by Hazel Grace
I’m happy about that.
More than happy, I’m relieved that I don’t have to fight with her about things that she already knows. That she’s not naive enough to believe we can stay here.
A cold teardrop hits my skin, and I lean up, her head snuggled into the crook of my arm as she tightens her hold on me.
It breaks my soul to see her upset, that my strong little Siren has even a worry or concern about me. I can hold my own on a battlefield over men, but a sea witch, not something I think I can aid with.
Thing is, I don’t want to leave her alone for her to fend for herself. I know that she has her sisters, but the concept of something happening to her has been twisting my gut since Atarah mentioned the idea of us heading out of here. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. How far we’ll have to travel to break some of Taysa’s hold on us and, possibly, weaken her, but we have to try. There isn’t anything else we can do.
“Blood,” I mutter, brushing the top of her head with my fingers. “Look at me.”
Weakly, she shakes her head, still burrowed into my side.
“I’m not going to get hurt.”
“You don’t know that,” she murmurs. “She might know everything we’re about to do.”
I can’t dispute her worries because I’ve thought the same thing. No one knows how powerful she is, what she’s fully capable of, and the fact that she’s still here sets me completely off ease.
“I’m worried about you getting hurt,” I vow.
“I’m stronger than you.”
I chuckle, letting my senses remember and feel how soft she is. How I’ll miss this, her next to me, her sassy comments and the way my body reacts immediately to her closeness along with the sound of her voice filling my head with her words then finally being able to hear her out loud.
I’ve fallen too deep, never feeling this way about anyone before in my life. How I would burn the world down to keep her safe and sound on Merindah. But I’m metaphorically tied to not being able to do a thing at all except flee to protect her.
It’s hard to swallow.
Difficult for me to accept and do, but I know we’re limited with options, and it’s all trial and error at this point.
“Will you miss me?” I ask.
“Absolutely not, Viking.”
I smile. “Never thought I’d hear you lie, Blood.”
“Never thought you’d leave,” she counters.
Her words slam into my reality. It’s as though I absorb them, and then they slay me all over again as the harsh authenticity of our situation is spoken about again.
“I don’t want to,” I utter. “I’d rather stay like this forever.” Another exert of pressure along my ribs, her head burrowed into my chest, and I can’t stand it anymore. “Blood.”
She doesn’t respond or move, remaining still and eerily quiet. Pulling her over me, I lay her chest on top of mine so I can see her face.
Bloodshot eyes from crying, a stream of tears on both sides of her cheeks, and a soft sniffle peer back down at me.
“Don’t remember me like this,” she quakes. “Remember all the good things.”
I wipe away a tear with the pad of my thumb. “Like the time you took my blade and ran it down the side of my face.”
A broken chuckle emerges through her vocal cords, and she shakes her head. “Please, not that.”
“It’s the first moment I knew you were different. That you weren’t like the others.”
“Because I couldn’t speak or go into the ocean, only difference.”
A corner of my lips quirk. “Mhm, no, it was the defiance in your eyes.”
“How about my interrogation skills?”
“You were horrible at it. You kept saving me from being tortured.”
Her forehead creases. “You don’t understand how ruthless my sisters can be.”
“I got a taste,” I allude, leaning up to get closer to her lips. “But it wasn’t the kind I wanted at the time.”
Pressing my lips to hers, she immediately opens her mouth to insert her tongue inside. I can feel the need in her kiss, the want of erasing the last couple of hours that decided we needed to separate from each other.
It wasn’t going to be easy, fuck, it was going to be hard to be away from her. But I know without a doubt that I’ll never forget a thing about her.
“I’ll miss you too,” she mutters along my lips. “So much.”
“Be back before you know it.” My hands roam down her back. “Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid when you take the witch down.”
“What classifies as that?” she jeers, peppering kisses on my right cheek.
My hands squeeze her ass while I thrust my hardening cock against her mound. “Dying, Blood. I’ll need to fuck you immediately when I get back.”
“Don’t kill Tobias,” she counters. “I mean it.”
I let out a groan and look heavenward. “Do not mention him while we’re together and my cock is begging to be inside you.”
She pulls the mesh material covering her ass down her upper thighs. “Like this?”
A feral sound rumbles from my chest as I tug at the inconvenient cloth that’s keeping me from doing just that.
“Yeah, like that,” I state. “What are you going to do with it?”
She rakes some of her hair back with her fingers, still keeping her body weight on mine. “Pull your pants down and let’s see.”
I comply hurriedly with her request, letting my cock spring free and ready to let her take over. Like she has with my mind, my soul, and my—the realization hits me with such fervor that it has rendered me silent as it seeps into my entire body.
Is this what love feels like?
The panicked feeling of not knowing what’s going to happen? The longing of wanting Davina at my side at all times? The torment of knowing that all of this might not work; our leaving, the fact that the girls could fail and be killed.
It sits uneasily on my chest, a twinge of anxiety trying to surface as I seek another way to keep her safe. I would do anything to make sure she lived through this. That when this was all said and done she will live another day and be the powerful, beautiful, and compassionate woman that she is.
