Page 38 of Ensnaring the Siren

“It’s too dangerous, not worth the risk,” Undine signed, finally deigning to join the conversation.

“And sending me to shore to be a Surface Dweller experiment was?”

“We were sick, desperate.”

“Are we not desperate now?”

“It’s not the same. We can rely on our own now.” Undine shifted the bundle wrapped around her chest. Her baby was swaddled in a woven seaweed blanket, nursing at their leader’s breast, pudgy little hands holding on.

Longing panged low in Nireed’s belly, her heart, her arms. The desire to cradle and nuzzle a little one of her own swept over her like a tidal wave. She wanted to be a mother someday and not just because the pod expected her to.

Baby reoriented, Undine continued, “Two more of our own have gone missing. It’s not that I don’t trust Shorewalker or Cure Creator—I’ll always be grateful for what they’ve done for this pod—but you stray to shore too often, Nireed. It’s going to get you captured again or killed.”

“That only happened because you asked me to go. And I went willingly to help the pod, so it won’t happen again unless I mean it to.” Undine didn’t need to know that Nireed had doubts at points about her ability to blend in and not get caught.

“If you want to help the pod, boost our numbers.” Undine paused to press a kiss to the top of her baby’s head. “We can smell the beginnings of mating frenzy on you. Make use of it. Find a mate.”

“One of the mermen,” Aersila added pointedly. “Not the Surface Dweller.”

This was ridiculous. Her scales parted just once, and everyone had an opinion about it. “Who, Aquilus?” Nireed slapped the words out, and Aersila flinched. “Cyrus, who’s barely old enough, or the one who’s just as overenthusiastic as he is lackluster? I don’t see why I need to bother. Our kind have mated with Surface Dwellers plenty in the past.”

“Out of necessity.” Undine’s expression was stern, but motherly, which only made Nireed angrier. Their pod leader had ten years on her, that was it. “Now we can mate with our own. Few options are still options. Your Surface Dweller can give you babies, yes, but he can’t be here to help you raise them.”

“When the mating frenzy takes hold, you’ll be insatiable,” Undine continued. “It’ll trickle over to the rest of the pod, so you might be able to find a few attached males willing to see you through it. If you’d like, I can help arrange…”

Nireed scoffed. As if that made it any better. They were discussing her life as if she had no choice. Shorewalker had always given her a choice. Cure Creator too. And when that had been taken away from them all, they fought for her.

And Reid? What if she didn’t want to mate with him? While she had felt a spark of something, some unexplored potential, she barely even had the time to think about it, much less make any sort of decision. Wanting a baby soon didn’t mean right now. It was worth waiting for a connection. For love.

“Why is she here?” Nireed signed to Aersila in sharp, cutting motions. “Are you going to make me mate someone I don’t want to? Are you going to chain me here? Because that’s what it’ll take.”

Her sister reared back as if she’d been slapped.

“Of course not, but if you don’t mate…”

“What? My tail will fall off? I’ll perish from unfulfilled lust?”

“Well, no…”

“Then what, Aersila? What will happen? I’ll hurt my wrist taking care of myself for a few weeks? My frenzy will spread to you, and you’ll finally work up the courage to tangle tails with Aquilus?”

“It makes you rash, stupidly fearless.” Aersila slammed her hands together, harshly punctuating each word. But her face had crumpled, anguish and defeat etched into every line. Nireed didn’t need to see the tears to know they were there. “You’ll go against your instincts and take risks you shouldn’t. You’ll make mistakes.”

Tender feelings for her sister displaced the anger. While Aersila had been wrong to bring Undine into a private, personal matter, it had come from a deep well of hurts. Of experience she did not want Nireed to repeat.

The motions of Nireed’s hands softened as she signed, “Do you regret yours?”

“Not Ryn, but yes, sometimes.” Aersila’s body slumped. “Don’t follow in my wake, Nireed. Be smarter than me.”

Taking her sister’s face in her hands, Nireed pressed their foreheads together for a long moment. Aersila stilled, waiting. This quiet acquiescence meant she’d listen to what Nireed had to say next.

Nireed pulled back to sign, “I have been following my instincts. Haven’t gone against them once. Believe I’m capable. Believe in me, sister.”

“But a Surface Dweller, Nireed? He’s so far away. If you have a baby together…”

Frustration leeched in. “I haven’t decided if I even want to try, much less with him.”

“Just let me finish.” Her sister’s gaze was pleading. “It needs to be said.”

---