Page 33 of Sustaining
And then cold water licks against my toes. The moment I feel it, a strong body slips beneath me. I’m lowered until I’m sitting on the most beautiful beast I’ve ever seen. Slowly, my fingers glide over his neck. The inky scales aren’t rough and impenetrable like the dragon shifter’s. They’re soft and slick, glistening in the moonlight. My legs and part of my skirt are submerged around his back while his long dark hair tickles my thighs. Bright crimson eyes look peacefully back at me.
Everything really is all right now.
Two crashing objects drop into the water from high above. Waves of the sea lap harder against me, dousing my stomach with cold water with the impact of their fall. Rime comes up first. His pale skin shimmers from the reflected starlight along the waters. He’s shirtless and wastes no time swimming the long distance toward the shore. Chaos comes up with a big breath filling his lungs. Water clings to his dark lashes, and he meets my eyes for only a moment before swimming through the water toward the island as well.
At a slower but more majestic pace, Sinister leads me through the ocean. Every step he takes is fluid and almost gentle toward the surrounding ocean life. The move of the sea horse’s legs, the strength of his body, is completely careful as he glides over and around the ancient but sharp reefs and jagged rock.
The bottom of the sandy shore comes into view through the clear water when we’re just a few yards away from the beach. Big trees shade the island into an even darker appearance. The white sand is a stark contrast to the deep shadows.
Everything about this place feels…unnerving.
The silence Rime mentioned is thicker now, if that’s possible. The waves of the ocean settle, and I look out to the blanket of water to find it unmoving. It’s a flat, slate surface. The breath in my lungs catches as I stare out at the sea of glass.
It’s unnatural. I can’t decide if it’s a form of magic doing it or if my mind is just playing tricks on me.
Slick, delicate scales skim against my calf. A slicing gasp rips from my throat, and I pull my leg closer toward Sinister’s side. The kelpie huffs through his nostrils, his gills along the side of his neck moving with the intake of air.
I swallow down the irrational thoughts as my gaze looks toward Sinister’s scaly tail flicking through the waters. It was just his tail. That’s all it was. It was nothing. I’m just nervous and thinking too much. I’m sure the sea isn’t as calm as it seems either. I bet it’s rippling and crashing just as it always is. Just as oceans do. I’m imagining things, that’s all.
Rime and Chaos stand with the still water just below their knees now. They’re only a few yards from the bank. I’m several feet behind them, trailing at a slow, gracious pace.
Another flicking feeling of slimy scales skim against the bottom of my foot, tickling there. The feel of it jolts right through me and the kelpie beneath me has the same reaction. His front legs reel up high, clashing from the waters and stomping down hard with heavy beats of his big hooves. The gallop of the beast is thrashing, making my fingers dig in the long strands of his mane. A slashing, pent-up wave crashes into us. It blinds me with salty water. The jarring steps of the kelpie dislodges me. I teeter, my palms gripping, sliding, and eventually falling away entirely from the person I trusted most in all of this.
Sinister’s strong body washes away like debris in the sea. A wave claims me. I’m sucked under. The slashing movement of my hands meet the surface of the water before another crash of the sea sweeps me right back under. I can’t tell which way is up and which way is down. Until sharp pain slices into my palm. Salty water stings the wound. The jagged feel of reefs catches at my skin and slices through it so easily I’m cursing my love-hate relationship with nature in this moment.
Rime was right.
Fucking Rime was right. I should have just moved the ancient reefs.
The feel of slick scales tightening around my torso halts my thoughts and slashing movements entirely.
All I feel is the slimy constricting way the thing is slithering over my stomach, my arms, my neck. My eyes widen into the darkness of the sea.
Flashes of movement sway, but nothing can be seen.
Fierce fire consumes my lungs with every breath I refuse to take beneath the waves.
The hold on me tightens, sharp nails bite into my arms, and then her alarmingly beautiful face haunts into my line of sight. A serrated white crown made of delicate bones is pressed against her temple.
The last thing I see of her is the jagged sharpness of her smile, the long, wafting white hair that sways around the most angelically frightening face.
As I said, it’s the last thing I see…
Before Sinister’s lithe body drifts down behind the water woman. He looks fragilely human now. The shape of the kelpie is long gone, an only a demon is here to fear. His fingers wrap around the woman’s throat, just over the thin slits of her gills. The twisting tail of hers loosens as she struggles in his arms. The slithering tail unwinds from me. But it twists right back onto another body. She snakes herself around Sinister, and I’m slashing my way toward them at a painfully slow pace.
The more she entangles her grip around his chest, the harder she stares into his eyes. The glint of her silver gaze shines with a romantic promise. The shift in his glaring gaze changes so quickly into a hooded, sated sort of look. I feel it. I feel the tingling energy of whatever magic she’s working. His body slackens, his hands relaxing against her slender throat. Her hold on him tightens unbearably while her sharp teeth reveal just an inch from his mouth, and then my own power rumbles to life at the sight of what she’s doing to him.
Magic swirls from my fingertips, but instead of casting that angry power at her, my fingers twist harshly through her hair, and I’m pulling her down, deeper into the dark sea. A vengeful part of me just wants to rip her apart piece by scaly piece for using her lusty power on someone I love. Magic sparks through my fingertips as I wrap them around her delicate throat and I sting that fiery feeling right into her skin.
A high-pitched shriek echoes peculiarly through the water. Her grip on him falls away, and her body convulses uncontrollably the more I shove the thrashing energy into her. I lose sight of any source of light as we fall lower and lower into the shadowy depths of the sea. And before I can fully process what happened, a hand takes mine. Long, tattooed fingers pull at my arm, and Sinister tears me away from the sinking water woman. The strong kicks of his legs move rapidly, and my head lifts the violent waves in a matter of seconds. Cold air hits my lungs, burning all through me, making it painful just to fucking breathe.
“You’re out of your mind, love. You were going to drown down there just to watch that woman die.” Sinister holds me against him as he makes quick, seamless strokes through the sea.
He’s right. I was fully prepared to murder a mythical mermaid just because she’d glanced at Sinister the wrong way. Maybe I should pause to consider just how much of a crazy girlfriend I really am.
In my defense, she fully wanted to eat his heart out.
Chaos and Rime swim into my line of sight.
