Dangerous Depths (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (19 page)

I cried out so long and hard that the leaves around us curled in on themselves. I was curled up as well, in too much
pain to move. “They hurt so much.”

Keeley flew around me, examining me with tears in he
r eyes. “They’re fine. I swear, nothing is wrong with your wings.”

“There must be,” I groaned.

Jenna continued to pet my cheek. “The boys went to get help. Hang in there. I promise you’re going to be okay.”

“I hate seeing her like this,” Keeley whispered.

The pain wasn’t subsiding, but time allowed me to think about why my wings were hurting so badly. “Oh, gods.”

I lifted my head and Jenna and Keeley both froze, watching me intently.

“What? What is it?” Keeley asked me.

“It’s Yara.”

“What?” Keeley looked confused.

“Ohhhhhh.” Jenna drifted backward and sat on a daisy. “What do you think happened?”

“I don’t understand!” Keeley glanced between Jenna and me.

“Sirens feel other sirens’ pain,” I explained to Keeley. “If there’s nothing actually wrong with my wings, it could mean something happened to Yara.”

“Maybe it’s Mariza or Otabia,” Jenna offered.

I shook my head, clenching my teeth at the furious stinging in my back.

As if on cue, Otabia’s caw pierced through the bayou. Mariza’s shrill squawking echoed Otabia’s. I answered them, my loud call sending Jenna and Keeley backing away from me. They looked up at the sky where Otabia and Mariza’s black and brown forms swept over the tops of the Weeping Willows.

“They scare me,” Keeley whispered.

“Should we leave?” Jenna asked.

“No,” I told them. “They aren’t as scary as they seem. Don’t worry.”

Otabia and Mariza’s wings blew leaves all around us. They landed gracefully on the riverbank.

“What in the hell was that?” Otabia asked me. “Did you hurt yourself?”

Mariza made a disgusted face as she pulled the heel of her boot out of the mud. “I loathe this place.”

“It wasn’t me,” I said, sitting up. “I think it’s Yara.”

Otabia walked closer, staring at me. Her pupils enlarged, the way they always did when she thought hard. “Do you know how badly she must have been hurt for all three of us to feel her pain?”

“While she’s in Harte,” Mariza added, flying up to a tree branch. She sat on it and used leaves to wipe the mud from her boots.

“My back is still burning,” I said. “What if she’s dying?”

Otabia waved her talons dismissively. “She’s not dying. We’d feel that too.”

I hoped she was right. “Something horrible must have happened.”

“Maybe she lost her wings,” Mariza said. “Easy come, easy go.”

“Shut up, Mariza!” I snapped. “How can you be so heartless?”

Mariza laughed. “When have I ever pretended to have a heart?”

I snarled at her and she snarled back.

“Stop it, you two,” Otabia ordered. “We didn’t come here to discuss Yara or give the false impression that we care about her. We wanted to make sure you were all right.”

“I’m not all right. If Yara is in pain then so am I. What if she dies in there? What will happen to me?”

“You will live,” Otabia assured me.

Mariza flicked a leaf off her hand. “And we’ll throw a party and get on with our lives.”

I snapped my teeth at her. I wanted to rip every hair out of her head, but she wasn’t worth my energy.

“I would be devastated,” I admitted. Yes, I was assigned to be Yara’s siren as part of the gorgon sister trinity, but my feelings ran deeper than that. I genuinely cared about Yara. Cleo had me protect her for years. I had watched Yara grow up and go through so much in her short life. She and Treygan had just started their life together. She deserved a long, happy existence. “We have to get them out of there before it’s too late.”

“We?” Otabia grimaced.

“You have lost your batty little mind,” Mariza said.

Jenna and Keeley
were hiding behind plants. I could never ask them to come with me. I’d have to go alone. “I’m going,” I said. “I should have gone with them and I didn’t, but I’m going back to the Triangle and I’m going to find them.”

Mariza flew down from her branch, landing directly in front of me. “No, you’re not.”

Otabia advanced on me too. “Our connection to you is infinitely stronger than your connection to Yara. If you suffer in there, so will we.”

“Exactly,” I argued. “The same way I’m suffering from Yara’s pain.”

“Your connection to her can’t be that strong yet,” Otabia snapped.

“I assure you, it is.”

Mariza crossed her arms over her chest. “I refuse to endure more pain and emotional torment because of that half-breed sea monster. Give her the damn mirror.”

Otabia’s eyes flared with fire and she swiped her talons at Mariza’s mouth. “Silence!”

“Mirror?” I questioned. “The all-seeing mirror?”

Mariza nodded, darting away from Otabia. “It still exists. Stheno and Euryale have it hidden in the grotto.”

Otabia slowly and deliberately stepped toward Mariza. “Shut.” Another step. “Your.” Another step. “Mouth.”

