Page 49 of Voice of the Ocean

The prince made to dash around Clarke, but the disgruntled captain brandished his sword like a madman. He sliced at Raiden’s head, causing the prince to jump backward into Celeste. The blade lodged into the thick wood of the doorframe. Clarke pulled at the sword, but it remained in place. The water climbed higher. It was up to their ankles now. Shouts echoed down from the decks. Their crew was leaving. They were trapped between their freedom and a ship that was rapidly filling with water.

“You have made a huge mistake,” spat Clarke. “You will regret this day.”

“I’m sure your parents felt the same way after conceiving you,” Raiden said.

Clarke lunged at Raiden, hands grasping for his neck. Raiden spun out of the way, grabbing Celeste as he moved to clear her from Clarke’s grip as well. They landed hard on the wall behind them, Raiden pressing her against it. The air flew from Celeste’s lungs, and she felt something fall from her into the water beneath them. The silver candleholder perhaps? She didn’t have time to fetch it.

Having expected to collide with them, Clarke went tumbling forward, landing face-first. Celeste’s eyes rose to meet Raiden’s, her heart pounding against his chest.

“Don’t you go falling for me too,” Raiden said.

I hope you drown, Celeste thought, pushing him off her with a huff.

Raiden smirked.

While Clarke floundered in the rising waters, the two raced through the door. The deck was empty. Even most of the bodies had slid off the angled deck and into the ocean.

The ship lurched, tilting starboard as it sank lower and lower. Celeste’s feet slipped from beneath her, and she went tumbling.

“Celeste!” Raiden clung to the railing of the quarterdeck and reached one arm out to her, but she was already too far away. Her hands scrambled and clawed against the floorboards to find purchase. There was nothing to break her fall, and her body crashed down the quarterdeck stairs. At last her hands caught the handle of a hatch, and her body jerked to a halt.

The ship’s masts creaked. Celeste looked up and saw Captain Clarke appear behind Raiden in the doorway of the captain’s quarters. He lifted a pistol.Her pistol.That’s whatfell when they collided with the wall. Celeste opened her mouth to scream a warning.

There was a deafening crack.

Raiden’s body flew sideways, landing on the floor with a terrible thud. Lifeless, he slid down the quarterdeck stairs, leaving a trail of blood in his wake. She cried out, reaching, but he slipped past, directly into the churning water.

Clarke turned the shaking pistol toward her, his free hand in a white-knuckle grip on the doorframe to remain standing. Before he could fire, Celeste let go, sliding down the deck and into the water after Raiden’s body.

Icy, frothing water enveloped her.Had the ocean always been this cold?The blue dress grew heavy, dragging her body down. Breath caught in her throat. She blinked and looked around the green waters. There was no sign of him. Her feet kicked, tangling in her skirts. Everything felt wrong. This human body didn’t work right in the water.

Her lungs burned. Her shoes fell from her feet. She was sinking. The heavy belt at her waist was like deadweight. Kicking as hard as she could, she managed to rise through the surface of the ocean. The wind whipped against her damp skin. She pushed her wet hair from her face and twisted around. Where was he? She wanted to scream. To cry out for him. She cursed herself for her stupid choice to hide her voice. But something in her wouldn’t use it. She was still afraid of what would happen. Could she sing? Try to lure him to her?She doubted it. He’d have to be conscious for it to work.He’d have to be alive, a small voice said. A voice that made her search grow more desperate.

He couldn’t be dead. She didn’t know enough yet.

She took in a gasp of air and plunged back under the water toward the sinking ship. And that’s when she saw him. He looked eerily green as he floated beneath her. His white shirt was now see-through. He wasn’t moving. Or at least that’s what it looked like at first. He looked almost blissful. But as she watched him, she realized she was wrong. Hewasmoving. As the ship behind him was swallowed by the ocean, Raiden was being dragged down along in its wake. She dove after him, kicking her feet as hard as she could manage. She may not have the body she was born with, a body built to cut through the water with ease, but she was still a siren.

Down she swam. When the bag of stolen items hit against her thigh, reminding her of its presence, she threw it off. Immediately the swim was easier, straighter. It would have been even easier if she removed her dress, but there wasn’t time. Celeste didn’t know how long most humans could survive underwater, but based on how her own lungs burned for air, she knew they were running out of time.

At last she reached him. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pulling him close. A trail of red floated behind his back.Blood. Celeste stiffened. The siren part of her could taste it in the water around them. Heart hammering, lungs screaming, she turned and kicked toward the surface, but his heavy body slowed their progress. The sinking ship’s pull was too strong. She wasn’t going to make it. If he wasn’t already dead, he would be soon.

Somewhere behind her something in the water moved.

A shark, its body nearly twice the length of Raiden’s, writhing back and forth. With teeth as long as a finger and soulless black eyes, it followed the scent of Raiden’s blood. Her arms clutched him tighter. With a newfound sense of urgency, Celeste kicked toward the surface. But it was no use. Although she was strong, she wasn’t going to be fast enough with this human body to reach the surface in time.

The beast opened its great jaw, only feet away.

Sing!her instincts shouted.Why don’t you sing!But she was too afraid.

Instead, Celeste kicked out, her heel colliding with the shark’s left eye. It recoiled, and she used the momentum to push them toward the surface. They were close. Perhaps five feet below.

The shark charged toward them once more. With all her strength, Celeste pushed Raiden above her. The shark opened its great jaws. She pulled her dagger from her hip, and with both hands, she plunged it through the roof of its mouth and into its head.

A sharp pain lanced through her left arm, above the elbow. Blood filled the water. She couldn’t tell what was hers and what was the shark’s. With a grunt, she pulled the dagger free. Agony burned up her arm, sending her reeling. She kicked the shark’s body away from her and swam to the surface, her head about to explode from the lack of oxygen. Sweet, salty air rushed into her lungs as she crashed through the water, sputtering. But all she could think about was Raiden. It took her two seconds to find him, floating belly-up in the water to her right. She swam to him and placed her hand on his neck, searching for a pulse.

It was there.

But they were both losing blood.

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