Page 66 of A Storm in Every Heart
“In the sea, sirens are predatory pack animals. They live and hunt in large groups, and communicate telepathically. Their thoughts are constantly connected to one another in a hive mind, where the only decision maker is the leader—usually called the queen. All sirens have higher intelligence and the capacity for independent thought, but they don’t use it. The queen is the only one who thinks and behaves similarly to the Fae.”
The hair on the back of my neck stands up, but I shake it off. “I don’t know what this has to do with Odessa.”
“All sirens have the ability to compel Fae to do anything they want, but they rarely use it for reasons other than breeding. A siren who was raised on land, however, would become a sort of queen in her own right because she wouldn’t be connected to the hive mind of other sirens. She could use her powers of compulsion for anything she wished.”
“You must be mistaken.”
He puts both palms flat on his desk. “I wish I were. All but the oldest of our kind have forgotten that for generations Fae tried to breed landlocked sirens intentionally to take advantage of their unique powers. Every kingdom in Ellender wanted one because a queen with the power to bewitch her subjects would be unstoppable.”
A shiver travels over my spine. A ruler with complete and total control over their kingdom. I can actually see exactly how that would be appealing, but more importantly, I can see how it would be a crime against nature. Rulers shouldn’t have total control or else they become dictators.
My mind is reeling, but I force my face and voice to remain stoic. “You’re not old enough to remember that.”
He laughs. “No, but I’m well educated and I’ve read about how the attempts to breed sirens was abandoned and even outlawed in some places.”
“Why?” I ask, in spite of myself.
“Because they’re nearly impossible to control, and their persuasive abilities made them dangerous to the very rulers who sought to use them. Your friend is exceedingly rare, and also quite young. I doubt she or her lesser noble family know exactly what she’s capable of.”
A sudden, sharp burn sears through my chest, like a bolt of lightning striking from within. My heart races, pounding against my ribcage, and an overpowering protective instinct surges through me.
“This is all very interesting,” I say, forcing my tone to remain neutral, “but I really think you must be imagining things. I don’t think that girl is a siren queen, or whatever you want to call her. Even if she was, I barely spoke to her. I doubt I’ll see her again.”
He raises his eyebrows at me, then sighs, looking resigned. “Fine. I hope you’re right, because it wouldn’t be good for a prince of Hydratta to be bewitched by a siren. Your future is too important for that.”
I turn on my heel and walk out of the office. “Don’t worry, Magnus, I’m well aware of what my future holds.”
ODESSA, PRESENT
Iwake up to the familiar feeling of the ground rocking beneath my feet and immediately know I’m on a ship.
I slowly push myself upright, wincing as I press a trembling hand to my pounding head. The world around me is a blur of shadow, the kind of darkness that swallows everything whole. I squint, but the inky blackness offers no hint of where I am. A chilling dread crashes over me, sending my rational mind into a frenzied spiral.
For years I’ve longed to return to the ocean; I just never envisioned it quite like this.
“Stop it,” I command myself. “There’s no point being afraid. Do something.”
The words sound brave, but in reality do very little to calm my racing heart or drown out the throbbing in my head.
I take a few deep breaths, then force myself to stand up.
I know I’m in a cell, made from iron bars so old that I can smell the rust even over every other putrid stench; piss, mold, and something acrid that might have once been food or perhaps a dead rat left too long to rot.
I crawl across the disgusting ground, feeling along the walls with my hands. It’s laughably tiny: a cube barely big enough for me to lie down—not that I would ever want to lie down on the slick floorboards.
I find the door to the cell and feel along it until I reach the lock. I’m unsurprised to discover that no amount of shaking will open the door, and I can’t even think about picking the lock in this darkness. My shoulders slump in defeat.
I’ll have to wait for someone to come down here to check on me. They’ll have to, unless they’re planning to starve me, which isn’t a possibility that I want to dwell on. If Captain Connell wanted to kill me, he could have done it on the train…right?
I fumble in the dark for the edge of my long skirt and tear it off at the knees, laying the fabric down on the ground to put a barrier between me and the filthy floor, and sit down to wait.
This is undoubtedly and by far the worst thing that has ever happened to me. Yet, none of it feels real, which I think must be a sign that I’m in shock—or that the blow to my head rattled my brain.
I try to force my sluggish mind to focus despite my splitting headache.
Captain James Connell…I know I’ve heard that name before, but where? I might think it was years ago aboardThe Adella, but that was far longer ago than any human lifespan.
Then again, the captain might look human but undoubtedly is not.
