Page 17 of Whispers of the Starlit Sea
Get up. Walk to the city. Find out where Thomas was. Yes, he would do that. If only his head weren’t so fuzzy. He closed his eyes against the pain. What had he been trying to do?
He sank back onto the sand, the memory of the ocean singing to him lulling him back to sleep.
Everything ached.
Sorchasatup,shivering.She was wedged between two rocks, which had kept her from being washed out to sea while she slept. But being in the water had never made her cold before. The rocks had caught seaweed and other debris, but she didn’t push it off her, seeking what little warmth it provided.
“Sorcha!” a worried voice called.
“I’m over here!” she cried in relief, blinking at the reflection of the sun on the water.
A moment later, Aunt Maeve appeared around the rock, her face full of worry. When she saw Sorcha, her shoulders dropped, and she let out a deep sigh. “You’re alive.”
Sorcha nodded, her throat tight.
Aunt Maeve stopped some distance from her, the shallow water preventing her from drawing near. “What happened?” she asked softly.
“Ciara dragged me to the surface.” She couldn’t stop the hitch in her voice. “It…it was awful. I’ve never seen a storm that bad. It was unnatural.”
Maeve gave her a hard look. “Why do you say that?”
Sorcha flinched. “I don’t know. It just felt so wrong. Is that what storms are always like on the surface?”
“That’s a topic for another day,” Maeve said. She looked away, her face troubled.
“What is it?” Sorcha demanded. She wanted to go to her aunt, but moving brought pain, and she was so cold.
“Ciara was injured.”
Horror flooded her. “Is she okay? Did she…?”
“She’s fine now.” Her aunt looked like she wanted to say something more, but changed her mind. “How did you end up here, so far from the grotto? Everyone’s been looking for you.”
If everyone was looking for her, how had Maeve been the one to find her? Usually only the Watchers went so far from the grotto. And why wasn’t she helping Ciara?
“I got separated from Ciara when she and Cuan went to help the humans.” She lowered her eyes, not wanting to admit what she had done. She worked her jaw, trying to clear the odd sensation in her ears.
“And…?” Maeve prompted. Something in her voice told Sorcha she already knew the truth.
“I saved a human,” she whispered, wrapping her arms around herself.
“Oh, Sorcha.” Her voice was full of pity. “Why?”
The question jolted her. “Why? Because there was no one else!”
“It was the one you heard sing, wasn't it?” Maeve sighed, understanding filling her eyes.
“It’s not like that! He would have died!”
“You know what saving him means, don’t you?”
Sorcha nodded. At least, she thought she knew. Saving the life of a human bound them together. But none of the stories had explained what that meant.
“You can never return to the ocean, Sorcha. You’re bound to him forever.”
“Never?” she gasped. But how could she, a mermaid, live on land? She needed the sea to survive.
“Look down, my little guppy,” Maeve told her gently.
