Dangerous Depths (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (21 page)

A sharp pain seared the flesh on my hand. Sage appeared in front of me, her tongue darting out at me. “Sage?”

I’m here.
She mentally whispered.

I
stared at the two marks from her fangs. She hadn’t bitten me hard enough to draw blood. When I looked up again, the lighting in the cave had returned to normal. The temperature seemed right again. The line of black dust dancing across my vision had stopped. Could that have been Sage trying to communicate with me?

“This is real?” I wasn’t sure if I intended to say it as a question or statement.

“I swear,” Treygan said. “This is real.”

I slowly stepped closer to him. His dark blue eyes watched me intently. I tested him. “Tell me a story.”

Relief washed over his face. He extended his hand. “My fingers can’t reach your skin when you’re so far away, and I promised not to touch you until you say it’s okay.”

I dropped the dagger and rushed into his open arms. He hugged me tighter than ever. His comforting scent of honey and clean ocean air wafted over me.

“Damn, that was intense.” Rownan slumped against the wall. “I thought we lost you, Yara.”

“I didn’t.” Treygan’s chest rose and fell against mine as he kissed me. “I knew you were stronger than that.”

A seed of hope blossomed inside me. “Lloyd isn’t dead?”

Treygan smiled. “He’s probably home asleep in bed at this very moment.”

That was good enough for me. We had no idea what was happening in Earth’s realm, but as long as Uncle Lloyd hadn’t really come to Harte and died, I had an extremely precious reason to find a way home.

“We need to get out of this cave,” Treygan said. “It’s making us stir crazy.”  

I didn’t think our hallucinations had anything to do with the cave. Harte knew how to hit where it hurt. But had some unseen force corralled us into this small space for a reason? We were trapped like animals. “What if the rain never stops?”

Treygan walked to the cave’s opening and crossed his arms over his chest. “Eventually, every storm runs out of steam.”

I snickered. “This one literally steams.”

Rownan’s head fell back against the wall. “Can we please go one day without some play on words about hell or burning or anything about this messed up world?”

“You’re a bit cranky,” I said.

“You think? We’re trapped in a cave by skin-sizzling rain while Vienna is out there, maybe burning to death, or being tortured by who knows what, and all I can do is sit here doing nothing.”

“I’m sorry,” I offered. “I know this is a million times harder for you than it is for me or Treygan.”

“A million doesn’t come close.”

“Noted.” I didn’t want to argue about who loved who more. Love was love; it couldn’t be measured or weighed to see who had less or more of it. “Again, I’m sorry.”

Treygan stood beside Rownan. “It’s your turn to rest. Get some sleep. It’s not like we can do anything until this rain stops.”

Rownan rubbed his bloodshot eyes. “I could use some sleep. You’ll wake me up the second it stops raining?”

“Of course,” Treygan told him. “We want to get out of here too.”

Rownan stripped off his jacket and lay down in the back of the cave, using his jacket as a pillow. It seemed like only a few minutes had passed before Rownan’s breathing deepened and he snored softly.

I glanced at the watch Delmar had given me. He thought it might work in Harte, but sadly, he was wrong. The hands hadn’t budged since we had sailed into the Triangle. Tracking time was impossible in Harte. I took off the watch and tossed it on the ground. One less thing to weigh me down.

“Otabia and Mariza won’t help me,” I told the sprites.

Every last one of them had gathered around the bayou. It was past their bedtime, but they all made an exception and attended the emergency meeting. Their loyalty was touching, but they had no idea what I was about to ask. I wouldn’t be surprised if all of them said no. I couldn’t blame them. I would have said no too.

“We’ll help you!” Jenna shouted.

Many yesses and cheers erupted around me.

Tucker was the voice of reason. He was the least shy of all the guys. Not that any of them were as outgoing as the girls, but Tucker took the lead while a group of boys hovered behind him
. “First, we should probably know what you need help with.”

“Well,” I began, fiddling with my hands, “You’ve all heard the legend of the gorgon sisters’ all-seeing mirror.” Nods and acknowledgments buzzed all around me. “I found out it still exists.”

The sprites oohed and ahhed. I glanced at Jenna and Keeley, who watched me with innocent, unknowing smiles.

“And … well …” I stood and took a deep breath. “I’m stealing it from the grotto.”

Silence. The only sounds were random single music notes coming from the lightsing bugs each time they lit up. But even their lights were dim, and their low tones sounded ominous.

Keeley’s teensy hands covered her mouth.

