by Chanda Hahn
Using what Lorn taught me about ley lines of magic, I scoured the deep pits of the ocean until I found them. I tapped into them, using them to clean the water, bring back the coral beds, and birth new life among the sea creatures. Sharks long extinct resurfaced. Lad pointed out three new breeds of seahorses and at least twenty new families of coral.
But I was irritable. All the time. My emotions were uncontrollable, battered about like a kite without an anchor. I frequently brought hurricanes to my island home. It was better if I stayed far away from everyone. I was too dangerous anywhere else.
Sirena returned to her island with six of her daughters. She seemed weakened. I wondered if there was a backlash for me regaining my power. Did it do something to the other daughters? I didn’t know and didn’t care.
My eyes focused on the black vessel bobbing along the horizon, and I wished he would go away. For I knew the person sailing that ship. It was Brennon, and he was relentless, fighting the high waters and wind, putting all the men’s lives at danger. I would kill him myself, but Howland was on that ship. I wouldn’t risk the lives of others so easily.
I sighed and left the beach, heading up to my island palace. It had grown overnight, made of lava that formed into a sanctuary and then cooled to create stone. My Undersea guards spent a week bringing items back from the Undersea palace to fill my island oasis. Even though I preferred to live in the sun above the land, they spent a good portion of their day in the water surrounding my island. Even now, there were ten guards swimming just out of sight from the ship. Only Lad was comfortable spending time on land with me.
I looked at the setting sun and knew that as the darkness rose, so did the tides, and the waters would become even more dangerous. But luckily, each night, he retreated, taking the ship to calmer waters.
I placed my hands on my hips and knew something had to be done.
My footsteps left watery trails along the deck that shimmered in the moonlight. The ship had sailed out of the treacherous water and was waiting beyond the fog wall to try again come morning. Battling the waves had worn out most of the crew, for only two were on watch.
I tiptoed to the captain’s door and pressed my ear to it.
Silence.
I turned the handle, and it was locked.
“Locherra,” I sang, and it unlocked. I stepped in, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness within. The vessel was unfamiliar, since I destroyed the Bella Donna. This ship was smaller, the hull shallower, which meant it could travel faster and go up rivers if need be. But the layout of the cabin was almost the same. A four-post bed was off to the side, and I made my way over there to stare at the sleeping form.
A peek. That’s all, I told myself. I would just take a quick look at Brennon and then send the four winds to push his ship out to sea.
He slept on his back in only his breeches. His tan muscles begging to be touched. The bedding kicked to the side, and he was even now tossing and turning in his slumber. Sweat trickled down his brow as he fought off a nightmare.
I couldn’t help myself; I reached out and gently brushed his hair to the side. The feel of his skin beneath my fingers made my heartbeat pick up. His tossing subsided, and his breathing evened out. I rose to leave, and he moaned.
“Shhh,” I whispered and sat next to him on the bed. He calmed down immediately. Softly, I hummed to him, and his breathing deepened. Soon, he was in a deep sleep. Feeling brave, I reached out and gave him a kiss on his forehead before making my leave the same way I came.
The next morning, I sat on the beach and watched as Brennon fought against the waves. All day long, they battled, never once reaching any closer to their goal. Each day, Lad told me to lower the circle, and I told him to go jump in a volcano. But once night rolled around, I snuck onto his boat for the second time, once again watching him fight demons in his sleep, never leaving until I had sung him to sleep and kissed him goodnight.
By the third day, I was becoming impatient, pacing the beach, tossing shells into the water, waiting for him to break through the barrier. If he was such a skilled captain, he would have no problem sailing through the seas. But each day dragged on longer and longer as I anxiously waited ‘til nightfall when I could once again see my love and steal a kiss. Which I always felt guilty for doing.
As soon as night came, I was waiting beyond the fog line for the crew to go to sleep. Same as before, I snuck onto the ship by using the waves to lift me up. When I went into Brennon’s room, he was once again asleep, exhausted from fighting the storm at the helm.
