Page 17 of Tik-Tok

Then she’d second-guessed everything again after he’d left. Her mother’s magic had been hidden behind a glamour when she was cursed to be a changeling. So it made sense that Thelia hadn’t felt her magic until she’d broken the curse.

Maybe North did have something buried, deep, deep down. But then why couldn’t she sense it if she wasn’t cursed or glamoured?

Focusing on the floating yellow orb above her, she threw a pretend axe at her mark.Strike.

With a sigh, she peered up at the door, wanting to clear her head somewhere else. Perhaps she would finally explore the deck, go out into the night to look at the sea and the sky. Breathe the freshness of the outdoors.

Peeling herself from the bed, North slipped on her boots and headed up the ladder. The crisp air rumpled her hair, and the waves beat against the ship’s hull, singing a ravenous song. As she passed under the sails, she glanced up to see Kaliko hovering at his post in a circular space with open slits, the top wider than the bottom. He gave her a nod, his dark eyes shining, as she walked beneath him to the railing.

Not another soul was in sight—most must have retired for the evening to prepare for their shifts the next day. She rested her arms over the rail and stared up at the sky, sprinkled with hundreds of stars and a plump silvery moon. One star stood out, shining brighter than the rest.

North felt a body come up beside her, and she rolled her eyes without turning to face Tik-Tok. She wondered how he moved so quietly. “I’m not jumping off the boat tonight.”

“I should hope not, North. The hippocampus and other sea beasts will rip you to shreds,” a female sang, her voice silky, her body lightly humming.

North squeaked and whirled to the side to find a female, lithe and shapely, matching Tik-Tok in height, standing before her. Her hair was short and almost as red as Tik-Tok’s eyes. Silver hoops lined her ears. The lit orbs of the ship made her green irises appear to glow. North found herself mesmerized, focusing on each angle and curve of the female’s delicate face. She couldn’t look anywhere else, didn’t want to look at anything besides this perfect creature forever.

A veil seemed to lift and North’s mind cleared. She quickly shook her head and took a step back, her eyes drifting down to an unclothed body. The female wasnaked. Large, perfect breasts, a narrow waist and hips, the longest legs she’d ever seen.

Siren.

North reached up to cover her ears, rip them off if she must, because she knew what sirens would do when they hypnotized someone. She could ask North to slice off her own flesh and North would gladly do it if under her spell.

The siren grinned and yanked North back just as she was about to run.

“That won’t be necessary,” the siren said, not singing this time. “It was only a test to make sure I could protect myself if need be. I’m Echo, by the way, and I’m withthe captain.”

North scowled, unable to stop her thoughts from turning to Tik-Tok slowly peeling off his gloves and clothing to tumble this female. She had probably just come from his bed and knew North had tried to entice him the other day.

“Not like that. I’m part of his crew.” Her grin grew wider.

North tried to keep her gaze on Echo’s face as the siren leaned on the handrail, arching her back against it, making her appear even more alluring. “Why are you out here so late?” she stammered, struggling to collect herself.

“Each night, I take in the sea when the ship is quiet before going back to sleep beside Respen.”

“Oh.” She and Respen… How did that happen? How had he learned to have faith in a siren? How had Tik-Tok?

“Tik-Tok is a cocky son of a bitch, but you can still rely on him.”

“He took me from my home,” North bit out. She remembered the horror of seeing her family and all the guests in the ballroom turned to stone. How could she rely on someone who would do that?

“He saved me from mine.” Echo shrugged. “There was an invading force in my underwater village. When he found me, I tried to sing him into doing my bidding, thinking he was like the others who’d murdered my clan. It hadn’t worked, and he asked me to be part of his crew. That was before I knew he was protected from magic, of course. Try to trust him.”

He hadn’t given her a reason to. “I’ll trust you before I ever do him.”

“I’m surprised. I’m usually the last one anyone wants to.” Echo pushed off the handrail and stepped past North. “I hope to see you on deck in the morning instead of hiding in your room.”

North watched the siren’s naked form saunter toward the back of the ship to a door leading below deck, where she supposed the female would curl up beside Respen.

North turned to the water again, shut her eyes, feeling for a possible portal, but there wasn’t a single stirring of magic. A splash sounded below and her lids flew open as she shoved her head over the side, thinking she had performed some sort of miracle. But she only caught the scaly skin of a creature’s back, jagged spikes lining its spine, and a broad tail as it sank below the swells.

Hippocampus.Great. Just great.

Lowering herself to the floor, she propped her back against the railing and let the waves sing their melody while she tried to tap into any spark of magic. Until she was too spent to even head back to her room and drifted to sleep on the deck.

Something nudged North’s arm.

She cracked her eyes open to bright light and the tip of a boot beside her cheek.

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