Siren - Hazel Grace Page 0,93

until it’s done.” I nod, feeling Davina’s regard back on me, begging me to look at her.

I can’t.

I’m going to save her life for the last time.

Doubt and unease fill my brain, hitting me over and over again, as Davina wraps her arm over my torso. She’s been silent for a while, pondering over everything that happened tonight, surprisingly not arguing with the fact that Tobias and I are leaving in the morning.

I’m happy about that.

More than happy, I’m relieved that I don’t have to fight with her about things that she already knows. That she’s not naive enough to believe we can stay here.

A cold teardrop hits my skin, and I lean up, her head snuggled into the crook of my arm as she tightens her hold on me.

It breaks my soul to see her upset, that my strong little Siren has even a worry or concern about me. I can hold my own on a battlefield over men, but a sea witch, not something I think I can aid with.

Thing is, I don’t want to leave her alone for her to fend for herself. I know that she has her sisters, but the concept of something happening to her has been twisting my gut since Atarah mentioned the idea of us heading out of here. I don’t know how long we’ll be gone. How far we’ll have to travel to break some of Taysa’s hold on us and, possibly, weaken her, but we have to try. There isn’t anything else we can do.

“Blood,” I mutter, brushing the top of her head with my fingers. “Look at me.”

Weakly, she shakes her head, still burrowed into my side.

“I’m not going to get hurt.”

“You don’t know that,” she murmurs. “She might know everything we’re about to do.”

I can’t dispute her worries because I’ve thought the same thing. No one knows how powerful she is, what she’s fully capable of, and the fact that she’s still here sets me completely off ease.

“I’m worried about you getting hurt,” I vow.

“I’m stronger than you.”

I chuckle, letting my senses remember and feel how soft she is. How I’ll miss this, her next to me, her sassy comments and the way my body reacts immediately to her closeness along with the sound of her voice filling my head with her words then finally being able to hear her out loud.

I’ve fallen too deep, never feeling this way about anyone before in my life. How I would burn the world down to keep her safe and sound on Merindah. But I’m metaphorically tied to not being able to do a thing at all except flee to protect her.

It’s hard to swallow.

Difficult for me to accept and do, but I know we’re limited with options, and it’s all trial and error at this point.

“Will you miss me?” I ask.

“Absolutely not, Viking.”

I smile. “Never thought I’d hear you lie, Blood.”

“Never thought you’d leave,” she counters.

Her words slam into my reality. It’s as though I absorb them, and then they slay me all over again as the harsh authenticity of our situation is spoken about again.

“I don’t want to,” I utter. “I’d rather stay like this forever.” Another exert of pressure along my ribs, her head burrowed into my chest, and I can’t stand it anymore. “Blood.”

She doesn’t respond or move, remaining still and eerily quiet. Pulling her over me, I lay her chest on top of mine so I can see her face.

Bloodshot eyes from crying, a stream of tears on both sides of her cheeks, and a soft sniffle peer back down at me.

“Don’t remember me like this,” she quakes. “Remember all the good things.”

I wipe away a tear with the pad of my thumb. “Like the time you took my blade and ran it down the side of my face.”

A broken chuckle emerges through her vocal cords, and she shakes her head. “Please, not that.”

“It’s the first moment I knew you were different. That you weren’t like the others.”

“Because I couldn’t speak or go into the ocean, only difference.”

A corner of my lips quirk. “Mhm, no, it was the defiance in your eyes.”

“How about my interrogation skills?”

“You were horrible at it. You kept saving me from being tortured.”

Her forehead creases. “You don’t understand how ruthless my sisters can be.”

“I got a taste,” I allude, leaning up to get closer to her lips. “But it wasn’t the kind I wanted at the time.”

Pressing my lips to hers, she immediately opens her mouth to insert her tongue inside. I