Page 49 of Blood of the Sirens
Sensing the tension, my father continued, “Furthermore, there is no hiding. Whoever finds any siren born has free rein to them. Even if it is this female Merrick has found. Merrick, do you agree?”
Everyone looked at me, delight in their eyes. They thought they had me.
My hackles raised. If I agreed, then the first one who got to Jesse had her. Well, if they could subdue her. The very thought of watching someone try enraged me and also filled me with deep satisfaction. None of these mers would know what hit them.
Focus.
Realistically, I could agree to this, and lose nothing. Yet it still felt like a dead fish carcass in my mouth.
“Fine,” I grit out.
The mers and clan leaders smiled, thumping each other on the back. I shot up from my seat to leave when an achingly familiar scent filled the air.
No. It couldn’t be.
“You guys talking about me? Super rude.”
I turned, and swimming before us was Jesse—no longer human, but transformed into the first siren to be under the water in centuries.
FIFTEEN
Jesse
When I’d finally come back around,I was just floating listlessly in the darkness of a tunnel. Pitch dark. I’d thought I’d known what darkness was, but this was inky blackness on another level. At first, I wasn’t even sure my eyes were open as my arms flailed through the water helplessly. I frantically tried to orient myself, then realized I didn’t need to breathe. Three slits had opened up along my neck, fluttering when I touched them. It was pitch black, so I wasn’t able to see myself, but I could feel the difference in my lower body—inside of kicking with two legs, there was one singular, solid muscle pushing me forward.
No. Way.
Merrick’s scent was in the water around me like a beacon. I gave into my urges and followed it, erupting from the tunnel and into lighter waters. I raced toward the surface and brokethrough it on instinct, immediately regretting it when my gills spasmed in empty air. I tried to take a breath through my lungs but only threw up sea water.
In pain, I backed up underneath the water. I blinked a few times, and my eyes cleared, giving me perfect vision under the sea.
My hands were different, with harder black nails instead of my human ones. Tiny, iridescent webbing stretched between my fingers, and fangs stuck out from my gums.
And the tail.
It was gorgeous and reminded me of sunset; the base color was purple, but the scales flashed and danced with bronzes and golds where the sun hit it. It was a powerful, tightly coiled muscle. I was obsessed.
I was a fucking mermaid.
Why? How? What made me change this time? I’d be in the water and the ocean my entire life, and nothing had ever happened before … So why now? Did that mean mymotherwas a mermaid? Unsure what else to do, I followed Merrick’s scent to what I assumed was his home. I marveled at the stone palace and city stretched out in front of me, like fucking Atlantis. But I was more interested in the large group of mermen standing around, looking like they were about the shank Merrick.
I propelled myself forward, enjoying the panicked squeaks and looks of shock.
“You guys talking about me? Super rude.”
Merrick and his men stared at me like they were all considering jumping me. Bile worked its way up my throat. The stench of my fear flooded the surrounding water, turning the taste acidic. Merrick’s eyes cleared, and he hissed at the other men, forcing them to back up and give me space.
Right, maybe this wasn’t my smartest idea. Merrick hadtold me to stay in the cave for a reason, and these other mermen were the reason.
Stupid Jesse.
“Stay behind me,” he growled at me, but I knew the ferocity of his voice was meant for the other men—er, mers—and not me. With how feral the others looked, I had no problems with this order.
“Merrick,” began one of the older mers, his voice croaked and thick with longing. A long, white beard floated behind his shoulder, braided intricately with sea glass beads and shells.
“I—I’ve never seen one before. She’s …” he choked up, looking ready to cry.
Drawn by this man’s awe, I moved closer.
