Page 53 of Cursed By a Siren's Kiss

A large shadow fell over the deck, and I stopped dead in my tracks, my attention lifting skyward as I noticed a wave taller than any building I’d ever seen forming in the distance. The rain picked up in intensity, pounding into us all. My men bowed beneath the unrelenting force of it, but I stared ahead, my breath caught in my throat as I saw what appeared to be a face hidden within the massive wave. A face that seemed to be staring straight at Talia. Her hand still stretched outward, and it was as if her hand were the only thing holding it at bay, the only thing protecting it from sinking our ship within its cresting hold.

I raced forward, grabbing a coil of rope from the rails and tying one end around her waist. Fastening the other to my own middle, I held on tightly to the railing at her side. Whatever happened, we would face it together.

She lifted both hands then as I snaked an arm around her waist, providing her whatever support I could as I remained at her side. Rain and sweat dampened her brow as she held the force of the wave from coming any closer to the ship. I didn’t know how she was doing it, but I was grateful to have her on our side.

“What the hell is that?” I yelled over the wail of the storm that thundered around us. The wave was abnormal, and it didn’t behave as expected. The more she strained at the invisible force between us, the more space the wave gave us. Yet, I felt her body trembling within my hold, and I knew she was weakening.

“You think you can take from me? You think you are stronger than me? You are nothing!” A voice boomed from the sea, and I froze. It thundered as if it were part of the storm, shaking the very sea that we fought against, but it was obvious to us all that it was meant for Talia.

With her teeth bared, she growled. Her hands shook as she held back the force of the storm, her face reddening with the effort she wielded. “I am what you made me!”

A scream tore through her throat, and I felt it vibrate through my bones as I held her in place. She exploded with an unseen force that slammed into the wave, shattering it completely until it fell into the sea like a storm of raindrops. It created a momentum that hit my ship, shoving it over and propelling it away until it hit sand and reef. The ship fell over sideways, dispelling us all into the sea.

My battered men and I swam ashore, my body aching from being thrown against the railing of my ship as it hit the reef and became unbalanced. I cringed as bits of my ship floatedalongside us, and as I crawled ashore, heaving bits of sea from my shattered lungs, I glanced back at my toppled ship. From what I saw, very little damage had been done, the bits that had floated onto the beach were minor breaks. I was hopeful that we’d be able to make the repairs with minimal time and effort.

Something tugged at my waist, and I watched her emerge from the sea, her scales already fading from her form as she lifted herself to her feet. Her hair hung in wet rivulets down her shoulders, and her clothing clung to her curves as her legs trembled beneath her weight. I closed the distance between us, my arms wrapping around her middle before she could fall.

“What have I done?” she whispered, disbelief evident in her voice as she leaned into me.

The power she’d used on the ship was beyond my understanding. There were only three gods in known history who could accomplish such feats as she’d displayed, holding the massive wave that would have destroyed my ship at bay while simultaneously guiding my ship away from it. I couldn’t have seen what I’d seen, but from the sound of everything that had happened, it was as if this little siren had gone up against Poseidon… and won.

Her gaze was still wide as she stared back at the battered ship, and her terror spoke volumes as she flicked her attention around the crew who were collecting their battered forms along the sands of the shore.

“The ship will be fine,” I said to her, pulling strands of her hair that had become stuck to her cheek with dampness and placing them gently over her shoulder. “We can repair it easily enough. It will just take time. We’ve done it a time or two before.”

My fingers worked at the rope fastened around her waist, removing the ties that bound us physically together. Her armscrossed over her chest as worry creased her brow. “We don’t have time,” she said, her lip trembling with her words.

I stepped closer, dropping the ropes to the sand. “How did you do that?” I asked, trying to keep my voice soft, but even I heard the anger tinged within my words. I pulled her farther away from where my crew recovered. “You need to tell me who you are. I already know you’re royalty; it’s in your eyes.”

Fear blinked up at me as she sighed, saying, “You do need to know who I am. I’ve put you all at incredible danger. I knew that from the moment you captured me, but I didn’t care then. You’ve complicated things with this binding though…” She looked away from me, as if she couldn’t bear to look at me as she shared her truth. Her voice shook with her next words. “I’m his daughter.”

It was as if everything around us stilled. “Whose daughter?”

“Poseidon,” she replied, turning from me as she stared out at the sea, her arms wrapping around her middle as she took a few steps away from me. She’d always held an air of defiance to her, but now she seemed almost vulnerable.

The sun glistened off her wet black hair, turning parts of it almost an odd shade of blue, like the feathers of a raven. She stared out at the horizon, watching the sea as the silence stretched between us. I approached slowly, my boots sinking into the sand as I came to a stop next to her.

She didn’t turn, didn’t speak, she just stood with her eyes glued to the ocean and its now gentle waves. I walked around her with a deliberate slowness until we were face to face, blocking her view and forcing her to meet my gaze. Lifting my hand to her chin, I held her soft skin with a firm hold. “Tell me, siren,” I demanded with more force. “Why haven’t you told me of this sooner?”

Talia swatted my hand away, stepping back and putting distance between us as anger flared behind her eyes. “Oh, so now it’s siren,” she spat back.

“When you lie to me, yes?—”

“—I didn’t lie,” she interrupted.

I stepped toward her, refusing to let her distance herself from me. “You left out some important information. That’s the same thing.”

She scoffed, giving her eyes a slow, dramatic roll. “Do you honestly think that I would reveal my deepest secrets to a man who captured and bound me to him?”

“I would, if it meant life or death,” I countered, gesturing to my damaged ship behind me, and my crew still collecting lost cargo floating along the shore of this beach.

Talia stared at the men in the sand, gathering the resources before they were lost to the ocean. When she glanced back at me, her sharpened teeth snapped at the air between us, her anger palpable in the air around us. “No one died!” She pressed her fingers over her chest, her breath heaving from her as she glared at me.

I couldn’t deny her words. Despite being scared for my crew, I knew she was nothing short of miraculous. She had proven that much repeatedly. The power that she had summoned was unimaginable. She was more than just a demigod of Poseidon’s creation.

“Who is your mother?” I asked, trying to catch my breath as the pieces tried to fit together. She refused to look at me though. “Talia,” I said quietly, “you can tell me. I was right in my guess before, wasn’t I? The original siren queen was your mother.”

When she answered, it was with a whisper that was barely audible. “Yes.”

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