Stone Heart (The Cursed Seas Collection)

by Pauline Creeden

  “I was checking if the sharks were still here,” I explained.

  “What happened to your window?”

  “One of the sharks tried to get in. He got stuck in my window,” I said.

  His eyes widened, and he looked at the knife clutched in my hand. “Were you the one who stabbed the shark in the nose?”

  I nodded.

  Another warrior approached, Tomlin, the same guard who’d taken me to the elders. He scowled at me now. “Ivy, did you disable the device?”

  I gaped at him. “What? No! I don’t even know where they are or what they look like? Why would I do that?”

  “It’s a pretty big coincidence that the day you get assigned to leave, something like this happens,” he said, his eyes narrowing at me.

  I pointed my knife at him. “I almost died! I’m not stupid enough to do something that would let predators in.”

  “Could have fooled me,” he muttered under his breath and crossed his arms over his chest.

  I had never been one for violence, but at that moment, I really wanted to stab him.

  “Tomlin, back off. She seems to be telling the truth,” Alexander said.

  “Does she even know how not to lie?” Tomlin asked, glaring at me.

  “She didn’t do it,” Tara said from her doorway across from mine. “She was in her house most of the night and when she did go out, it was to get food. I saw her on the way.”

  “You sure?” Tomlin asked.

  She nodded.

  “Let’s go,” Tomlin said to Alexander.

  “You owe me an apology!” I snapped at him.

  Tomlin sneered at me. “No, I don’t.”

  “Why should I go risk my life to find a stone when you treat me this way? You aren’t making the idea of returning a pleasant one,” I said.

  As soon as I said it, I wished I could swallow the words.

  “It’s the law,” Tomlin said. “If you break it, I’ll lock you up for the rest of your life.”

  He seemed happy about that prospect.

  “If you can catch me,” I muttered. Ugh. My mouth just wouldn’t stop.

  He moved to come after me, but Alexander stopped him by grabbing him by the arm. “Leave her be. She’s had a rough night, and she’s leaving tomorrow.”

  “We don’t care if you come back,” Tomlin snapped. “We’d be better off if you died out there.”

  Alexander punched him.

  Tara and I gaped at them.

  “Not all of us are like him,” Alexander said, leaning toward me. “Most of us appreciate you going on our behalf.”

  Tomlin swam off without another word.

  “Stay safe,” Alexander whispered before swimming off, too.

  Tara and I looked at each other a long moment, and then she went in her house and I grabbed glue to keep the shutters closed for the night. So much for grabbing a good dinner before I had to leave. I decided to just scrounge through the fridge and just find something. I wasn’t in the mood to attempt going out again.

  A huff escaped me as I finished the shutters. Tomorrow I would leave this pit and I would show Tomlin. I would show them all. I would find the stone and I would bring it back. All I had to do was survive, find a mage, and find the stone. Alexander was right. It had to be real. And I would make it. I would love to see the look on Tomlin’s face when he had to thank me for getting the job done. That thought brought a smile to my lips.

  I stood with the backpack on my shoulders and the knife in a holster on my right calf, staring out past the boundary. Once I stepped out, I wouldn’t be allowed to return until I brought back the stone.

  “Delaying only wastes daylight,” Tara said. It was awesome of her to go with me out to the border. Somehow we bonded a bit more after the event last night.

  “I know,” I said. “It’s just…”

  “Terrifying?” she suggested.

  Laughing, I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “You can do this,” she assured me. “I have faith in you.”

  “That makes one of us,” I grumbled, but her words really did help strengthen me, just like Alexander’s had.

  “Just remember to put clothes on when you get to the surface,” she said.

  “Right,” I replied and looked down at my body. Why did the land dwellers hide their bodies?

  Taking a deep breath, I swam out of the boundary and into the open ocean. Kicking my legs, I headed toward the shore and slowly rose up, letting my body get acclimated to the pressure changes. Our town was very deep in the ocean, so it was slow going during some of the acclimation.

