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CHAPTER 12—MERGED
I winced. The cut stung and ached, the blood slowly pushing through the slice of my arm. It trickled down toward the candle.
It fell.
One drop.
Two drops.
Three drops.
When I breathed out, the ship rattled.
Thunder split the sky in half, so loud that my ribs shook. I couldn’t hold back a scream, the candle exploding into a pillar of fire in front of me. I was yanked backwards, a body suddenly covering mine.
I could hear voices yelling in chaos around me, but they were weak compared to the thunder that was still rolling above us. I was pinned, unable to look up at the sky.
Instead, I looked over my shoulder to see who was on top of me.
Luc smiled down at me, petting my hair in reassurance.
“I’m here, little dove. Don’t worry.”
“What’s happening?” I asked.
He looked up at the sky, grinning.
“Redemption,” he said.
Suddenly, there was a long, low gasp in the air. It turned into a chorus of gasps, becoming louder and louder, as if the gods of the sea were trying to suck the air out of the sky. Luc’s warm hands brushed against my hair as he shushed me and commanded I stay calm. I could barely hear him over the gasping sounds and the pounding of my heart in my ears.
“What the hell is that?” I heard Adrian cry out.
I looked at the thick pillar of fire, where the candle used to be. Now, there were teal and gray gusts of smoke swirling around the flames, winding tighter and tighter until it chokedout the flames completely. The flames burst even higher in the air, breaking through the clouds. Henrik grabbed Adrian by the neck and threw him down, his eyes shifting to me quickly and then to Luc. He nodded to me, as if he was trying to console me, but then turned his attention back to the pillar of teal, gray, and fire.
The tower of fire touched the tip of the sky, splitting it in half with white light. The ship lurched underneath us, and I couldn’t help but scream again, the jolt bringing air back to my lungs. Luc tightened his grip around me, his ocean scent releasing some tension in my nerves.
The gasps turned into the sounds of birds, as if hundreds of birds were in the air at once. The light in the sky began to melt and drip, and before the light fell into the water, it turned into wings and flew over the ship.
“What are they?” I asked Luc.
He looked down at me with the smile of a boy on Christmas day.
“The sirens,” he said, laughing.
The wings burst into light and fire, then morphed and stretched until they resembled something relating to a human shape. They were like angels, or perhaps human butterflies, transforming from teal wisps to human flesh and raven feathers. It was hard to look away from them as they swarmed the ship.
“Devil blood…” they whispered in unison, their voices shaking the air.
One of them flew straight at Luc and me. I could only watch, seeing its face slowly change from pure fire to the form of a human skull.
But before it could reach us, it hissed and drew back. I recognized Henrik’s boots in front of us.
“Release!” he yelled.
Suddenly, there was a cry from the men and the sound of leather snapping. Luc covered me completely. I couldn’t make out what was happening. All I heard was hissing, battle cries, and later…the sound of silence.
Luc’s breath was ragged on top of me, but when the silence had fully taken over and the ship had calmed, he slid off.