Jenna leaned forward. “Did you say
steal
it from the grotto?”

I nodded. Tucker flew backward and huddled with a group of sprites who looked as shocked as him.

“I know it’s dangerous,” I added. “I realize none of you have ever been in the grotto, and it frightens you—”

“Venus Flytraps frighten us,” Tucker said. “Stheno and Euryale terrify us!”

I hung my head. “It was an absurd idea. I shouldn’t have asked.”

“You still haven’t actually asked us to do anything,” Keeley pointed out. “What would you want us to help with?”

“You’re small enough that you could fly through the tunnel into the grotto with me. I’ll distract Stheno and Euryale while some of you fly in and search all the caverns for the mirror.”

Their twinkling eyes were wide with fear.

Tucker spoke in a hushed voice. “Surely, they’d burn off our wings or worse if they found out we had violated their sacred and forbidden home.”

Many sprites wrapped their wings around themselves protectively. Tucker was right.

“I’m sorry I asked.” My shoulders slumped. I knew I would never find the mirror by myself.

“We’ll do it.” Jenna and Keeley stood holding hands. “We’ll help you.”

“Jenna, no!” Tucker argued, flying to their side. “Keeley, it’s too dangerous.”

Keeley grinned. “But think of the adventure! Imagine the feeling of helping save someone so important.”

“It’s the chance of a lifetime,” Jenna cooed.

Tucker’s eyes lit up as if he was star struck. He muttered something I couldn’t hear.

“What?” I asked him.

Tucker turned to face me. “The adventure of a lifetime.” He threw his hands above his head like a true champion. “I’m in!”

~

They were the only three sprites who volunteered to help me, but three were enough.

I was upset with myself for putting my three favorite family members in danger, but I couldn’t do this on my own, and I had to get the mirror so I could check on Yara.

Otabia and Mariza stooped atop one of the cliffs of the grotto. Otabia shook her head, giving me a final warning not to proceed. Mariza stared down at us with her eyes gleaming. She would love to see us get caught and be subjected to the wrath of Stheno and Euryale. That was probably her intention in telling me about the mirror in the first place.

It didn’t matter. They couldn’t stop me. If my plan worked the way it was supposed to, then we would be in and out of the grotto before Stheno and Euryale woke up. I would have the mirror, and I would never set foot in there again. It wasn’t like Yara would ever be trapped inside the way they were. The grotto could implode—with Stheno and Euryale in it—for all I cared.

The sprites and I landed on a boulder outside the entrance. “Remember, only follow me halfway through the tunnel,” I warned. “Wait until you hear my siren song, then you can come in.”

“What if your trick doesn’t work?” Keeley asked.

“It will work,” I told her. “Stheno and Euryale salivate for any memories, but they’ll be excited by a change of source. I’m sure they’ve grown bored of Mariza and Otabia after all this time.”

Jenna nervously stroked one of the leaves on her head. “And you’re sure the poison will work on them?”

“It’s not poison,” I corrected. “It’s serum to put them to sleep for a little while.”

“Liquid lullaby,” Tucker said, trying to make all of us feel better about the crime we were about to commit. “Everyone enjoys a nice nap.”

They were worried and scared—it showed all over their faces. I was too, but I had to be the confident one in this mission. I would never let anything happen to them. That I was sure of.

I crouched, preparing to morph into bird form. “Ready?”

All three of them nodded.

I threw back the vial of Liquid Lullaby—as Tucker innocently called it—almost choking on its sickly sweet taste. I only had a few minutes to regurgitate the concoction before it put me into a deep sleep.

My bones cracked and my skin tightened, bristling with a full coat of downy feathers as I shrank into my heron form. I sailed off the cliff with Tucker, Jenna, and Keeley flying after me. We dove into the water and I led them to the secret tunnel of the grotto’s entrance. Like true, brave soldiers they didn’t hesitate and followed close behind me. I slowed halfway through and craned my long neck—our signal for them to hold until my next command.

Then I continued forward.

I burst through the tidal pool, instantly changing back into siren form. The main cavern was empty and the torches on the walls burned dimly. I pulled my hair back, leaned forward, and vomited the awful memory I had recently consumed, along with the Liquid Lullaby.

I hadn’t even finished wiping the blood and saliva from my mouth before Stheno and Euryale’s rattling tails echoed through the grotto. They slithered my way so fast it could only mean one thing: they were already frenzied. I knew I could count on Stheno and Euryale’s hunger and greed winning over rational thought about why, for the first time ever, I had regurgitate memories for them.