I’m so deep within my thoughts that the moment Davina sits on my cock, a gruff exhale of air leaves my lips.
“Fuck,” I groan as she rises up and sinks back down in languish movements. “You’re going to kill me.”
“Not my intention,” she breathes, her palms landing on my chest. “I just want to get lost in you.”
“I’m already there.” I angle into her lips, searing this moment to memory. Praying to all the gods that we’ll be able to come back here.
“Are you mine?” she respires, continuing her torture. The way her long hair cascades over her shoulders and the green eyes that swallow me whole, there’s no doubt in my mind that I am.
“Completely and forever.” She smiles at my submission, one I thought I’d never give to anyone, let alone my captor.
Laying a palm over my heart, she says, “I’ll keep it safe.”
I know she will, my heart will never beat the same without her in it.
My hands grip her hips as I thrust deeper, wanting to see lust fill her eyes. Her moans turn into soft groans as she pushes me toward my breaking point.
We stay silent, listening to the sounds we make, letting the feelings we’re both weary of linger in the air as she comes moments later on me. Squeezing my cock with her tightness, I lose my shit when she bows down to kiss my neck with soft touches of her tongue, teasing and nudging at my flesh.
She doesn’t remove herself from on top of me, more than likely loving the position of her having me underneath her. It doesn’t matter to me, any arrangement of her body condensed with mine is what I want and need.
“No goodbyes,” she finally says after a few moments. “We’ll be back here.”
I force a weak grin. “Absolutely, Blood. Just like this.”
I
promised myself that I wouldn’t run down the shoreline at Tobias and Dagen when they left the island.
That it would make it that much harder but also draw attention to Taysa while my sisters fabricated a story about Kali’s shoulder bothering her and wanting to play a game of chess. The latter is a tradition we do with her, so it shouldn’t throw her off to what is really happening.
My fear is that she’ll sense the men leaving, and that will flag her suspicions and the outlet of the truths. The hold Taysa has on them explains everything that has transpired, and it’s hard to accept let alone not rip her head off.
She betrayed us, and it hurts more because she raised us as well. Led us to believe she wanted to keep us safe when she had an ulterior motive the whole time.
Kali made me promise on our mother that I wouldn’t slip into her room at night and murder her. It’s also hard enough to keep Atarah and Brylee from calling her out after I agreed to it, becoming a mediator as well.
The only thing keeping us from making a move on Taysa is that we’re still planning a method of attack. On what would be best to take her down the first time and not prolong it out with myself or one of my sisters getting hurt or killed.
Swimming in my lagoon, the warm water welcomes me. The sun illuminates the crystal clearness of the water, showing off the sandy bottom and my limbs. Feeling a sense of someone near, I glance over to see Isolde making her way in my direction.
She waves, a smile emitting off her oval face as a breeze picks up her pink, wavy hair. Stepping into the water, she swims over to me, casually taking her time through the aqua blue.
“Aren’t you supposed to be inside?” I ask when she gets closer, her body floating aimlessly over the water.
“Figured one of us going missing wouldn’t cause too much of an issue,” she replies, twisting her body so that her frame is under the water.
“Did they leave yet?” I already know the answer to that question, it’s not going to change. I just need it confirmed.
“Not exactly.”
My brows furrow. “Did something happen?”
“Sort of.”
“As in?” I snap, already on edge from the last day.
She hits me with a softness in her eyes. “We need to talk.”
“Isolde,” I warn. “I’m already on the verge of losing my mind. If you’re about to tell me that Atarah and Brylee killed her or that you all let the sea witch go free to discover them leaving, I’d suggest you swim for the shore now.”
Isolde looks heavenward. “It’s none of the above, dear sister, but thanks for the threats.”
“What happened then?”
“It’s what I found.” She takes an inhale of air before continuing, moving her arms around as though we’re casually talking. “I was up all night researching aquatic and nordic witches because I don’t know if she’s both or one, so I read up on each. Since the boys are both linked to her, it doesn’t matter how far they go, her power will never dwindle.”
“So they have to stay?” My anxiety lifts a little at the both of them being near. Even though it’s dangerous, my selfishness rejoices that I’ll know where they are. That I could try to protect them against her and not wonder if they got lost at sea or that they were attacked by Hunters. A number of things could happen out there.
Isolde bows her head. “They have to stay.”
“I mean, that’s ideal, right? We can just keep them safe and stored away, maybe in the cove while we figure out what to do with—”
“There’s more.”
I nod repeatedly. “Okay, what else?”
“She’s more powerful than us. Remember when we told you that Taysa screamed when you killed Edda?”
“Yes.”
“I believe she was linked to her. She was in pain, weak for a few moments. Edda found us with no issue. I think Taysa guided her here.”
“She has to have a weakness,” I retort. “That just proves it. We can find it and—”
“She does—her sons.” A numbness spreads over me as she stares at me expectedly.
“What are you saying?” I cautiously press.
Isolde bites the inside of her cheek, her blush-colored eyes glazing over in anguish. “They have to die.”
