by Lexi Ostrow
“Yes, I can bloody hear you. Whatever you did took care of the creature that was on top of me. Problem is, I don’t much like the view down here,” Lucius said with a sarcastic chuckle.
“You need to bring the ship up. Jacob cannot swim, and if he doesn’t get knocked down by another tentacle, he’s going to drown.”
“Sweet, sweet, McKenna. That Royal will die from strangulation by the Siren who tempts him long before he drowns on his own.”
Red flashed in her vision as she thought about Jacob dying, and she quickly pushed it back. “Then get that submersible above water and open the bloody hatch!”
Lucius didn’t get to respond. A tentacle crashed just to the right of her and knocked her backward, even as it split the ship in two. Fear licked through her, and McKenna pushed off the ground as quickly as she could. Her body wobbled as the ship lifted up into the air, bow pointing to the sky. They weren’t going to make it, none of them. She dug her nails into a small hole in the deck and anchored herself on. If she could just hold on, she could figure out a way to save them.
“McKenna! Get up. I can see him, I can see Lucius.” Felicia screamed at her from on top of the other section of the ship.
McKenna looked just at where Felicia’s eyes were pointing. She saw both Philippe swimming towards a dark haired Siren, and the tiptop of the submersible as the waves slowly began to show it as it rose. Felicia gave McKenna a nod and pushed off the side of the ship. McKenna’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the other woman plummet to the water and disappear with a harsh splash.
Splashes occurred all around as the second half of the ship began to splinter further under the assault of a tentacle. The Sirens were almost quiet, many having gotten their prey. But she could see Jacob, just across the way. He was struggling to climb over the railing, rather than falling down. The Siren calling to him must have been on the other side of the ship.
Tears blurred her eyes as she watched Jacob, now upright, scramble to pull himself up over the ship’s rail and jump into the ocean. She had no idea which Siren was calling to him, and she prayed he would die before a demon got him. Something took hold of her then, at the thought of another woman touching him, even if it was for death. She ran towards the side of the ship Jacob had jumped off and shouted his name into the song of the Sirens. Using every measure of strength she had, she pulled herself up and tried not to focus on how much nearer the water looked as the ship slowly lowered itself into the depths.
She had to pray Felicia had not only survived but had gotten herself and Philippe to the submersible. “I will save you, Jacob. I will do my duty,” the words were strained as she tried to stand on the rail and pitch herself into the sea.
Sounds rushed by, the Sirens, the wind and even a few men’s screams as their sea beauties latched onto them with tentacles and dragged them to their death. She crashed into the frigid water hard, feeling pain jar through her neck, and she arched up, trying to break for the surface. Thankful for the goggles staying in place, she opened her eyes. Her mouth opened to scream and water rushed down her throat. Choking under the waves, she kicked and pulled her arms to her sides, trying desperately to get back to the surface.
Her head broke free of the water, and she gasped for air, even as water expelled from her mouth. The sight above the water was a far cry more calming than what she had just seen. Above, there were only two Sirens left, one of which Felicia’s gun had just killed. With the song done, Philippe’s head shook, and he locked eyes with McKenna and cursed. With a nod, Felicia grabbed his hand and began to swim with him towards the submersible, a few meters away from them.
Below the water lay nothing but death.
The giant octopus demon had fled, probably knowing it would get no prey from the Sirens. But the Sirens were feeding. Blood had swirled around her, and hundreds of tentacles were propelling them through the water or pulling appendages off the sailor’s body. Her heart stopped, and she quickly ducked her head below the water. It was impossible to see where her Royal was, and tears began to spill from her eyes, filling a small space in the goggles. When she brought her head back to the surface, she only heard one song.
One Siren still sang, Jacob’s. He was nearly to the foul demon, likely having overshot with his overzealous catapult off the side of the ship.
“Jacob!” McKenna shouted and began to swim as hard as she could towards the Siren.
