by Hazel Grace
“Are you that strong, Viking?”
He abruptly drops his hand from my face. “Yes.”
It’s been two days, but I can still feel his hand on the side of my face. Still feel his warm palm seeping into my bloodstream. I’ve avoided him because Atarah is right, it’s dangerous and short-sighted to get attached to anything that isn’t safe. We don’t have the luxury of being open when the world hunts us down for sport. Where my sisters have to worry about being scooped from the water, never to be seen again.
And then there’s father.
He left this morning after a swift lecture about how all my sisters will be taking up shifts to protect me and my ill-advised decisions regarding Dagen. We argued, mostly about his fate that is solely based on the limited information we know about him. Mine is the same, but it doesn’t mean he has to die.
Actually, I honestly don’t know what to do with Dagen. All I know is that my conscience is pleading for me to keep him safe. That he’s like Tobias, and I’d kill anyone who tried to harm him. Maybe it is that he’s human. That he’s shown civility and a twinge of kindness. He did try to protect me from the noctiluca the other day, so he must not want to see me harmed either. It would’ve been easier to let me get hurt so that he could make his escape.
Or it could be the fact that he’s manipulating me to gain more of my trust so he can betray me.
“Surprising that I’d find you here,” I hear my sister, Rohana, jeer as she steps inside the library.
I glance up from my book, grinning at her as she strides through the room. Her purple hair is braided back, lavender eyes looking at me in amusement because she knows what I’m doing. I’m dodging the sullen Viking and all his muscles.
“You’ve always known me the best,” I quip, resting my novel on my lap.
“Because you’re the less boring one,” she chuckles, sitting alongside me. “Coast is clear of Father.”
I nod, tucking my chin into my chest. “I know. We fought.”
“You always fight.”
“Not like this. He’s going to kill him, Ro.”
She places a hand on my thigh. “We’ll think of something. We always do, don’t we?”
“Remember, Sister, my ideas aren’t always the best.”
“But they always work out.” I want to tell her she’s insane because I almost got her killed and in plenty of trouble with Father, but refrain. Instead, I release a heavy sigh and clutch the leather corner of my novel.
“Sometimes I feel like maybe it would’ve been easier to let Atarah put him out of his misery right away.”
“She’s afraid of things she doesn’t know,” Rohana divulges. “And she feels like she has to protect us all.”
“She’s not Mother,” I oppose. “And not every human is a monster.”
“But she can’t see past the ones who killed Mother.”
A violent chill rips up my spine, causing goosebumps to protrude through my arms. How could I forget? I found her first, lying face down as each wave crashed into her body. Her beautiful yellow hair floating aimlessly around her.
She was speared through the heart, the lance still embedded in her body. I remember the blood-curdling scream that left my body, the sea creatures that scattered off at the agony in my tone.
“Pondering does nothing but bring those memories back,” Rohana chimes beside me. “It’s best to leave them be.” Easy for her to say since I wouldn’t let her near our mother until the spear was removed, even though I preferred and ordered it that way.
“Are you on babysitting duty today?” I ask her with a smirk.
She chuckles. “They know better than to leave me alone with you. I’d let you do whatever you wanted.”
“Who’s still here?”
“Atarah was brooding in the garden earlier. Brylee is probably in her room, writing in her diary about how she wishes she could have the courage to stand against Atarah one day. And I believe Isolde is resting.”
“Do you think she saw everything?” I ask.
“With the Viking?” I nod. “I think so, she’s never been wrong before.”
“It just doesn’t make sense why his father would send him here, to an island, to look for good farming.”
“Maybe they are running out of good land.”
“But aren’t we leagues away from them?”
“I honestly don’t know, they could’ve moved more south. It would be a nice place for people to settle.”
“Yes, but how did they know about it?”
My sister lifts a shoulder. “Could be word of mouth.”
“Another Siren?”
She gives me an exasperated look. “Females have large mouths.”
“It just makes no sense how he found the island and got past the veil.”
“I honestly think something is wrong with the spell,” Rohana notes. “Because the same goes for Tobias. He’s human, how does he freely come and go?”
“The mystery that eats me alive,” I recite. “I’m surprised Atarah hasn’t squealed a word to Father.”
“She knows he saved our lives, so I’m assuming she cuts him slack.”
“Hardly looks like it.”
“You know Atarah tries to keep a hard front, when in reality, she’s as soft as you are.”
I fix her with furrowed brows. “Her and I are night and day.”
“But the same. Both hard-headed and strong. Stubborn.”
“I’m more merciful than—” My body shudders involuntarily, shaking my entire core right down to my bones.
Rohana’s hand squeezes my thigh. “Are you okay?”
I push myself off the settee. “Something is wrong.”
“Wrong? What happened?”
I don’t answer because I’m already out of the library and in the foyer of the castle. The hairs on my arms are standing on end, my breathing shallow at something that doesn’t feel right.
Striding and listening, I hear water splashing from the garden. I pick up my pace, passing guards and flowers in glass vases that Isolde likes to decorate the house with. Busting through the double standing doors, I make my way down the path, still hearing splattering of water and female voices.
