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Ispent six days hidden in the depths. The obsidian darkness that had once bothered me, now enveloped me in a way that made me feel secure. I lay curled on the sandy bed of the ocean floor. My scales remained dark, not bothering to light the world around me, a world I didn’t care to see.
Even when I had held my emotions centuries ago, I would never have been this devastated. I was chosen to be one of the Promised because of my warrior heart. Being soft was nothing to be ashamed of, but it wasn’t me. I was the one who helped to protect the tenderhearted. Now I hid in the darkness, nursing a broken heart. Idly, I wondered how I would have survived this devastation if my emotions weren’t still being partially blocked.
It seemed impossible that a stranger could affect me so much. It had to be the instant bonding. Hot salty tears mixed with the cool saltwater around me. I had no one to ask about the bonding legends, and I doubted any scrolls from Atlantis had survived in the collapse. Maybe it was time for me to return to the waters of my childhood and search for any ruins of my home and her people.
Rough skin slid against my own, startling me out of my own little ‘pity party.’ That was a term I heard in the mind of the female but didn’t understand until Kye had climbed onto that boat and left me behind. Rousing myself, I thought of my shimmering scales and slowly they flickered to life. A wave of dizziness washed over me the moment I pushed myself into a sitting position. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized how weak I felt. I had gone too long without eating.
Dim green light lit the waters a few feet around me. It was just enough to see the massive grey and white body not four feet from my face. I flattened myself into the sand and silt, gritting my teeth as her rough skin rubbed against the length of my body. It was the same impressive shark that had been lurking around me since I swam into these waters.
I watched as she turned and moved toward me again. The sheer size and girth of her body made her turns a bit slower. This time as she neared me, I pushed at her head, using the force to propel me backwards and away from her.
“Why won’t you leave me alone!”
There wasn’t an answer, not that I expected one. This female had found me in the depths and shoved at me until I would get up and begin swimming. I would find another spot, only to have her find me the next day and repeat her annoying ritual. It reminded me of the Atlanteans who had tamed wild dogs and kept them inside their homes. The dogs would beg for food, to be petted, and to play outdoors. They were as demanding as children! Secretly, I had always wished for a hound as well, but my life had been dedicated to serving Atlantis and that wouldn’t have been fair to an animal.
Now I found myself being followed around by an eighteen-foot shark who acted like one of the small hounds from my memories. Just like everything else in my life, it was disconcerting and made no sense. She glided past me again, much slower this time. I ran my hands down her smokey-colored sides and pearl-colored stomach. Satisfied that I was awake, she moved away, disappearing into the gloom around me. With a sigh, I started my own journey toward land. If I didn’t want to die, I needed to find food. It was time I headed back to my homeland, and swimming the length of an entire ocean would require strength.
* * *
I had madeit only a couple of miles before the call began. The Lure was nearby, and I was needed. The good news was that a meal had just presented itself, the bad news was that I was weakened, and this would be a harder kill if the human was fit and healthy.
I tried to pick up my pace, but my movements remained sluggish. I had snacked on a few fish, which provided small amounts of nutrients, but my new form also required blood in larger amounts than was provided by the tiny fish. What I had taken from Kye should have lasted for several more days. My guess was the binding magik had depleted my body, and since I hadn’t taken blood after leaving him, I was suffering from starvation.
Humans could go much longer without food, especially if they had access to fresh water. I was learning about this new body through trial and error, and I had noticed that the cooler water used my energy reserves faster than warm water. This meant that as long as I stayed in the warm waters, I could go longer between blood feedings. Small fish that I caught could give me a tiny boost to last an extra day or two. Between my exhaustion after the binding, the amount of time since I drank from anyone, and the cooler temperatures of the deeps where I had been resting, this was the worst shape I had been in since waking.
There was also a strange throbbing in my chest I hadn’t felt before. I guessed it had something to do with Kye, but I didn’t know if it was the pain of him leaving me, or if being separated from one’s mate was the cause. Anything was possible when Ancient magik was involved. The theory would be tested when I began my journey across the sea and the distance between us grew larger.
The ocean around me turned from pitch black to midnight blue, then to a soft blue as the light penetrated the shallow water. I enjoyed the feel of the silky warm waters caressing my body, but I also felt exposed. The tropical waters in the gulf were clear in most areas, so someone standing on a boat and looking down would be able to see me, or at least see my dark outline. The sooner I answered the call and headed back into the depths, the better.
