Page 99 of Ensnaring the Siren

For all the carnage Reid had seen onboard Gale’s Promise, none of it could’ve prepared him for this. Beside him, Killian vomited.

Conveyor belts of packaged mermaid parts. Tails on meat hooks. Dissected, divvied up, and labeled. Lives reduced to corporate processing.

But worst of all was the humanoid torso laid out on a metal slab, bisected from the waist down. The siren’s face was turned their way, her orbital sockets a black void where eyes should be.

How had Nireed seen this, and yet, spilled no blood in all her rage?

Reid climbed the stairs to the pilothouse, following a trail of bloody footprints, softly calling Nireed’s name. The last thing he wanted to do was startle her.

When she didn’t answer, he lightly rapped on the door, cracking it open just enough to peek in. The navigation console had been smashed; charts were strewn all over the floor as if a maelstrom had torn through. There wasn’t anyone in his direct line of sight, but he did hear sobbing.

Reid crept in, quietly closing the door behind him.

His Starfish was sitting on the floor in a sad, rageful puddle, knees hugged to her chest, a noise cancellation headset crushed in her hand. There was a small, bloody pile of glass fragments beside her, the cuts on her feet already closing. While he was grateful for her speedy, siren healing, it made Reid’s stomach clench to see that she had to dig out every shard herself.

Across from her, The Seriphus’s captain was bleeding from shallow cut on his forehead but sitting docilely with a logbook, stack of folders, and satellite phone resting on his lap. He’d have to treat that, but for the moment, taking care of Nireed was his top priority.

He crouched down, lightly smoothing a hand across her shoulder. “Hey, Starfish.”

She sniffed, but didn’t look up, just held herself tighter, body quaking as she cried.

“Rough couple of hours, huh?”

Sniffling, she looked up, eyes dim at first, but as they focused on him a spark of light returned. “I had him gather evidence.” She gestured weakly to the captain.

“That was…rather cooperative of him.”

The crushed headset fell from her hands, hitting the floor with a clatter. “I can be rather persuasive.”

Her siren song. Today, she’d wielded it as one might a weapon, but was it ever used for joy? He hoped that it was, and that one day, under far better circumstances, he might be lucky enough to hear it. “You did good.”

Pain rolled over her features. “Did I? I’m not so sure.”

Her throat worked, thick tears rolling down her cheeks. Touching her fingers to one, a flicker of surprise crossed her features as she pulled them away, finding them wet. Tears rarely felt. The surprise quickly passed, settling into something that looked a lot like regret.

“Do you regret sparing them?”

“It’s not that. Killing the crew would just confirm everything the Surface Dwellers think they know about us.” She picked shards of metal from beneath her claws. “I was in that tank for a year. I thought it was worth it because my people were cured, and our territory was going to be protected, declared a ‘marine sanctuary,’ as Cure Creator calls it. But I read the words in that book. ‘Restock galley, clear out mermaids, deliver shipment at $10,000 per pound, fix the bilge pump.’ While I’ve known all along why my people were being killed—so that these Surface Dwellers could keep fishing in our waters—seeing it written down like that…”

Like just another line item on a long to-do list.

Nireed looked lost, shattered. “All my suffering and sacrifice was meant to save my people. Not put targets on their backs.”

Reid yanked her into a fierce hug. “No, don’t you dare blame yourself for their greed.” He buried his nose in her hair, inhaling its sea salt smell. “That’s not on you.”

“Then why does it feel like it?” Her voice wavered, the sound heavy and wet.

“Because you’re trying to make sense of something senseless. You’re used to seeing the world in terms of survival—kill or be killed. But this…” He gestured to the boat around them. “What they’re doing here? Is just evil, and evil has a way of coming for us no matter what we do.”

“You really think so?” She sniffled.

“I know so.” He touched his forehead to hers. “They’ve stolen so much already, don’t let them steal your peace. You’re not to blame, and they don’t get to make you think otherwise, you hear me?”

A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “I hear you.”

“Good.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Now, as much as I’d love to keep you right here with me, more Surface Dwellers are coming, and while they’re going to see to it that Nautic is punished, it’s probably better that you’re not here when they arrive.”

Who knew how the FBI would react to her, or Nireed to them, and that was not a gamble he cared to take.

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