Siren - Hazel Grace
The piercing blow of a horn jolts through the night air and under the star-filled sky that partners up with the full-lit moon. It illuminates the danger we’re in, the bad decision of coming here so soon after their treasure was dropped off because they’re back again.
But they usually don’t come back until weeks later.
Three pirates surround my two sisters and I as my father’s words repeat sternly in my head, forbidding us to come here. Alluding to the peril of what could happen to us in the warmer water that meant we’re heading too far south and into territory that doesn’t welcome my kind.
They shouldn’t have seen us.
The crystal blue water must’ve glimmered just right for them to see the glitch of our tails because the hollers of men have yet to cease.
Especially when my sister, Rohana, was taken first.
Thick netting wraps around her body as they hoist her up the tall wooden ship. My sister, Kali, hasn’t stopped screaming in terror with each staggered lift that leads Rohana closer to the deck. The blood-curdling wails and the shouts of men are the only two things I hear until Kali takes a staggered breath next to me followed by a loud creak of something behind us, whining against the waves.
“There’s another ship,” Kali stammers in the water alongside me, bumping into my side. “They’re going to throw their nets.”
I glance over my shoulder at the ship with a mermaid silhouette decorating the front of it, catching my next inhale and sending a tremor down my spine.
These aren’t just any kind of pirates—they’re Hunters.
Men who take my people and sell them for profit. Who, according to my eldest sister, do the most unimaginable things to us.
We’re called beautiful, toxic, a fantasy in the sea with the voices of death. These men, they forget the other parts of what makes up a Siren—power. And it’s fueled by the ocean, which they are currently sitting on right now.
“Make them turn the boat,” I tell my sister. “I’m going to make a jump for Rohana.”
“You can’t,” she screeches. “They’ll take you too.”
I fix her with a glare because we don’t have the time to argue like we always do. I didn’t want her to come in the first place, but for once, I’m glad she did because I’m not good at singing.
“We’ll all be taken if you don’t sing,” I retort, watching the ship sail closer toward us. Their nets are already prepped along their starboard side and ready to drop around us if we don’t make a move to stop them.
Kali hesitates for only a second before nosediving beneath the chilly water. I do the same, going straight to the ocean floor before flipping back around and barrelling through the crest of waves. The moment I breach them, my body is in the air, arms outstretched to clasp the web of ropes that holds my other sister.
Rohana’s hand covers mine instantly the moment my fingers wrap around fibers. “Let go!”
I don’t respond, too focused on securing myself and taking the risk of letting go with one hand so I can reach into my bag that’s wrapped around my body.
“Hold on to me,” I order, looking into her lavender eyes. “Don’t let me go.”
She nods, and I release my hold, dipping into my pouch filled with trinkets I took from Sunset Cove and searching for the knife I always carry with me. Metal and gems clash against my flesh as I shuffle around the numerous relics.
“Please just let go,” Rohana frets louder. “Please.”
I ignore her again, I’m good at that. But the listening to my father part could use some work. With six older sisters, I’m used to being picked on and told what to do. I’ve adapted to disregarding their thoughts when I don’t agree with them because they don’t see the world as I do. They don’t share the same fascination of there being more to life than the ocean. My books show me that, the castles and the piers, the fields of green grass and sand nestled up close to the ocean’s border called a beach.
I want to see more, to know more.
My index finger touches the familiar feel of the handle I am looking for, and I clasp my hand around it. But it’s not before I hear the shouts of deep male voices sounding uncomfortably close.
“Get her over the deck,” one bellows.
“There’s two!” another one yells. Rohana’s grip tightens around mine, and my blood sprints through my body and