Tangled Tides (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (14 page)

"Otabia, you have a new hairstyle. It suits you."

She licked her lips with typical siren thirst. "You killed recently. I can smell it on you. Who did you kill, Treygan? You reek of it, and it's driving me insane with passion."

"Sharks. Not exciting in the least." I wanted to ask about Yara, but I had to wait. Angering a siren is never a good idea, so I let her continue leading the conversation. Asking a siren about another woman never ended well.

"Sharks. Bleh." She stuck her dark tongue out and waved her hands between our faces. "You are here to see Nixie?"

This was why Otabia was easy to deal with. She never took long to get down to business. She was the oldest of the sisters, therefore she didn't get quite as consumed by lust. She flirted, and we both knew what she wanted, but she could multi-task.

"I saw Nixie swimming where the sharks attacked. She wasn't harmed was she?" Yara was my concern, but I had to give the impression that a siren's wellbeing took first priority.

"Nixie is fine. Come." She wrapped her arms around my waist. "We've been expecting you." We soared upward into the nest.

Otabia sat me down at the edge of their sunken living room. Burning torches embedded in the tree branches throughout the room created an almost romantic glow. Sirens have an affinity with fire, so the mild flames meant the sisters were calm—for the moment.

The smell of beer, lust and blood hovered in the air. I could only imagine the things that took place in their nest on a regular basis.

A human man was curled up in the fetal position, trembling in a dim corner. Black feathers lingered in his hair. One clung to his forehead above his bulging, terrified eyes. Otabia's latest catch. If sirens don't kill their victims, they remove the memory of their encounter before returning them. That extraction of the last hours from a human's soul was like dessert after the meal for a siren. Otabia hadn't had dessert yet, and the man watched all of us like we were a scene from a horror movie.

Mariza and Nixie lay in a heap of velvet blankets and pillows covering the floor. Yara was passed out between them. Nixie stopped licking Yara's shoulder when I arrived, but Mariza continued sucking at the wound, trying to extract every possible drop of blood. Nixie might be younger, but she had more control than her older sister. Mariza never knew when to stop.

I wanted to jump in and snatch Yara away from them, but that would cause a scene and make Mariza want her even more. It might make all of them thirst for her. Sirens want what they can't have, and they love a good fight.

"Riza, the girl is dry and unconscious. Stop looking desperate in front of our company," Otabia ordered.

Mariza lifted her chocolate-colored lips and grinned. "Welcome, Trey-Trey." Her brown eyes glazed over when she looked at Yara again. "Just a little more. She tastes divine."

Nixie shoved Mariza backward into a pile of pillows. "You're a lush! You finished off three islanders during the hurricane. All by yourself! Leave some for the rest of us."

Stray brown feathers floated through the air as Mariza crawled toward me. She flipped onto her back, letting her wavy hair spread over my feet. "How could I resist?" she moaned. "Those men were flaunting their songs in my face. Swaying to and fro, acting like morons while liquor flooded their veins. One deep-rooted fear after another poured out of them, begging to be consumed."

"You killed them, Riza," Otabia scolded. "Sucked the life out of them. You have no self-control."

When I was a child my grandmother used to say, "B for brunette and baneful. Stay away from the brunette." The man in the corner cried as he watched Mariza—the most dangerous of the sisters—rub her cheek along the top of my foot.

"Part of me knew I should stop, but I couldn't," Mariza elaborated. "They were so delicious. Such horror in their souls. You wouldn't believe the heinous things they had done in their short lives, some of the crimes they performed as a team. I've never tasted anything so dark and rich, blending together so sinfully. I should have drained them slower. Drawn it out."

"Get off of Treygan," Nixie demanded.

The jealousy in Nixie's voice caused Mariza's eyes to light up. The torches around the room burned brighter in response. Mariza threw her arms behind my knees and I fell to the floor in front of her.

"Trey-Trey, you should repay my red-headed twit of a sister for rescuing that bland creature over there. Let Nixie have her way with you. I promise you will enjoy it."

Pulling away from the grasp of a siren is next to impossible, so I chose a different tactic. Smoothing Mariza's hair from her face, I sweetly replied, "We both know how dangerous it would be if Nixie got involved with me."

Mariza flew backward, tousling her hair. "Pathetic excuse, merman! You never live! Don't you want to devour someone?" Her wings burst to her sides, creating shadows that stretched to the edges of the room. The human pressed himself against the wall, crying louder. Mariza twitched furiously—a sure sign of over-excitement. "Take him, Nixie! Otabia and I will hold him down."

Nixie leapt through the air. Her wings rustled as she crouched in front of me, facing her sister. "Flighty fool! He could kill us all."

"He cannot!" Mariza shrieked, charging at Nixie to get to me.

Nixie's wings flew open, wrapping back and around me protectively. She pushed Mariza away. "He can! Have you forgotten petrification works on anyone in this realm? We may be immune to his blood, but his gaze could still turn us to stone! When he spirals into uncontrolled rapture, will it be worth it? Would you enjoy becoming a statue for the rest of eternity?"

Her words stung. I couldn't forget or change what I was, but hearing it spoken out loud never ceased to bring back the shame.

"He is adamant about not using his gorgon sight," Mariza hissed. "He will control himself."