  Nothing swam nearby. That was both reassuring and troubling at the same time. I prayed the sharks from last night weren’t waiting for me around the next reef. They seemed like the type to ambush in the dark, but I wasn’t sure.

  I kicked faster, and a school of small fish swam around and then below me. Finally, sea life.

  Something large swam in the distance. I gulped and continued swimming. Hopefully it was just a nice humpback whale.

  I swam faster, wanting to avoid whatever the animal was, and pulled my knife from the holster, just in case. The sun was getting closer and the water brushing along my skin grew warm. I couldn’t wait to feel the sun on my skin without the water’s interference.

  The closer I got to the surface, the warmer the water became. The sun was so bright, that I had to shield my eyes with my arm for a moment.

  I surfaced near land and met the eyes of a man, lounging on the beach with a tall stick next to him. I began to lift my empty hand to wave when something wrapped around my leg and dragged me back beneath the water. I was glad I had been holding my knife, since the beast had wrapped its tentacle around the leg where my knife would have been. I stabbed the tentacle without looking to see the monster. I didn’t want to see what it was. The creature let out a loud shriek, the sound so loud that my ears throbbed in pain.

  I stabbed the tentacle twice more before it let me go. Kicking hard, I surfaced, locked eyes with the man again, and then was dragged back beneath the water. Then I met eyes with the monster. The beast was part octopus and part shark, with a beak that housed large shark’s teeth. I had never seen or heard of something like it before. It was at least four feet from nose to the tip of its tail fins.

  The beast swam at me with its jaws opened. Waiting until the last moment, I flipped up and over its head. The beak bit into my pack, tearing the material and ripping out some of my items. If I didn’t do something soon, I would be next. I drove my knife into its skull, right where I could see its brain through its transparent skin.

  Chapter Two

  It released my pack and with one last screech, it spun, and the beak stabbed into my leg. Pain seared through me and I gasped but kept my grip on the knife.

  Finally, it stilled and began to sink toward the seafloor along with some of the items from my backpack. I yanked my knife out, pulled my pack off, and held it against my chest as I swam the rest of the way to shore, not even bothering to go back after what had fallen out. I wasn’t going to take my chances, especially with the beast’s blood leaking into the waters around its dead body. Sharks would get the scent and feel the struggles we’d just had on the current. The last thing I needed was to be nearby.

  Panting, I dragged myself onto the shore, making sure no part of my body was within five feet of the water. Water expelled from my lungs as I took in more air. I coughed and hacked and felt as if I just couldn’t get enough oxygen. Stars danced in my vision, and my chest ached. Going from water-breathing to air was harder than I ever imagined. I lay down on the sandy beach and spread out my arms, looking up at the sky.

  Bright sun poured down on me, making my skin prickle. Slowly, I caught my breath and the pain subsided. After a few minutes, I sat up and searched through my bag, dismayed to see my clothes were lost to the ocean. I looked behind me at the man who still lay in the sand with his stick.

  “Thanks for the help,” I muttered to him.

  “You looked like y
ou had everything under control,” he said, his tone slow, eyes half-closed, and body completely relaxed.

  I rolled my eyes at him and dug deeper into the pack, trying to find something I could wear. This guy didn’t seem to pay attention to the fact I wasn’t wearing anything. We’re they really uptight about clothing on land as they said? I eyed the man on the beach. His dark skin was in sharp contrast to my paleness, but yes, he covered most of his flesh with clothing like I’d had in my bag. I frowned.

  “Do you know where the mages’ town is?” I asked him while I dug through my bag trying to see if I had anything else I might use.

  “Yes,” he answered, lifting an eyebrow. “Are you going to get dressed?”

  “The sharktopus stole my clothes,” I growled. “I don’t think I have anything else.”