His dream was more violent tonight. He was kicking and fighting someone. “No, Vasili,” I heard him mutter.
I froze at his bedside and watched him relive his best friend’s death repeatedly in his nightmare. I had already succumbed to the curse. I never saw the killing blow or heard his last dying breath. It was self-inflicted; Vasili sacrificed himself to save me.
Brennon, the strongest man I knew, was reduced to tears. His breathing picked up, and he tossed and turned. He was a man haunted.
“Meri, please don’t leave me!” he cried out in his sleep. I sat next to him and quickly sang to try to comfort him, my hands resting on either side of his cheeks. With my thumb, I brushed a tear away and felt a matching tear of my own slide down my cheek.
When he was calm, I leaned down to kiss his forehead in goodbye and pulled away. Brennon’s hands wrapped around my body, pulling me down on top of him.
I gasped and looked into his very alert eyes. He rolled over, pinning me beneath him. “That’s it? All I get, night after night, after fighting the waves to see you, and each night, you only give me a kiss on the forehead. Meri, you are enough to drive any sailor mad with desire.”
My eyes widened in surprise. He had woken up when I calmed his dreams. My cheeks burned in embarrassment, and I struggled to break free.
“What kind of fool do you take me for? I finally caught you. You’re not escaping my grasp. Do you know how hard it was to lay here night after night and not touch you? I’m not a patient man.”
Brennon leaned down and claimed my lips. At first, I struggled, but was this not what I also wanted? He nibbled on my lower lip, and I moaned in desire. He took my cue and kissed me deeper before transferring his kisses to my neck and leaving a trail of them down my shoulder and to my collarbone. He gently pulled the neck of my wrap dress down a few modest inches to look at the scar over my heart, the one made by magic and Vasili’s death.
Brennon kissed the scar before placing his ear on my chest and listened to the beat of my heart. I placed my hand over the back of his head and couldn’t stop the tears of grief and happiness that fell. He pulled away, and I felt his absence. It was like being abandoned all over again.
But not for long, because he pulled me close and wrapped his body around mine, his leg wrapping over my hip possessively. His lips searching for mine hungrily. A burning desire for more overcame me, and I could feel my soul cry out at the injustice. He was mine. I wanted him. The water matched my turbulent feelings, I could feel the boat swayed as my desire would surely drown us. That was the danger of the sea and my emotions.
Brennon’s eyes filled with a yearning that matched mine, and I could see his confusion when I rolled away. “Where are you going?” he asked, sitting up in bed.
“Home,” I said. I put my feet on the floor and stood.
“Meri,” he groaned and reached for my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. “Don’t leave.”
“Brennon, I have to, for I have become too unstable and dangerous. I came to warn you to leave and never search for me again.”
“Never!” he growled out.
“Then you will die out here. Go back to your wife, for I have nothing to offer you.” I wrestled my arm from his grasp and moved for the door.
Brennon’s feet hit the floor, and I knew he would not let me go. I sang a sweet note and it pushed him back into bed, the blankets wrapping around him, entangling his limbs.
“I will come for you, Meri,�
� he promised as he struggled to break free from my binding spell.
“Don’t, Brennon. Forget about me.”
I slipped out the door, closing it behind me. As I did, I saw a familiar man sitting on the rolled-up sails, smoking a pipe. It was Howland.
“Thought that was ye, although ye look different.” He gestured to my white siren hair.
Brennon cussed loudly in his room, and Howland’s bushy eyebrows rose in surprise. “What did ye do to ‘im in there?” he asked.
“I tied him up.” I grinned. But then the smile fell from my face. “You need to convince him to stop trying to find me.”
Howland took a few puffs on his pipe and pointed the wooden handle at me. “Maybe it’s you who needs convincing. That man is in love with ye.”
“I know that. But what can come of our love? It is forbidden,” I said.
“Says who?” Howland looked confused. “When Brennon explained who ye were, it all made perfect sense. That boy has been obsessed with ye since he first laid eyes on ye. Ye two are meant for each other. Sky and sea.”
