Page 57 of Cursed By a Siren's Kiss

Scylla’s roar thundered around us, the cave floor vibrating beneath our feet from the sheer force of it. “Who are you, boy, to school me on revenge?” Her voice sounded like stone grating on stone, as if it hadn’t been used in a very long time. I doubted many had visited her with the intention of holding a conversation. Everyone I knew avoided her completely.

“How long have you been like this?” I asked. The story changed depending on who told it, and while many knew why she’d been cursed and how, the when always differed. My fingers pressed against my shoulder, coming away with crimson fingertips. “Let us help you. You tasted my blood; you should know that I can help.”

She frowned, turning toward the snake head that had tasted my blood. A silent exchange seemed to take place, as if they were separate creatures having an inner discussion. Her dark eyes snapped back to me as she stalked forward.

“You can’t help me,” she said, growling as she slammed her tentacle into me. Another wrapped around my throat, lifting my body from the ground by my neck. “You are just as cursed as I am.”

Kipp rushed forward, unsheathing his sword as he stood defensively between Scylla’s massive body and where I foughtfor breath in the air behind him. “Let her go! I don’t want to hurt you!”

A sinister laugh fell from her, but she didn’t even bother looking at him as her gaze fastened onto mine, her tentacles tightening around my throat while she’d bound my hands to my hip with another tentacle’s hold. I couldn’t use my powers bound as I was, and I couldn’t pull in breath within her grip.

“How does it feel to be helpless?” she hissed, inspecting me as the beasts that were part of her continued to snap at me. All heads watched me, a deadly intent flickering within each of their gazes.

I used the last of my breath to gasp out, “We are going to Circe.” I felt my skin vibrate as I struggled to remain conscious. “We will find a way to help you.”

She shook her head. “But you can’t promise me. None of you came. None of you cared. You all left me like…” Her voice broke, and she looked away as emotion hung heavy around us both. “…like this.”

None of us could have done anything to help her, but she hadn’t known that. In all the years since she’d been cursed, no one had told her the truth of her curse. That only Glaucus could save her, her one true love. To break the curse, he’d need to love her as she was now, and I would need to break her heart to let her know.

“We…” I tried to spit out, but my voice failed me. My head began to loll, the loss of breath too great as my vision began to fade. Then she adjusted her grip, and I pulled in air like knives into my empty lungs. Tears streamed from the corners of my eyes as I breathed deep. “We couldn’t?—”

“—No!” she screamed, interrupting me with a roar as she shook me. “You wouldn’t!”

The ground rushed up at me as she slammed me into the stone, my head smacking into the hard rock with a resoundingthud that shook my brain. A sharp throbbing tore through my head, but I gritted my teeth against the call of unconsciousness as I watched Kipp fall to his knees as his hand pressed against his head. I clenched my fingers into fists, my claws puncturing into my palms as I held my power back. If I unleashed myself now, I would kill her, and then we’d be no closer to finding Circe and breaking the curses.

I lifted myself to my knees, sitting back on my haunches as I stared up at her. “The only way to break your curse is to bring you Glaucus. It is his love for you in this form,” I said, my hand gesturing to her where she towered above me. “…that will break your curse.”

Kipp lifted himself to his feet. “Let her go,” he said, walking closer to us both. “Or I’ll make sure you never get the chance to try.” He raised his blade again, aiming for her throat.

His threat went unheeded as she roared, the sound ear-piercing as the pebbles on the ground shook from the sound. A tentacle wrapped around my left leg, and she spun, whipping my body in a circle until I slammed into Kipp. The force of my body hitting his sent us flying into the wall at our backs. His sword fell from his grip as we tumbled through the air, landing several feet away.

Scylla’s grip reached for Kipp, but I moved quicker, intercepting her as I shoved at her tentacle with my open palms. “If you hurt him, you will take from me what Circe took from you!” I shouted, standing between her and Kipp. “You know who I belong to.”

“Daughter of the one true siren queen,” she said, a wicked grin lifting the corner of her lips as she spoke. “Nothing will be taken from you if you’re both in the underworld.”

She moved to crush me beneath her thick tentacle, but I said, “But then you will not be long for this world, and you willnever reunite with Glaucus again.” I stared at her, willing her to understand what we offered her.

She pulled back, halting her assault on us. “Why did he not come?” she asked. Her need for answers overpowered her wrathful desire if only for a moment.

I knew our fates depended on my answer. “I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I will help you if you can help us. I swear by Horkos, the god of oaths and promises.”

Slicing my palm with a claw, I held it out to her as my blood dripped to the stones at our feet. “I swear by Horkos.” A sizzling feeling began on my inner wrist, where the blood dripped as I turned it over, seeing the tattoo form along my skin. The symbol of Horkos taking shape in dark ink. A scythe and a sword crossed equally along my wrist.

If I broke my promise now, I would die. Horkos would claim me.

Scylla’s tentacles and snakes writhed endlessly around her hideous form, and I braced myself for another attack. Her curiosity, however, seemed to get the best of her as she broke the tense silence with a question. “What information are you seeking?”

“I need to know how to find Circe,” I replied, watching her closely.

“I’m bound to this place, what makes you think I know where she is now?”

“You knew it once. You once lived there. I know that her island moves. We just need to know how to get to it.” I moved closer, slowly, cautiously.

Kipp moved to stand in front of me, but I held my hand up to him, stilling him.

Scylla’s gaze flickered between us. He sees the monster in you? she asked, using the mind link of the sea.

I nodded.

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