Sordid Depths (The Cursed Seas Collection)

by Heather Marie Adkins

  “Just a thought.” He flashed one of his good-humored grins.

  She couldn’t even be irritated with him.

  When she held the rock, she could feel her connection to it. But it didn’t push her in any specific direction. Mostly, it just radiated its power and seemed happy to be in her possession. “The letter said I had to find the resting place?”

  Rivka nodded. “And I have to place it.”

  “Ugh, why is it so specific? Is the world going to end if you find it and I place it?” Lesya rolled her eyes back so hard, it hurt.

  “We could just ask the dragon about it,” Andrei suggested. “The longer we stand here trying to decide on a course of action, the more likely he’ll find us. He probably knows we don’t know what the hell we’re doing.”

  Lesya sighed. “Now you’re just being an ass. I think there’s still a functional library in the nearest city to my hometown. We could search for any texts that reference the stone, and maybe where it’s supposed to go. But that’s like a three-day journey inland.”

  “I wouldn’t be able to go so long without the ocean.” Rivka shuddered. “That’s three days in and three days back at the very minimum.”

  “It isn’t safe for any siren,” Andrei added. “That’s why you don’t see us any further inland than the coast. Can I see it?”

  Lesya handed the stone to Andrei for a look. She noticed sweat pouring down Viktor’s face, and she wouldn’t have thought much of it considering the day was warm and they’d just sprinted cross-country to outrun a dragon.

  But his face had turned ashen.

  “Viktor?” She stepped around Rivka to go to him.

  He backed away and held up a hand to stop her.

  She tried to side-step him, but he turned around, keeping his back out of sight. “Quit being an idiot. What’s wrong?”

  “It’s nothing.” He dodged her hand, backing around Andrei.

  Rivka darted around the other way and gasped as she came up behind him. “Oh my goodness! Viktor, we have to get you back to Marina!”

  He sagged wearily and came to a standstill.

  Lesya glared at him and finally got ahold of his arm, turning him around.

  The back of his shirt was torn to shreds. Beneath the tears, his skin was flayed by cuts so deep they reached muscle. They oozed thick blood, making his entire backside look like a crime scene.

  Lesya sucked in a breath. “You have to go to Marina. This is bad. Who knows what bacteria were on that thing’s claws?”

  “And if it finds us, you’ll get eaten first,” Andrei added, passing the stone back to Rivka.

  “Not helpful,” Lesya said, pursing her lips at the siren.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Rivka wobble. She shot out a hand and caught the siren before she tipped over.

  “Are you okay? Jeez, you guys are all dropping like flies.” Lesya shot a look at Andrei. “You better not keel over on me, too.”

  She let go of Rivka and gaped as the siren’s skin flaked beneath her fingers.

  Rivka’s mouth opened, and she stared dumbly. “That’s never happened before.”

  Andrei lifted her arm to study it, then moved his assessing gaze to her face. “You’re pale. You dizzy?”

  Rivka nodded. “Jellyfish venom?”

  He shook his head. “You need saltwater.”

  “This isn’t even the longest she’s been out of the water!” Lesya protested. “Are you sure? What if it’s something else?”

  Andrei bent to wedge an arm beneath Rivka’s legs and lifted her in his arms. “I’m sure. I bet it has something to do with the dragon. I’m feeling woozy, too. We took a beating under the frost.”

  “So this is because of me?” Lesya crossed her arms and looked sternly at Rivka. “If you try to save my life again, I’m going to kill you. And by ‘me,’ I don’t mean me but whatever dumbass thing is trying to kill me is going to kill you.”

  “It seems this friendship has been one of us saving the other time and time again,” Rivka said with a weak giggle.

  “When this is all said and done, do you think we could try for a real friendship?” Lesya asked. “You know, dinner at my house, a bottle of wine, and good conversation?”

  Rivka rested her head on Andrei’s shoulder and smiled. Her eyes drifted shut. “That sounds really good.”

  “What about Viktor?” Lesya directed her question to Andrei. “He’s going to bleed out if we don’t get him care.”

