Siren - Hazel Grace Page 0,54

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I betrayed her trust, made her believe something that wasn’t true because I had things of my own I had to accomplish. Things may have changed, I may have grown to like her, but everything surrounding us remained the same.

“I was going to let you go,” she leers. “You didn’t deserve to die. I couldn’t watch what my father would’ve done to you, what my sisters whispered about because there is a piece of me that is my mother—kind and gentle. But that’s what got her killed. You see, she was trying to save a sailor from drowning during a storm—” she leans in closer to me. “—and do you know what they did?”

I already know, her face says it all. Her mother was murdered, and that’s why her sisters hate me and her father wants to feed me to some sea creature, I’m sure.

“A spear,” she continues. “Right through the heart. And I found her there. What you’re holding is hers. The Queen of Merindah cuff, the only thing that holds any value to me. And you took it.”

“I didn’t know,” I tell her. “I was told that—”

“You should’ve asked,” she drones, looking uninterested in what I have to say. “But now it’s too late.”

I nod under the tightness of her hold. “Alright, Blood. Go ahead and do it. I understand why.”

She cocks her head to the side. “Do what, exactly?”

“Kill me.”

A slow pull at her lips appears. “Kill you?” She shakes her head. “I’m not going to kill you, Viking.” Then she shoves me over the rail, the blue sky becoming more distant as I fall backwards toward the sea.

And see black.

Never again.

Never again will I be sucked in by Dagen’s lies, or see the kindness that he tries to coax me with.

Everything was a lie.

His decency.

His words.

His give-a-shit-about-me approach.

I fought my eldest sisters over him. Left marks and tension between us. And I’m too proud to apologize for it now. I’m too embarrassed that I let a man come between my sisters and I.

A man that wasn’t even one of us.

I read about his kind, how incredibly cruel they are. How fearless, which I found foolish because it could lead them into dangerous predicaments. The brute force they could oppose on a people for their own personal gain.

The last was what I was most afraid of.

But since the quarter of his men that my sisters didn’t kill were here, that would leave no one to wait for him beside his father in whatever faraway land he’s in.

Isolde had the ship burned down while Rohana and Nesrine helped me get to shore as quickly as possible. My skin, red and blotchy, stings and tingles from the salt water—a reminder that I trusted the wrong person.

The men were held together, chained to the floor in a different room than Dagen. He would get to stay alone as to not come up with any additional planning to get free. Unless he wanted to swim home, there was no other way for him to leave the island.

A soft knock sounds on my bedroom door, and I call out for the person to enter. Looking into the mirror, I watch my sisters Brylee and Isolde enter quietly.

“We came to see how you were fairing,” Isolde greets, taking the lead inside. But my attention is on my other sibling, who’s wearing a red mark across her cheek from my hitting her.

Remorse batters me again, right into the pit of my stomach. I’m a fool for letting him into my world, for trusting him.

“I’m alright,” I lie, tucking my chin into my chest before turning around to face them.

“We’ll have your dinner brought to your room tonight,” Brylee professes, her blue eyes full of attrition.

I stand and slowly make my way to her. “Bry, I’m—” I reach for her face but pull my hand away. “I’m sorry.”

She gives me a weak smile. “Don’t be, it’s been awhile since we fought.”

“It was uncalled for.”

Isolde clutches my hand. “You didn’t know.”

“But I should’ve known,” I retort. “He’s a…” I trail off because memories of Mother flood me. Finding her floating there with her eyes open, her mouth agape from the shock of being pierced by a spear.

“Atarah is scared to come in here,” Brylee leads on, sitting on the edge of my bed. She wiggles her brows. “Who’s the brave one now?”

Isolde squeezes my hand before releasing it, plopping down on the bed next to her. “How many times did I have to convince you to