CHAPTER 17
Something impacted the hull below the waterline and the ship shuddered under me. I struggled to see in the encroaching dark, but as more tails joined the swarm gathering at the side of the ship the black waters lit up, casting a hazy glow all around us.
The sirens darted through the water and the ship began to rock from side to side. Marie grabbed my arm and yanked me away from the rail, her terrified eyes wide and black. She pushed me against the center mast, and I gripped it to keep from sliding across the tilting deck.
Persephone came scrambling down as Circe grew another stalk of broom in the palm of her hand. She was going to try and get us moving again. No sense in trying to stay quiet anymore. We抎 already been noticed. Circe plucked off the blooms and prepared to launch them into the sky when the ship listed violently to the side. Her legs twisted under her and she tumbled across the deck. Marie was at her side in an instant, catching her around the waist and helping her steady herself.
揥e抮e gonna tip over!?I shouted.
Marie didn抰 even glance at me. She couldn抰 hear me as I screamed at her to grab onto something. None of them could hear me. I focused on the tendrils of Devil抯 Pet laced through the rails. I willed them to grow. They writhed around the ship, their red thorns jutting out, ready to impale anything that might have tried to climb up.
Circe gathered another handful of broom and got it up in the air, calling down the wind, but it wasn抰 as strong as it had been before. The breeze puffed out the sails and we lurched forward, but it was at a fraction of the speed. Circe抯 gaze darted from the rail to me and back again. She was absolutely terrified.
Persephone wrestled with the wheel as she struggled to keep the ship in line. Suddenly, something slammed into me from behind. A sharp pain rocketed through my right hip as I hit the deck with a thud. I instinctively touched my back where the pain was the worst and my hand came away wet. Blood? I struggled to see clearly, examining my hand. Not blood. Water.
Circe stood to my left, but she didn抰 move. She wasn抰 looking at me. She was staring ahead, and as I followed her gaze, I let out a scream that only I could hear. A siren had made its way to the main deck.
It drug itself along the wooden boards, its webbed hands slapping at the deck. It stopped and coiled its long, narrow tail under itself so that it could raise its torso into an upright position and stare at us.
I scrambled back as far as the confines of the ship would allow. The siren抯 tail flexed like a muscle covered in slick evergreen scales, the wide fin pressed into the deck, allowing the creature to steady itself. Its upper torso was humanlike, but this creature was not some fairy tale sea-princess. Slits between the flesh of its ribs opened and closed as it heaved. Its webbed fingers ended in sharp bony protrusions. A clear membrane closed over the eyes as it blinked, and a scant layer of thin dark hair covered its head in patches. This was the creature all the stories said sailors feared, and I understood why.
Marie moved in front of me, and the siren抯 head snapped up. It crouched down, set one hand on the deck, and launched itself toward Marie, who in turn propelled herself forward. They collided and tumbled to the floor. In the chaos of limbs and thrashing tail, something bounced out and landed in front of me梐 pair of black headphones.
I searched for Marie抯 face in the tangle of tail and clawed hands. The siren suddenly drew back, panting, gills opening and closing like a dozen mouths on both sides of its chest, but this time its mouth also opened and closed slowly. Was it speaking?
揗arie!?I screamed.
She glanced back at me, the veins in her neck bulging, as if she were straining, fighting against something with every ounce of strength she had. I frantically looked to see if the siren was hurting her, but it had retreated, its mouth still moving. It tilted its head and caught my gaze. It bared two rows of jagged teeth in a hideous smile. And then, without warning, it propelled itself over the edge of the ship and to my horror, Marie dove in after it.
I scrambled to my feet and rushed to the rail. Marie抯 hair, white as snow, disappeared under the surface. I ripped off my glasses, put my foot on the rail, and launched myself over the side of the ship without a second thought.
Every muscle in my body spasmed as I hit the water feetfirst. The cold was numbing and I had to fight to keep myself from instinctively inhaling the murky water. I gripped the headphones to keep them in place as I kicked in the inky blackness. My vision without my glasses was bad enough on its own, but trying to see through the water was nearly impossible. Flashes of light darted around me. I kicked hard, pushing myself above the water where I gasped, sucking in a chestful of air. The hull of the ship loomed high over my head and the latticework of Devil抯 Pet reached toward me, gripping my waist. I stuck my head below the water and caught a glimpse of Marie梚n the embrace of the same siren who抎 been on the deck. It was pulling her deeper into the water. She didn抰 fight back.