Otabia shrieked from behind me, outside the cocoon of Nixie's wings. "He used his power minutes ago to kill numerous sharks. Petrified at least five, from what I tasted. His soul is battling itself. Part of him would love to continue the killing streak."

"Now do you wish to seduce him?" Nixie clicked her tongue several times. Her wings resumed their natural position. The torches returned to a slow, steady burn.

Otabia's nails dug into my neck as she whispered in my ear. "Take the mermaid and leave our nest. I do not like to see my sisters argue. And while you appear to be in control, I don't trust you."

Without hesitation, I stepped around Nixie and gathered Yara in my arms. Her eyelids fluttered briefly. The wound didn't look as bad as I imagined. The Violets would be able to heal her. Koraline, on the other hand—

I pushed the worry from my mind. Otabia placed her hands under my arms and carried me and Yara out the window. As we flew away from the nest, Mariza's siren song echoed through the night sky, followed by the man's terror-stricken screaming. It sent a chill through me, and I held Yara tighter against me. Her warmth could have melted the iciest of souls.

E
ven after we splashed into the ocean and Treygan started swimming, I waited to open my eyes in case Otabia watched from the sky. Nixie must have been able to see through the water when she dove in to rescue me, so her sister might have that ability too.

Being carried like I was a helpless baby should have pissed me off. Instead, I was all too aware of how strong Treygan's arms were. He kept a firm grip on me as his body arched up and down, over and over, propelling us forward. My skin tingled every time it rubbed up against his. It had to be a mer thing.

After opening my eyes, I reached up and touched his shoulder.

You're safe,
he assured me.
You were attacked by sharks, but we're on our way to get you healed.

First things first.
Where's Koraline? Is she okay?

She's with the Violets. She was severely injured.

No! She was fighting. She—
I felt sick. I recalled the look in Koraline's eyes after I yelled out to her. The next thing I knew I was swinging into a dark sky.

The red siren—Nixie—she said Koraline would be okay. I begged her to go back and get her, but she promised she'd be fine.

A siren's word means nothing. Wait, you spoke to Nixie?

She saved me from the sharks. She told me where she was taking me. She said I had to act unconscious. No matter what I heard, I had to keep my eyes closed and try not to feel scared. She seemed nice, in a bizarre sort of way.

His nostrils flared.
Did you think she was nice when she sucked blood from your wounds?

She warned me about that before she took me to the tree house. She wanted her sisters to think I was passed out. She said to focus on the pain of my wounds and try to ignore anything else, which wasn't hard. My shoulder feels like it's been run through a meat grinder.

I didn't know which was more disturbing, two bird-women licking and sucking at my shoulder, or the awful, animal-like sounds of that man. The tree house—or nest, or whatever—was a house of horrors.

She shouldn't have taken you there,
Treygan said.
It wasn't safe. Don't trust the sirens. Don't trust anyone except other merfolk.

Not even gorgons?

His bicep flexed against my skin, but his face remained unchanged.
Especially gorgons.

But you're part gorgon, right?

His eyes bolted away from mine and he focused straight ahead. Underwater communication had its flaws. No eye contact, no more conversation.

I tried wiggling out of his arms, but pain shot through my shoulder. Dull and achy pain, but it still packed a wallop. Treygan didn't let go of me. If anything, he held on tighter. Deep down I was happy to stop resisting. Everything felt like it hit me at once: the confusion of this new life, Rownan's lies, the fear and adrenaline of the shark attack, the disturbing experience with the sirens, the shock of hearing Treygan could turn things—and people—to stone.

What else was he capable of? If he was part gorgon, then he had just warned me to never trust him. But he was definitely part merman, and mermen can't lie, so could I trust Treygan or not?

He looked down at me again.
May I ask you something?

Sure.

Are you in love with Rownan?

I had already asked myself the same question.
No. He lied to me. How could I be in love with him if I can't trust him? I'm not sure I even know what being in love means, but I'm pretty sure trust is a big part of it.

Treygan squinted.
I wasn't born with the romance gene, but I'm certain you're right about the trust part.

Our speed increased, and I was too tired to keep holding my head up against the constant current. Reluctantly, I rested my head against Treygan's chest and closed my eyes, trying to ignore the fact that he felt so comfortable.

B
reaking through the surface, I saw the tall bordering cliffs of Solis. Treygan released me and I floated to his side. His foot brushed up against my tail. His foot?

"What the—?" I tried to see through the water, but the hallmarks on his chest were the last visible part of him. "Do you have legs right now?"

"Yes," he said nonchalantly.

"How is that possible?"

"Unlike the folklore, we
do
control if we have legs or a tail."

"No. I tried at Koraline's house to keep my tail outside of the water, but it changed instantly."

"You haven't mastered your abilities yet. It will come in time."

"Seriously?" I'd have no problem going back to Eden's Hammock and living a human life. I could even swim with legs.

"I told you. We're amazing creatures. Would you like assistance out of the water?"

"Um." I looked up at the towering rocks above us. No way would I be able to climb them. My shoulder throbbed just thinking about it. "I think I will
need
assistance. That doesn't look like an easy route."

"My pleasure."

He grasped my uninjured arm. With a swooping motion of his free hand, the water beneath us rose up and carried us into the air. The churning wave sounded like a hundred ice cube trays cracking as it hardened, forming a translucent bridge that stretched out in front of us, connecting to land.