Meeting my small lagoon, I see Brylee and Atarah in the water, standing next to each other without making a move. It’s not until I see a large forearm break through the water that I know what they’re doing.
Which is exactly what I told all my sisters not to do.
“Atarah.” My voice is deathly, sharp. I never thought I’d want to kill one of my own sisters, until now.
Both of my sisters’ heads dart to me, but they don’t let go of him. They don’t release his head from underneath the water as they see me standing here as a warning. One that will only last for a second longer.
“Go inside,” Atarah demands, toneless.
It’s all I need, I delve into the water and make my way to them. I see blue start toward me, Brylee, in her attempt to stop me. You see, the problem with being the youngest is my sisters think I’m weak, stupid. That I can’t handle my own when I’m the one who has handled everything thus far to keep them safe.
A hand grasps my forearm, and I force all the anger to surrender from my body. The moment her fingers tighten around my flesh, my whole body burns, getting her to immediately let go and cry out in pain.
I don’t waste time that I don’t have, I swing my hand back and hit her in the jaw while my eyes are locked on my eldest sister, who thinks she can take it upon herself to kill my prisoner.
Atarah pushes Dagen’s head deeper into the water before I lunge for her. My fingers attach to her throat, shoving her into the element that will only give her more power. A loud gasp of breath sounds behind me, and I know that Dagen has come up for air finally—alive but still not safe. There’s still Brylee behind me, probably ready to finish what I know Atarah started.
I’m pulled underneath the crest of the lagoon, immediately slapped in the face from my sister to get me to release her—I do
n’t. My fury is feeding the Siren part of me that she forgot still resides in me. Sometimes I think she forgets that just because I can’t transform back into my original self that I’m not like her anymore.
When I don’t let go of her throat, she mocks my action, careful not to put a lot of pressure on my windpipe, which makes me believe she’s not taking me seriously. So I do exactly that, squeezing as hard as I can to give her a taste of what she just gave Dagen.
My body is suddenly ripped from hers, large hands wrap around my naked torso as I’m pulled through the water. My head pops over the water, and I already know there’s only one person who warms my skin the way he does.
Spinning around to face him, I’m about to yell at him to release me until I see the blue tint in his face from lack of oxygen. His chest heaves violently, begging for more air to fill his lungs that are probably filled with water.
My head is yanked back, almost taking my whole body with it, but with Dagen’s hold on me, it stays there. Bringing my arm in, I propel it back, connecting with the side of Atarah’s face. I shove Dagen back, hoping that he stays afloat on his own for a moment longer.
I twirl around to see my sister’s eyes as white as the clouds in the sky, furious with betrayal locked in them. Except, she was disloyal to me when I clearly stated that nothing would happen to the Viking.
“He has to die, Davina,” she seethes. “He’s a danger to us all.”
“He didn’t kill our mother,” I return. “You went against me.”
“To save you. All of us.”
I point an index finger at her. “Don’t follow me or I’ll kill you. Don’t forget who wields more power here.”
“You won’t land a—”
“Won’t I?” I rally. “You defied my words and took it upon yourself to take action. This isn’t your island anymore, your home. It’s mine. Don’t step foot on it again until I tell you it’s okay to do so.” I inch closer to her. “And if you betray me on the other issue at hand, Atarah, I will rip your throat out.”
I’m referring to Tobias, and she knows, deep down, that if she ever uttered a word about him, not one person in this world would be able to stop the wrath I’d rain down on her.
Not waiting for her to respond, I tuck myself under Dagen’s arm and help him to shore. Brylee intelligently stands aside, letting me get him inside and into his room. Once I lay him on his bed, wet and cold, I make my way to his small dresser until his hand jolts out to grab me.
Without thinking, my skin immediately warms in warning. But I settle myself down, trying to contain my fury that is literally burning from the inside out.
“How many more times are you going to save me, Blood?” he proclaims weakly.
I don’t know how to answer that. Don’t understand why it’s so important to keep him breathing and defy my family. Again, it must be because of Tobias.
“As many times as it takes,” I offer, pulling my arm from his hold. Quickly, I gather up some dry clothes and sit along the side of his bed. “You have to sit up for a moment.”
He does what I request, and I help him position himself so I can pull his wet shirt over his head. I demand my eyes to not linger down the length of his body, down to the muscled torso and chest that I’ve seen once before when he was chained to the floor and bathing himself with a cloth.
I toss the shirt to the floor before retrieving the dry one and pull it over his head. He puts his arms through, wet hair dripping onto it as I gather another shirt to dry his hair.
“You don’t have to do this,” he tells me. “I’ve been through worse.”
“You’re lucky I came just in time,” I disclose. “Another minute and you’d be dead.”
“How did you know where to find me?” I can feel his eyes on me, going up and down my body like he’s studying his prey.
Like he’s going to learn something.
“Not sure.”
Lies. I felt it.
“I was thinking about you,” he replies. “How I was about to die without feeling what your lips felt like. How you’d feel underneath me as I kiss every inch of you—” I start from the bed and back away from it.
He shouldn’t think of me that way. I shouldn’t want to save him. We shouldn’t even be around each other, but he trespassed into my home, and here I am saving him from death.
