Total pages in book: 210
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 200096 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1000(@200wpm)___ 800(@250wpm)___ 667(@300wpm)
With a satisfied smile, she moves to the side of the sailboat, casting her pretty blue gaze out over the sea.
It’s a good reminder that, as lovely as Annika may be to look at, her viciousness is without mercy.
I tuck the dagger into the sewn-in sheath in my breeches pocket.
“The wind has picked up,” she notes, and I know she’s not talking to me. Her tone doesn’t bleed with hatred anymore.
Captain Aron nods a greeting. “Aye, we’re making good time now.”
“How far are we from Westport?”
“Another few days without interruption.”
“And how long before the sirens find us?”
“Won’t be long now. See that over there?” He points to a small jutting island. “That is known as the Tooth. Once we cross that, we are in their territory.”
She shudders, and I know it’s not from cold because the breeze that came with dawn is balmy.
“You’re frightening her with tall tales,” I call out before I can stop myself. Why do I attempt to soothe her nerves? Let her tremble. I’m dying because of her.
“Tall tales?” Captain Aron looks to me curiously. “Why do you claim this?”
“Because I have sailed from Westport to Northmost and back again, and I came out unscathed.”
Annika snorts. “The only tall tale is his own.”
“Okay. Whatever you say.” I settle back against the mast, closing my eyes, feigning sleep.
One … two … three …
“When was this little adventure of yours?”
I crack a lid to find her facing me, her eyes narrowed. “Nearly a century past.” Long before Romeria’s birth.
“In a ship?” I have Captain Aron’s interest now as well.
“A small skiff with an elemental caster adept at manipulating the wind and sea. We stuck to the coastline. Nearly lost ourselves to the rocks a few times,” I admit. “But we made it there and back without ever crossing paths with one of these dreaded sirens everyone is so frightened of.” My father insisted it couldn’t be done, but if by some miracle I succeeded and found myself infected by the bloodlust, I dare not return or he’d drive a blade through my heart himself. He wasn’t exaggerating.
I was happy to prove the fool wrong.
Annika bites her bottom lip, torn by curiosity. “Where did you go?”
“I stayed in Northmost and the countryside. Traveling through Islor proved far too dangerous, given how much your kind loves the scent of my blood.” Does it taunt her now? For an Islorian who hasn’t fed in days, she reveals nothing.
“How boring,” she drawls, but I catch a flicker of something else there that I can’t read.
“It was a little, though I found suitable entertainment for a time.”
Understanding flickers across her face. “What was her name?”
“I can’t recall,” I lie without missing a beat, even as jade eyes pierce through suppressed memories.
Annika folds her arms across her chest. “How long did you stay in Islor?”
“Long enough to see that Malachi’s demons are as corrupt and revolting as we feared.” I grit my teeth against the grim memory. “And nothing has changed since. You’ll still do anything for blood.”
She matches my sour face. “Do not pretend you value mortal life any more than I do. It is at your hands that so many Islorians have died. You are the one who peddled that poison around my realm. Do you have any idea how many mortals were executed because of it?”
Silence hangs thick as we stare each other down.
“Well, I hate to break it to both of you, but we don’t have such powerful casters on this ship, and we are certainly not hugging the shoreline. You will hear the sirens’ song soon enough, and then you cannot deny they exist.”
I shrug. “I am dead, anyway. I’d rather it be to the sea than to this Islorian.”
Captain Aron’s gaze flutters to my thigh, then to my boot. The bugger knows I have jewels hidden in there, but he’s not foolish enough to try to confiscate them from me. Yet. “Have you ever heard the story of Captain Finnigus, the first to face the dreaded sirens and live to tell the tale?”
“Something tells me I’m about to,” I say dryly.
“It goes something like this.” He returns his focus to the horizon. “Three ships left Cirilea together, heading for Skatrana to rejoin their loved ones, divided by the rift. Two of the ships had elven on them, while the third carried only mortals and supplies. One hot, sunny day, just as they passed the Tooth, they heard the most beautiful singing. It grew louder and more intoxicating until the captains of the three ships couldn’t help themselves. They changed course and sailed deep into the sea.
“The sirens’ song was so compelling, people believed they were listenin’ to the fates themselves, and one by one, they dove overboard, desperate to get closer. That was until the people on the ships watched those below get pulled under the water and devoured by the creatures.”