Page 22 of Sworn to Consume
“Okay,” I say at last. “ButImake the plan.”
Finally, a smile breaks across her face. But before she can get too excited, I add—
“If things go wrong, and we don’t get it—you leave, Di. You leave me behind. He won’t kill me. I’m promised to Ivan. He won’t touch me.”
She looks like she wants to argue. I see the defiance spark.
But she presses her lips into a tight line—and nods. “Agreed.”
I let out a long, heavy sigh. “Now go get Svet’s dressing room ready. She’ll be here in an hour.”
She snorts. “She’s always late. You don’t have to worry.”
“I know.” I huff. “That’s why she’ll need everything ready.”
I shake my head as she runs off.
The girls here are in it for the money.
But half of them already act like they own the place.
Maybe they do.
Maybe wealldo.
At least until the real monsters come calling.
Malec
The darkness of the depths surrounds us. If not for the glow of our tails, my body marks, and Myko’s violet aura from my aunt’s chest, I wouldn’t be able to see a thing down here.
This is where theoriginalCoral of Life used to be.
Myko and my aunt always talked about how enchanting this place once was—if not for all the death it brings. The death thatIbring today.
My gills open and close slowly with the current, helping me keep my hunger in control. The hunt has started, and Myko already informed the hunters’ pods that we’re here.
The ocean floor beneath us is littered with skeletons. Some still have bits of flesh clinging to exposed bones from last month’s hunt. Usually, some of the very hungry huntresses eat every bit of it.
I was born to be nothing but a menace—a killer. A leader cold enough to keep our family on top.
But this sight still makes me uneasy.
Most of these people weren’t even involved in our world. Innocents. Chosen by the huntresses to die, just to preserve their sad, pathetic lives with ours.
And I hate how I feel sorry for them when I feed on their souls. I’ve seen so many hardworking men on fishing boats—out for weeks at sea, breaking their backs to feed their families.
My mom used to talk about them.
She made me question why I’m the one cursed.
Why I’m the one who has to bear the fate of all the pods—the balance of the oceans.
And why I’m expected to follow in my father’s footsteps, too.
“What are you thinking about?” Bay’s voice pulls me back. I turn to look at her.
“Nothing,” I lie with a shrug. “Just hungry.”