The creature turned to McKenna with a hiss. The beautiful face warped to a vicious snarl, showing a mouth filled with sharpened teeth. The eyes went a deadly black, and McKenna momentarily stopped swimming to grab the knife in her boot. A tentacle reached out under the water and took McKenna by surprise as it wrapped around her ankle and jerked her down. She watched in horror as the pocket watch slipped from around her neck and floated down, past her reach and into the depths to be lost forever.
Water rushed into her mouth again as the Siren pulled her across the small distance, and then flung her out of the water. Still wrapped in the tentacle McKenna dangled above the water upside. A second tentacle came out of the water and wrapped around her stomach, a mistake for the Siren.
“This man is mine, human. You are nothing,” the Siren hissed in a voice that was anything but serene.
“Sorry to break this to you, but he’s spoken for,” McKenna shouted back with a growl.
In a swift motion, her dagger hand rose and sliced clean through the tentacle around her waist, which was much easier to hit than the one around her ankle. A terrible shriek filled the air, and the tentacle around her ankle let go, dropping her into the water. Her head banged into Jacob’s as she went, and stars filled her vision, as did the retreating image of a bloody Siren and a very lifeless Jacob sinking quickly. Whether the creature had hurt him, or he’d passed out when the song stopped, she didn’t know.
Fear mixed with pain and determination as she opted to let the dagger go, instead of putting it in her boot. Jacob was sinking slowly, slowly enough that she felt her mouth tremble and her eyes water. Seeing him like that, actually dying, if not dead before her, her heart suddenly felt as if someone had sliced a knife through it. Jacob was so much more to her than just her mission. He had been since the first day they’d kissed when she’d been only seven and ten, but now she was mature enough to realize it.
McKenna did her best to propel herself in the water to the man she needed to save. To the man she now realized she was falling in love with. His fingers moved slightly from the current, and McKenna strained to grasp his hand. Every muscle screamed as she stretched herself as far as she could and finally grabbed his hand.
Dragging him to the surface was harder than she had imagined. Her body shook with the labor of it, and her breath came out just as shaky. She wrapped her arm gently around his neck to keep him above the water and kicked as hard as she could to keep them floating.
“Could you use a lift?” a voice called out.
McKenna sputtered a cough as she saw the submersible slowly coming to her and Jacob, Felicia standing on its top. It felt like hours, rather than a few moments, by the time Felicia reached into the water and pulled Jacob out. McKenna had every intent of getting herself out of the water, but as she tried, she felt hands wrap around her wrist and hoist her out as if she were nothing more than a small child.
Her arse hit onto the metal with a thump, and Lucius smiled down at her as she pulled her goggles off.
“You got it up,” she said, her words punctuated by ragged breaths.
Lucius chuckled and grinned even wider. “Sweetheart, I can assure you, getting it up has never been a problem of mine.”
He winked, and she flushed when she realized the entendre.
“Oh shove off, demon,” Felicia said as she put a hand down for McKenna to take. “We’re all safe, McKenna. When I killed the Siren, Philippe snapped out of it and got us both safely here. And you did your part of the mission. You protected Jacob at all costs, even to your own life.”
At any other moment, M
cKenna would have beamed under Felicia’s praise. Now was not that moment. She clasped the other woman’s hand and let herself be pulled to a standing position. Her whole body hurt, but she looked over at Jacob, still unconscious.
“Will he be okay?” she asked, afraid of the answer now that she realized how much he meant to her.
Lucius bent down and put his fingers to Jacob’s neck, and then looked at her. “He’s still got a pulse. He will likely be fine, just embarrassed. Sirens have that effect, even on the occasional demon, and I hear its damn off putting when you learn a woman had your balls in her grasp.”
“Doesn’t Eliza have yours anyway?” Philippe said with a chuckle. His eyes looked over Jacob, and he cursed. “Let me get him to the bed. McKenna, why don’t you stay in the room with him. It might make him feel better to know you’re there when he wakes.”
She flushed, Philippe, and likely Felicia, knew of their tryst. It was evident in his eyes because, to the outside world, she hadn’t appeared to even tolerate him on a good day. With a nod, she climbed down the hold.
