Page 77 of The Sea of Zemira (The Zemiran Chronicles 1)

Lincoln, witnessing Nola’s fall, leapt over the edge and dove into the water.

I am coming for you, Nola! Hold on!The captain thought as his body cut through the ice-cold water.

Nola sank deeper. She flailed her hands up to reach above the surface, but she was already too far down. She felt a strong pull between her thighs.

No, she thought. Not now.That was the first time she had felt her tail begin to transition.

But before they fully connected, a pair of strong hands gripped her shoulder and pulled her up.

Once on the surface, Lincoln gripped the ladder and the crew helped pull her up the rest of the way. They laid Nola down, still not fully conscious.

Hill ran over to cover her with a dry blanket. She looked down; her human legs were intact. However, the inside of her pants had ripped when her legs tried to come together.

She felt the draining weakness through her body and all she wanted to do was lay her head down on Lincoln’s chest.

“My bow!” she cried out.

“Leave it, Nola. It’s already sinkin’ to the bottom.”

It was all she had left of her father.

The captain’s jade-green eyes settled on hers.

“Are you okay,” he asked.

Nola clutched at his arm; she did not care if he saw what happened in the sea.

“A gnome knocked me off the ship,” she started, “after I missed.” She bit down hard on her bottom lip. “I missed, Lincoln.”

He chuckled.

“I thought you never missed,” he pointed out teasingly.

She smiled weakly. “Well, the bloody thing moved.”

Lincoln caressed her pale-blue lips with his thumb. She shivered, taking in a heavy, exasperated breath. “But you...you saved me,” her voice stammered.

Lincoln wrapped his arms around her, trying to keep her warm. However, a painful sensation shot upwards on his neck from where the gnomes had clawed his skin. The siren’s eyes wavered from his and she buried her face into his shoulder, her teeth chattering.

“Let’s get these little shits off our ship,” Mazie said, looking around. “By the way! What happened?”

The gnomes remained scattered all over the deck.

“I don’t know,” Lincoln said. “I haven’t a bloody clue.” He gripped her again, tightening the blanket more securely around her when he felt her body go stiff.

Boots staggered to one of the gnomes and poked it in the stomach with his wooden cane. They heard a loud snore from the little thing.

“It’s sleepin’,” he said.

A knot twisted in Nola’s stomach.

Yes, they are sleeping,she thought, and I am the reason why.

Kitten bent down and lifted it up in the air, turning the ugly thing to face her. “Maybe that’s their thing,” she observed. “When they get too excited, they sleep?” She turned to look down at Lincoln.

A brow rose high above Lincoln’s right eye. “All at once?”

Mazie nodded, but they all quickly glanced up. The ice above them cracked loudly and large pieces of ice fell all around the ship.

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