by Chanda Hahn
He looked relieved. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure if I could cross back over since part of me died on this plane. The Godmothers weren’t sure I’d survive the crossing either, but you were worth the risk. Turns out I’m fine because I’m fully human now. You didn’t abandon me, and I won’t abandon you.”
“Nix insisted on coming with, especially when I told him I was going to search for your family.”
“Yeah, I know enough about them since nixies and sirens are both water races, though the two don’t particularly get along. They don’t trust us when we turn sea witch, which I understand. But I’m not a nixie anymore, so don’t worry. I have no power, no gifts. So far they’ve been putting up with me.”
“Oh, I’ve heard them talk of throwing you overboard a few times,” Ever chided.
Nix didn’t miss a beat. “That’s because of my good looks. The men feel threatened.”
Ever rolled her eyes. “That’s not what I hear. I hear you cheat at games.”
Nix looked aghast at the accusation. “I only cheat to win.”
“Is there another reason for cheating?” Mina chuckled.
His mouth gaped opened, and his finger froze midair as he began a rebuttal but thought better of it. “Um, nope there isn’t.”
“So how’d you find them?”
Nix recovered and became serious. “It’s always wise to know where your enemy is, so you can avoid them at all costs. Growing up, we always heard the water sprites and sirens inhabited Dead Man’s Cove, so Ever and I had to make it there and wait for one to come up from the underground caverns or for a ship to pass by. Well, we got impatient and built a boat.”
“A raft,” Ever corrected.
“It was a fine ship.”
“It was barely staying afloat. It was nothing more than logs tied together with vines.”
“It had a mast,” he said.
“With no sail.”
“Stop dismissing our vessel. She was the finest one I’ve ever captained,” Nix pouted.
“She fell apart when we got near the cove and the rocks.”
Nix’s cheeks went beet red, and he scratched his head. “Yeah, well that was my plan all along.”
“Oh, that’s not what you told me. We were going to go out to the cove, sail near the rocks, and wait for one of them to try and lure us to our death.” Ever placed her hands on her hips.
“But it didn’t happen, did it?”
“No, our boat fell apart, and we began to sink. The sirens saved us.”
“Yeah, who’d have thought the myths were wrong?” He offered a sheepish shrug. “Sometimes sirens are the good guys too.”
Ever turned her back on Nix. “Well, anyway. We found them, and it took some convincing that we were legit and knew the daughter of Sarafina. It turns out your family is one of the oldest and strongest family lines, and… well…” She paused, and her head dropped. “If you had really lived on the Fae plane all those years ago, you probably would have been sent to the choosing ceremony for the prince.”
“But I wasn’t even born then.”
“It doesn’t seem to matter. You always find a way of surprising everyone. But it seemed that Ternan and Winona knew right away who we were. They had been keeping an eye on you for some time. They didn’t even ask questions but sailed straight here to save you. I gotta admit. Your family rocks.”
Mina looked over at the water and watched in amazement as something large and white shot out of the water and dove back beneath the waves. It looked like a creature that was half-fish and half… unicorn.
Ever coughed to get her attention, and Mina apologized. “They’re strangers,” Mina added.
“They don’t have to be. You were worried you didn’t have anyone to take care of Charlie. I’d say your family is a great place to start,” Ever coaxed.
“I’m his family.” Sure, her mom had told her to find them, but they were making things worse. Not better.
“They’re his family as well, Mina. Don’t you think Charlie would like to meet his grandparents?”
“We don’t need them, if you could help me go back,” Mina whispered urgently.
“To the human plane? No problem.”
“No back to the palace.”
“Mina, have you gone mad?”
“I promised him I wouldn’t run away.”
Ever scoffed at her. “Well, that’s a dumb promise. Of course you’d run away. Who’d want to stay with him as crazy and evil as he’s become? I bet he treated you horrible while you were there.”
