Esmyra dove into the water, her body shifting in seconds during the thirty-foot drop. The cold embrace of the sea wrapped around her as the world above faded into darkness.
She scoured the seabed, searching for anything—clues, debris,bodies, but the ocean floor was deathly still. When searching for her crew in the past, she would send out a pulse of power that sent ripples out through the ocean to feel for any resistance.
Esmyra sucked in a sharp breath through her gills and sent out that same pulse, and almost instantly her eyes snapped open from what she felt. A powerful push of her tail had her banking to the left to follow the pulse and swimming through a massive coral reef.
And then her heart halted in her chest.
A hulking shadow loomed in the distance, and then the ship came into view. It was draped in swaying seaweed as schools of fish wove through the wreckage, darting between the broken beams and rotting planks.
The Night Wraithrested in the sand like a fallen beast, one mast snapped, its hull split open like a gaping wound. The once-proud sails were now tattered ghosts of what they’d been, torn by the merciless tides and whatever had caused it to sink.
Esmyra shook her head rapidly in denial, eyes widening at the sight. A lump formed in her throat as she slowly approached.
What the fuck happened here?
Her mind waged war against itself. The ship had been wrecked, but there was still no sign of her crew. Had they drowned? Had their bodies been taken by the current, their remains scattered across the sea?
The thought made her stomach twist.
No. She refused to believe it.
Esmyra swam through the wreckage, slipping through the shattered beams and broken doors, searching for any sign of life or death. Giant holes in the ship’s starboard side indicated cannon fire was involved. But who would be foolish enough to attackThe Night Wraith? Not to mention, the captain’s quarters were eerily untouched, as if whoever had done this hadn’t been searching for valuables.
That meant they’d been after something else.
Or someone.
Draevyn’s face appeared in her mind, and her lips parted.
Her gut churned as she forced herself deeper into the wreck; she had to find something. Any sign that her crew had survived.
But the ship was empty. There were no floating corpses, and no bones trapped beneath the broken hull.
Nothing.
Esmyra’s jaw locked, her gills flaring from the sides of her neck in irritation.
“The sea is ours.”
Esmyra whirled around in a rush of bubbles, eyes wide.What the fuck?
“Every creature and vessel in it answers to Naerysa and me, and that now extends to you.Call upon our power and I will show you.”
Was Kaelypsospeakingto her now? She didn’t like that. Not one bit. Esmyra thought she’d heard someone’s voice as Maerinys rose but assumed her mind had been playing tricks on her.
“How long have you been able to hear my thoughts?”
“Forever, my little siren,” Kaelypso admitted. “I have always been with you.”
Tits, this was irritating.
“Creepy,” Esmyra murmured in her mind.
“This wasn’t exactly my choice either.” Kaelypso’s tone betrayed her annoyance. “You wish to find your crew? Call upon our power.”
What was the goddess trying to say? And why did she wait until now to speak?
“My patience is wearing thin.”
