She soars with arms open, body arched like a queen diving into her throne, a siren called home by the sea. She looks like both things she was born to be, a captain and a myth. Her curls fan behind her like smoke, her body cutting through the air with impossible grace.
There is no splash, only a silence that screams louder than thunder. And then, stillness. The ship stops rocking. The wind dies. The clouds pull back. The ocean waits. And so do I.
She’s going to try to tame the most ruthless beast.
Chapter twenty-nine
Mira
Of Scale & Soul
The moment my blood ran cold, I knew what I had to do. Knew Kai would never be okay with it. But if anyone could get through to the tarlock, it was me.
I felt his heart shatter the second I let go, piece by piece, the breaking echoed through my own chest like glass cracking in slow motion. Tears spilled down my cheeks into the air between us, silent goodbyes carried on the wind. Because this could be it.If I fail to tame the beast, if it doesn’t listen, this will be the end for both of us.
It’s all on me now.
I saw the weapons strapped to Kai’s back, the one he carried in his hand, ready to pierce through scale and bone, but something inside me rebelled at the thought. The tarlock isn’t just a monster, it’s part of the sea my home and heart. I can’t allow him to pierce through the beast.
And if it’s protecting something precious, we have no right to strike first. If there's a chance for common ground, I have to find it. We can’t afford to make enemies of the ocean’s most powerful, lethal creature.
So I jumped. The salt wind rushed through my hair. My tears streaked sideways, torn from me by the force of the fall. The sea rose up to meet me, and I was home.
The moment the water closed around me, I felt it in my bones. My skin drank it in like it had been starved. I could finally breathe again.
I dive beneath the ship, swimming hard toward the beast. I need to stop her, pull her attention away before she dragsThe Leviathanunder completely. Ironic that the ship was named after a creature just as deadly. The tarlock is circling fast, creating a massive whirlpool, trying to drown the ship so no one can fire back. It is a smart tactic, terrifyingly strategic. But I won’t let her finish it. Not while I still have breath.
I can feel it in my blood that whatever comes next, the sea is with me.
Then I see her. Blood-orange eyes glow brighter beneath the surface, brighter than anything I’ve seen in the ocean’s depths. The moment she senses me, she stops, her colossal form cutting through the water like a living shadow. Scales sharp as razors shimmer along her body. Her talons are the size of our mast, and her teeth can cleave a man in half with ease.
She is the most terrifyingly beautiful creature I have ever laid eyes on. Serpent and dragon, nightmare and goddess. Her face is sleek and deadly, otherworldly in its design. And she stares right at me. Holds my gaze. The world slows to a crawl. The ocean quiets as she watches and waits.
I meet her stare, unblinking. I feel her grief and rage deep in my bones. She isn’t a killer; she is protecting, hurting, searching for peace.
“Mira,”a voice echoes inside my head, soft like a hymn sung from the edge of heaven. I look around, startled, breaking eye contact with the creature. “Mira. The Soul.” It is her. The beast.
She is speaking directly into my mind. Magic? No, this is something else.
“Not magic, dear Mira,”her voice comes again, gentle as a wave. “We are connected. I know you feel it.” And I do. I just haven’t understood it until now.
I swim closer, slowly, the water parting around me like it knows where I need to go. She is still some distance away, but I need to see her up close, to look into her eyes and truly understand.
“Name?”I ask with my thoughts, reaching out through the bond, something new for me. “Keta,” she answers. Fierce and beautiful.
I reach her at last. She doesn’t move to strike or bare her teeth. She simply watches me, massive eyes tracking my every movement, glowing like twin suns in the dark. “I didn’t know it was you,” she says, and there’s something almost regretful in her tone. “If I did, I would never attack.”
“I’m sorry for my ship,” I tell her quietly, swimming up toward her face. “But they didn’t know. They don’t understand.”She dips her massive head slightly, acknowledging the apology. I hover there, close enough now to feel the slow pull of her current, the sheer force of her presence.
“Can you spare them?” I ask. My voice is steady in my mind, though my heart pounds inside my chest. I know the one thing Kai is holding on to above water is the beat of my heart.
She stares, and I wait, hoping the bond between us is strong enough to shift the tide.
“Spare them? I’m not going to kill. I just want them gone. These are ancient waters for my kind. No man shall cross. Most Tarlocks would attack, but I sensed you the moment your body touched the sea.” She is breathtaking, radiant in the way she glides through the open water. Ancient and terrifying in the sheer mass of her being, every single inch of her is razor-sharp.
“Thank you,” I dip my head slowly, in a small bow. “We’ll be on our way.”
She lowers her massive head until her glowing eyes are in direct contact with mine. “You are a beautiful soul. Stay safe. The ocean needs you, Mira—female ruler of the sea. If ever you need me, call my name. You know it now.”
