Page 46 of Between Salt and Serenades
“Hybrids feel no pain when they transition from siren form to human form, but they also don’t have the siren song—our most powerful tool,” I said.
“And you feel pain and have your song?”
“A gift and a curse,” I admitted. “Wallace may be human, but I exhibit all the traits of a full blood. He has been around sirens long enough to understand our ways. She’ll be in good hands.”
“And he makes the most delicious shortbread!” Breena mused. She stared down at the plate before us scattered with buttery crumbs before continuing with quick speech. “Not that yours weren't wonderful, of course.”
“They were a little burnt,” Rory said before releasing a quick chuckle.
“A little bit,” Breena said, relaxing her shoulders.
“Burnt cookies aside, have we come to an agreement?” I asked.
Breena nodded her head with a quick smile. When my gaze met Rory’s, he too nodded then said, “We have ourselves a deal.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
ALL ABOARD THE INDIGO TIDE
Icouldn’t bring myself to say goodbye to my grandfather, but I held the opalescent pendant we’d made together as Rory threw ropes off the port side of the Indigo Tide. They each landed on the dock with a thud until all ropes securing us to the docks of Barthoah were no longer holding us back. We were free to venture off into the sea at last.
The last time we boarded the Indigo Tide, it had been against our will, but now, here we were, climbing aboard the same fisherman’s boat of our own volition.
Breena walked across the ship’s wooden floorboards with her pelt hugged close to her chest. I wondered if she too was terrified of what she would find when she finally returned home. We may have only been gone a little over a week, but a lot could happen in that length of time, enough time for starvation to take those we love.
“Take us to the closest netted enclosure first,” I said once Rory had pushed off a dock post. When he got behind the captain's wheel and wrapped both hands around it, his knuckles turned white.
“Why?” His question clipped short, as if this conversation was his last priority, an afterthought.
“My pod will need all the strength they can get, and I’m sure the selkies will too. We can’t return empty-handed, especially if we are asking them to come to land.”
Breena confirmed then settled down with her pelt on top of a stack of crates. Her feet dangled as she swung them mindlessly. She stared out into the horizon, the mist of the day dampening her sun-kissed cheeks.
I joined her on the crates, putting my weight onto them slowly in case I sent us both right through the wooden panels. They groaned beneath us but held up as I took my seat. I sat hip to hip with Breena, yet my feet had no problem finding their place on the ground, whereas hers were a few inches shy.
“You don’t have to ask me twice. I’m more than happy to return fish to both your homes,” he said, looking into my eyes for the first time since we boarded the Indigo Tide.
“Thank you,” I said. The sentiment came out less painful than it once had.
“Breena, I’m going to need you to give me some general direction to your home. I figured we’d drop you off first. You do live on land, yes?” Rory asked.
“I live beyond the Great Aisle of Rocks,” she said with a lifted chin, pride flashing in her large eyes. She still stared off into the distance, as if she could see her home from here and needed to keep her eyes locked onto the location so she would never lose track of it again.
“The Great Aisle of Rocks? I can’t sail my ship through that. We would tear up the haul on those jagged boulders. That place is a death sentence,” Rory said, gripping the ship’s wheel even harder somehow.
“That’s kind of the point,” Breena said. “Drop me off just before the first layer of rock and I will travel the rest of the way myself. We made Selkie Cove our home for a reason.”
“That’s fair enough. I’d also choose a place humans couldn’t reach me,” Rory grumbled. “Especially after what I’ve learned of your pelt and how it felt when I picked it up.”
“You mean when you claimed me?” she asked with a tilted head, analyzing the way Rory’s face twisted in response.
“Can we not call it that?” Rory said as he stared off into the choppy water ahead of us. “Breena, I hope you realize I would have never touched your pelt had I known what would happen. I truly thought it was just a rag.”
“So you’ve told me. A few times.” Breena leaned back in her spot, running her gaze over Rory’s features, trying to suppress a smile as she said, “I accept your apology, captain. Just don’t tell me you thought my pelt was a rag again, or we’re going to have a problem.”
“Oh, I didn’t mean it looked?—”
“Rory, I’m just teasing you.” Breena’s face lifted, and her mouth finally cracked into a smile. She followed it up with a laugh that sounded like relief personified.
