Authors: Naomi Fraser
The shock of the sirens’ screams
echo around me. Lakyn reaches both girls, but the sirens re-gather and one
grabs his right arm, another his left. He punches the first, brings out a knife
for the second and they all go under in a fury of tangled bodies.
Time stretches out unbearably. If
he dies, so will those girls, and then the sirens will come back, eager for
more souls.
A fluttering in my chest forces
my muscles to tighten in readiness. A sharp sense of purpose floods me. Lakyn
pops up like a flat, floating cork. Arms out and legs straight, he rests on the
surface and then dips again beneath a wave, face submerged, not trying to save
himself. Red leaks from his chest and filters through the water.
I pick up the spear gun, reload,
step back five or six paces. Breathe deep and focus. Then I spring in a dead
sprint toward the precipice, taking a swan dive for the water.
THE INITIAL SHOCK of the water freezes all my muscles.
Bubbles stream from my fingertips, the spear gun and then tunnel around me.
Water forces itself into my mouth and ears. Seaweed fronds wave in the murky
blue. I hurriedly gulp in my first mouthful, and the salty sting penetrates my
sinuses, then my ribs shift in a hollow, bone crunching sound.
I swallow more water, but there
is no pain. Bubbles cloud my vision. I rear back, drifting down. My arms hang
over my head so my knuckles trail down the jagged cliff face and a brief flare
of unusual sensation skitters across my shins. A sliver of panic twists around
my thundering heart, because I can’t see Lakyn and I need to get to him.
The earrings are incredibly warm.
Bubbles disappear from my mouth, and I manage to force myself upright until I
hit bottom. While my lobes tingle with energy, foam whips around my feet, and I
look down to a fully formed tail, the huge fin pressing into the sand. I flick
experimentally, and the sand moves like fog.
Curious, I touch one of the
earrings and the smooth orb emits a small electrical charge. The strange split
of skin behind my ears freaks me out a bit, but I suck in more water, and they
open and close fine.
Just then hands with long, pale
arms reach through the clouds of sand toward me. I cry and twist away, then
press the trigger on the spear gun. I can’t see their bodies to tell if I got a
direct hit. The opaque cloud of sand is the perfect camouflage, and I slip
through a crevice between two rocks. My tail fin brushes against the stones
with a slight tickle, but the silence is so loud it’s like I’ve gone deaf.
I break out into open water,
spear gun in one hand, arms close together. Hands pointing down, I lift up my
bottom and push down my chest, undulating through the depths. There are no
shoals of fish, no sharks. A seeping tendril of blood filters through the
water. The churning waves disperse the scent, and I follow the trail, swimming
toward a colder, faster tidal current.
A dark figure bobs at the
surface.
Lakyn.
I put on a burst of speed and
twist my way up to the starburst of light blue. His electrical field is faint;
dying. I reach up, his leg mere inches from my grasp and then grip his muscular
thigh.
Got him.
My hair sweeps up and around my face
in a silky white curtain, but the feel of his synthetic wetsuit and the slight
flutter of his chest makes me deliriously happy. I’ve found him in time; he’s
not going to die.
Now, to get the other two girls and escape
the sirens.
High-pitched wails of fury raze
across my skin, and I reload, shaking in fright. The vibration is hard,
overpowering. I whirl around, my tail propelling me with unbelievable power,
and I fire at the first siren who dares to stop me.
She shrieks; arches forward and
her hair puffs in a dark cloud around her face. The spear sticks out of her
chest. But it’s her eyes, close-set and black, which reminds me of a bottomless
abyss. Black blood unfurls into the water, and the siren goes limp and drops to
the sea bed. More are behind that one; I can feel the energy of them gathering
in the distance. I twist again, scoop the water with my tail and reach high
above me for Lakyn’s body.
I slip my hand beneath his arms
and heave his back up against my chest. Blood coats my hands.
“Lakyn?”
I shout in his ear and water sloshes his face.
No response.
“Lakyn, can you hear me? I have
to get you to shore.” My voice sounds thick and strange as if there’s a roaring
in my ears. I spread my fingers, instinct not letting me deny what I see. My
palms come away bright red. He’s bleeding heavily.
His broad shoulders and muscular
frame are unwieldy, but I press my fingers under his jaw and along his throat,
searching for a pulse. “You’re all right. You’re all right.” Please, God. My
hair sticks to my shoulders, and water laps up my ears. I slow my breathing,
trying to feel a reassuring thud in his throat. I stroke his skin lightly,
searching, and then my hand reaches for his chest, past the open wound.
