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But my ocean is full of disturbances.
Men scream from far away, their cries cut off by eels tearing into them. What wonderful beasts. Another comes pelting in this direction, after the women whose legs kick to keep them above the surface. One of them is bleeding, sending the eel into a frenzy. I stay right where I am, ready to watch the show. Until something kicks me.
I hadn’t even noticed I was holding on to a man. Though the salt water must sting his eyes, he manages to glower at me thoroughly.
I laugh at the silly creature. Watch him struggle against me. We’re below the water’s surface. It won’t be long before his lungs give up. But then, he stops fighting. He can’t have drowned so quickly. No, he draws himself nearer, places his forehead against mine, noses bumping.
The heat from him—
This sensation. This lack of fighting. It’s—
It’s—
A memory pushes itself to the surface, words fluttering into my mind on wings.Your enchantments last long after your song fades,he said before he kissed my skin.
Suddenly, peace and eagerness are gone, replaced once more by fear and urgency. I throw Riden toward the ocean’s surface before launching myself toward the oncoming eel. The largest one yet, perhaps fifteen feet—all teeth and muscle. Its tail rippling through the water so quickly I can barely see it.
But I’m faster.
I may not have been born in the sea, but I was born to rule it.
I am the daughter of the siren queen.
The eel has already finished its circling of Niridia and the others. It’s far below us now, surging up, up, up, mouth gaping.
I reach for the dagger in my boot, launching myself at the eel from the side. Dagger connects first, then my legs wrap around the creature’s body, just barely long enough for my feet to connect on the other side of the massive water beast.
It wriggles at the pain, sending us shooting in random directions. I pull out the dagger and drive it in again. And again and again. Finally the creature stills, and I release it. A quick glance shows me that someone lowered a rope for the girls and Riden.
ButDeath’s Secretstill pulls us in.
A harpoon dislodges from my ship; one of the girls must have tossed it over after cutting the line. An idea hits me, andI grab the harpoon before it can sink to the ocean’s bottom. I swim down, down, down—as far as I can get while still traveling toward the opposing ship.
Then I propel myself toward the enemy ship, all muscles straining, swimming as fast as my siren nature will carry me, angling the harpoon so the tip will hit first.
It pierces the wood, and I rip it back out. I pull at the boards in the opening, widening it as water gushes into the hole. They must have patched up the cannon hole I made the men launch into their own ship.
Let’s see them patch this up.
I repeat the action, swimming down and then striking the ship with the harpoon three times more.
Death’s Secretis rapidly sinking.
I am underwater, fully in control of my mind, and the ship holding my father is sinking. I should be a mindless beast right now, lost to the sea forever, my crew and ship disappearing into the deep.
Instead I am more powerful than I’ve ever been before in my life.
The realization is intoxicating.
I don’t want to leave the water. As soon as I do, I know I will have the same weaknesses as before. Unable to replenish my abilities without losing my mind, useless to everyone.
But what is the alternative? To stay underwater with my human mind forever? Never living life as a siren or human. Trapped somewhere in between.
I swim back toward my own ship, watching the lines fromthe harpoons fall into the sea. TheAva-leeis free, beginning to sail away.
I don’t breach the water’s surface until I’m on the port side, where the fleet can’t see me.
I don’t want my father knowing I beat his ship by destroying it from under the water’s surface. This will not be the last time I see him or his fleet, and I don’t want him knowing I’ve found an advantage.