“Watch yourself,” I caution. “I told you to trust me, not tell me all your emotions.”
He lays back on the bed and looks up at the ceiling. “I never thought I would either. I guess I’ve never been so close to dying before.”
“You said you’ve been injured many times before.”
“I have, but not drowned, Blood.”
“Were you scared?”
He’s silent for a moment before he says, “Just scared of the things I haven’t done yet.”
I nod, not that he sees it, but I can understand that. I felt fear in my own blood when Rohana and I were hanging close to the deck of Tobias’s uncle’s ship that night.
“I’m going to have some guards stay by your door,” I tell him. “And I—”
“You don’t have to do that.” I open the door, ignoring his request because he’s not going to tell me what to do and not to do either. He’ll have what I give him.
And that’s my protection.
“Come with me,” Davina whispers from my sleep. Her voice is soft and velvety, caressing my body, which responds immediately by hardening my cock.
This wouldn’t be the first night I’ve dreamt of her red hair laced in between my fingers or her soft flesh pressed into my hard chest. I’ve just never heard her so vividly before.
Until she shakes my body, alluding that this is far from a dream.
I crack an eyelid open to see her hovering over me, her green eyes meeting my blues. It’s not until I see the urgency in them that gets me to slowly sit up.
“What’s wrong, Blood?” I ask her as her fingers graze down my bicep, wrapping around it to tug me off the bed.
“You have to come with me,” she repeats with a stronger yank. Standing on my feet, I follow her from the room.
When she reaches the doorway, she stops, peering out to look both ways before guiding me through. I want to ask her where she’s taking me, but since it looks like we’re on a secret mission, I remain quiet, listening to the soft patter of her feet on the tiles.
Davina leads me outside and along the shoreline to the cove that I invited myself into last week. Secluded and dark, my cock stirs at the thought of my second chance at life and how I’d like to pursue my daydreams of kissing those beautiful lips of hers.
It must be the rescue attempts, the way she defended me against her eldest sisters and the ferociousness that left her body that turned me on. Edda was nothing compared to the shit I saw Davina do yesterday. If she was on my side, in my clan, within my grasp—she’d be mine.
We come to the small entrance of the cove when Davina turns to face me. “You have to go.”
My brows descend. “What?”
“You have to leave this island, now.” Her words, they hit me in the gut. They were the last thing I expected her to say. I was thinking she wanted to show me something or warn me away from her sisters. But this…
“There is a boat in here,” she points behind her inside the small niche. “You can sail to your ship.”
“I—you can’t—is it still there?”
She nods. “Yes, Rohana told me that it still waits for you there.” Davina gives me her back. “Follow me.”
I do, dazed as her words sink into my brain.
You have to go.
I quickly scold myself because that was always the plan. The cuff and sailing back home to protect my clan from the highlands. It was always the mission.
Davina stops and waits for me to get closer to her. “Stay here, I have some provisions that I need to grab for you.”
“Blood,” I begin. “You can’t just—”
“Stay right here,” she repeats then hurries of
f into the moonlit beach.
My conscience ticks at me, demanding I move and follow through with my quest. Turning around, I look at all the trinkets Davina has scattered around the room and shelved on rock walls. My vision focuses in on my right, two shelves up where the gold cuff lies in between a small wooden chest and a chandelier.
I demand my feet to move before she gets back, telling myself that she’ll never notice. Stepping on a large boulder, I yank it off the rock shelf and tuck it in the back of my slacks. Quickly, I get down, just in time for her to show back up with a small sack of things.
“Food and a blanket,” she announces. “No one will harm you when you set back to your vessel.”
“You’re going to get in trouble for this, Blood,” I advise. “Are you sure you want to deal with the—”
“I’m sure,” she deadpans. “You need to be off this island before my sisters wake up. Leave immediately once you set foot on your ship.” She won’t look at me, just waiting for me to nudge past her and do exactly what she’s told me to do because I know I’ll never get another chance.
Except my boots are frozen to the ground because I’ll never see her again. I won’t be coming back to see her without the threat of her sisters and father. Without possibly getting past the veil again.
“Hurry,” she urges. “You don’t have much time, Viking.”
My hand comes up to her cheek again, and she flinches this time. “I’ve already lost count of the times you’ve saved me.”
“Just don’t come back here again,” she counters then peers up at me. “You won’t get lucky a second time.”
I’ll miss you, it’s at the tip of my lips, but I hold them back. There’s no point in expressing my emotions, they wouldn’t change anything. Besides, I’ve always had a hard time conveying what I wanted.
And that is to have Davina pressed up into these rocks so she could experience how she made me feel being near her.
“Viking,” she stresses. “Please.”
My thumb brushes her cheek. “You take care of yourself, Blood.” She nods, fixating on my chest.
With all my strength, I move, swiping up the small satchel she brought and brushing against her body to exit the cave. I don’t look back, letting my boots sink into the sand as I see a small boat crashing softly along the shoreline from the waves. It looks ancient, the boards cracked and fractured, but it’s the only way off the island, I’m sure.