If I felt his last breath . . . I
need to move fast. Tremors of weakness rattle my arms. “Lakyn, come on. You
can’t die.
Breeathhe
!”
A siren screeches, deep beneath
me, the sound drowning out my words. My heart thunders, I pant against his
neck, my stomach knotting. Knowing what’s beneath the water doesn’t make me
feel stronger or give me hope. It scares me even more. The ocean is another
world full of deadly creatures. Cold currents wrap around my tail, and I spin
around, clasping Lakyn close. I hold the spear gun with one hand and swim
backward toward the shore. My arms tremble and lower beneath the waves.
Two sirens break the surface; one
slides to my left, another to my right. Their black eyes gleam with
satisfaction before they lift their arms and dive beneath me.
I cast another look at his face,
but his gold-tipped lashes are still, lips blue and skin grey.
Fear, stark and cold, tears at my
insides, and my arms shake too much to get a proper grip on his wide shoulders
or torso and shoot at the same time. The splits behind my ears vibrate with the
sirens’ electrical charge, but I can’t see to shoot.
The sensitive matrix of my tail
vibrates with the sirens’ advance. I raise the spear gun again, but I can’t see
beneath the waves and hold Lakyn’s head above water. I’ll have to let him go,
or do something drastic, no matter the finfolk rules and my fears.
The texts describes portals and I
wonder if one is close by—which might explain the reason so many sirens are
near my house. It may be how Lakyn found me in the first place. The word will
tear a hole in the dimensions between our world and Lakyn’s home, but I take a
deep breath; hold out my hand and direct the energy. The magical word written
in the back of the
Guardian Training Manual
makes me shiver just
thinking about it. But I shout the word to the waves.
Air whips, water circling past
us, building momentum in a muted roar. The sound rises in crescendo to that of
an underwater tornado, fierce and raging. Nothing can escape, not even water. I
direct the circular water path toward the sirens and the churning current
sweeps them up. Others swim frantically to escape the rotating edge.
I pull Lakyn out of the swirl,
though warm salty water eddies around us, allowing me to gently cup his nape,
gathering him to me, snug in my arms. My heart thunders a fierce tattoo, and my
curves mould to his hard chest. He means so much to me—I just can’t imagine my
life without him. I recall his notes in the book and allow emotion to swell
inside my heart.
All the things he did for
me—helping me to become stronger, saving my life, showing me a whole new world.
He must have felt something to change me, and that knowledge forces more
appreciation, happiness and desire into my breath until I feel I may burst.
I only get one chance at this.
I’m sure he’s breathed his last breath. It’s time.
The roar of the sea drowns out
the boom of my heartbeat. I whisper the small spell Lakyn wrote in the notes,
so easy to remember because of the way the final words rhyme. I trust fate,
life and my transformation,
then
draw him in closer,
lowering my mouth over his. His lips taste cold and sweet, and a faint
masculine musk combines with the salt on his skin. While his firm lips are
still and firm beneath mine, tendrils of peace stir deep within my soul. A
vibration strengthens around me and I slip into the energy of our connection.
Reluctantly, I draw my lips from
his, only a millimetre or two, enough so my breath sparks diamonds of light, a
tangible force of finfolk magic. I blow into his open mouth, pouring out my
emotions, giving him the power within me. His features are placid and calm—not
of this world. I pinch his chin, pull down his bottom lip and then breathe out
with everything I am. All around me the scent of salt and blood soaks into my
senses, but ecstasy spirals through me and my tail fin straightens. Water dots
his tanned cheeks, the burnished tips of his hair are darker from the sea, and
I finger comb the cropped hair above his ears.
Come back to me, Lakyn.
Lacing my fingers together behind
his head, I keep breathing out and a tingling bursts in the pit of my stomach.
My heart jolts; pulse pounds. Fire smoulders my mouth with unbearable heat, so
hot I cannot stand it any longer. I lean forward again and reclaim his lips.
Electricity explodes at our intimate touch, and I groan against his cool,
velvet mouth. I clasp him tighter, holding his head steady, letting the spark
grow until a delicate thread forms between us.
His weightless body bumps against
mine, caught up in a wave, and I open my eyes, hoping, wishing, unable to take
my gaze off his tranquil profile.
