Dangerous Depths (The Sea Monster Memoirs) (10 page)

I ran my talons along his cheek, down his chest, and then lifted his arm.

My mouth wrapped around his wrist and I licked up the inside of his forearm, savoring the build-up to the moment where I’d sink my teeth into his flesh and drink a good portion of his life force. “Don’t worry,” I purred. “It will only hurt for a long time.”

If anything, he owed me a big thank you when he woke up. I was saving him from an arduous hangover. I nibbled at his forearm and he stirred.

“There, there,” I petted his jaw, the coarse hair of his goatee prickling my fingertips. “Just pretend I’m Vienna. You’ll enjoy it much more.”

Of course, he didn’t reply. I smiled at him hungrily. Then I got tired of foreplay and sank my teeth into his arm. The first sip burned my tongue and throat. “Gods, Rownan, how much did you drink? Bleh.”

Treygan owed me big time for this. I’d be lucky if I could drink and regurgitate fast enough that I didn’t get intoxicated too. I drank again, and Rownan groaned. I assumed he was dreaming about Vienna drinking from him. He was probably enjoying this feeding more than me.

It wasn’t until he whispered, “Nixie,” that I stopped sucking on his arm.

His eyes were open. They were glassy and bloodshot, but he seemed somewhat coherent. “Nix, is that you?”

“I’m saving you from a wicked hangover. Just lay there and be quiet. You can thank me later.”

His eyes fluttered closed. I continued draining him of vodka and, much to my dismay, tequila. I gagged on the awful taste.

“I need your help.”

I wasn’t sure I had heard him right, so I paused and glanced down at him. “What?”

He opened his eyes again. “Help me.”

“I am helping you.”

“No, I need you to ….”

He tried sitting up, but I pressed on his chest to keep him down. “Don’t move. You’ll end up vomiting on me. And if that happens, I will feed you to a killer whale.”

“Steal my songs,” he muttered.

My heart tripled its pace. “What?”

“Take all my memories of Vienna.” He sighed, long but weak. “Please.”

“You’re drunk. You don’t know what you’re saying.”

His bloodshot eyes focused on me. “I know what I’m saying. I can’t live like this. If I have no memories of her, then it won’t hurt anymore.”

“But …” He didn’t know about the other way into Harte yet. Treygan and Yara were waiting until he sobered up to tell him. “Trust me, that’s not what you want.”

“It is.” He gripped my wrist tight. “I’ll do whatever you ask, just please take all memory of her out of my soul.”

I started to tell him that their mission was still a go, that I didn’t need to do anything to his soul because Harte would obliterate it soon enough. But it occurred to me that if Rownan had no memories of Vienna—no more love or feelings for her, no more pain of being without her—then there would be no reason for him to go to Harte. And Yara and Treygan wouldn’t need to go either.

“It’s the perfect solution,” I muttered to myself, but Rownan thought I was talking to him.

“I know. Do it. Fast.” His eyes closed again. “Don’t leave any memories of her. None.”

Never had anyone offered themselves to me with such ease, and such an appetizing buffet of songs to steal. The thought of it made me light-headed. Or was the alcohol starting to kick in?

I stood up and walked over to the doorway. I peeked around the corner to see if Yara and Treygan were within hearing range, but I didn’t see them anywhere. I hurried back over to Rownan. My siren song was aching to burst out of me.

“We’ll have to be quiet,” I told him. A slight twist of his arms was my invitation to begin feasting, but to take so many memories I would need to go for the mainline. 

I sang as quietly as I could, not that I needed to seduce him, but it was part of the process. I brushed my lips against his and they parted. So many times I had tried to seduce Rownan, to make him share a song with me, just one tiny memory, but he always refused. So many selkies had tried to share their blood directly with him, but he refused that too. He was fiercely loyal to Vienna. And now, after countless rejections, Rownan was letting me steal volumes of his songs. A smile spread across my lips.

“This is going to hurt,” I warned him.

His only reply was breathing into my mouth, and the coolness of his breath set me into motion. I bit his bottom lip and he groaned. The frenzy of ecstasy spread through my entire body. I closed my eyes and enjoyed the ride into Rownan’s soul.

Right away, I found memory after memory of Vienna.

A beach in Rathe. Vienna was so much younger. She skipped toward him. She handed him a shell. They talked. They kissed. Love. Devotion. Desire. All of it so delectable because he cherished the memory so deeply. I inhaled it in and snatched it away from him, feeling its deliciousness on my tongue, and then it was inside me. Later, I would regurgitate it into the ocean and let the moment in time be washed away forever.

Another memory rushed through me. Vienna curled up in his arms. They stared at Rathe’s moons. She held up the same shell again, running her fingers along its silver and green veins. Loyalty. Gratitude. More love. I devoured the memory—along with a dozen more of her with the same shell and all the same sappy feelings.

Then I hit the mother lode. Their wedding.

When Vienna first appeared in her white fur cape, I was obliterated. Rownan’s love for her ripped through my heart in a way I didn’t know was possible. Rownan’s feelings were overwhelming. His love for her was so intense, so transcendental. Suns, moons, even the stars would have to move over to make room for such a boundless connection. I could never have fathomed loving someone so profoundly if I hadn’t felt his emotions for myself.