  Viktor shook his head. “Just go. Get Rivka in the water.”

  “We’ll be able to get to Marina’s easier by the beach, anyway,” Andrei assured her as he started walking. “We’ll restore our girl, then get Viktor healed. After that, regroup and come up with a game plan.”

  “And if the dragon finds us in the meantime?” Lesya took Viktor’s arm to help him limp forward.

  Andrei flashed a winning smile. “Try not to get eaten.”

  21

  Rivka

  Strong arms. A steady heartbeat. The smell of the ocean mixed with a hint of evergreen. These were the sensations and smells that filtered in through Rivka’s consciousness. Sure, even footsteps carried her, that much was clear.

  The skin on skin contact told her that someone had taken off her human garments. Her body was free from any constraints. Free, but yet it still felt broken, cracked.

  Overhead, the sun rode high and blinding. Rivka could feel the cracks in her skin, feel the dryness itching up her back. Is this how the mob boss feels right now? she vaguely wondered. Was the Aether attacking his system still or had he already succumbed to the disease? Secretly, she hoped he was suffering, but his death would cripple the mob. And that was the most important goal.

  If she died, all her investigating for the clan government would be for nothing. She needed to live. Needed to put the stone back where it belonged.

  “Ocean,” she croaked out through dry lips.

  “Almost there, beautiful,” Andrei encouraged. “Hang in there.”

  Beautiful. A ghost of a smile spread her lips. No one had ever called her beautiful before.

  The whoosh of the ocean hit her ears. Her smile grew.

  Home.

  Waves splashed against Andrei’s legs, spraying her backside.

  He readjusted his hold on her. “Ready to go back into the water?”

  “Yes,” Rivka whispered.

  Andrei sunk down into the water with her, holding her like she might break into a million pieces if he wasn’t careful. His tenderness tugged at something deep within her.

  Fully submerged, she took her first deep breath of seawater. The rush of ocean through her gills exhilarated her. Her body felt like a sponge, soaking in the water to fill the cracks.

  The stone still clutched in her grasp pulsed.

  “Can you feel that?” Rivka looked to Andrei for confirmation, but he shook his head. “The stone. It’s vibrating or something.”

  Andrei reached out a hand, but hesitated. “Do you think it’s trying to tell us something?”

  Suddenly, Rivka arched back, her eyes closing of their own accord. Flashes flooded her mind: a dormant, underwater volcano and a cave beneath it. The images changed to scenes of destruction and the feeling of the curse eating away at the planet.

  As clear as if Andrei had spoken beside her, the stone whispered in her mind.

  Lesya is the key. She will find the way, and you will take me home. Together, you will heal the earth and unite the races.

  “Rivka?” Andrei brushed back her hair.

  The stone released its grip on Rivka, and her eyes fluttered open.

  Andrei stared down at her with concern. “You’re back. I thought I lost you there.”

  Rivka sat upright. The stone still pulsed within her hand, but something about it felt off. She gazed at it, resting in her palm under the water.

  Where it belonged. Just like Rivka.

  “I need to talk to Lesya,” she murmured, wrapping her fingers protectively around the sto
ne.

  “You probably need to sit for a little longer. Maybe even swim.” His voice gentled. “You were in rough shape.”

  Rivka shook her head. “We don’t have time. And if what I just saw is correct, I’ll be coming right back into the water.”

  Even so, she felt bereft as she walked out of the waves.

  Near the water’s edge, Lesya paced back and forth under Viktor’s watchful eye. When she noticed the siren emerging, she ran into the surf to throw her arms around Rivka.

  “I thought you were going to die!” Lesya said, her voice thick. She immediately released Rivka and pulled out one of her arms. “Your skin. It’s all better.”

  “It is. I don’t know what happened, but the ocean healed me. Andrei brought me home.” Her breath hitched as she thought about all the things the rogue had done for her. She’d definitely misjudged him.

  “Now what?” Lesya still held Rivka’s arm. “You have the stone?”

