Page 25 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

“If you wanted a vomiting royal, you should have kidnapped Felix.”

“Clearly.”

Reva’s legs began to tremble from the strain, her lower back aching from the awkwardness of her position. “Do we have a deal, Rency?”

A swell knocked against the Andromeda, and she battled to maintain her precarious balance.

“Aye, aye! We have a deal!” he shouted close behind her. “Get your royal rump off that railing now!”

“Release them first.”

“Reva—”

Another shudder shook the boat. Reva’s feet slipped, and she only had enough time to gasp before she plummeted. Her head smacked against unyielding wood, and the blackness of oblivion ripped her away.

Reva woke to drowning.

Salt water flooded her throat, suffocating her, and she thrashed as panic overran her befuddled mind. Her entire world became nothing but fear and pain.

Nothing but cold and endless darkness.

Then arms wrapped around her waist, and she was moving upward through bone-cold water. Her head broke the surface, but a swell immediately sucked her back into the sea. The arm around her waist clung more tightly. She broke to the surface again and fought to make her lungs work.

Air. She needed air.

Now!

But the absence of air was all she knew, a void so expansive everything else shrank to a pinprick and vanished.

The faintest notes of music teased her ears as she soundlessly worked her mouth, trying to find the breaths that eluded her. Was it the song of the afterlife calling her name? Her chest burned as the discordant notes coalesced into a song as beautiful and deadly as the sea fighting to claim her soul for its own.

She sank beneath the waves once more.

Hands cupped her face on either side, and something pressed against her face, sealing her mouth. She jerked, the last shreds of her strength battling against the ocean creature trying to smother her.

The music grew louder and louder, terrible and enthralling—a killing song, a melody that could break hearts or topple kingdoms.

The thing pressed against her face moved gently, sending a flood of warmth into her lips, her mouth, her throat…

Her lungs tightened and expanded.

Relief exploded into every corner of her body. Life trickled through her veins as the air she so desperately needed somehow filled her lungs. How was she alive? She wasn’t breathing, her body still floating beneath angry waves, her limbs tangled with those of another. And yet she was breathing.

She suddenly became very aware of the arm around her waist, of the chest breathing with her—no, breathing for her.

Together, they moved with the sounds of the sea, rising and sinking with the music of the ocean. What sort of devilry was this?

What sort of…sea magic?

Jareth?

A thumb brushed against her jaw, the rest of his fingers tangled in her hair, clasping the back of her head to keep her close. His mouth moved against hers, gentle but persistent as the magic of his kiss kept her alive.

A siren kiss.

Horror mingled with wonder. She’d thought siren kisses spelled doom for sailors. And yet…she wasn’t dying. Life hummed through her veins, so strong she wondered if she’d ever truly known life before this moment. How was this possible?

Reva clutched the front of Jareth’s tunic, silently begging him not to let go, not to release her into this dark and terrible sea to die alone.

---