“Uh no, it actually wasn’t that bad. For the most part, he was reasonable and okay company. Or he was until Annalora showed up.”
“What does that ugly gnome-head want?’
“She seems to think he’ll choose her as his next queen.”
“Well, that would explain her sudden appearance.”
“How so?”
“Because he does—”
One of the sirens came and beckoned for Mina to join him.
Ever stayed where she was, but Mina followed the young man down a few steps and into the captain’s quarters. Ternan stood at the window, looking forlorn. Winona was sitting in a chair, her hands folded in her lap. Mina stood in front of her siren grandparents and waited for one of them to speak first.
It was Winona who stood up and approached her. “There’s something we should tell you.”
“We’re not really related. I knew it,” she said, a defense mechanism.
Winona frowned. “No, you’re the spitting image of our daughter. There’s no doubt that you’re kin. But with Sarafina’s death, we’ve been left without an heir.”
“You mean you don’t have anyone else? Why would you let my mother go to the human plane then?”
Ternan was the one to answer. “We had two daughters. Sarafina was the youngest and always followed her heart. Our oldest displeased the Fates and was turned to stone. She now rests in the bottom of the lake beside the palace.”
Mina’s heart pounded, and she felt sick. That was her aunt? She’d been so close to joining her in death.
“I’ve seen her,” Mina whispered under her breath. “I’ve heard her call to me.”
Winona’s head dropped in despair, while Ternan’s voice rose in anger. “We have no love for the Fates and their cruel ways.”
“I need to go back. You don’t understand. I can’t stay with you.”
“Nonsense. You’re family. You will be accepted here among us,” Winona spoke up.
“No, I made a deal—willingly. I said I’d stay with the prince, and he promised to leave my friends alone. If I left, they’d be hurt or killed.” She decided not to mention that she was worried for the prince himself.
“Well, then we must get to your friends first,” Ternan announced.
“Yes. And your brother,” Winona agreed. “With Sarafina gone, we are no longer barred from interacting with her children. Let’s bring them home.”
Mina felt a moment of relief that she wasn’t alone in her quest to protect her brother, but the Fae plane wasn’t any safer than the human plane. She’d have to find him, trust the sirens, and find a way to keep them all safe from Teague.
They called Ever into the room and spoke quickly about what they were going to do and how they were going to find Charlie.
“The seam ripper is only strong enough to open a gate for a few people. We’d never be able to take everyone with us,” Ever said.
“We will have to use one of the natural gates then,” Ternan stated.
“It won’t do us any good unless we know where Charlie is.” Ever looked to Mina for an answer.
“I don’t know. The whole point was that I wouldn’t know where they’ve taken him.”
“She can find him,” Winona said firmly to Ever. “Mina has the closest connection to him of any of us.”
“I don’t know how.” Mina felt the mounting pressure being placed on her and began to doubt.
“In your dreams. The pixie told me of your dreams, t
hat you see things,” Winona encouraged.
“No, mostly nightmares. But then sometimes it feels real,” Mina answered, a slight panic rising within her.
“Can you honestly tell me you’ve never dreamed something, a conversation that never came true?”
The premonition of Ever’s death. And more than that. Mina thought back to her many restless nights and the pieces of her dreams that came true. Of being pulled underwater by Teague, though he was pulling her underground. Or the conversations she had with him. Her heart raced, and breathing became a challenge.
It was true. She was seeing bits of the future. “But how can I do it on purpose?”
“Just think about him while you fall asleep. Your subconscience will seek him out,” Winona said.
Mina felt all of the eyes on her and swallowed. “I’ll try, but I think I’m too wound up to sleep.”
Winona smiled. “I have a tea for that. I’ll brew you a cup and let you sleep. Take your time. The dream will come.”
“But what if I’m too late?”
“Then we will have to fight Teague to steal him back,” Ternan answered.
“You’re not afraid of him?” Mina asked.