I shook my head. A loud thump came from the captain’s quarters. Brennon must have fallen out of bed. He would soon be out of the blankets.
My heart beat wildly, and it ached. “The sea does not want to be someone’s second choice,” I said speaking metaphorically and physically. I would not be Brennon’s mistress.
“Girlie, you were ne’er his second choice.”
The wooden door flung open so hard it hit the wall. Brennon looked like a caged animal that finally worked itself free, with disheveled hair and wild eyes.
He saw me and ran, his bare feet thumping across the deck. He reached for me, and I saw the pain in his eyes as I moved to the rail.
“No!” He reached out for me as a giant wave crashed into the deck, knocking him off his feet and sweeping him away.
The wave then swept me up like a mother carrying a child and carried me off into the fog and back to my island. His cry of fury and pain echoed after me.
“I will have you, Meri. I won’t stop until you are mine.”
I sat up, terror racing down my spine, sweat glistening my brow. My heart was pounding in my chest. Something was wrong. The sun’s rays had barely crested the horizon. The sky was still gray.
A bark of alarm had me running to the balcony and searching the sea. I heard Lad alerting the guards in his seal form. He was out past the coral reefs. His dark nose poked out of the water, and then he dove back under as he was struggling to keep a large bundle afloat.
My heart stopped, and a chill of trepidation ran along my arms. I recognized the shape in the water as a body.
“No!” I cried, running barefoot out of my room, down the tower steps, through the main hall, out the doors, and onto the beach.
Peris, one of my guards, appeared next to Lad and was helping bring in the dead body. When they reached the shallows, Lad shed his skin and walked on two feet. They each tucked their head under his arms and carried him to shore. They laid him out at my feet, and I saw Brennon’s pale and lifeless face.
“I’m sorry, my Queen,” Lad cried out. “I couldn’t reach him in time.”
“What happened?” I cried.
“He couldn’t breach the storm on the ship, so he attempted to swim here.”
“That’s over three miles,” I said in disbelief.
My heart was breaking, and I was hiding it by focusing on my anger. I dropped to my knees next to Brennon and ran my hands along his cold face.
“Why would you do something so stupid?” I yelled in frustration and shook his shoulders. His head wobbled, but he didn’t move. “You were always so stubborn, and now it’s the death of you… and me.” My tears freely fell as my heart broke. “I could’ve survived, knowing you were okay. It would have been painful, but I could’ve done it.” I sobbed. “Please, don’t make me live without you. I’m not strong enough.”
The surrounding ground trembled as my emotions rocked the sea, thus disturbing the dormant volcano. Birds scattered, the waves pulled back, and my guards looked around in fear.
A hand touched my face, and I gasped.
Brennon sat up. He cupped my cheek, and he whispered, “Then let my strength be enough for both of us.” He pulled me in and kissed me.
The island settled, the waves calmed, and Peris and Lad gave each other a sly high-five.
I broke the kiss and glared at them. “This was you!” I pointed at Lad. “And you!”
“He did it!” Peris elbowed Lad. “It was his idea.”
“Lad, I told you not to interfere.”
“No, you distinctly told me you wouldn’t lower the magic circle and to go jump in a volcano. There was nothing about helping him get to the island.”
“Meri.” Brennon pulled my attention back to him. “Why do you keep running from me?”
I blinked at him and looked at my hands guiltily. “I’m not emotionally stable. I can’t control my powers over the ocean. I killed people. I killed your father. I can feel her… here.” I tapped my heart. “I have thousands of years of the sea’s jealous emotions to sort through and my own to process. I came here to protect myself, but also to protect the outside world from me.”
“My father’s not dead. It takes a lot more than a knock to the head to take out the men in our family. But you know the story,” Brennon said. “The ocean needs the love of a man. He’s balances her by being her anchor.”
“I can’t share you,” I admitted, my fingers digging into my palms. “I’m too selfish.”
