Page 112 of Bind Me

Lilia’s voice cuts through the night, sharp and commanding.

“Tomorrow, we’ll cross paths with the Queen’s Fortune ship.” Her words are dripping with malicious glee. “It’ll require all five of you to take it over. Sasha, you’ll lead, with your mother guiding you.”

My heart clenches at the way none of the sirens react. They sit, faces blank, like puppets waiting for strings to be pulled. There’s only one guard sitting among them, his attention on Lilia. The others must be inside, but I don’t care about them. My focus is on Sasha, sitting stiffly next to her mother, hands in her lap.

The charm, my precious pendant, is nowhere to be seen. I can’t tear my eyes away from her. Back in the water, I could have sworn I saw her mermaid form. But here, in human form, I can’t tell if she’s back to herself or still under the siren’s curse. It gnaws at me, the fear that I failed her, that I didn’t do enough.

I wait a bit longer, biding my time, watching as Lilia turns her back, speaking to someone inside before heading in. This is my chance. I swim around the boat quietly to the side where the guard is seated among the women.

I climb up onto the boat and over the railing behind him, snatching him into a headlock and squeezing tight. He thrashes, his fists beating against my arms, but I hold firm, hissing curses under my breath. None of the women pay attention, not even Sasha. It’s like they don’t see me or don’t care.

My little mermaid. I’m going to save you, and we’re going to try again. I’ll die trying to bring you back to me.

The man goes limp in my arms, and I drag him overboard, letting him slip silently into the water. I take a deep breath, glancing around to make sure no one else saw.

Now’s my chance. I dart past the empty chair, leaping toward Lilia. She has to die. Until then, Sasha will always be in danger. I rush at Lilia just as she turns, her eyes widening in surprise. But a guard comes charging out from the side, gun drawn.

A bullet tears through the air, hitting me square in the arm. Pain explodes, sharp and excruciating. I grit my teeth against the agony, growling through clenched teeth.

“You fucker,” I snarl, but I don’t stop. I don’t care about the pain, about the blood dripping down my arm. All I care about is ending Lilia.

I slam into her, knocking her off her feet. She goes down hard, crying out as I land on her, but I don’t let up. The bullet’s sharpness is killing me, but I took it so she wouldn’t escape.

I’m on top of her, fists to her face, mostly to keep her down. I get up in seconds, wrenching her up by the hair and shoving her in front of me as a shield from the two gunmen who are now facing me. I smile at them. Fuck, my arm stings so bad, but I push past that.

“Step out of my way, or you’ll regret it.” I hold Lilia, and she’s stumbling, groaning, holding the side of her face that’s bleeding from my hits. “And don’t try anything, or I’ll snap your neck,” I threaten her.

One of the men approaches me, and I hear the groan of steps behind me.

But I warned them.

My tentacles burst out from my back, striking out simultaneously with brutal precision. The man behind me is slammed in the face, sent crashing into a window, shattering the glass as he tumbles overboard with a splash. The ones in front of me barely have time to react.

I whip a tentacle into the face of the first man with the gun, sending him sprawling backward. His weapon clatters to the deck as he hits his head on the side of the boat, unconscious before he even hits the ground.

The third is suspended in midair, dangling upside down by his ankle in my grasp, his screams cutting through the chaos. I give him a good shake, watching as his gun slips from his fingers, tumbling uselessly into the ocean.

With one powerful toss, I hurl him out into the open water. He arcs through the air, disappearing from sight, his screams fading into the distance.

“Now, where were we?”

Lilia laughs. “You think you can save your precious Sasha?” She spits the words. “She’s mine now, Kaden. And if you kill me, she will still be lost to you. That gives me so much satisfaction because, after all these years, I still hate your grandfather, and that includes you. But if you’re smart, you’ll keep me alive because maybe I can help you with getting her back.”

“Shut the fuck up!”

The rest of the sirens rise as if commanded, moving toward me like specters in the dim light. I shove them away with my limbs, holding them at bay, careful not to hurt them. They are the innocents in this, victims of Lilia’s cruelty. But they keep fighting, slashing at my tentacles with their claws, biting into me like damn beasts. Sasha ducks beneath one of my tentacles, darting across the deck so fast it startles me.

“Sasha!” I call out, panic seizing my chest.

Lilia’s chuckle cuts through the air, a chilling sound that raises the hair on my arms.

“Kill him, Sasha.” Her voice is poisonous. “End this now!”

Heart in my throat, my tentacles coil in preparation, but I hesitate. Instinct screams at me to defend myself, to strike before I’m struck, but the thought of hurting Sasha is a knife twisting in my gut. I can’t bring myself to harm her.

Then I see it—a glint of something in her hand. The pendant. In that split second, Lilia stiffens, her confidence faltering. She must have seen it, too.

“Sasha, stop!” Lilia bellows, her voice rippling through the air with the force of a command. “I command you!”

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