“No. In fact, it will be our pleasure to inflict a little payback on the Royals for what King Lucian did to our daughter.” He grinned evilly.
Mina felt a moment of indecisiveness arise at her grandfather’s eagerness for war. Was she really in the right place to find help for Charlie? She couldn’t go back to Teague now, so she prayed that she was doing the right thing.
Chapter 26
Sleep didn’t come easily. Mina had lain down on a small padded bench in the captain’s quarters with a pillow and blanket. She tried to focus her mind on her brother, but too many questions, thoughts, and fears plagued her—not to mention, she was in the middle of the ocean on a Fae ship, surrounded by her mother’s family. Instead of relief, a flood of angry thoughts rushed at her. Her mother shouldn’t have kept them from her. She lied.
Mina punched the pillow and tried to get comfortable again, but the gentle sway of the waves didn’t help. They only reminded her she wasn’t on land. She stared at the warm cup of tea on a small table to her right. Her first instinct was to avoid the sea blue liquid with its unique aroma. She’d never in her life seen blue tea, and she didn’t know what it would do to her—or if it was even safe. And she had only just met her mother’s parents. They might be lying about the effects of the tea.
But what other choice did she have?
Mina picked up the blue tea to give it a cursory sniff and picked up motes of fruit and honey. Tipping the cup, she drank the first few sips slowly before she gained enough courage to finish it off. She laid back down on the pillow and tried to concentrate on Charlie.
But her mind couldn’t stay away from Teague.
He was furious. She could see his stiff angry posture as he stormed about the castle, searching for her. Her heart ached to see that she was causing him so much pain and anger.
“You promised me!” he yelled into the empty room. He stormed through the halls and burst through the doors to his own room. He went to a table and snatched up a small silver hand mirror and spoke her name. In the dream, she could see the mirror shimmer as it changed from his reflection to an image of her.
Confusion marred his face as he met her eyes. “You ran away to be with the sirens.” His voice wavered. “I told you what would happen if you broke our deal,” he said, his voice suddenly like steel. “You’ll have to come back to me if you want your brother.” His hands held the mirror so tightly his knuckles turned white. He slammed the mirror back down onto the table then turned and yelled out the door.
“Summon the Reapers and my army. She has broken my trust for the last time.” Mina could see shadows move to do his bidding. She wanted to scream at him that whatever he was seeing was a lie, that she hadn’t abandoned him, hadn’t left him.
Her dream shifted. It was night, and she was running for her life. She could hear the low growl of the omen on her tail. She was running down an unfamiliar street. She tripped in the darkness and landed on the pavement. Her hands and knees were scraped, and she looked desperately around in the darkness for the omen, pulling out a small hand mirror to glance over her shoulder. There it was, mere feet from her, with its eyes pale as death and his snarling mouth.
It lunged, and she dropped the mirror.
She cried out in her sleep and woke up covered in sweat. Winona sat in a chair off to the side of the room, watching over her.
Mina covered her mouth with her hands and tried to keep from crying out, but she was wracked with silent sobs. Winona rushed forward and kneeled beside the couch. “What is it? What did you see?”
“My death,” she whispered. Her body went cold. “I don’t make it in time to save them.”
She was quiet afterward, solemn. Nothing Nix or Ever did could bring her out of the spiral of depression her mind had sunk to. She hadn’t dreamed of her brother. She couldn’t find his location, and there was nothing she could do for another twenty-four hours or until it was safe for her to take the tea again. Mina was so overwhelmed that she knew there was no way she’d fall asleep naturally. Not when she didn’t know how many days she had left to live.
She sat on a crate of supplies and stared across the sea at the setting sun.
The image of the omen’s eyes bothered her so much, she finally gathered the courage to ask Winona about it. She went to stand near her grandmother. “What is an omen exactly? Is it a Reaper or something else?”
“An omen is the form the Death Reaper takes before he strikes and takes your soul. They are a different breed of Reapers, unlike the ones that guard the Fates. Because they are already dead.”
