Page 75 of Between Salt and Serenades
“Correct.” I dipped my head then peered over to Breena to see her doing the same, almost in complete synchronicity with me. I ached to reach over and hold my cute little selkie. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and take her away from the madness of the day, of this entire week. She deserves peace, and I hoped with every ounce of positivity I could muster that by the end of the day, I could give that to her. If all went according to plan today, we could achieve success and rid ourselves of these pesky runes and netted enclosures.
“So we should be preserving the caves for sirens—whoaren’tthumb chopping, family threatening villains,” Rory said, his husky voice pulling me from my internal ramblings.
“Sirenswillstill need a safe place to soak after all of this is said and done,” Zellia said.
“As will selkies!” Breena added. I reached for her hand and stroked the back of it with my thumb. The caves were beautiful, and the thought of them being preserved as a place for all the sea fae on land to come and soak their skin warmed my heart. I imagined Breena and I sipping tea as we lounged in the salty pools together, and for some reason, I knew that mental image was going to stick with me. Maybe Rory was onto something.
“It’s settled, then,” I said. “We try to preserve as much of the cave as possible. But the runes in the full-blood pool need to be destroyed.”
Rory reached into the satchel slung around his shoulder and pulled out three daggers, holding one out to me first. I stared down at the object, the sun glinting off the polished blade, and said, “What’s that for?”
“Protecting yourself. You should all have one.” Rory thrusted it forward, but I dismissed the weapon with a wave of my hand.
“I appreciate the sentiment, captain, but I’ll be quite fine without one,” I said with a smirk, the humor in his gesture easing some of the pressure in my chest. While the pool hadweakened my magic, after a few days of not using the power residing in me, I was able to recover quite quickly. My eyes shot to the waves creeping up the shoreline, and with a twitch of my fingers, the salty water rolled out to greet Rory at his boots.
Before him, a tool mimicking what he held in his hands formed from the seawater. He bent down and scooped up the water dagger with curious fingers. His head fell to the side as he was able to lift the molded water off the ground and swipe it through the air, as if it was made of wood and steel.
“Not bad,” he chuckled. With that admission, the water suddenly exploded in his hand, soaking the front of his tunic and canvas bag. He threw his head back in shock, but before anger could set in, I pulled the water molecules off his clothing so the man wouldn’t enter the caves dripping wet.
“Alright, alright. I get it. You don’t need a dagger.” He held his hands up in surrender, an impressed grin finding its way into his features. He gestured toward the other women, but they too passed on his offer. At least the man would be plenty armed if it came down to it. Every part of me hoped those deadly things would remain right where he left them, in the safety of his satchel.
“Ever the show-off, Sid,” Zellia laughed and shook her head at me. Her bright expression vanished as soon as it came, and she let out a dramatic huff and groan, dragging her feet in the sand as we walked. “This trip feels even longer than last time. My feet are killing me.”
“We’ll be there soon. Traveling by foot is hard at first, but you’ll get used to it.” Thinking back to when I’d first arrived in Barthoah, I recall being so surprised at how much walking would be needed to get from place to place. While I was in the sea, I rarely thought or complained about how far anything was because it was all an easy swim—until I left our territory, that was.
Zellia sighed and peered out into the distant waves of the sea. “I won’t need to get used to it. I’ll be back in the water soon enough.”
I’d forgotten I was still holding Breena’s hand until I felt her thumb stroke me in soothing patterns. I focused on the calming sensations she sent through me and banished any anxiety that came as a side effect to that one simple sentence Zellia spoke. My sister never intended to drive an emotional sword through my gut; depths, she didn’t even know I planned to stay on land. For all I knew, she could have assumed I’d be swimming right alongside her on the way back to the Dreslee. I knew all of this, yet the sentiment stung all the same.
It’d been one day since Breena and I decided to stay on land together, and I hadn’t regretted that decision for a fraction of a second, but that didn’t mean I hadn’t been dreading telling my sister. As I watched her stare longingly at the waves lapping up the shore, I decided I would tell her as soon as this mess was taken care of. No more waiting.
Up ahead, the rocky formations that bled into the sand grew taller, an unmistakable presence along the cliffside.
“We’re here.”
The four of us moved through the caves like sharks in the night, silent and deadly. Breena and I crept along with our backs tight to the tunnel walls as Rory and Zellia followed closely behind. Candles flickered up ahead, and somehow, this place looked even more magical at night. The glow of the candles threw strange shadows that danced along the stone in rhythmic patterns, smooth and hypnotic.
“To the left,” I instructed upon reaching the same fork in the path Zellia and I had the last time we made a visit to the caves. We all hoped to find sleeping quarters and nothing more menacing lurking in the shadows of the mysterious path.
My feet halted, and a distracted Rory almost came barreling into me. He let out a soft grunt as Zellia threw her arm across his chest to keep him from knocking me over and whispered, “What is it?”
“I hear something up ahead.” I kept my voice as low as I could. Closing my eyes, I listened again, more intently this time.
There it was again. Singing, maybe?
“I hear it too,” Breena said, glancing over to me before venturing forward again. We traveled toward the sound, and as we grew closer, we began to decipher that the odd, off-tune sound was definitely a song, just not very well sung.
The song of a hybrid.
Reaching the end of the tunnel, the path before us splintered off yet again. I turned left once more toward the terrible singing and a flickering orange glow.
I motioned for the others to halt then pressed my back against the wall right where it funneled into an opening. An intricate tapestry was draped across it, but there was a gap next to me where the fabric puckered.
Drip, drip, drip.
A repetitive sound mixed with the echoing song, and I noticed a small puddle forming near my foot. I glanced up to see water droplets falling from the ceiling, one by one. Gesturing to the others to watch their step, I peeled back the tapestry a meager inch to get a better look inside.
A woman with winter-blue eyes sat on a stool facing away from me, brushing her tangled hair as she stared into a tarnished mirror. I stared at her reflection, noticing familiar features that pinched as she let out her sorrowful song.
