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The pirate he’d whispered to earlier hustled up beside him with a bucket of something foul smelling. The stench brought tears to my eyes, and I threw my arm over my face, burying my nose in the crook of my elbow.
“What is that?” My voice was muffled, but Hook had no problem understanding me.
“Chum.” He hoisted the bucket onto the railing.
“It smells horrible.”
“No argument there, but it will bring the creatures up from the depths.” He dumped the contents over the edge, then handed the bucket back to the man at his side. “Thank you, Linus. That will be all.”
The man nodded quickly. “Yes, Captain.” And he scampered off into the darkness.
“Keep your eyes on the water, love. By now, they’ve smelled the blood.”
11
NEVER
“The frenzy will only last a moment,” Hook said, his voice pitched low.
Sure enough, the shapes ceased their aimless, lazy circling and converged on the growing splotch of black in the water beside the ship. When a human face broke through the surface, my instinct to get down there and pull the woman from the water kicked into high gear.
Hook’s hand clamped around my upper arm, anchoring me in place. “Just watch.”
Next, a man surfaced but only to his shoulders. The woman’s face contorted, and she lunged for him, gnashing her teeth so violently I swear I could hear them clash together. Those teeth would give me nightmares, all sharp and pointed, like a saw blade in her mouth. My eyes flew wide as she lifted partially out of the water. From the waist up, she could have passed for human, assuming she never, ever opened her mouth. From the waist down, though, she resembled a fish, complete with scales and a tail fin. Three more creatures joined the fray, all appearing to be some variation of human-fish hybrid, and they all thrashed wildly in the water, fighting over the larger scraps of guts and gore sinking around them.
The whole thing lasted maybe thirty seconds before the five creatures dived back into the depths and darted off in different directions, but my heart rate was a long way from recovering.
“Were those mermaids, mer-people?” I asked, silently cursing the wobble in my voice.
“You’re thinking of merfolk, and no. Merfolk only patrol these waters during the day, and they’re a friendly bunch, for the most part. If a man goes overboard when the sun is up, they’ll go out of their way to see him to safety.” He leaned against the railing and stared down. “What you saw down there were sirens.”
“Like the creature in the lake?”
“Yes, but hers is a unique case. Sirens typically live in open water because they like to roam, and I imagine it’s easier to hunt. Efinia was cursed eons ago, bound to that tiny pond the way the demon is bound to the island and the surrounding waters. No one knows what she did to find herself landlocked, but swimming in that same tiny pool of acrid water for centuries has taken a toll.”
“Those sirens seemed just as crazy as her.” I pressed a little closer to the railing to get a better view of the water beside the ship.
“They were hungry. Blood in the water always creates a frenzy, but they’re devious too. They all have the ability to sing beautifully, to lure men and women in with their voices, but only a few have the power to create glamours like Efinia.”
“That’s why you won’t let me leave.” My stomach rolled uncomfortably when I thought about the night before, about how far I’d had to swim to make it to the beach. An unfamiliar memory flashed through my mind, just a blink, but I definitely remembered fins and scales and bright blue hair.
Hook turned and hiked his hip up on the railing. “You look a little green, love.”
I inhaled deeply and released the breath slowly, carefully. “Do they ever…” I didn’t know how to ask the question. “Do sirens save people?”
He tipped his head from one side to the other. “On occasion. Though, usually just long enough to watch them suffer. Why do you ask?”
“I was in the water last night.” I had to turn away from the edge, from the dark stain of blood dissipating in the sea below. A girl’s face filled my mind.
He glanced toward the island. “Sirens mostly stay clear of shallow water and they only venture close to shore if they think they can lure someone out into the depths. I doubt you were in any real danger.”
Was he being a condescending ass or just a dismissive one?
“I wasn’t near shore,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as whiny as I felt. “I was farther out than this, actually. The moon was pretty bright, and I could see the island. It looked so far away. I started swimming and…” And what? I didn’t remember dragging myself up the beach or sprawling out in the sand.
“How did you get all the way out here?” Hook’s question pulled me from my thoughts.
Should I lie or tell the truth? Maybe a half truth?
