Page 24 of Siren's Gift

Laughing, she raised the cup in a toast before downing the entire contents. Every. Last. Drop. She shuddered slightly after swallowing but grinned as her friends cheered. A subtle green color flashed in her irises before disappearing.

Well, that went even easier than expected.

The jean jacket over her dress made it impossible to tell if it had worked, but a whale-sized weight lifted from my shoulders. Finally, she was free. Truly free to make her own choices. She would pass her massage therapist licensing test later this week, then celebrate all weekend long.

I watched my little sister mingle and laugh with her friends, all grown up and ready to take on the world. I was so freaking proud of her, and I hoped she would forgive me for leaving one day. I hoped she would understand why I did what I did. That I would give up anything, including my life, for her.

Tears welled in my eyes, and I could no longer hold them back. I turned and left the house on foot, heading for the bus depot. I bought a one-way ticket that would take me to Delaware, getting me close to the beach, and settled back against the seat, watching the city I’d fallen in love with pass by.

Our lives had been good—well, maybe just good enough—until recently. Then I’d met Dominic and everything in my world had changed. Not in a bad way, of course, but meeting him seemed to be the catalyst for everything else that followed.

Getting to know him, even for such a short time, was worth it. I regretted nothing except having to lie to him. I hoped he would forgive me one day, too. And Frankie, Finley, even Calvin. The list kept growing.

Tears streamed down my cheeks as I finally let myself cry.

CHAPTER 12

Bree

Back in Calypso’s lair, I stared at the witch in horror. My ribs seemed to fuse and constrict, gripping my heart in a vise.

Oh, goddess…

What had I done?

"That can’t possibly be part of the deal."

Calypso sat on her bone-white coral throne, her red lips curled up as if she was enjoying my reaction. Because she was. "It’s the most important part, child. And you’ve already agreed to it."

She was right. I’d signed the contract, but I had thought the statement, "Service provider will have full access and authority over recipient’s magic," meant the sea witch could order me to use my magic however she wished. I never would have agreed to give up my song completely, the very essence of who and what I was.

The witch wanted my magic as part of the deal to control me. She didn’t trust that I wouldn’t try to do to her what my father did.

"I’m not my father," I argued, clenching my fists by my side. "And you’re stronger now. Even if I wanted to try something like that, you’d overpower me easily."

The end of her long tail twitched against her throne in agitation. "It’s not up for debate, princess. The deal is done. Now sing."

There was no getting out of this—the consequences for backing out now would be fatal. I’d willingly signed my life away without fully understanding the terms. The thought of relinquishing my siren song filled me with such a profound sense of loss. There had to be another way, something I was missing.

Calypso extended the conch shell she gripped in her clawed hand toward me, demanding the vocal currency that would seal our pact. Tendrils of her dark green magic swirled around the shell, waiting to collect my magic.

Was I really about to do this?

Did I even have a choice?

As my inner voice tossed around arguments in my mind, I succumbed to the decision I’d already made. My heart was heavy with the bittersweet awareness that I had surrendered a piece of my soul to the sea witch’s enchantment. But in doing so, I had truly freed Marissa.

So, I did the only thing I could do—I opened my mouth and sang.

The magic twisting around the shell shot forward and wrapped around my throat like a noose. Instinctively, I reached up to defend myself, but my hands passed through the green swirls like they weren’t even there.

As I sang, they dove into my mouth and down my throat, reaching for my magic. I gasped at the feeling, which was unpleasant but didn’t cause me to gag.

"Keep singing!" the witch demanded, her eyes narrowed with excitement.

The invading tendrils wrapped around the core of my magic deep within me and tightened. If I’d thought heartbreak was painful, it was nothing compared to this. Every fiber of my being screamed out in agony and utterwrongnessas the tendrils tugged my magic free and retreated through my open mouth.

The moment they left my body, I sagged, too exhausted to continue singing. I hovered in the dark water, my once vibrant purple scales now dull and muted. An emptiness resonated within me as the realization settled in—I had given away more than just a piece of my soul.

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