  The stone lay within her curled fingers. Rivka turned her palm upright and opened her fingers. With her other hand, she put Lesya’s hand on top of the stone.

  The mage’s eyes widened as large as stingrays.

  “Do you feel that?” Rivka asked.

  Lesya nodded. “Why does it feel sick?”

  “Because it is sick. The stone showed me images of its final destination. It can’t heal itself or the land until it’s put in its resting place.”

  “Okay, so where does it need to go?” Lesya took the stone from between their hands and examined it.

  “Its home is in the ocean. I saw a cave beneath a dormant volcano. Somewhere deep and dark. And this might sound really crazy, but the stone spoke to me.”

  Lesya raised an eyebrow and held up the stone between her thumb and forefinger. “A rock spoke to you?”

  Rivka pushed her arm down. “I told you it sounds crazy. But it did. It told me you’re the key. You find the way, and I take it home. Can you do a locating spell or something?”

  “You know I’m bad at spells. You saw what I did back there with the inversion orb.” Lesya made a face. “We were lucky it ended up working all on its own.”

  “Maybe your spell did work, and you just had to bust the orb open to complete it.”

  “Maybe, but I wouldn’t count on any future spells working.” Lesya hefted the stone in the air, letting it fall back into her palm. “I’ll give it a shot though.”

  They joined Viktor and Andrei in the shallows, where the siren was making the pirate sit as he splashed saltwater on his open wounds.

  Lesya hissed in sympathy. “Is this a new form of torture?”

  Using his hands, Andrei splashed more water in a sheet down Viktor’s wounds. “In another situation, it might be. I figured until we can get him to Marina’s, the ocean could start its own version of healing.”

  “Or bacteria to cause infection?” Lesya said wryly.

  “It’s fine,” Viktor said through gritted teeth. “We did the same on The Black North. Don’t underestimate the ocean’s healing powers, even for humans.”

  “He’s right,” Rivka said softly. She tugged on Lesya’s hand. “Leave them to it. Let’s go do the spell.”

  Lesya sank to the sand and drew a circle with her pointer finger, then placed the stone inside. She glanced at Rivka. “Can you get my canteen out of my pack and fill it up with ocean water?”

  Rivka hurried to comply, digging through Lesya’s backpack for the green bottle. She waded into the waves and dunked the bottle beneath the surface, then returned to Lesya’s makeshift altar.

  She’d deepened the circle around the stone into a moat, which she filled with ocean water.

  “It’s just going to sink through the sand,” Rivka said, confused.

  Lesya smirked, setting the bottle aside. “Is it? Sit.”

  Crossing her ankles, the siren dropped down onto the wet sand, fascinated by the way the water had pooled in the circle and stayed there. “How did you do that?”

  “I’m bad at spells, but there are some things I’m okay with. Calling the nature spirits is one, but so is working with the elements. That always came natural. Holding water in sand is child’s play. Literally.”

  “I think you don’t give yourself enough credit.”

  Lesya smiled. “I think you give me too much credit.” She held her arms out over the stone, palms up. “Take my hands. Since we’re in this together, we need to be connected in order to locate the stone’s home.”

  “Got it.” Rivka gave a sage nod, as if she had any clue whether she needed to be connected or not. But she trusted Lesya.

  The mage began to hum a single note, eyes half-lidded.

  Rivka wasn’t sure if she needed to participate in this or not. She wasn’t the one performing magic. She dared not move for fear of messing up whatever spell Lesya was working on.

  Her humming stopped, and her hands gripped Rivka’s tighter. “I think…” Lesya paused, tilting her head to the side, staring off into a scene Rivka wasn’t a part of. “I think I’ve got it.”

  “Really?”

  Lesya’s head dipped ever so slightly. She visibly swallowed. “Yes.”

  “You’re scared.” It wasn’t a question, but a statement.

  “I am. I—”

  “What is it?” Rivka released Lesya’s hands and crawled around the circle to kneel next to her. “What did you see?”