I reared back. As impossible as it was, I pulled my mouth away from Rownan’s.

“I can’t do this.” I stumbled backward, putting distance between us. The urge to take more was so powerful. I had met many humans who were addicted to drugs. I had stolen their songs and got high off their craving and desire. But that desperation and yearning was nothing compared to what Rownan felt for Vienna.

I wanted more. So much more. I hugged myself tightly, fighting the fervor rushing through me.

“Nixie?” Rownan rolled onto his side, scanning the room for me. I backed into the corner, trying to hide in the shadows. His blood and soul tingled on my lips. “Vienna is still part of me. I can’t close my eyes without seeing her.”

“I know.” I wiped my mouth, feeling guilty but also frenzied with hunger at the sight of Rownan’s blood on my palm.

I sank to my knees, spreading my wings and wrapping them around me, cowering in the dark protection of my own feathery walls. Part of me wanted to claw my way out and devour every last drop from him. But another part of me knew what a rare and beautiful bond I would be erasing.

I sank my talons into my thighs, using my own pain to center me and ease my turmoil. Humans. I could leave here and drain as many human men as I wanted. But not Rownan. I had already taken too much from him. So many precious memories. I didn’t even want to regurgitate them. Doing so felt like a waste of such beauty.

My own rapid breaths made the shelter of my wings feel like a sweltering cocoon. I opened my wings and gasped for fresh air.

Rownan was pale, sweating, and trying to crawl toward me. He looked so weak and sick. The room was probably spinning for him; it was already wobbling for me. “Nixie, please. You have no idea what it’s like.”

I crawled toward him, conjuring up strength and willpower I didn’t know I possessed. I lifted his face. His head was so heavy. The blood dripping down his chin made my mouth water, but I resisted. “I know, Rownan. But I can’t take any more from you. You have to keep all that love you feel for her.”

“No,” he murmured. Tears streamed from his eyes and ran down my thumbs.

“Yes,” I told him. “You’re still going to Harte.”

His head shook as his teary red eyes met mine. “I can’t pass through the gate. I can’t save her.”

I smiled in spite of all the blood and tears. “They found another way in.”

At first he didn’t react. Then, as my words registered, his eyes widened and focused on mine. “What?”

“Sober up, Rownan. You’re in for the fight of your life. And you better not fail.”

“No more drinking alcohol,” Treygan told me. “At all.”

I sipped the god-awful concoction Yara had made to help me with my hangover. “I’m not stupid.” I took another sip and gagged. “Seriously, what am I drinking?”

Yara smirked. “You don’t want to know. But the Violets said it will help, so choke it down.”

“I still don’t understand why Nixie didn’t take more alcohol out of your system.” Treygan sat beside me. “You shouldn’t be feeling this bad.”

Only Nixie and I knew why she didn’t keep drinking from me. After she told me about the Devil’s Triangle, she couldn’t get away from me fast enough. She was feeling the effects of the liquor in my blood. She was worried she wouldn’t be able to control her desire to steal more of my songs. She had told me they were a rare commodity, and then she was gone.

Nixie had always been more level-headed then Otabia and Mariza, but the restraint she had shown in such a tempting situation left me forever in her debt.

“She did all she could.” I took another sip. “I drank so much I should be dead right now.”

“Very responsible of you,” Treygan said. His sarcasm was the last thing my pounding head needed.

“You might have done the same if it was Yara trapped in hell and you thought you’d never see her again.” I didn’t look up, but I was sure Yara and Treygan were exchanging glances and agreeing. I had a valid point. “Love isn’t responsible. Love can make you the strongest you’ve ever been, or it can shatter you into useless pieces.”

“No argument there.” Yara leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table. “Are you feeling well enough to discuss our game plan?”

I nodded, then gripped the edge of the table to stop the room from spinning.

“The gate only opens when certain factors align.” Yara rambled on about the moon and tides, but it all sounded like screeching static until she said, “The next time it opens is three days from now.”

Three more days without Vienna. “That’s too long.”

Treygan smirked. “Do you know how fortunate you are that it’s opening so soon? The last time it opened was eighteen months ago. After this time, it probably won’t happen again for another eighteen months. Imagine if you had to wait that long.”

“I’d rip the bitch open and claw my way in.”

“Ambitious thought.” Yara leaned back and kicked her feet up, resting them on the table. “But I don’t think you could pull the moon closer to Earth, rip open the ocean, and claw your way into a portal that only exists when the heavens perfectly align.”

“I’d find a way.”

“You can’t even find the strength to chug that drink.” Yara laughed. “Come on, Hercules, we don’t have much time. You ready to start training?”

I rolled my eyes. “Don’t call me Hercules.”

Treygan grinned and opened his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. “If you make an Achilles heel joke I will throw this drink in your annoyingly happy face.”

He put his hands up in surrender. “We all have weaknesses.”

I reached out, resting my hand on top of Yara’s. “Thank you. For not giving up
on Vienna. For finding another way in.”