Mariza fluttered backward, putting a safe distance between them.

“That mirror was destroyed,” I said. “Stheno and Euryale told us it was destroyed ages ago.”

Mariza’s lip curled. “They lied.” 

“Last warning,” Otabia snarled. “Shut your trap.”

Mariza curled her fingers into fists. “We tell her, or she enters Harte and we suffer.”

“Tell me what?” I probed.

Otabia shook her head. Her black bangs swept across her forehead.

Mariza crouched the way she always did before an attack. “It doesn’t just view Rathe, it views all of Poseidon’s worlds.”

Otabia pounced, but Mariza did too. They collided in mid-air, grabbing each other’s hair, yanking so hard it looked like their flailing heads might snap off. Their wings flapped and rustled as dark feathers drifted to the ground. Jenna and Keeley trembled so hard the plant they hid behind shook.

“Enough!” I flew at my pain-in-the-ass sisters, breaking up their fight, and keeping myself positioned between them. They continued swiping and spitting at each other. “Stop it! Tell me the truth!”

Otabia snapped her teeth and kicked at Mariza a few more times while Mariza stuck out her brown tongue like a spiteful child.

“Mariza,” I glared at her. “Start talking.”

“They will punish us severely for this,” Otabia hissed. “Stheno and Euryale will have our heads.”

“So, they become angry for a few days.” Mariza shoved my hand off her chest. “They still need us if they want to have any kind of pleasure or excitement in their dismal existence. Besides, Nixie can tell them she discovered it all by herself. No need to rat us out.”

“I won’t rat anyone out,
” I promised them. “You’re saying the mirror still exists and I could see Yara in Harte?”

“It does,” Mariza said. “And you could.”

Otabia turned her back to us.

“How come I didn’t know about this?”

“It’s one of their many secrets.” Mariza shrugged. “Stheno and Euryale are greedy. They don’t even let us use it.”

“Where is it hidden?” The grotto had many dens and corridors, but Stheno and Euryale mainly stayed in the front few caverns. The mirror could be hidden anywhere, and if it was buried or hidden in a tide pool then it could take me weeks to find it.

“They will never allow you to use it,” Otabia said. “If they find out we told you it still exists, they will make our lives hell.”

“But why can you know about it and I can’t?”

Otabia’s pupils contracted then expanded, over and over. As they always did when she was biting her tongue.

“Because you aren’t a
real
siren,” Mariza said with too much satisfaction. Otabia looked away.

My wings drooped. I lowered to the ground. I felt as if I’d been shot. “What is that supposed to mean? I’m as much a siren as either of you.”

“No,” Mariza said. “You weren’t born a siren. You were—what did they call it?—promoted.” She snickered. “You are much softer than us. You don’t even have a pure gorgon to bond with.”

“I have Yara!” I argued. “Stheno and Euryale should want her to be kept safe. She’s the third of their trilogy.”

Mariza laughed. “Yara is the most motley mess of a sea creature in history. Do you really think Stheno and Euryale take her seriously? No one knows what she is. Not even Yara.”

“She is more powerful than any of us!”

“No, she’s inexperienced. And her human genes make her vulnerable and weak. Stheno and Euryale are insulted that Medusa sent her to them in her condition.”

I tore my eyes away from Mariza and looked at Otabia, hoping she would tell me Mariza was lying. But Otabia wouldn’t look at me, which meant Mariza was telling the truth. They considered Yara a joke. They considered
me
a joke.

“And to think,” I said, “all this time I considered you my sisters.”

“We are sisters.” Otabia sounded exasperated.

“Sort of,” Mariza jabbed. “We’ve always known you had a stronger connection with the sprites. You behave so much differently than Cleo. She hardly ever separated from us.”

“Until she fell in love with Vyron,” Otabia grumbled.

“Seductive selkies,” Mariza snarled. “That’s how these huge messes begin, when creatures start mingling outside their own breed. It’s not natural.”

They could have continued the conversation without me for all I cared. I had never felt so disconnected from them. I backed up to the plant where Jenna and Keeley were hiding and put my hands behind my back, waving them to come to me. Both of them nestled into my wings. I flew away, leaving Mariza and Otabia to finish their bickering by themselves.

Never again would I forget who my true family was.

Treygan’s hands trailed gently over my back, examining the wounds where my wings had been ripped off. He applied a healing salve the Violets had given us.

“That’s enough.” I pulled on my suit jacket, woefully aware of the slits in the back that were no longer needed. “We need to conserve the salve.”

The Violets had given us a whole jar of the stuff, but I only brought a tiny portion in a small tube because it was easier to carry. As the ointment soothed the burning, I wished I had packed more.

“Are you still in pain?” Treygan asked.