“Are you out of your ever-living mind?!” I scream inside my head. I don’t even notice I’m doing it, being like a second nature, but she flinches, catching every cut of my words.
Sluggishly, she shakes her head. “I wish I was, Davina. It’s the only way.”
“No,” I shout.
“Davina, please, she’ll hear you.”
I step back in the water, wanting to be rid of my sister’s opinion and the fact that I can’t fathom either of them dying. I love them both, the idea of—
“We’re not doing that,” I fume. “You need to find another way.”
“There isn’t another one,” Isolde settles. “I looked, the only shot we have is to take her power away from her. And maybe then we’ll be able to—”
“Stop. I’ve heard enough of this.” I make my way out of the lagoon, but a body I would recognize anywhere comes out of the garden and toward the tidal pond.
Dagen.
My eyes narrow at him as he comes closer, his expression soft and calm, setting my already wrecked nerves into overdrive.
They’re trying to corner me into some foolish, rash decision, and I’m not going to stand for it.
I point at him. “Stay right there.” He continues on, a white shirt exposing every inch and dip of his muscles while his long, wavy hair falls over his shoulders.
The sunlight hits him perfectly, a beautifully sculpted god. One that has stolen and broken down my defenses. Who made me feel alive again in a prison that I made for myself.
“I’ll leave you two alone,” Isolde utters as she brushes my shoulder to get back on land. “I won’t be far.”
Dagen’s foot hits the water, and the ripples make a pattern along the surface. Each step in my direction rattles my hysteria.
“Blood,” he says, his deep octave humming against my chest.
“You shouldn’t be here. Where is Tobias?”
He jerks his head toward the castle. “Inside.”
“But Taysa—”
“Is none the wiser,” he continues. “She thinks I’m still going to steal the cuff from you.”
I lower my head, looking at the reflection of his body off the water’s surface. “Alright.”
“We need to talk.”
My eyes snap back up to him standing inches from me. “What?”
He reaches for me, but I flinch away, not wanting to be coddled right now.
“Your sister told you…”
“She’s insane,” I gripe. “All those mindless, useless facts floating around in her brain is making her crazy. I’ll find a way.”
I hate how no hope or facial expression of his offers any sort of support or agreement.
“Davina,” he asserts.
“Don’t call me by my real name at a time like this,” I fume. “What do you want? No one is killing anyone.”
“It’s the only way.” That sentence, it sounds so final. Like he’s accepted this immediately, and that he’s not giving another option a chance.
“You don’t know that,” I counter with narrowed brows.
“Might not, but we don’t have time to keep searching. If she doesn’t have the cuff soon, she’ll know something is up.” He takes a step toward me. “But the looming problem is that she’ll still have Tobias and I. We are anchors of power for her, as long as we are still alive she remains potent and capable of killing you all.”
“My father is a deity of a god,” I retort. “She’s just a witch.”
“He’s old and not here.”
“He’s still a god and can be.”
“Davina.”
“I’m not having anyone killed,” I rebut through clenched teeth.
His hands grip my arms, and I don’t pull away—I can’t.
Ever
ything about him calls to me. Even though I want to snap his neck in my head, I won’t let his words sway me. Regardless of how my body reacts to him, how it sways in his direction, and all I want him to do is tell me that everything is going to be okay.
“I need you to listen,” he asserts with a soft pressure to my flesh. “We need her power at the minimal, and you can’t do that when Tobias and I are still alive.” I try to pry myself away from him again. “Without us, she becomes weaker, and you might have a chance on your own. Your father is leagues away right now, and Nesrine is on her way to bring him back. But, like I said before, she’s strong. She’s a sea witch, how many of those are there?”
“None that I know of but—”
“You’ve given me more than anyone in this world, Blood. I will always be grateful for that. My only regret is that we never had more time. That we didn’t come from the same place so that I could’ve met you sooner. So that I could’ve made you my wife. You’ll never know how much I hold our memories near and dear to my heart.”
“Dagen, you—”
“I’m not done,” he proceeds, erasing all the space between us until our chests are touching. “With leadership comes great power and decisions, ones that you don’t want to make. Ones that break you a little inside. After this, you will be fine, you will fight because that’s who you are, and that’s what I’m telling you to do. You will carry on, this will all be a distant memory but don’t forget—”
I attempt to jerk out of his grasp for the third time, but he holds me still.
“You will always be that one for me,” he whispers. “Nothing will ever compare to how much you mean to me.”
Tears burn the back of my eyes as I peer up at him. His blues glaze over in a watery enamel full of so much admiration and, dare I say, love that I feel like I’m choking in his hold. My body starts to tremble as I try to hold down the sob that threatens to free itself.
I won’t survive this.
There would be no way that I’d be able to handle the death of my best friend and the man that I’m starting to fall for.
That I am in love with.
“Please,” I whimper. “Don’t do this to me.”
“I’m doing it for you. And I don’t regret this, it wasn’t a hard decision to make. I regret nothing when it comes to you. Right down to everything that has happened, I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant being able to spend this time with you.”