Her eyes fell to the marble floor, and her thoughts drifted to the creak of ship wood, the spray of saltwater on her skin, and the roar of laughter from her crew as they passed the bottle around.
The thrill of the chase. The rebellion. Thefreedom.
There once was a time where she saw that as nothing but a gilded cage, and she wished she could go back in time to show that lonelylittle siren just how wrong she was. That life had burned so brightly, and now it was nothing more than ash in her hands.
Those thoughts began to suffocate her. Sheneverfucking wanted this. She hadn’t asked to be reborn, to carry the burden of a lost kingdom and a sacred bloodline.
Esmyra had only ever wanted the sea and a life carved by her own rules. But that life was gone, and the truth of it was finally sinking in.
She walked to the window, resting her hands on the sill as she looked out at the endless sea stretching beyond the city. “I’m still your little siren,” she whispered, hoping her father could hear the words even from the afterlife. “Even if I don’t feel like me anymore.”
Syrena cleared her throat from behind her and Esmyra turned, leaning back on the windowsill.
“Was this truly necessary?” Esmyra asked, lifting her wrist to show her mark. “Swear to me this was the only way.”
There was a subtle tightening around Syrena’s eyes. “You’re tired, Sister. All that you’ve seen, all that you’ve done… it’s weighing on you. I understand your hesitation. But yes, this needed to be done.”
Esmyra ached to trust that what her sister was saying was the truth. But inside, her mind screamed.
“This is a shackle permanently snapped on our wrist,” Kaelypso whispered. “I do not trust your sister.”
“Aye. And I don’t trust yours.”
Esmyra closed her eyes, the weight of it all threatening to crush her. Finally, she managed a shallow nod.
“Thank you, Esmi. Binding our goddesses will be our salvation until the end of time. You’ll see.” She winked before turning away from her and disappearing around the bend.
If this was their salvation, then why did Esmyra feel like she was about to drown?
I need to remember who I was before all of this.She blew out a breath as her thoughts swarmed her, but then her eyes widened.
Esmyra craved familiarity, desperately needing her father and crew. And she knew exactly what would bring them to her.
CHAPTER 27
Esmyra
Esmyra stood at the top of the tower’s staircase, staring at the door before pushing it open to reveal the chamber.
The familiar, dark grey brickwork of the tower appeared, the walls shimmering faintly in the low merlights. Massive windows stretched from floor to ceiling, showing an unbroken view of Maerinys and the ocean beyond. The Veil of Visions sat in the tower’s center, its water mimicking liquid glass.
Esmyra took a step up to the basin, a chill running along her spine as she stared down at herself in the water. She stood before it in her mortal form, but her heart leapt in her throat when she saw the reflection staring back at her was Kaelypso’s.
“We are one in the same.”
Esmyra’s muscles tensed at that.
She hadn’t been up here since the day she watched her father’s murder. Hadn’t dared step foot in the tower since she ran from it, down the spiral stairs, and to the front steps of the palace as her power burst from her in an eruption of grief and rage.
Esmyra needed familiarity, but even more than that, she needed thetruth. The truth of why her father was in Maerinys the day it sank and why he saved her instead of both twins as they lay in their cribs.Surely he had been in the room for a reason, and maybe his curse was the result of what he took… ofwhohe took.
Not just a royal heir, but agod.
She peered back down into the water, an ache clawing at her throat as she was overcome with endless questions.
Cyrus Blackwood had pulled her from a fate sealed in darkness, from a cursed damnation that he took on himself. The weight of it felt like chains around her ribs, but the details of the past blurred like ink in water, and she didn’t know what to trust.
Esmyra had believed her father for many years, only to find out he’d lied. She believed Draevyn when he finally broke through her walls. And she believed Syrena when she spoke of Kaelypso and Naerysa’s past.
