Page 90 of Liar Witch
“He’ll lower us so we’re at the water level,” Klaus explains. “When we’re there, I’ll jump in and you can just paddle a bit. That’s all we’ll do today.”
“I’m going to be supportive from up here,”Opal adds, bringing my attention to her. She’s sitting on Titan’s head as the Mastiff watches from the deck above. Her body is contorted into an obscene position in an effort to groom her tail, and at my eye roll she sticks out her tiny pink tongue.
The sails are furled, leaving an unobstructed view of the Moon above us, and I reach out to draw some of her magic to me, funnelling it into the Goddess’s sigils on my back. It’s a familiar, soothing action, one which comforts me.
“Where are the others?” I ask, stalling.
“Val is below-deck; we thought he’d be the last person you’d want around. Rysen didn’t want to crowd you, so he’s staying away too. Kier’s… well, I have no idea where he is. And Noster didn’t follow us, so I think it’s just us three.”
Klaus climbs onto Cas’s back and bends down, holding his hand out to me. “Ready, little warrior? We’ll stop as soon as you say the word.”
Cas’s beast lets out a rumble of approval but stares at me with the biggest, strangest, sea-monster equivalent of puppy dog eyes. It’s an attempt to look harmless that fails spectacularly, but I place my sweaty palm in Klaus’s warm one anyway and let him pull me up.
“Slowly, Casimir,” Klaus mutters as the scaly coil we’re on starts to descend towards the water
My heart pounds against my ribcage, wanting to flee, but I lock myself in place through sheer will, trying to focus only on the sensation of Klaus’s hand in mine.
“It’s a calm night,” he says, squeezing lightly. “We’ll stop just above the waves and you can say exactly when you want to go lower. Or you can just sit with your feet in the water. Take it at your own pace.”
I nod, but it’s more of an uncertain jerk of my head than anything else. All my eyes can focus on is the dark expanse rising eagerly to meet us. My chest tightens and breathing starts to take up most of my remaining concentration.
I’m on the verge of backing out when Klaus starts to sing.
Low and soft, his voice drowns out the sounds of the waves. A steady, gentle melody which settles my stomach instantly. When Cas’s purr starts, Klaus’s song changes to work with the new, constant hum in the background. My heartbeat slows. By the time Cas stops moving beneath me, I can breathe again.
“Do you want me to stop?” Klaus whispers, breaking his song for just a second.
I shake my head, still clinging to him for dear life.
A second passes before his melody resumes.
After a few minutes, I lose some of the tension in my shoulders. It happens so slowly that I barely notice it.
But Klaus does. He’s more attuned to my body than I am, and when I’m finally settled, he draws me down until we’re both sitting on the leviathan’s back, my back to his chest, his knees caging me in, creating a safe space.
It takes me a little while to realise he’s stopped singing.
Valorean
The witch’s face as Cas lowered her to the water was a picture of terror. The emotion was so frighteningly real and familiar on her face that I kick myself again for losing control like I did when I sent her overboard on the coast of Idos.
The siren has her calm enough now. The two of them cuddled up on Cas’s back make a strange, yet tranquil, tableau. His song did that—gave her that peace—and it’s almost enough to make me forgive him for the lust he was slinging everywhere last night.
As I watch, he gently takes her hand in his and holds it out to the water. She doesn’t even flinch.
We’re all watching her, though she hasn’t noticed us yet. Rysen is on the lower deck, cuddling her feline. Nos has his back to the railing, but his head turns at every sound, making it clear exactly where his attention is.
Kier is glamoured, but there’s a chill in the air that shouldn’t be in this part of the ocean, so I know he’s nearby.
The sudden splash drags my focus back to her. I let out a small sigh when I realise it’s just the siren slipping into the sea. His tail is a dark shadow in the water, swishing behind him as his song starts up again.
Nilsa’s stiffened up again. I can see that from here.
This is a stupid fucking idea.
Why is she putting herself through this? Because the shifters and the siren want her to? They can fucking deal.
I pace along the deck, grumbling under my breath. When I look back over, she’s dipped her feet into the ocean and the siren is rubbing them beneath the waves, staring up at her with total adoration.
