“You ratted me out,” I say to Riden when I find him belowdecks.
“You did the same to me last time.”
“I don’t see how the two of you expect different results from last time! Bad things are going to happen!”
I feel myself close to hysterics. There is no happy ending I see for any of us.
“I’ve already thought of that,” he says.
I look sharply at him.
“If you hadn’t kicked me out of your room last night, I would have had time to explain.”
I want to snap at him, but I clamp my mouth shut, ready to listen.
“I’ll stay close to you the whole time,” he says. “Last time, all I had to do was touch you, put my face next to yours, and you returned to yourself. This time, I’ll keep you close while you submerge. You won’t hurt anyone. And you yourself won’t get hurt.”
It’s—
A good idea.
The fear is still there. I’m absolutely terrified that I will hurt someone. But we are also desperate. And Riden seems so sure that he can help me this time.
And I trust him.
That realization is such a shock, and I find myself giving in.
Sorinda and Mandsy fill the tub. I prepare myself, both mentally and physically. No metal. No laces. No pins or hair ornaments. Breathe in. Breathe out. Try not to kill anyone.
Mandsy stays after the tub is full to help keep me in line should things go south. This time I decide two girls prepared to act if something should go wrong are better than one. I worry that Mandsy won’t be brutal enough to injure me (or more) if need be. I know I can count on Sorinda to do what needs done, but anyone else might hesitate. And a moment’s hesitation is all I need to do some serious damage. The next time, the siren may not be in a playful mood. Maybe she’ll go for the kill right away.
I climb into the tub, my bare toes curling from the promise of power caressing them.
I nearly jump when Riden climbs in with me.
I know this was the plan, but what if it doesn’t work? What if I drown him? Or snap his neck?
I’m edgy, uncomfortable, drained from all the external pressures. He must sense this.
“Relax,” he says.
“You relax,” I snap. “You’re the one who is about to die.”
He shakes his head. “Come here.” Before I can listen, he pulls me to him in an embrace. “Just stay right next to me. Now sit.”
It’s awkward trying to do it with him clinging to me, but we manage. Each inch we descend, the water becomes more and more irresistible. I’m so anxious, so tired of everything—the water promises relief from all of it.
When it reaches my waist, I cannot help it anymore.
I let it in.
And with Riden’s face right next to mine, the siren doesn’t even surface. She stays far away, just where I want her. I let my head sink under the water, and Riden, as though sensing that it’s me the whole time, lets me go.
After maybe a minute of resting on the tub’s base, I return to the surface, step from the tub, pull the water into myself, and smile.
“Again.”
After a few more tries with the same results, Mandsy and Sorinda leave the room. I don’t need them. Riden is the key.
I dry myself off again after the fifth time and toss Riden a towel. He tousles his hair with it, wrings his clothes out over the tub.
“All this time,” I say as I lace back on a corset, “I just needed you to come along and keep me human.”
“Why do you think that is?”
I don’t know yet. Maybe I’m not ready to know yet. Not with danger looming so close.
Danger so close.
The fleet is close.
The fleet will have water.
“Riden, I have an idea.”
Chapter 18
I TALK WITH NIRIDIA and Riden in private. “I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up in case this doesn’t work.”
“The crew needs hope right now,” Niridia says. “How about if I tell them after you’ve gone?”
She knows that I don’t want to face them. Not after I took away their chance at water. I don’t want to offer a new one. How much will they hate me if it doesn’t work?
“All right,” I answer. Then I turn to Riden. “Are you comfortable with this?”
“I’m willing to try if you are,” he says.
“Then let’s be off.”
The two of us approach the gap in the railing, the one used for climbing down to board the rowboats. We step up to the edge, peer down into that blue abyss. Probably thousands of feet deep. It is such a scary mystery, the ocean.
I look at Riden nervously.
“It’ll be the same as in the tub,” he says.
“It had better be.”
Behind us, the crew must be watching, curious as to what we’re up to.
“This is your last chance to—” I start.
He wraps his arms around me, and we fall.
Warm salt water encompasses us after the splash. Riden has both arms and legs wrapped round me tightly, the side of his face pressed firmly against my own.
The siren is nowhere to be found. Not with him here.
The most profound sigh of relief escapes my lips as I kick us both to the surface. The power of the ocean floods me, soothing my guilt, my fears. They’re still there, in the back of my mind to pull out and process should I wish to. But right now those things will not be helpful.
I feel Riden’s breathing against my ear. It tickles my wet skin. His arms and legs grasp me so tightly, as though he’s afraid I might leave—be lost forever.
“Riden, I’ll swim more easily if you loosen up.”
He pulls back then, stares at my face. “It’s you.”
“It’s me.”
We just stare at each other, water dripping down our faces, holding on to each other.
Every time I’ve been in the water with him, danger was riding on our heels. But now, there’s no immediate threat, even if we have a job to do.
So I take just a moment to enjoy this. Feeling empowered by the ocean. Having Riden pressed so close to me, trusting me to keep him afloat, to not hurt him.
Swimming is as easy as walking for me. And Riden’s weight does very little to slow me down. I could stay with him like this forever.
Whispers float down to us from above. I look to see most of the crew staring over the lip of the ship at us.
“We’ll be back,” I say.
Then I start to swim.
I don’t know how fast I can swim. I’ve never had the opportunity to figure it out. But I know I am faster than a ship. Much faster. And when I am in the water, with all its power rushing to me, I won’t tire. I can maintain this speed forever if I need to.
The water is warm—the ship has taken us into a tropical climate. A good thing, too, otherwise Riden would freeze.
He is silent as I swim. I’m careful to keep his head above the water as my arms and legs make silent strokes through the sea. It’s almost nightfall, and I hope to reach the ships just as darkness takes over. We cannot risk them spotting us in the water, and I cannot swim under it when I have Riden with me.
When the sky finally darkens completely, we are upon the fleet. The lookouts won’t be able to spot us, not that they’d know to look for us anyway.