 
She smiled. “Thank your father and Koraline.”

~

Treygan and I worked on our tracking skills. Shadowing was the one gorgon trait that we shared. Yara flew one of us farther away each time we practiced. She started out planting us in people’s homes so we’d have company while we waited to be found, but it progressed to hiding us in caves, inside the trunks of trees, or in the deepest canyons of Rathe’s ocean.

During our last round of hide-and-seek it took Treygan hours to track me. Yara refused to tell him where I was. He finally found me in an underwater crevasse in the bedrock of Pontus Glacier.

He shook me awake.
Come on, I’m so cold I can’t feel my fins.

Took you long enough.

Do you know how many glaciers I had to search? They all look the same.
His skin was covered with goose bumps.
And my brain doesn’t work so well with icicles forming around it.

We swam out of the crevasse together and into open water.

What if Harte is one big world of ice?
I asked.
We need to anticipate anything and everything.

Yara is way ahead of you. The Violets are having temperature adjusting suits made for us.

Suits? I’m not wearing a suit. I have my coat. That’s all I need.

So, if Harte is a fiery world of ever-burning flames, your coat will miraculously be fireproof?

I cringed at the thought of burning to death.
Maybe special suits are a good idea.

What was Vienna suffering through? Fire? Deadly beasts? Physical pain? Sh
e’d been in Harte for years. I was pretty sure no one had made her a flame resistant suit. I couldn’t think about all the dreadful possibilities. I had to stay focused.
What other surprises does Yara have in store for us?

She’s working diligently. While we’re out here shadowing each other, she’s making preparations for every worst case scenario.

You’re sure she doesn’t have any shadowing abilities? She’s part gorgon, maybe it’s there but she doesn’t know how to access it.

She keeps trying. She even asked Lloyd to help her, but
he said she’s a mix of too many species. Not quite enough of a gorgon for us to hone in on her.

She has a snake coming out of her skull. How much more gorgon can she get?
All of our shadowing practice had been to help us locate Vienna. And maybe each other if needed, but Yara was the anomaly we couldn’t track.
That’s a shame. It would come in handy if we become separated from her.

Treygan stopped swimming. He did that eerie thing where somehow he kept completely still, even as water flowed all around him. I eyed his fins. Seriously, how was it possible that his fins didn’t even sway?

No matter what happens,
Treygan said,
we cannot separate.

And what happens if we do?

Treygan glared at me.

Hey, I’m just playing devil’s advocate.

We have to stay together at all times. Not just for Yara’s sake, but for ours too.

I
nodded. We swam the rest of the way to the gorgon grotto in silence.

The worry lines had deepened around Treygan’s eyes when we surfaced outside the grotto. I still had time to talk Yara and Treygan out of going with me. As much as I’d appreciate help finding Vienna, and as scared as I was to go alone, I didn’t want Yara and Treygan risking everything.

“What do you think about us going through the Devil’s Triangle?” I asked him.

Treygan shrugged. “How we get to Harte makes no difference.”

“You know the stories as well as I do. Lloyd warned us about the Hoodoo Sea.”

Treygan raised himself onto a rock and sat. “He also warned us not to go to Harte. We’ve never been good at following our father’s advice.”

I chuckled.

Treygan lifted his face toward the side of Rathe where Medusa’s sunbeams weaved through the sky. “Lloyd wants us to visit him so he can tell us everything he knows about Harte.”

“Won’t that be considered meddling?”

“Probably.”

“He’s on his last leg. If he tells us anything else, it might kill him.”

Treygan looked down at his half-submerged tail. His jaw tensed. “I argued the same thing, but he says it’s worth the risk.”

“What could he possibly tell us? Hardly anything is known about Harte.”

“Do you remember the story about the one soul who visited Harte and lived to tell about it?”

“The crazy merman? I’ve heard rumors, but I also heard the guy died a day or two after he returned.”

“Killed himself, actually,” Treygan said. “His soul was too affected. Waking nightmares and hallucinations made him snap. He chose deat
h over living with his memories of hell.”

“That can’t be true.”

“Lloyd says it’s true, and I believe him.”

“How would he know?”

“Haven’t you also heard that the tortured soul only spoke to one gorgon about his time in Harte?”

“Yeah.”

Treygan’s brows rose.

“The gorgon he talked to was our father?”

“The one and only.”

I shook my head. “That man has a knack for finding trouble.”

“Looks like we inherited that from him.”

“I guess we’re visiting dear old dad again.” I drifted backward. “Let’s find Yara.”

Treygan stiffened. “No.”

“No?”

“As much as I don’t agree with it, Lloyd says Yara can’t know. She’ll fight tooth and talons to stop him from meddling.”

Yara loved that man. Maybe even more than Treygan and I did. “What if he does die because of this?”

“He said he’d rather die helping to save you and Vienna than live and watch you suffer.”

I raked my fingers over my goatee. Lloyd couldn’t die. Not like this. Not because of me and my stupid mistakes. I couldn’t let that happen. “Sometimes I wish he’d just be the bastard father I accuse him of being.”

“We both know that’s impossible.”