed. I just hoped it would work.
My lips parted, and from my mouth drifted the same lulling tune Cordelia had sung. As if by instinct, the tune quickly turned into my mom’s lullaby, filling the gaps with haunting notes and the poetic words I’d collected over the past year:
Lost out at sea
Do you dream of me?
By the call of the waves
I hear you and seek you
Till again the roaming sea
Brings you back to me.
Down by the shore
Meet me once more
By the light of the moon
Love me, then leave me
With the dawn rising
Haunt me forevermore
The man appeared stunned for a moment, holding his forehead as if feeling unwell. In my head I imagined him walking to the ladder. As I envisioned it, he did it. I smiled the kind of smile that holds no happiness, a wicked smile of sorts, as the scale in my pocket glowed hot.
I then directed him to drop the ladder into the water so that I could climb up, all while continuing my song and simply willing it. He obeyed perfectly, and I quickly shimmied up the ladder, dragging up the trident with me. Dripping wet and now aboard Cordelia’s massive boat, I sighed with relief that my plan was working so far. And my theory about the siren song was right. My mom’s lullaby was the siren song all along. And the scale was the power source from which it drew.
Next, I told the man to make his way back toward the front deck where Cordelia was standing. I followed, keeping the trident close to me and watching my back. When we reached the front, I wasted no time commanding my new assistant to quietly creep up behind Cordelia and restrain her.
He followed like clockwork, grabbing the woman as she stood at the railing shouting interrogation questions as McKenzie and Noah.
Now, make her face me. I ordered.
With a squirming and furious Cordelia in his arms, he pulled her around, seemingly struggling against her thrashing more than I would have expected.
“Let me go, David!” Cordelia screamed. “Do you understand me? Put me down now! What are you doing?”
I stepped forward, my steps leaving watery traces on the pristine polished deck as I neared her. I hummed my song softly to keep David under my control.
