Page 352 of Kingdoms of Night

Makoa didn’t reply. His teal eyes searched mine, and all I could think about was how Elian’s were like storm clouds, while Makoa’s were like the calm sea.

Then, he simply smiled, and gave me a single nod before leaving me with the shaman and the dead body.

Once he was gone, I released a long sigh and approached the slab of stone that the bodies rested on.

The sailor’s eyes stared blankly at the ceiling. The siren sister did the same.

I checked his pockets for anything that could be useful. Sea folk were adept at scavenging. I found a small compass, some rolled up twine, and a little pipe.

She gave me a stern look, her hands on her narrow hips.

“What did I tell you?”

Groaning, I stepped aside to let her in. “Please. Spare me the lecture. I’m too tired and too agitated to vocally spar with you tonight, Da’Nah.”

She lifted a brow. It wasn’t exactly manipulative to call her by the name I’d used to call her as a child. She was like a second grandmother to me, and always would be.

But, it worked. The frown lines in her forehead eased.

“Where did you find her?” I circled the table, my hand on my chin as I observed the body. “And, why didn’t anyone come get me?”

I stroked my hand over her shimmering cheek. Some of her scales were missing, leaving jagged abrasions on her skin. I checked the wound on her neck and swallowed a lump in my throat at seeing that whoever had done this had slit her throat.

Pieces of silvery scale remnants clung to my fingers as I held them up for a better look. This was both a murder and a robbery.

“Someone knows the power of our scales,” Kaimana said. “One of the sentries found her on the sea floor. I told them to let you rest. You needed to recharge your energy.”

Sighing, I nodded at her explanation. But, what she’d revealed settled in my gut like hot lava.

This was frightening for so many reasons. Not only were we now being hunted, but somehow it was discovered that our scales had magical properties.

My cheeks heated with anger as I pictured someone stealing this siren’s scales. Siren scales could grant the user increased power, and could enchant weapons. It could be crushed and made into elixirs to grant the user temporary powers.

But, they didn’t have to kill her after taking her scales. She could have grown more.

Tears stung my eyes as I looked over my shoulder. She deserved justice. It was up to me to grant her that justice..

Kaimana rubbed her hands together, before splaying them a few inches above the body. “We are lucky she didn’t wash up on the shore for discovery. That would have threatened our very existence in this realm. You aren’t old enough to recall the battle with the humans. We cannot let this happen again.”

She then ran them along the entire frame, her eyes closed, brows knit together.

“Can you tell who did it?”

Kaimana peered one eye at me. “Pirates.”

Dread washed over me.

Is Elian responsible for both deaths?

I felt sick.

How could I let him kiss me?

Her hands started to glow a bright blue. As much as I didn’t want to look at the dead sea maiden, I couldn’t help but be drawn to what Kaimana was doing. My mother and sister were born with the gift of healing, and I had tiny sparks of it within me, but nothing like what Kaimana could do.

She held her glowing hands over the body, illuminating it.

Then, she sucked in a breath and let out a soft whistling sound.

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