Page 20 of Of Song and Darkness

“Good luck with that.” Cael’s laughter rumbled in his chest as he left my side and helped the men ready the boats.

I shook my head and started toward my cabin to collect the little headache. I opened the door slowly without knocking, half expecting her to still be curled up in my bed. Instead, she was pacing back and forth in the room. She was dressed, her face clean, and her long red hair was tied in a braid, swaying back and forth as she paced.

“About time,” she sassed and threw her hands on her hips.

“You need to take the excitement down a couple of notches,” I warned as I walked up to her. As usual, she held her ground and stared up at me. “The people at this port will skin you alive if they find out you are a siren. You have to blend in.”

Rhea pressed her lips into a thin line, and I knew she was holding back a rebuttal, but she just nodded her head in understanding. With her newfound submission, I motioned for her to precede me. We stopped at the edge of the railing, and I watched her as she glanced down.

She hesitated, her gaze lingering on the boats below.

“Don’t just stand there.” I motioned toward the rope ladder that swayed on the side of the ship.

A sheen overtook her eyes, and I was sure she was thinking about her near-death tumble from the mast. Rhea looked at me, and I simply raised a questioning eyebrow at her. With a huff, she eased her body over the ledge and slowly descended the ladder. She wobbled as her feet hit the boat that bucked in the rough waves.

“Sit here, señorita,” Rat practically singsonged as he made room on the bench for her.

She glanced back at me, rewarding me with a smile that was just as deadly as it was sweet, and then she sat beside him. Rat smiled at her, raking his gaze admiringly over her face like a lovesick puppy. The sudden urge to pick Rat up by the nape of his neck and toss him overboard overtook me, but I ignored the feeling.

“Row,” I thundered, and the oars slipped into the water, setting the small boats into motion.

I was at the back of the boat with a good vantage point to observe the looming beach, but my eyes kept returning to the siren. She submerged her fingers in the water. The sheer pleasure that overtook her features when her hand dipped below the surface had me momentarily captivated. There was a rosiness to her cheeks that I had not noticed before and a twinkle in her honey-swirled eyes that was bewitching. Bloody sirens and their hypnosis. I shook my head and focused back on the beach.

Rhea sat up straighter and pulled her hand from the ocean when we were only a few feet from the beach. The boat scraped against the sandy shore, and the men piled out. Rhea stood up, wobbled, and nearly fell over the edge of the boat. Without thinking, I scooped her up in my arms, walked across the swaying boat, and placed her feet on the sand. With her body pressed so close to mine, her scent assaulted my senses, and I couldn’t help but inhale the fragrance of the salty sea mixed with a touch of exotic citrus.

Shock overtook her features as she looked up at me, confusion scrunching her brow.

“You were taking too long.” I provided an excuse and brushed past her without another word.

“Head to the merchant and get the supplies we need to mend the boat,” I boomed as I trudged through the sand.

The crew immediately grumbled their complaints.

“You heard the captain.” Cael sneered.

“You’ll have plenty of time to hit the taverns, but you will get my supplies before you drink yourselves into a stupor.”

Without any further protests, the men trekked off in the direction of the town. I started after them, only to be stopped by Cael’s voice. “Are you forgetting something…?”

I glanced back around and noticed that the siren had not moved from her spot on the beach. She was staring down at her bare feet, sloshing them in the damp sand. I withheld a curse that threatened to leak from my lips as I stomped back down the beach toward her. I opened my mouth with the intention of yelling at her.

“It’s so soft and warm,” she blurted, kicking my brain off track.

Delight shone on her facial features, making her brighter than the still-rising sun.

“You’ve never touched sand before?” I came up alongside her, entirely forfeiting the idea of scolding her for delaying me.

“Just what is on the ocean floor. This is different somehow. We’re not allowed anywhere near land. After my sister’s dea—” Her eyes rounded, and she quickly stepped out of the little sand hole she had dug with her bare feet.

She stood stark straight by my side as if waiting for me to move. It didn’t matter to me what she was trying to hide, but I’d be lying if I said my curiosity wasn’t piqued. I stomped back through the sand with her close on my heels as I followed my crew.

I gripped her upper arm and pulled her closer to my side when we ventured into the market area of the port. When I glanced in her direction, she took in the sights of the market through rounded, awe-filled eyes. It was a small market stationed on a single road with vendors on each side, nothing spectacular or even worth my time, but by the look on her face, it was the grandest bazaar ever seen.

“Fresh fish!” a grungy-looking man with holes in his shirt announced and threw the fish in front of Rhea’s face.

She instantly stopped, and her little nose twitched as she inhaled the fish. Without warning, she grabbed the fish from the merchant’s hands and ripped into its flesh with her teeth.

“What the…” The man with the salt and pepper hair sputtered as he reached for Rhea.

---