Page 37 of Blood of the Sirens
I jerked up at a war-cry from Jesse, but I needn’t have worried. Jesse kicked Orion’s human crotch, which we were warned as guppies was a terribly sensitive place to take a blow.
She missed.
Orion pinned her arms behind her back, bending her over the railing of the boat and grinding up against her backside. Her foot bent in toward her chest and she kicked.
I turned and swept my leg to take down another mer who charged me, eyes full of fury. I didn’t have time for this! I had to get to Jesse!
Orion grabbed her neck and turned her head, slapping her hard. I gave a battle cry and roared, but the other mers kept rushing me. I couldn’t help her and it was driving me insane. Dazed, she didn’t stop fighting. Somewhere next to us, the human Mike joined the fray along with the smaller male.
Jesse cocked her foot back and tried a third time. This time her blow hit home, and Orion screeched like a dying dolphin, clutching his crotch area with one hand, and shoving her in reflex with the other.
I could only watch in horror as the force of the blow carried her upper body over the railing. Feral strength raced through me as I screamed, knocking the other mers away in my haste to reach her.
Jesse crashed into the ocean, slipping quietly down into its depths without even a scream. I bellowed with rage and grabbed Orion with my bare hands, and threw him down to the deck so hard something snapped. I didn’t care. He’d heal.
The only thing that mattered was Jesse.
Bleeding heavily.
Alone in the ocean.
“Get her!” the male called Javi yelled at me. I glanced over my shoulder to see between him and Mike. The rest of the hunters were unconscious on the ground. Not bad for two humans and a mer against a dozen feral hunters.
“I will take her somewhere safe.”
“WAIT, YOU’RE BLEEDING—”
I didn’t heed the smaller male as I ripped off my shirt, hissing in pain as it pulled on the glass in my back. I ignored, stripping off my shorts, and the stupid orange underwear and the foot garments. Javi choked and gasped behind me, but I didn’t have time to pay him any heed. I dove into the ocean naked, relishing the return of my gills and tail, and the webbing between my fingers. Ah, to have my true vision back!
The cold water whipped over my scales, a cool kiss welcoming me back. My wound burned, but the burn meant it was being cleaned as well, so I ignored it.
I spun desperately in a circle, looking and scenting for Jesse.
Blood. There.
I dove under the ship and to the north, her unconscious body was sinking fast. I scooped her up in my arms and pumped my tail as hard as I could due south, toward a secluded place where I normally hunted for shells and sea glass. It didn’t matter how remote it was; it was the only place I could think of where no one would find us and that was my primary concern. I had to move quickly, so the ocean had time to disperse her blood and make it difficult for them to follow us.
Because they would follow us. They’d tear heaven and earth apart to get to her.
Swim.Swim.
We broke the surface and I coughed, my poor gills confused at the constant flipping between water and air. Panic kept me going, and desperation gave me strength. We were far awayfrom our destination, but I refused to stop and rest, refused to slow down or acknowledge the throbbing wound in my back. My tail and abdomen burned as I struggled to keep her head above water. Her body rose and fell against me, so at least I knew she was still breathing.
I just had to keep it that way.
As I swam, different scenarios flew through my head, each one worse than the next. The mers could return to the clan and report I had a siren born. They could fight me for her or respect my claim. If it was the latter, my father would expect me to impregnate her as soon as possible. Then my life as I knew it would be over and so would hers.
No more art. Jesse would be stuck inside our home, unable to go anywhere as her every move was carefully scrutinized by the clan.
I could already see her sad face and miserable eyes.
Fury burned through my veins.
Jesse wasn’t a piece of meat to pump a baby into. And no one would touch her while I still breathed—whether above the sea or below it.
I’d murder Aris for trying.
Darkness fell over the ocean and the wind kicked up, making hard work for me as I battled waves and rough currents to ensure Jesse kept breathing. Underneath the water would be much warmer and calmer, but she wasn’t like me.