  “I saw us both down in the water. I can’t tell you where the stone goes.” Lesya’s body began to tremble. “I have to guide you, show you where to go.”

  “How?” Rivka jumped up from the ground. “You can’t exactly breathe underwater.” She threw her hands up in the air. “How did this attainable task become an impossible mission? The letter said we only needed to find the stone and put it back in its rightful place. It didn’t say anything about one or both of us dying.”

  “I know, but isn’t the loss of one life worth the risk of saving the rest of the population on both land and sea?” Lesya’s words of wisdom weren’t exactly what Rivka wanted to hear.

  “You’re no good to the cause dead. How long can you hold your breath underwater?” She waved her hands around manically. “I’m pretty sure not long enough to guide me to where I need to go.”

  Lesya pushed Rivka’s arms down. She looked her square in the eye. “I’ll figure out a spell. We’ll figure out a way.”

  “Can’t we get some type of equipment?” Viktor asked.

  Rivka jumped at the sound of his voice. She hadn’t even noticed that the guys had joined them while Lesya was humming.

  “There was a crew in a port once that had scuba ge—”

  Lesya interrupted him. “Scuba gear hasn’t been available in our region for years. Plus, the stone is sick. If we wait any longer, trying to track down archaic scuba equipment, it may be too late. There’s no telling how long that letter was hidden in the hold of that ship.”

  “Andrei is a siren.” Rivka smiled sweetly at him. “He could come with us.”

  “No, he can’t,” Lesya said, dashing her hopes. “He has to get Viktor to Marina.”

  Viktor’s jaw jutted out petulantly. “I can take myself to Marina’s.”

  “You can barely walk from the pain,” Lesya pointed out. “You need Andrei to help you. Keeping you from gangrene is more important than us having one more back up.”

  Andrei touched Rivka’s face. “If it helps, depending on how far you have to go, you might stray into my old clan’s territory. I’m not welcome there.”

  “A story you’re going to have to tell me one day, by the way.”

  Andrei wrapped his arms around her and guided her head to rest on his chest. “I will. I’ll be here when you return. Not if, but when.”

  “There’s no guaran—”

  Andrei placed his finger against her lips. “There will be none of that talk.”

  When had things shifted between her and Andrei? When had she gone from hating him to sort of liking him? He’d wooed her with not only his go
od looks, but his good deeds. He’d been attentive, helpful, and had saved her life during the fall.

  In what world would a clan banish a siren like this? When she returned, she’d find out his whole story. Knowing she needed to figure out all of the pieces that made up this fine specimen of a man would give her the fuel she needed to survive this journey.

  Rivka squeezed Andrei one more time before she pulled away.

  Andrei gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “You’re not leaving me without this.”

  “Without what?”

  His lips caressed against hers. Softly at first, testing. When she didn’t pull away, he circled his arms around her, deepening the kiss. When he finally broke away, he was breathless.

  Rivka felt just as affected as him.

  “I know you don’t know me well, nor do you exactly trust me, but… come back to me.” His eyes shimmered with unshed tears. “Please.”

  Her throat tightened with emotion, and she didn’t trust herself to speak. She gave Andrei a single nod. She’d do everything in her power to come back to him. To see where this went. To find out what kind of man he could be. He’d proven himself to her, and she owed him that much.

  “Oh.” Andrei lifted his shirt and pulled his knife from the sheath at his hip. He flipped the knife to pass it to her handle-first. “Here, take my knife to help defend yourself.” He held up his other hand when Rivka tried to protest. “I overheard Lesya talking about how yours was taken. You can even have my belt and sheath.”

  He unbuckled the belt and slipped it around her naked waist. He used the knife to puncture another hole so he could tighten it enough around her slim form. He then slid the knife back into its holder. “There.”

  “Thank you.” Rivka forced a smile, not feeling happy in the least, and then turned to walk toward the ocean.

  She glanced at Lesya to see her and Viktor had their own goodbye. Did Viktor ask Lesya to come back to him as well? Did he understand that Lesya’s chances were even more slim than Rivka’s?