Page 69 of Between Salt and Serenades
“No, we cannot,” she said. “Well, do come in. I’ll let one of our younger inhabitants give you girls a tour. My old bones can’t keep me upright for very long these days. Isla?”
The woman motioned a brunette with milky-white skin forward. Isla, I presumed, pushed herself off a raised bed of rock lined with velvety cushions. A fragile smile was painted onto her pretty lips, resembling the porcelain doll I’d seen once as a child.
“Ladies, welcome to our home on land,” she said, spreading her arms to the side. She motioned to the cavern that was lit by cracks in the ceiling, revealing the light of the summer day. The brilliant rays illuminated small waterfalls trickling down the rock into shimmering pools carved out of the stone floor. In the dry areas, sirens lounged on cushions and nibbled on various snacks being passed around on silver trays. The place was anodd mixture of primal and opulent, like a dragon's den, complete with a shiny treasure.
“It’s beautiful,” Zellia whispered under her breath, as if to not draw more attention.
“It is. Do you mind showing us around?” I asked, hoping to take advantage of Isla’s hospitality, whether it was a façade or not. I refused to go back to Rory’s cottage without answers. Knowing these caves were occupied was only a small piece of the puzzle. We still didn’t know if these were the hybrids we sought, or if we had been wrong about so much more than we’d originally thought.
“Of course. I’m happy to show you any area open to guests. Follow me.” Isla gestured us forward with her long, slender fingers, as if we were sailors and she was beckoning us to the sea. The woman sent chills up my arms, and not in the way Breena did.
“There’s more to the caves than what we see now?” I asked, my vision dancing around the open area in front of me. I thought back to the fork in the path that Zellia and I had stumbled upon. We’d chosen to go right, but what lay hidden beyond the left path?
“Certainly.” She gave a weak smile and walked forward, not looking back to see if Zellia and I would follow. “Living quarters and such. The basics.”
Taking a look around, I had to assume their living quarters would be anything but basic. Had they raided a castle? Or was this all bought with the fish from our sea—the evidence of profit from selling their abundance to neighboring villages?
My skin grew hot just taking in the wealth lining the walls of this place. Thishad to be it. Thesehadto be the sirens wreaking havoc on Barthoah and the sea. And if that was true, it dawned on me that Tinelle was here somewhere. We just had to find her.
“You know, I just realized I forgot to ask the woman who first greeted us what her name was.” I kept my face neutral, not giving Isla any more reasons not to trust our intentions. Our stranger status already did enough.
Isla looked pointedly at me before saying, “Do you know why sirens come here? Why we first inhabited these caves hundreds of years ago?”
“As a safe haven?” Zellia asked. I kept my eyes trained on Isla and watched her lips twitch as I waited for her to answer the question she so conveniently didn’t hear.
“No. We didn’t need a safe haven back then because we had no predators. Wewerethe predators, you see. It wasn’t safety we were after; it was health and comfort. Community. Sirens living on land would come to these pools to hydrate their drying skin and spend time amongst our kind, full bloods and hybrids alike. See, we have something for every siren, so we can all find comfort here.
“Over here are the salt pools with the salinity emulating the sea. The natural waterfalls continue to refill them to keep the water flowing. These are for hybrids who don’t worry about the implications of their transition.” she said. “And over here, we have the diluted pool for the full bloods. One of our many rules is that full bloods stick to their designated pool. Everything flows better that way, you see.”
“Why are these pools for only the full bloods?” Zellia asked.
“The salinity is reduced enough that the water is still hydrating and healing, but it’s not intense enough to send someone into transition. Full-blood transitions are rather unpalatable and uncleanly. We ask that those activities be reserved for the sea, not these pools. No one likes cleaning blood and flesh off the floor. The only exception is if a full blood acquires a blood stone. But as we all know, their cost is beyond what most would pay.”
Blood stone?
Zellia and I both shot each other a look, but neither of us commented on this interesting tidbit. We’d grown up thinking blood stones were a myth. They weren’t natural by any means, but crystals soaked in the blood of a witch during her moon cycle. When worn, they allowed full blood sirens to transition without pain like a hybrid could, but they retained their ability to sing their song.
Blood stones were a dream, a dangerous one at that. I’d given up hope that they’d existed long ago. I’d hoped my father would have done anything to acquire three so we could return to land with him for visits, so he didn’t have to keep leaving us behind. I figured since he never had, they must have been a myth.
When neither of us responded, Isla clasped her hands in front of her and said, “Which pools will you ladies be soaking in today?”
“Oh, we didn’t really?—”
“Nonsense.” Isla interrupted. “I’ll have someone fetch you anything you may have forgotten. No reason not to enjoy the pools while you’re here.”
“Well, I suppose we will need two bathing cloths. And towels,” I said, my eyes locked on Zellia instead of Isla. My sister gave me a reassuring head nod, and that small gesture allowed my clenched hands to relax.
“Full bloods, then,” Isla said with an amused twinkle in her eyes. It had been the first time since we arrived that she looked genuinely interested in our presence. “I’ll have what you need shortly. In the meantime, please, make yourselves comfortable. Help yourselves to something to eat and drink. We pride ourselves on our extensive wine collection.”
Snacks and wine?
Our visit was far from what I’d mentally prepared myself for, and I could tell from Zellia’s bemused expression that I wasn’t alone.
“Thank you, Isla,” I said.
The woman nodded and wandered off. Zellia’s lips parted, but then she paused, as if she’d rather I spoke first. I dipped my chin down and leaned into her.
“This is our opening,” I whispered. “If we’re going to find anything out, we better do it now.”