Waiting for a sign.
Anything.
“Come on, this has to work.
Lakyn,
”
I shout hoarsely. “Don’t you dare give up on
me.
You
are . . . you have to live,” I croak, my voice grating in a harsh whisper.
“Lakyn.”
I grapple with his jaw, bringing him in closer,
sliding my cheek against his to bury my face in his throat. “You can’t die
because—” I start crying.
“Because I love you.
Do you
hear me? I love you.”
Blood throbs in my ears, wrenches
my heart, but then his pulse thuds; body twitches. I lean back, shocked.
A deep breath shudders through
his entire body, and he jerks over and over. His ribs
crack,
he groans and bones crunch, then lock into place with a wet pop.
“Yes, come on. That’s it.” My
exhale rattles my lungs and a warm glow loosens the hard knot in my stomach. A
cry of relief bursts from my lips, and at a faint shout overhead, I hesitantly
look up to the top of the cliff.
Owen and Patrick stand there,
waving their arms and giving me
a thumbs
up. I point
to the beach a few hundred yards along the shoreline. “Get him,” I scream at
the top of my lungs.
Sick, slow laughter echoes around
me and I peer back to three sirens who carve a semi-circle around us. The cold
slap of the waves reflects the glassy, empty look in their black eyes. Not so
much evil intelligence, but rather their look is sightless and possessed.
Controlled.
The only way out is to go back
through the whirlpool.
One screech and
they all duck under water.
I slide my hand up Lakyn’s back,
heart hammering, and think if all the sirens are with me, he can make it back
to shore safely. A hand brushes my tail fin and something tugs me down. I gasp,
sucking in a mouthful of water. I frantically swim up, cough and shove Lakyn’s
body as hard as I can as I bark out another command to the waves.
Magic buffets the water, slams me
back and makes him burst out of the sea. The swell catches him effortlessly;
massive waves barrelling him back toward the shore. The force of my thrust
sends me into the rotating edge of the whirlpool. Strong currents suck at my
tail, drawing me along until I’m horizontal. Sirens still cling to my tail.
“Owen . . . Patrick,” I scream, but realise no one can help me. Not now. I have
to fight this battle on my own.
Lakyn rides a crest and then
disappears. I flick my tail, harder, undulating frantically, hands cupping the
water, but the current is determined to let nothing escape. My hands claw for
purchase, trying to gain traction, and the weight on my tail rips away, but
something tears the web between the bones.
My face plunges into the water.
Another siren grabs my tail. The force of the whirlpool drags us both into the
swirling sea. My tail fin is useless, but I bend and try to push the siren off
me.
It must only be minutes, but each
second feels like it lasts forever. I struggle to lift my arms and move my
tail. There’s no way I can fight this much water. Within moments, exhaustion
burns in my muscles and I drop to the sea floor. My ears tingle and ribs crack,
but I breathe in water again, watching the sirens spin around with me in the
whirlpool.
There are two left, but if they
survive, then they can kill all of the people at my party.
Lakyn,
my mum, my friends.
I repeat the spell I used on Lakyn, but underwater,
and the waves slam into me. A deep crack rips open the seabed and dark water
spews forth.
Under the cover of murky water, I
grab the first siren’s hair, twining the black strands around my fingers to
yank her head back. She swings around and her razor sharp nails claw me. That’s
fine. My chest stings, and blood runs along my arms, but I lean back into the
fury of the whirlpool. The current tears at my dress, pulling my tail fin apart
more. I cry out at the pain and fight to turn around, thrusting the other siren
into the eddy. Pain is almost driving me out of my mind, cutting deep to the
bone. Both sirens scratch and rip at my skin.
I release one to grab the dagger
in my bra that I borrowed from Lakyn’s gear and drag the blade across her
throat. She gurgles, clasps two hands over her neck, and then black blood
leaches between her fingers before she goes limp. The next one tries to swim
away, and I scream beneath the water. The beat of the ocean lives in my veins.
It is mine to command.
Power sizzles under my skin, and
I snatch the last siren, cutting her throat and then toss her back into the
whirlpool. My father’s voice echoes in my mind. Telling me I did what I had to,
that it’s me or them, and a calming peace overwhelms me.
I try to whip up more magic to
make it back to shore, but I can’t speak. Something has torn out my throat. I
sink to the seabed, drifting into the whirlpool. The numbness is blissful.