Page 101 of When the Wicked Sing
“You want the amulet? Come get it.”
Turning quickly, she bolted for the broken glass dome just as she felt airy vines yank at her feet. She slammed to the ground just as she reached the edge, her breath rushing out of her lungs.
Gasping, she stared down into the destruction, the bones, thewater. Mariana’s body hummed with the familiar pull. The water below was connected to the sea.
Glancing behind her, she saw Halia slowly stalking toward her, the blade’s tip dragging along the ground. She was smiling, like she thought she’d won.
Shoving her hands beneath her, Mariana stood. She glared at Halia, teeth gritting and fists clenched tight enough to hurt.
Allowing Halia to possess the amulet was not an option. Neither was accepting her sister’s death. Mariana’s hands began to shake.
“This is your last chance,” she warned Halia, who released a sharp laugh.
“Doubtful. I have all the power here,sister.”
Mariana’s eyes widened.What did she just say?
Halia released a vicious scream along with a hurricane of wind at Mariana, throwing her into a fallen column. Her breath shot from her lungs upon impact.
The water trapped at the bottom of the broken dome behind her beckoned with the promise of chaos, and Mariana answered the call. As she lifted herself to stand, she pulled the water up from the depths, feeling it surge behind her in a mighty wave. The bones of her dead sisters swirled within the churning water.
Power sang beneath her skin. The rush of ecstasy after so long without using her magic had her laughing like mad. She smiled at Halia.
“Surrender!” she shouted at the princess.
Halia briefly turned her scowl behind her at where Astra hid, before giving Mariana a villainous grin.
“Never.”
Halia lifted her arms, one aimed at Mariana, the other at Astra, who floated from the ground with her hands clawing at her throat as though there were an invisible pair of hands choking her.
Rage burned bright through Mariana’s veins, numbing her to the point that she didn’t feel the amulet lifting from her neck.
Mariana watched in delight as Halia’s eyes widened the moment she released the unforgiving wave. Water swallowed everything in its wake and violently slammed into the dam above.
Mariana’s heart seized as she realized her fatal mistake. Her power broke the dam, the waterfall breaking free with a devastating roar. She screamed, watching helplessly as trees, boulders, and debris descended upon her sister.
Astra’s pale, teary eyes were the last thing she saw before water crashed down, consuming them all.
Chapter 55
Salt.Thetaste—thefeeling—floodedMariana’s gills, stroked her hair, and held her close like a loving mother’s hug, welcoming her home the moment she was spat out into the sea. But that comforting feeling faded quickly as the pain in her body and heart became all-consuming.
Flashes of memory ripped her mind apart. The fear in Astra’s pale eyes. The roar of the water bursting free from its restraints, crashing down with a vengeance. Waves from the savage onslaught she’d caused pounded, beat, sliced, and threw her body around like a shell caught in its snare.
She had done this. Her beloved sister … was dead. All from one stupid, reckless swipe of her hand.
When the river spat Mariana’s body out into the sea, she didn’t transform her legs into her tail. She didn’t call for help. She floated, staring lifelessly up as the sun dipped below the horizon and darkness swallowed the world. The deeper she sank, the more she begged the Goddess to let her forget. Just one last mercy, that was all she asked for.
The mercy to forget that she had failed.
When her body landed gently atop a bed of coral, thousands of fish burst from hidden crevices, fleeing her invasion. She jolted and blinked to clear the haze. Beams of moonlight high above illuminated the rolling waves, making them glow and glitter from below. Blobs of darkness trimmed with light caught her eye. She blinked again, willing the floating blobs to focus. Her eyes went wide, her heart coming to a halt.
They were bodies.
Aurora.
Within seconds, she transformed, her tail whipping for the surface. Her head burst through the water. Wiping her eyes, she grabbed the nearest body. Turning the head toward her, she saw one of Halia’s guards staring back at her with dead eyes. She said a silent prayer and released the body.
