Page 4 of Thorn & Ash

But there it was again. A dark presence lurked just beneath the surface.

Nausea roiled in her gut. What manner of creatures lived alongside a whirlpool? Perhaps drowning was not the only danger here…

With a mighty splash, a massive tentacle emerged, stretching high toward the sky before falling with an earsplitting thwack against the sea. Water gushed over Mona, filling her small vessel and lapping over the edges, threatening to drag her under.

Almighty Goddess, what the hell was that? The tentacle had been bigger than any creature Mona had ever heard of. Certainly no ordinary octopus or squid.

A low groan rumbled from beneath the sea, making the boat and Mona’s very bones quiver.

Then, a voice echoed from within the whirlpool.

“You are not like the others.” The speaker was female, but her voice was deep and powerful, somehow resonating loudly enough to be heard over the roaring waves.

Mona clutched the edges of the boat so tightly her fingers began to throb. Her wide eyes remained pinned on the whirlpool, convinced she was imagining things again.

“Ah. Daughter of a goddess. Well, this is a first.”

The whirlpool… was talking to her.

“It is no mere accident that you are here, then,” the voice continued. “You are here for passage. And I am the gatekeeper.”

A startled breath left Mona in a whoosh as her thoughts caught up with her. Of course this wasn’t a sentient whirlpool. It was a creature living within the whirlpool.

The pieces connected in her mind like a puzzle, and now that she had a mystery to solve, her clever mind shed all sense of fear in favor of her curiosity.

A creature living within a whirlpool with huge tentacles. Her thoughts spun as she considered each and every book she’d studied on mythical sea monsters.

After a moment, she had her answer. “Charybdis,” she said.

A soft laugh reverberated against Mona’s small boat. “You are certainly a smart one. Very few know me by name.”

“If you are Charybdis,” Mona said, her voice gaining confidence, “then you require a price for passage.”

“Indeed I do.”

“What is your price?” Mona gripped the emerald ring on her finger, praying the beast didn’t ask for jewels.

“My price… is your memories.”

Mona froze, her insides chilling at the beast’s request. Her memories? “All of them?”

“Yes. All but one. You may keep one thing you treasure most. One thing to remind you of who you are. But everything else will belong to me.”

Mona swallowed hard, eyeing the gem around her finger. How could she save Prue if she forgot everything? Gaia, Cyrus, Mona’s own death…

Evander.

No. She wouldn’t give that up. She couldn’t! When she had died, Evander was the only one in the Underworld who helped her. He discovered her unbound state and was kind to her. How could she sacrifice her memories of him? It would be as if they’d never met…

“Make your choice, little goddess,” Charybdis crooned. “I grow impatient. If you do not decide soon, I will take you to the depths of the sea like all my other victims.”

Mona closed her eyes, anguish claiming her, tightening her chest like a vise. She would pay any price to save her sister. After all, Prue had paid the ultimate price to do the same for her.

I can’t save Prue if I don’t remember who she is, Mona thought, the truth of those words gutting her like a knife. There was no other option. If she chose anything else, she might forget her entire mission to bring Prue home.

Which meant she had to do it. She had to give up Evander.

Hot tears streamed down Mona’s face, momentarily warming the chill of the salty sea air. As she swung her legs over the rim of the boat, she pictured Evander’s face. Those silvery eyes claiming her, just as his hands and lips and tongue had.

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