“So can it be killed?” Mina asked.
“No. Only the dead can challenge Death to become the next omen. Then they must spend their half-life collecting souls.”
“How horrible.” Mina shuddered.
“It is,” Winona agreed.
“Who’d want to become a Death Reaper?”
“Someone desperate enough to want a second chance at life, even if it’s only a half-life.”
“Then is there a way to stop it?” she asked.
“There’s lore of a bone whistle that can control the Reaper, but I think that’s all it is—a tale. Because nothing can stop Death when he strikes.”
“It’s how I lost Mom,” Mina whispered. “The omen stole her soul.”
“I know, but I also know that she loved you and would have traded her life for yours in a heartbeat, love. Don’t ever mistake her sacrifice for weakness.”
Mina stared at her hands and saw the half-moon fingernail indents she had left on her palms. She made herself relax and looked up as Winona moved to Ternan’s side.
While they’d talked about the omen, Ternan had his siren crew unfurl every sail—crimson, copper, aquamarine. They were trying to beat the sunset and make it to specific coordinates. Ternan and his first mate were hunched over a sea map calculating distance and wind speed.
Nix asked Winona if she thought they’d make it.
“Of course, dear boy. This is the fastest siren ship ever built. The sirens were the first to discover the sea gate to the human plane, although the humans were the first to discover its sister—the Bermuda Triangle. This one is closest to us, and we’ve risked many of our lives keeping the Fae from using it to cross the planes.”
“Luring them to their death, you mean,” Nix said.
Winona’s chin lifted in challenge, but she laughed good-naturedly. “Aye. The only ones that come sailing here for the gate are up to no good. They’re the low down, dirtiest scum that walks the Fae world. So yes, we call them to their doom, and no one has cared or stopped us. In fact, we do the world a favor.”
“And that’s how my mother met my father.” Mina spoke up.
“Somehow the young man sailed through the gate into our world while he was chasing the Loch Ness beast across the plan
es.”
“You mean the Loch Ness Monster is real?” Mina asked in disbelief.
“Well, they’re certainly not all from your Loch Ness, but the beasts like deep lakes on both planes,” Winona said. “James followed it through the gate, and, when he did, it attacked and capsized his vessel. It was our youngest daughter, your mother, who saved him. We told her to let him drown since he wasn’t one of us, but she couldn’t. She cried for days when we made a raft and sent him back through the gate to his own plane. There was nothing we could do to help her. She was young and in love, and she begged us to let her go after him.”
“And you let her?” Mina asked. Then she saw Ternan’s face of disgust. “…right?”
“Of course not. We’d never tell her to expose her Fae side to a human. But when we forbade it, she went to a sea witch for help and had her powers bound. That wasn’t enough for her though. She wanted to forget all about us and went to a guild of rogue Fae for help.”
“I believe they call themselves the Godmothers,” Winona corrected.
Ternan growled out, “Whatever, but they helped her. Before they altered her memories, she contacted us and told us never to try to reach her again. It wasn’t until years later that we realized she’d fallen for a Grimm. It kind of changed some things since he already knew about the Fae, but it hurt that she wanted nothing to do with us. Wanted to be human, to raise human children.”
“So we watched you, in our dreams,” Winona said, “and waited, hoping one day, you would need us. And that day is today.” Winona came over and put her arm around Mina in a side hug.
Winona’s eyes locked on the iron cuffs around Mina’s wrists. “How dare he?” Winona gripped the band harder, fuming. “How dare someone shackle the power of a siren!” Her hair crackled with static electricity as her anger rose to the surface.
Mina watched in awe.
Winona held out her hand and power raced to her, her hair whipping about from the abundance of energy. “No one lays a hand on my granddaughter.”
Winona touched the cuffs, and Mina felt the current of power blast through them, turning them black. Whatever magic had blocked her was killed. Her bonds clicked open and fell to the deck with a thud.