“A little, but mostly just lightheaded.”

“There’s no blood coming out, but you must have lost a lot.” He handed me a bottle of water. “Drink this.”

I took the bottle from him but dropped it when I saw what was inside. “I take it you didn’t put the bugs in there?”

“What?” Treygan leaned down and picked up the bottle. Centipedes swam inside, their hundreds of legs stirring up tiny bubbles.

“How is that even possible?” He pulled out his remaining bottle and then dug through my pack to check mine. All of them were contaminated. “These bottles were sealed.”

“How is any of this possible?” I kicked a bottle near my feet and it rolled away. “I don’t need water. I’ll be okay.” 

“Our time window just got shorter,” Rownan said. “With no water, we’ll dehydrate. And I doubt any water sources in this world are safe to drink from.”

“He’s right. Do you think you can walk?” Treygan asked me.

“We’ll take turns carrying her,” Rownan said. I glared at him and he put his hands up. “Just until you’re feeling better.”

“I’m fine,” I grumbled, attempting to stand. My limbs felt like cotton and the ground swayed. Sage curled around my neck, trying to steady me.

Treygan lifted me into his arms. “Forget your pride. For now, I’m carrying you.”

I nodded, resting my head on his shoulder.

“Logically,” Rownan said, “if those demon bitches led us here then we’re probably as far away from Vienna as possible. Let’s head back the way we came.”

Treygan followed Rownan out of the temple. The warmth of his body kept me from shivering at the memory of the attack as we passed by the area where we had fought the imposters. We exited through the same arched trees we had entered through.

“I’ll follow you,” Treygan told Rownan.

Rownan glanced left and right then marched straight ahead. I wrapped my arms more securely around Treygan’s neck as he followed him.

After only a minute of walking, Rownan stopped. “Are we trapped here?” He spun on his heel to face me and Treygan again. He spoke faster than normal. “We dove off that floating island and down here into the trenches. How will we get back up to the gate we came through if you can’t fly?”

I glanced at Treygan, hoping he had a reassuring answer, but worry lines pinched the corners of his mouth. The consequences of losing my wings hadn’t occurred to me yet, but now that Rownan pointed it out, panic catapulted through me.

“There has to be another way to the gate.” Treygan tried sounding calm. “We’ll worry about that after we find Vienna.”

I nodded, not wanting to dwell on how much more impossible this mission had just become with the loss of my wings. Rownan wiped his hand over his face then continued forward.

Eventually, the solid ground transitioned into sand. A wide strip of maroon powder lay rolled out in front of us like a blood-red carpet. We had reached what resembled a beach except there was no water. One side dropped off into a deep canyon of what looked like cracked concrete, like maybe an ocean had existed at some point but it had dried up. On the other side was a gray mist so thick we couldn’t see past it. I almost suggested we enter the mist, but Sage encouraged me to stay quiet and let Rownan lead.

“I’m feeling better,” I told Treygan. “I think I can walk.”

“You sure? I’m not tired. I’m fine carrying you.”

Noble as always. “Really, I’m good.”

He set me down and held my hand. I still felt somewhat unbalanced, but I managed. Rownan was already marching ahead onto the beach, so Treygan and I followed.

We had almost closed the distance to Rownan when I stopped short and cocked my head. “Do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” Treygan asked.

“It sounds like rain.” 

Rownan paused, pointing out over the barren canyon. “Looks like rain too. Sort of.”

We all watched a pink, glistening curtain creep across the spanning horizon of concrete.

“It’s heading this way,” Treygan said.

Sage nudged my chin. “Maybe we should find somewhere to take cover.”

“Good idea.”

We turned to enter the gray mist behind us, except it had cleared and the landscape was covered with black plants and trees.

“I’m not going in there,” Rownan said. “I’m not scared of a little bad weather.”

As if insulted by his words, the rain reached the beach. The first drop hit my hand and I yelped and stumbled into Treygan. “It burned me!”

Treygan and Rownan were hit with drops on their faces almost simultaneously. Both of them winced.

The skin on my hand was bubbling. “Find shelter!”

We took off running for the trees. A few more drops hit us as we ran. We were all shrieking or gasping from the burns.

“There! A cave!” Rownan shouted.

Again, too easy, but at that point it was either let the rain melt our skin or run into a cave and deal with whatever awaited us inside. The rain pounded louder behind us. I wanted to fly so badly. I could have gotten us inside so much quicker.

A few more drops pelted us before we made it to safety. Treygan and I dashed into the cave first. Rownan ran in seconds behind us. We were all gasping and groaning from the pain. I made the mistake of wiping my face and ended up burning my fingertips. I cursed under my breath and fell against the cave wall.

Treygan shook the burning raindrops from his hands. “Everyone okay?”