The submersible was breathtaking on the inside, but she was too tired to care. The helm was an inventor’s dream, and she could clearly see out the windows, thanks to the illuminations of the crystals. But she didn’t want to look out, not if all that was out there was death and demons.
They didn’t follow behind her immediately. She heard a muffled conversation, and Philippe say his airway was clear of water. She hadn’t even thought to do that and was grateful that, despite all Philippe had been through himself, he’d taken better care of Jacob than she had.
Heavy boot steps clanked down the metal ladder, and she stepped out of the way. Lucius was first, then Felicia, and finally Philippe, carrying Jacob. Jacob’s head lolled unnaturally to the side, and she had to remind herself that he wasn’t dead.
“Follow me, I’ll give you the grand tour,” Lucius said lightly and pushed his way past her. “The front of the ship is only big enough for two really, in case you didn’t notice the way you are all slightly ducking.”
McKenna immediately tried to straighten up and hit her head. “Oooch.”
“Did you think I was joking?” Lucius asked, barely containing a smile.
“Just walk, demon. I don’t have any tolerance for your nonsense now,” Philippe said, and McKenna noticed how weary he sounded.
“Fine, fine. Humans are never much fun.” Lucius winked at her and started to walk. They all followed. “These two doors cover all the valves. If we get into trouble, and cannot rise or sink even, go here and start pulling caps on and off as you spin the wheel until it does. These doors,” he pointed to the three on the starboard side, “are our rooms. Divvy them up as you wish, but let’s do put the blasted Royal in one, so he can heal from whatever was done.”
She pushed open the center door and held it open as Philippe walked in and set Jacob down on the bed. Cautiously, she sat down on the edge of the bed, and Philippe gave her a nod as he walked out and closed the door. Before she realized w hat she was doing, McKenna had lain down beside Jacon and, curled her body around his. He was drenched, but she could feel him breathing, and her own heart slowed its rapid beating with the knowledge that he was all right. McKenna laid her head on his chest and lay there, listening to the beating of his heart. Falling more and more in love by the moment.
Fifteen
“McKenna?”
She shifted her position on Jacob’s chest and turned her head to look at him, to be certain she wasn’t hearing things. He was awake, though he seemed far from alert. His eyes were clouded over, and his coloring was still terrible, but he was awake.
Without thinking, she pushed off his chest and sat up quickly. “Jacob! Oh, thank the heavens you’re awake.” She leaned down to kiss him, pulled back and moved her still wet hair off her shoulder.
“My throat, it’s killing me, and where are we?” he asked, sounding dazed.
Had she not known better, she would have thought he’d spent the eve getting knackered. Slowly, she ran her hand through his wet hair and moved it off his forehead. He was awake after what had seemed like hours, she needed to not frighten him anymore.
“How much do you remember before waking up?”
“I don’t even bloody remember going to sleep. I just remember seeing that demon.”
She swallowed hard and wrung her hands together. One thing she had noticed was female hunters tended to be loud, stubborn and forthright—something she was not comfortable being in that moment. If he noticed her abnormal behavior, he didn’t say anything.
“There was a little more to the attack than that.” She refused to look him in the eyes as she spoke.
“Where. Are. We?” Every word was punctuated with an emphatic growl.
“We’re on the submersible. Your brother’s ship did not withstand the attack.”
“I thought the inventor, Eliza, said the ship was too small for more than was needed for journeying into hell.”
Her hands twisted together so tightly, she could see her knuckles slowly turning white. Her heart thumped in her chest as hard as it had done a few hours prior when Jacob had clung to the world betwixt life and death.
“All that survived on are board. It will hold.”
He raised an eyebrow and winced. “Bloody Hell, was my head hit?”
“I honestly do not know, I was otherwise engaged and barely had time to reach you. I, I almost lost you, Jacob. I almost failed.”
The admission stung. McKenna had barely succeeded in her first authentic mission as a hunter. Yet, could it be considered a victory when so many men had perished? They were supposed to be in place to protect, and she knew firsthand that neither she nor Felicia had even attempted to save anyone.
