“Captain,” William’s voice carried to me from across the ship’s deck, snapping me out of my trance. “We weren’t expecting you here this morning.”
William had been reassigned once more and took charge of ensuring that the sea fleet was in pristine condition while I terrorized the queen’s citizens from my wyvern’s back.
“Aye, but does a captain need to announce his arrival for inspections?” I challenged.
“Of course not.” He took a few steps closer and met me at the helm. “It’s just that, lately, you take to the skies, not the sea.”
A growl slipped from me. “It’s not by choice, William.” I gave him a vicious smile. “The things we do for what we desire most.”
He lifted a single brow at me. “And that would be?”
Baring my teeth, I was about to lash out at him when my ears picked up a melodic sound that carried in from the waves.
Both of our gazes drifted to the deep sea, where the tide was rolling in. The rising sun reflected off the waves as an enchanting chorus flowed in, drawing us towards it.
My steps brought me to the bow of the ship, and I placed my hands on the railing as my stare focused out toward the haunting call. I stuffed my pinky in my ear and twisted, making sure that I was hearing correctly. I had never been a male who feared many things, but growing up as a son of the sea, I quickly learned that sirens were among the few creatures worth fearing.
Call it a gut feeling, but I was nearly certain that call was exactly what I heard. The melody grew louder and surrounded the ships in the harbor, as if coming at us from all sides while a mist drifted in on the waves.
“William?” My voice was just above a whisper as he stood next to me at the bow, but I went unanswered.
My eyes whipped toward him and flared as they beheld what his own looked like—glazed over with a cloudy haze. My steps sent me stumbling backwards, and my arms caught the rail, stopping me from falling overboard.
“William!” I barked, but his stare remained unseeing as he peered out at the water. I jogged to the center of the ship, where the troops were lined across the deck, and was horrified when I noticed that every single pair of eyes matched William’s. From what I could tell, everyone aboard the surrounding ships in the harbor was stuck in the same trance.
“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath, and then my gaze flashed down to my wrist—to the cuff that linked my mind to the wyvern’s.
It will serve as a barrier for exterior magic, Azenna had said that day she bound this cuff in our blood, and I had never been more fucking thankful for something in my gods-damn life.
I peered back out towards the sea, where the sun had nearly completely risen, and my stomach dropped as hundreds of slick-haired heads emerged from the surface of the water, stark white eyes glowing from them.
Fog continued to roll in with the tide, but I knew it wasn’t of nature. The haunting melody grew louder, and then a subtle splash caught my attention from the front of the ship.
I stalked back up to the bow, where William had been, to find he was gone. “Holy gods,” I whispered, and my quickened steps brought me to the very tip of the bow.
I leaned over the edge of the rail to see bubbles emerging from the water where his body fell, and then a long, scaled onyx tail lashed out from the surface. Thick, swirling crimson then flooded the waves.
“FUCK!” I bellowed as I unsheathed my sword. The fog had already crept its way aboard the deck of the ship, swirling around my feet as I ran back toward those who remained standing.
“Wake up, you morons! Everybody, snap out of it. Now!” I screamed. Some of their eyes began to blink, but not enough to rid them of their milky hue.
As if I had commanded them, they all started walking towards the ship’s edges, where webbed fingers curled over the railings.
Sirens heaved themselves onto the ships in the harbor. My eyes flashed in all directions as they climbed up the sides of the wooden vessels and sat upon their rails.
I frantically ran around the deck, swearing and grunting at the situation as I shoved sailors to the ground while their steps moved to carry them to their doom.
Then, a voice broke through the sirens’ song.
“Handsome captain, why do you stop them?” My steps halted, and I whipped in the direction of the voice, where a siren held herself up on the ship’s side. Ice-colored hair that matched her piercing eyes clung to her skin.
I took a step toward her, and my lip curled back in a snarl. “Why do I stop my soldiers from running blindly intotheir death? A bit of a foolish question. Wouldn’t you agree,sea-witch?”
Her unseeing gaze narrowed in on me beneath furrowed brows as a smirk tilted her sharp lips. “And why does the captain not answer our call?”
I held up my arm that the cuff was clasped around and waved my fingers through the air as if in a mocking greeting.
She hissed in response, and before I could blink, her oil-hued tail whipped out at me, its razor-sharp fin slicing through the skin of my forearm.
