Page 1 of A Storm in Every Heart
ODESSA
I’m barely aware of my body changing as I dive beneath the frothing waves.
The cold water embraces me, and I almost don’t notice the scales coating my legs and torso or the webbing stretching between my elongating fingers. My body knows this is where I belong in a way that my racing mind cannot, will not, comprehend.
Not now, while my only focus is finding the prince.
He’s here somewhere. He must be.
The water is like a dark abyss, and I turn my head back and forth, blinking against the salt.
Finally, out of the corner of my eye, I glimpse a flash of a tattooed forearm and the sleeve of a black shirt. My heart races as I kick my tail, propelling down, down, down, deep into the dark.
Along the sandy ocean floor, the unconscious prince floats just above the sand.
Kastian’s body has gone limp. His dark curly hair is a weightless halo. His eyes are closed, and bubbles escape from his parted lips. A heavy iron chain, weighted at the end, clamps around his ankle.
A spark of panicked rage shoots through me as I grip the chain in both hands, pulling with all my strength. The iron links snap as easily as twine, and I drop them onto the sand. My heart races with hope as I wrap my webbed fingers around Kastian’s arms and pull him toward the surface.
Again, something moves on the edge of my vision, but this time a creeping dread crawls up my spine.
I turn, and out of the swirling water, three ethereal figures emerge. Their forms shimmer with an eerie glow, reflecting phantom light. I recoil, and the hope in my chest stutters and dies.
Mesmerizing and terrifying all at once, the sirens have the torsos of women and the bottom half of ocean predators.“Monsters.”I’ve heard them called.“Demons. A curse upon men.”
Each of their faces is angular with enormous pupil-less eyes and tight, and greenish skin pulled tight over their skulls with no flesh between skin and bone. Their hair flows like ropes of swaying seaweed, and rows of needle-like teeth fill their wide mouths.
The two in the back have sleek and powerful fish tails, while the leader’s hip bones end above a mass of writhing black tentacles. On her head, she wears a familiar crown of coral and pearls atop her green hair.
A whirlwind of fear and fascination churns within me, but I pull my gaze from the sirens in time to watch the last of the air bubbles rise from Kastian’s lips.
I open my mouth to shout that I do not have time for this. We must return to the surface! But no words escape me. The water distorts my voice into a chilling blend of melody and anguish, echoing like a song entwined with a scream.
The tentacled queen stiffens at the sound of my voice rippling through the water. She raises a hand to her companions, and they fall back, swimming in wide circles around us like sharks stalking prey.
The queen glides through the water with effortless grace, her undulating tentacles propelling her closer. Her mesmerizing eyes lock onto me with unsettling intensity. Her lips don’t move, but her ghostly voice whispers in the back of my mind:What’s this? Another man lost to the siren’s lure. Unfortunate…and tragically predictable.
I shake my head.No, that’s not what this is. I’ve already seen that happen once. I won’t let it happen again.
The queen drifts closer, and her voice in my mind answers as if she can hear my thoughts. She sounds almost amused.You won’t have a choice. You won’t reach the surface in time, and even if you did, your prince is dead anyway.
As much as it kills me, she’s right. The sirens will never let us leave. Even if they do, we’ve been in the water far too long. It’s too late.
I can’t keep my thoughts from leaking out for the siren to hear.Please help me.
The siren’s expression does not change. She doesn’t blink, or even open her mouth, but somehow, I know she’s laughing at me.Help you? What would you give me in exchange?
Anything.
ODESSA, AGE 8
“Do you know what she looks like?” I ask, my eyes scanning the crowded harbor.
Mercer, my father’s steadfast first mate, shakes his head. “No.”
“Then why bother looking?”
Mercer’s mouth twitches beneath his beard. “Because there’s nothing else to do while we wait, little miss.”