  He sighed and stood. When he had been lounging, he’d looked average height, but as he walked towards me, I realized he was a lot bigger than I’d first assumed. No siren could have his richly dark-tanned skin because the sunlight just didn’t reach that far down into the waters. Looking at it made me want to touch it, but I held back. His eyes were a rich kelp green color with pinpricks of a brighter green color I had never seen before. He pulled off his shirt and I stared at his chiseled physique. Not even our warriors were that muscular. He looked like the hard sculptures I had found during one of my many explorations on the ocean floor. Hard and chiseled.

  “Here,” he said and dropped his shirt on top of my pack. “We can get you some clothes once we reach the town.”

  I tentatively picked up the shirt. It was warm, both from his body and the heat of the sun. He turned his back, so I took a quick sniff before pulling it on over my head. The musky scent was amazing, a smell I had never experienced before. Was it him? Was this what he smelled like?

  I opened my mouth to ask him, but then stopped. What if they didn’t like to be smelled here? I could offend someone just because I didn’t know enough about their culture. Might be better if I just discreetly sniffed him while we were walking. No. That wouldn’t be creepy at all.

  The shirt was way too large on me, falling to mid-thigh, but it covered all the parts the land walkers were embarrassed by, serving the purpose.

  “Thank you.” I slipped on the shoes the elders had given me and grabbed some wound ointment for my leg. I spread a generous amount on the stabbing wound that was about two finger lengths and half a finger deep. The ointment stung a little at first and then gave the wound a cool feeling. Better. I put everything back in my pack and closed it before sliding it back on my shoulders.

  “Come on.” He folded his arms over his chest and let out a deep sigh. “I don’t have all day.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him, and the image of him lounging on the beach came to mind. “You didn’t seem very busy.”

  “I was sent to wait for you,” he said, eyeing me. “Amazed that a tiny thing like you even made it past the water monsters and made it to shore. I thought I’d be going home empty handed.”

  I glared at him. He could have helped me, but he’d just laid there as if he didn’t even see me struggling in the water.

  He turned around and started toward the large sand dunes, mumbling beneath his breath, “Jerks sending me on a stupid trip like this… doing it just to piss me off.”

  I frowned but didn’t interrupt him. He seemed grumpy. I fell behind his huge strides as I attempted to climb the sand hills after him. How did people run in sand like this? Each step sank further into the ground and pain shot up my leg from where the sharktopus had stabbed me.

  Each step made me wince in pain at first, but I refused to let a wound like that stop me.

  The sun beat down on me. I was sweating through the shirt and had to push my silver streaked hair out of my face where it tried to stick to the sweat. It was so hot. How did people live in these conditions?

  He paused at the top of the dune, a slight scowl on his face, but said nothing as I finished the climb. I was panting again by the time I reached the top, but he didn’t even give me a moment to catch my breath. Instead, he turned and continued across the other dunes. As far as I could see were sand dunes. Was this all there was on the land? I’d been told there were areas of lush green vegetation. This looked like a desert wasteland. I followed after him, marching through the sand with my muscles screaming at me for the new work I was demanding from them. But at least the pain in my leg dulled.

  “I’m Ivy,” I said after a half hour of silence.

  “Kane,” he said over his shoulder.

  “Is everything like this?” I asked.

  He paused, waiting for me to catch up again. He didn’t talk until I stood beside him, tilting his head down to look at me. “Like what?”

  “Dead and sandy?” I asked.

  “Most of it,” he said. “There are areas of vegetation, but they’re becoming smaller and smaller every month.”

  “That’s why they’re sending me to get the stone,” I muttered.

  He nodded. “Sucks.”

  “What?” I asked.

  “Sucks that you have to search for the stone. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone,” he said and resumed walking.

  “Nothing I can do about it,” I muttered. “If I live, they’ll have to accept me.” I scoffed thinking about Tomlin. He wouldn’t accept me no matter what.

  Kane glanced at me but didn’t say anything.

  His hair was black and short. It looked coarse, but I was almost certain that if I touched it, it would be soft.

  “Stop staring at me,” he grumbled.

  “What?” I asked, my cheeks burning.

  “I can feel your eyes on me.”