Brennon grinned and pulled me into a hug, whispering into my ear, “You never have to. I am yours and yours alone.”
“What about the wedding? Your wife Velora?”
“Never finished the ceremony. You interrupted it, remember? For which I am immensely grateful. Plus, I don’t even remember how I got on the ship, or much of the wedding day, until the sea witch’s spell wore off. The priest even agreed that the wedding wasn’t legal or binding.”
“You’re not married,” I said.
He grinned. “I’m not married… yet.”
I frowned. “Yet?”
“Nope, but I am a captain of the Sea Flower, and by rights I can legally marry anyone on the ship. So as soon as I can get you on board, we’re getting married.”
It was very sudden. I pulled back, and Brennon lunged for me.
I squealed as he picked me up, slung me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and walked into the surf.
I slapped his back and laughed. “What are you doing?”
“I’m not letting you out of my sight again. Not until we are married. And if that means I have to swim back to the ship with you, so be it.”
Lad and Peris came rushing over to Brennon, running beside him in the water.
“What do you need?” Lad asked. “We’ll help.”
“Traitor!” I laughed as Brennon’s grasp around my waist tightened. He gave me a playful slap on my rear. I squealed and kicked my legs. “What if I don’t want to get married?” I giggled. The waves were up to Brennon’s chest and soaked my dress. He slowly lowered me in the water, his hands wrapping around my waist and pressing me to him.
“Then I am in need of a cabin boy. I believe you have a contract to fulfill.”
I wrapped my arms around Brennon’s neck, staring into the eyes of the man I loved. “I’m done with contracts. Plus, I would rather be your wife than peel another potato.”
“Oh stars, I’m glad you said that. You were a horrible cabin boy.”
“I was not,” I argued.
“Were too.”
“Was n—” Brennon interrupted my argument with a kiss.
I sighed as our kiss deepened.
He broke away and whispered, “I love you, Meri.”
The storm in my soul calmed at Brennon’s words. The ocean rejoiced and sang aloud for all to hear.
Brennon pulled back from our kiss. His eyes were heavy, and he tilted his head as he listened. “Do you hear
that? It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.”
I grinned and kissed his lips again. “I do. It’s the sea, and she is singing us a song.”
Brennon looked out at the waves that surrounded us. “Vasili used to tell tales of the sea singing. But I thought it was a myth.”
“No, she was in mourning and had no reason to sing. But she is happy today.”
“Is she?” Brennon asked, his face beaming with love.
“Yes, I am.” I grinned.
“Me too.” He pressed his forehead to mine.
Epilogue
My body felt cold, listless. The worn blanket against my skin felt rough like sandpaper and smelled like mildew. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. My senses were extra keen. A light shone from the candle on the nightstand next to me, and I heard a murmur of excitement as it swung closer to my face.
The light made me squint in pain. The voices grew louder.
“Devil’s teeth,” I groaned. “Shut up.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said.
I focused on the speaker and recognized Aspen and couldn’t believe how much he had grown over the last year. I had to admit, if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t be here. But then if it weren’t for him, I wouldn’t have been trapped in the daemon realm.
A cuss fell from my lips as I struggled to sit up. My legs and limbs were longer than I remembered. Why was I so cold?
“Get the fire stoked,” I demanded.
Someone moved to stoke the small wood-burning stove, and I didn’t recognize the pretty female. Her hair was a soft lavender, and she had a fine figure.
I struggled to get up, my legs wobbling beneath me, but I was determined to stand, to get strong, to get my revenge on all those who wronged me. The boat swayed, and I grabbed the back of a chair to steady myself. Making my way to a mirror, I looked on my reflection and glowered.
“What’s this?” I snapped irritably.
“There was a slight mishap,” Aspen added.
The reflection was foreign. I turned my head right and left to look at the angular jaw, the thin nose, and the abhorrent long, dark-green hair. I snarled and saw that my canines were a little longer than normal and had a sinister aspect I liked about them.