Page 107 of Voice of the Ocean

“No.” The witch’s voice turned melodic, sinister. “The human did not kill the fourth daughter. They fell in love. Hid themselves upon this island. A place where water and land met. She stole from her sisters to be with him forever in the human lands. Gave up her siren form. Betrayed her mother. HerGoddess.”

Celeste felt sick. “You’re lying.” But in her heart, she knew this was no lie. “This war between sirens and humans—it started when he murdered the daughter of the Goddess. That’s the foundation of everything we believe. If she didn’t die by his hand, then... But the Goddess gave us the Song to protect us from humans, because of what he did to her.”

“Did she?”

If the youngest daughter wasn’t murdered; if she fell in love and was loved in return; if she betrayed her sisters, her mother, to be with him, then why did the Goddess give them the Song? If it wasn’t to protect them from humans, then what was it for?

It hit her all at once.Revenge.Revenge for what the Sun Prince stole from her. Everything Celeste believed swirled, twisting into a new form. What was the truth? She couldn’t tell anymore. She didn’t know who to trust or what to believe.

“And it looks like the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, as the humans say.” Nerissa’s eyes lingered on Celeste’s bare legs. “I’m not one to believe in reincarnation, but the mind reels.”

Reincarnation? The Sun Prince. Raiden? But that would make...

“You said, ‘With the unification of the power of God and Goddess, the king will be immortal.’ King Leonidas—he’s not just any human; he’s the heir of the Sun God, isn’t he?”

The Sea Witch laughed. “Very good. Got there all on your own, did you?”

The darkness around them wavered. Celeste tried to maintain focus, to force herself to hold it there. But she did not know how. The light radiating from her body dimmed. The darkness shuddered, then fell away.

“I’m afraid our story time is at an end,” Nerissa said, inky-black eyes sliding to behind Celeste. “Take our Voice to the king. The rest of you... kill the sister.”

Celeste spun to find the remaining men moving toward her and Sephone, leaving behind the battered bodies of her crew, motionless and scattered across the blood-smeared floor. Trident raised, she leaped into their path.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” the Sea Witch said. “I’d like to call in my favor.”

Celeste’s hands slipped on the trident’s neck. A sudden heat bloomed from the crescent moon on her arm. It coiled around her, moving upward and out until the feeling encircled her body in a viselike grip.

“Don’t fight,” Nerissa said simply.

“No!” Celeste cried.

But it was done. Her knees buckled beneath her as the promise pulled her down, forcing her into submission. The trident fell from her hands, clattering to the floor.

“No, please!” One man continued past, and there was nothing she could do to stop him as he pulled Sephone’s limp body into his arms. The other four surrounded Celeste.

She looked up and found Raiden still there. His dark eyes met hers, and she saw anger—a burning hatred she could not understand. He pulled his pistol from his hip.

“No one is going anywhere,” he growled. “And if any of you touch her,I’ll kill you.”

CHAPTERFORTY-ONE

The men hesitated, unsure which orders to follow: the prince or the Sea Witch. Celeste writhed beneath the spell’s grasp, trying everything she could think of to move through it. But there was nothing she could do. And she could not allow herself to hope. Just because she couldn’t see the game Raiden was playing, didn’t mean there wasn’t one.

Nerissa raised a perfectly arched brow. But as she opened her mouth to speak, the room erupted in Song. Nine voices rose in harmony, almost shrieking. Celeste’s heart seized in her chest. It was the familiar voices of the Chorus of Staria. They were not singing the Song of longing, a gentle caress to beckon sailors to their watery graves. This was a Song of war. They emerged from the streams that wove through the temple, nightmares made real.

One by one, the humans submitted, their weapons clanking against the floor as they walked trancelike to the beckoning sirens.

Celeste waited for the magic to fall upon her, for the moment she, too, would be swept up into the song. But it did not come.Are they not singing to me? Or is the power within me forming a sort of shield?She looked at Raiden and found that he was unaffected.Just as he always has been. She should have known. Should have seen it. Celeste wondered what other gifts the Sun God gave his heirs.

Raiden looked up, meeting her gaze. He shouted something, fear plain on his face, but she couldn’t hear him over the Song. Then he pointed.

The crew. They were moving. Getting up. The image was sickening, as though their limp bodies were pulled by invisible ropes. Their heads rolled on their shoulders, and their bodies swayed from side to side. Nasir took lumbering steps, while Torben shuffled behind. To their left, Bastian stumbled to the floor but picked himself back up. He took a few clumsy steps, before toppling back down. Kiyami was the worst of all. It was as though her injury made it impossible to stand. So instead she crawled, arm over arm, dragging herself toward the water’s edge, a smear of blood trailing behind her. Her face was white as death. Eyes sightless.

Raiden holstered his sword and ran to Nasir, who was nearest to the water. He threw his shoulder into the cook’s large stomach and shoved. But Nasir continued unencumbered. Raiden’s feet slid on the temple floor as the large man pushed him toward Analora. Her familiar light purple hair flat against her cheeks, she didn’t look like a nervous initiate anymore. She must have been made a full member. They all were. Which meant?—

Celeste searched each siren’s face until she found her.Maeve. The cecaelia bobbed in the stream, just behind where Celeste was pinned to the floor. Maeve’s eyebrows pulled low over her eyes, lips tight as she sang. Relief broke like a wave upon Celeste.She’s alive. She made it home.And Kiyami was crawling straight toward her.

A sickening splash sounded. A second not far behind.

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