“Rain that makes our skin boil—literally.” Rownan bent over, bracing his hands on his knees. “What next?”

“Don’t ask,” I moaned, digging out the tube of healing salve from my pack. “I’d rather not find out.” I tossed the tube to Rownan. “That should help.” His face was already blistering worse than mine or Treygan’s. He nodded gratefully.

I eyed the cave. The back wall was only a few yards away. Thankfully, from what I could tell, no soul-sucking creatures inhabited the space. Outside, the rain poured down. The weight of what had almost happened to us hung heavy in the air.

Treygan stood near the opening, watching the deadly storm. He glanced down at his jacket, which looked the same as mine and Rownan’s; tiny circles of singed fiber had formed everywhere raindrops landed, but at least they hadn’t burned through.

“Our faces would have melted off,” Rownan grunted.

I swallowed hard, staring at the inflamed boils on my hands.

Treygan’s frown was contagious. “We should rest.”

“I can’t rest in this place.” Rownan handed the salve to Treygan. “We have to find Vienna.”

“We can’t go anywhere until the rain stops.” Treygan gave me the tube without taking any for himself. “Now might be our only chance to let our bodies recharge. I have a feeling we’re going to need all the strength we can muster once we get out of this cave.”

Treygan was right. And I was so tired. My eyelids were heavy. I dabbed the absolute least amount of ointment needed on my burns then did the same to Treygan’s. We might need the medicine for worse injuries later. I didn’t want to think about anything worse, but I was sure it was possible.

I reached for Treygan. “I’ll rest if you rest with me.”

Rownan removed his gear and stood at the cave’s opening. “I’m not tired. You two rest and I’ll keep watch.”

“We’re right here if you need us,” Treygan told him.

“I know. Merfolk don’t sleep.” Rownan looked me up and down. “Do you still sleep? I mean, you’re not pure mer.”

“No,” I admitted. “Not since I was transformed into a mermaid.”

He nodded. “Get some rest.”

Treygan and I nestled into a dark, dry spot in the back of the cave. He curled up behind me, offering me his arm as a pillow. My body went limp, but my mind wouldn’t relax. I watched Rownan pace back and forth at the cave entrance.

Treygan’s breath made my ear tingle. “Hypothetical situation. We find out Vienna is gone, and for some reason I don’t make it back, but you and Rownan do.” He hesitated. “Rownan would take care of you. I hope you know that.”

I rolled over to gawk at him. “Are you trying to tell me, in some sick way, that if you and Vienna end up dead, you’d want me and Rownan to be together?”

“It’s not ideal, and I’d humbly request you have a relationship with absolutely no kissing, or touching, or any kind of physical intimacy, but yes, he’d take good care of you.”

“You’ve lost your mind.”

“Have I? He’s loyal and brave. He loves deeply.”

“He loves Vienna. And I love you. And we’re all going back to Rathe. We’re going to live happily ever after, and I’m going to try really hard to forget that you ever tried to convince me to be with your brother.”

Treygan kissed my shoulder. “I like hearing you so confident.”

Truth be told, I wasn’t confident at all. We had burns on our skin, we were trapped in a cave for who knows how long, and demonic creatures had attacked us and ripped my wings off. Our odds of surviving this trip weren’t looking good.

“I’m very confident,” I lied, relieved that I had the ability, because my words—untrue as they were—seemed to put Treygan at ease.

“We survived the Triple Eighteen. We can survive this, right?”

If only we could go back in time to the Triple Eighteen. That drama seemed like child’s play compared to our current situation.

“Rest,” Treygan whispered. “You’re safe in my arms.”

And because Treygan couldn’t lie, I took comfort in his words, and slid away into a cloud of happy
memories—far away from Harte.

~

We weren’t sleeping, but my body and mind had settled into rest mode.

A wind blew hard, gusting through the cave entrance and stirring me awake. My hair flew around my head. “What was that?”

“Storm gust,” Treygan murmured.

A voice called my name in the distance. It was barely audible through the wind and rain, but I jumped to my feet.

“Uncle Lloyd!” I shouted, running to the cave opening.

Rownan reached out and stopped me.

“Yara!” Uncle Lloyd faintly called again.

“Oh, my gods!” I shrieked. “Your father is out there!” His skin would be melted off judging from how hard the rain was coming down. “Uncle Lloyd! We’re here! Follow my voice!”

Rownan’s hand coiled tighter around my wrist. “It’s another imposter.”

He appeared out of the pink mist, covered head to toe in a slicker suit and fisherman boots. I waved my arms frantically over my head. “Over here!”

He staggered toward us. Not thinking, I stepped out of the cave to help him, but the burning rain sent me darting back, hissing in pain. Uncle Lloyd kept trudging forward until he stumbled his way inside.