They rounded the corner pushing and shoving each other in a battle to get to the puddle at my feet. Their pinwheel eyes were spinning furiously. They groaned with thirst as saliva dripped from their fangs.

Their serpentine torsos stretched long as their black tongues dove into the puddle simultaneously. I stepped back, half-worried they might accidentally eat my feet in their ravenous consumption.

Somewhat disgusted, I watched them lap from the puddle and throw back their heads, swallowing as much as they could as fast as they could. They had never been so out of control when feeding from Mariza or Otabia. This meal bordered on barbaric.

I had expected some questions, at least a trace of skepticism or questioning of my motives, but me regurgitating for them was like throwing a freshly decapitated body to a pair of starved sharks.

True, the memories I stole were more pungent than usual, but it was by no means our best catch ever. I had been there for the pinnacles of Otabia and Mariza’s careers. Euryale and Stheno had fed on much darker and richer meals than this one. But you would never know it by the way they slurped and gulped down my recent catch.

My prey was a recently released convict who had fled to the Bahamas. He had committed such heinous crimes, and planned to do many more. I found him strutting out of a hotel with two teenage girls slurring and stumbling at his side. He had baited them on the internet with false promises of lucrative modeling careers. Upon meeting them in person, he weakened their defenses with liquor and drugs. My sisters and I trailed them to an abandoned warehouse that served as his makeshift home and a factory of horrors.

Seven girls were shackled and gagged inside, bleeding and broken like traumatized animals. The newest two would have made nine victims total. If only they knew how close they had come to suffering a nightmare worse than anything they could have imagined.

I relished strutting into that dark and dingy warehouse. Not because of the bruised, naked, whimpering girls watching me and trembling with fear that I might be another torturer. What I relished was the sick hunger in the despicable man’s eyes. There I was, a fiery redhead in high-heeled boots and a form-fitting bodice, radiating such a powerful aura of seduction that he was paralyzed with lust. My sultry sisters, being centuries more experienced, oozed sexual prowess without even trying. Little did he know that as horrid as his crimes were, they were child’s play compared to what we were about to do to him.

Otabia and Mariza flanked me on either side, purring with anticipation.

The tent forming in his shorts made me laugh out loud. Usually, I let Mariza and Otabia battle over ripping off the pathetic proof of supposed manhood, but I needed to make sure this experience was as tantalizing as possible for Stheno and Euryale. This time I would do the honor.

I stepped closer, licking my lips and pressing my chest against his as I grabbed hold of the tacky fake gold chain around his neck. I hummed a few notes, barely a taste of my intoxicating siren song.

His breath was as putrid as his soul. “I’ve been dreaming about girls like you.”

I smiled and pressed my nails into his hairy chest. “The hunter becomes the hunted.”

His eyes widened with alarm, but then I sang. Otabia and Mariza joined in behind me. All the female victims around us calmed and quieted. Men can’t resist a siren’s song, but women are soothed by its power. Those poor girls were long overdue for soothing.

I released my wings and spread them high, contemplating the most torturous way to suck the degenerate dry, then closed my mouth over his. When Otabia and Mariza’s talons tore into him he tried to scream, but I breathed it back into him, not allowing him his much needed release and forcing him to choke and writhe. It went on like that, gradually intensifying his agony for hours. 

Even regurgitated, his terrified screams, sobbing, and pleas for mercy, lived on through the blood dripping down Stheno and Euryale’s faces.

They were enjoying the memory of his punishment almost as much as I enjoyed administering it. But they were already swaying. The sleeping potion was taking effect. Soon, the beautiful faces of the nine avenged girls would lure Stheno and Euryale into a satisfying and peaceful sleep. Because after all was said and done, the most rewarding part of our outing was tenderly removing all the horrifying memories from the innocent girls. Their bodies would forever be scarred, and they wouldn’t remember why, but their minds and souls were cleansed.

That’s the burden and the beauty of being a siren. Some consider what we do sinister, but we know part of our work is saintly.

Stheno and Euryale passed out in what was left of the blood. I sang my cue for Jenna, Keeley, and Tucker to come in. They flew through the pool, shaking the water from their tiny wings.

“It worked?” Keeley whispered.

I gloated. “Of course it worked. Let’s get moving. Jenna, you’re with me. We’ll check every room and tunnel on the right side. Keeley and Tucker you do the same on the left.”