The vibrations of the boat’s idling motor reached me first, with the man’s thoughts blasting into my mind moments later. He was thinking of the things he had done to a young waitress the night before, things that made acidic bile make its way up my throat. She wasn’t the first he had brutalized, nor did he plan for her to be the last.
My skin crawled and to my astonishment, liquid anger burned through me. I answered the call, but I did not get emotional over it. Disgusted, yes. But anger was one of the emotions that had been buried. It was a messy emotion that simply got in the way of our job, just like pity, sadness, and guilt. This was not good.
I moved faster toward the boat, my fury lending me a small burst of energy that I would pay for later. Both sets of fangs dropped into place and I could taste the toxin in my mouth. I wished I had better control over the venom, I didn’t want this man to die quickly, I wanted him to suffer. See? This is exactly why anger is an issue when you’re a warrior. He needed to die, it shouldn’t matter to me if his death was fast or slow, only that it was efficient.
His slimy thoughts in my mind stoked my anger into a volcanic rage. I wanted him to suffer like he had forced his victims to suffer. Some of the women had been left alive to relive their trauma over and over in their minds while they tried to rebuild their lives. Others had been killed and their bodies were scattered around the island in shallow graves. Nausea churned in my stomach. I would have to speak to someone on land before I left this place. Those girls deserved to be found, and their families deserved to bury their loved ones. Pushing those worries aside, I focused back on the boat I was circling.
Annoyance. The emotion echoed in my mind, yanking it back from the dark feral place it had been heading. It was a strange feeling to feel an emotion so strongly, but know it wasn’t yours. It wasn’t coming from the filth above me either; I sensed his emotions, but I didn’t feel them, nor did I feel anyone else’s emotions. I was far too exhausted to deal with this. Moving closer, I suctioned my palms against the side of the boat, edging myself nearer to my victim.
Worry.Again, an emotion that didn’t belong to me washed through my mind, and made my heart skip a beat. I grit my teeth, irritated. I was hunting and struggling to maintain control of my own unruly emotions; this wasn’t the time or place to deal with someone else’s feelings. The man above me was carefree, not a worry in his mind. He had taken what he wanted and had gotten away with it. I ground my jaw so tightly that my fangs pierced my lip in several places.
Focus. Let the call wash away everything but the mission.
It didn’t work. I was hungry and angry. What did the female with the knives call this? Oh yes, she called it being hangry. A fitting name for this state of being. Reaching out, I yanked hard on the man’s fishing line. He let loose with a string of curses and his feet stumbled on the deck. The boat tilted slightly as he leaned over the edge to peer into the water, no doubt trying to see what he had caught on his line.
I was tired and knew I couldn’t waste this opportunity. Using everything in me, I propelled myself up and onto his body. Sinking my hands into his shirt, I pulled him from the safety of his small fishing vessel and into the waters with me. The predator in me uncoiled, pleased with her catch. We sank beneath the surface. His struggles made little difference to me; in the water, I was stronger than he could imagine. I was not one of the helpless young women he enjoyed preying on. The hunter was now the hunted.
Shock. I gasped as the new emotion battered my mind. My heart began to race, experiencing another emotion that didn’t belong to me. I struggled to focus on the task at hand, but the damage had already been done. Sharp pain sliced between my ribs. Glancing down, I stared at the small knife that the man had embedded in the softer skin of my side. He shoved at my body, a nasty smirk on his lips.
I flashed my fangs at him in a feral smile. The pain had startled me and that had been enough for me to lose control over the turmoil inside me. The Siren had come out to play. His skin paled to a deathly shade as he took in my fangs and slitted eyes. He was looking death in the face, and he knew it.
Moving forward, my fangs sank savagely into the vein on his neck. The blood tasted like water from a wishing well filled with old coins. Basically, it tasted nasty. This had never truly bothered me until I had drunk from Kye. I drank to survive; it didn’t matter if I enjoyed it or not. Now I knew that it could be pleasurable and taste better than any food I had ever enjoyed in my life. That knowledge made it much more difficult to choke down the foul taste of this man’s blood.
My claws extended and sank into his shoulders; he would not escape my grip. I was careful to not inject him with venom. The Siren wanted him to suffer, and I couldn’t stop her. His blood mixed with my own which poured from my side, and it excited the feral part of me even more. Ripping my fangs from his skin, I released my hold on his neck, turning his neck to bury my fangs deeper on the other side.
Fear. The emotion did not concern me, it was not my own. I felt only the thrill of the hunt.
Panic. Once more, I shoved at the emotion, wanting to enjoy my prey’s futile struggles.