His hand gently ran down her forearm, and she shivered at the contact.
“It’s okay. You saved as many as you could, and I for one am grateful for how I awoke. To you with me,” Jacob’s words were quiet, but filled with conviction.
The words blurted out before she could stop herself. “No one but the Alliance team survived. Felicia and I had a choice, and we chose you and Philippe.”
“You mean to tell me an entire crew is dead, murdered?”
A self-righteous tone was slowly seeping into his voice, and it rankled her. “Yes, that is exactly what I mean, and do not make me regret saving you, your Royal Highness.”
He growled at the hated pet name, and she stood up from the small bed and walked the two steps in the small quarters to the door. She wanted to storm out and not say a word to him, but she knew that would not be appropriate. Straightening as tall as she could, she spoke to the door, rather than Jacob.
“Take more rest. I will explain anything you wish when you are calmer. I am weary from what I underwent and am not in any mood to play politely with you.”
McKenna paused for a moment and waited for Jacob to respond. He did not, and she felt a lick of anger flare to life. Clamping her jaw shut, so as not to snap at him once more, she pushed open the door and walked out, closing it rather loudly behind her.
“Back to his charming self then?” Philippe asked from the end of the passageway.
Giving him a rather unladylike look, she walked toward him. “He’s less than thrilled to know no one but us survived. I know you don’t know what happened, Philippe, not truly because of the Siren’s song, but it was horrifying. It should have been this loud chaotic scene with screams and terror. It was so calm. The Sirens’ continued to sing their lullaby until their prey jumped in, and all you heard was it, and the splashes as the men threw themselves to their death.” She shuddered and rubbed her hands up and down her arms. “Do we have any clothing on board?”
Philippe looked shaken, his color suddenly ashen, and then he disappeared into a room and came back out with a navy blue corset and black breeches. “These were for Felicia, she’s already changed into a more practical attire for Hell, so this is all that’s left. It might be a scale large, she’s a bit bigger.”
He smirked and passed her the clothing. “I knew everything, McKenna. If Jacob told you otherwise, it was his head injury. I could feel myself walking to my death, I could hear my mind screaming to stop, that it was Odette calling to me.” He shook his head violently. “I have watched a man I respected die and held Odette as she feared for her life, and nothing will compare to this day. If Lucius ever seeks to attack me again, it will be a very different nightmare that plays out.”
His words sent a chill through her, and she placed her hand on his arm. “I am sorry, Philippe.”
“Bloody hell! Fucking Akkorokamui. Fucking ship, bloody fucking demons!” Felicia shouted from the room Philippe had just left, and the door flung open. “Everyone check your belongings. We had been warned to bring extras due to what happened when they flew in that blasted airship to Hell, well not everything can be replicated. My communicator is gone. I wasn’t wearing it. My watch is loaded with water, but it appears to still tick after laying it open for the past few hours. My hunting materials and my pocket watch are thankfully, safe.”
“Mon Dieu,” Philippe growled. “This did occur last time. We had thought that packing extras of everything would leave us armed. But without a communicator, you cannot go into Hell, Felicia.”
McKenna sincerely thought a fight was going to break out over it, but Felicia sighed dramatically and looked up, frustration all over her face.
“I know that damnit. McKenna, you’ve been promoted. Congratulations.”
Her jaw fell open, and it took a full minute before any words could form. “Me, into Hell?”
Felicia shook her head and sighed again. “You have your communicator on your wrist, and I know your goggles are in the room with Jacob. I will give you the guns packed down here for me and an extra dagger.”
McKenna flushed. “I let my dagger drop to save Jacob.”
Something crashed into the submersible, and they all lunged, but none of them fell.
“Bloody hell! It’s time to go, boys and girls. You can continue your discussion, but for the moment, sit down wherever you please, but sit. There’s a sped mechanism that if I don’t flip, we might become a shark’s dinner,” Lucius shouted from the front.