  “Well, you’re the first non-siren I’ve ever seen. Your skin is so much darker than ours,” I explained.

  He paused and held his arm out. “Go on.”

  “Huh?”

  He smirked. “Go on, touch it.”

  This felt like a trap, but I didn’t waste the chance. I reached out and ran my fingertips along his skin. It was so warm and surprisingly soft. I held my white arm up next to his and chuckled. “I look like a jellyfish compared to you.”

  He chuckled softly and turned away.

  I liked his laugh. Masculine. That’s what it was. A masculine laugh. I didn’t hear men laugh often near me. It was refreshing.

  “How long will it take us to get to your town?” I asked.

  “About two more hours,” he said.

  I watched the way he used the stick to walk and asked, “Were you injured?”

  He paused and turned to face me, scowling. “What?”

  I pointed at the stick. “Were you injured? Does the stick make it easier to walk?”

  He looked at his stick and said, “It’s not a stick. This is my staff.”

  “You use your staff to walk?” I asked, my mouth gaping open.

  He shrugged. “It’s made from a sturdy wood. Why not using it as a walking stick?”

  “But, isn’t it your staff what you use for magic?”

  He nodded.

  I could imagine the horror on the siren’s elders’ faces if they saw him using his staff as a walking stick.

  After another hour, we crested a sand dune, and I froze. Beyond the sand dunes were trees with bright green leaves and rich brown trunks. And just beyond the trees stood a tall mountain range. Birds of every color flew among the trees, making noises I had never heard before. My heart pounded in my chest and tears stung the backs of my eyes. It was breathtaking.

  Kane paused and asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “I’ve never seen…it’s so noisy…and beautiful.” So many colors.

  He shrugged and plodded forward again. “I guess.”

  I hurried after him, trying to take in all the sights and keep pace with him. The ground became solid and my calves breathed a sigh of relief. It became so much easier to walk. We stepped into the trees and the sounds of animals intensified. Larger animals moved in the trees above us, but Kane didn’t seem worried,
so I tried not to appear frightened. It was also a different type of hot in the trees. It was like the heat became dense and put pressure on my skin similar to the way water did in the sea. But it wasn’t a pleasant feeling on land. It was hot and gross. I felt oppressed, suffocated.

  To take my mind off the heat, I looked at my surroundings more closely. I inspected a strange red bug that climbed the tree beside me. It glittered like one of the jewels displayed in the council’s chambers, but even more awesome because it was alive and moved. I reached out to touch it, but Kane grabbed my hand, stopping me.

  “One touch and you’ll die. Red means dead, okay?” he said softly, meeting my eyes.

  “The bug will kill me?” I scoffed.

  He nodded. “Like a jellyfish, sort of.”

  “Oh.” Now I understood. I withdrew my hand. “Good to know.”

  He resumed walking through the trees, down a dirt path that was just wide enough for one person at a time. Several more brightly colored bugs caught my attention, but I kept my hands by my sides. I followed him as closely as I could, sweat dripping from my face, but at least the sun had been subdued by the overhead canopy. Unfortunately, after having walked on it for nearly two hours, my injury began making me limp.

  “Want me to heal your leg?” Kane asked, stopping and turning to face me.

  I blinked up at him. He’d hardly looked at me. Did he notice me limping? “You can do that?”

  He nodded.

  “Please,” I whispered. It hurt a lot and was still bleeding, but I had been trying to ignore it because I didn’t want to be a burden.

  Why hadn’t he offered to heal it to begin with?

  He knelt and rested his hand over my wound. “You’re walking so slow, we won’t make it until tomorrow,” he commented.

  So, he wasn’t doing it to be nice. He was doing it so I would move faster. Heat washed over my face.

  “Sorry to be a hindrance,” I muttered.

  Warmth like the sun surrounded my wound, from his hands. And then it stopped, and the pain ceased, too. My wound was gone, like it had never been there. Wow.

  “Thanks.” I blinked at him, in awe.