Page 100 of Voice of the Ocean

The noise startled the singers, who did not hear her enter. With a swish of her beautiful hair, the young siren turned around to gaze upon the intruder, leaving the song to echo half finished. And Celeste’s gaze was met with the wide, stunned eyes of her sister, Sephone.

“What are you doing?” Sephone hissed. “You shouldn’t be here.”

Five cycles. It had been five cycles since she’d seen her. And now here of all places.

“Ishouldn’t be here?” Celeste said, voice echoing. “You’re supposed to be in Ayakashi flirting with some prince!”

“You need to leave.”

“Who is that?” Celeste asked, pointing toward the ancient siren. “Who are you?” But the siren acted as though she didn’t hear her, as if her mind was elsewhere.

“Why—why do you havelegs?” Sephone said, a look of disgust plain on her face.

Celeste shifted from foot to foot, suddenly self-conscious. “It’s a long story.”

“How did you even get here withthose?” Her sister gestured to Celeste’s legs, wet pantaloons clinging to them.

“I—rode here,” Celeste said, adding, “on a Hippokamp.”

“Youwhat?”

“We do not have much longer, Princess,” the ancient siren said, pulling at Sephone’s hands. “We must continue.”

“Celeste, you must leave. I will explain later.” Sephone’s voice sounded so much like their mother that Celeste flinched. This wasn’t the sister she remembered. The gentle one who listened when no one else would.

“I’m not leaving. Not without the Voice of the Ocean.”

Sephone froze. “Why are youreallyhere, little star?” she asked, voice soft.

Celeste sucked in a breath. “Humans are coming. King Leonidas wants the Voice for himself. They will be here any second. We need to get the Voice and leave before?—”

“Humans?” Sephone’s once glowing face went pale. “It’s not possible.”

“We can’t leave before the ritual is complete,” the ancient siren said.

“They just want the Voice,” Celeste insisted. “If I can just leave with it, maybe?—”

Sephone’s eyes met Celeste’s, and the rest of her sentence died in her throat.

No... It can’t be...

“The Voice of the Ocean isn’t a thing, Celeste,” Sephone said. “It’s asiren. It’s me.”

“No...” Celeste breathed.

It felt as though the ground beneath her was crumbling.

“I wanted to tell you! But Mother thought it would be safer if we kept it secret. No one could know.” Sephone drew closer to Celeste at the edge of the pool. “She sent me away to train with Gala when they found out I was blessed with the Goddess’s gifts. To protect me. And for me to learn to protect our people.” She gestured toward the siren behind her. “Gala, our great-aunt, is the current Voice, but it’s time for me to accept my full powers. And the only way is to complete the ritual that passes the full power of the Voice of the Ocean to me. The same ritual the Goddess performed when she first gifted her powers to her daughter, Queen Isla.”

Queen Isla was the Voice of the Ocean? The founder of Staria? And this siren was their grandmother’s sister?Celeste’s head spun. Of course Sephone was blessed. Her magic was always extraordinary. And all this time... All this time Celeste thought she was hunting treasure. But it had been her sister all along.

And Celeste had led the humans straight to her.

Guilt twisted like a knife in her gut. “Wecan’tstay here.” Celeste’s voice quavered. “The humans are on their way. They’ll be here any moment.”

“There is no way for humans to find this island, Celeste,” Sephone said in that same reassuring tone she always used when Celeste was upset. “They wouldn’t even make it through the siren waters undetected. The Chorus?—”

“They did.” Celeste looked down at her hands. “Because I showed them how.”

---