Page 88 of A Yulean Sister’s Guide to Getting Kidnapped

He looked at me, waiting for me to continue. I downed the rest of my glass of wine, needing something to muster up the courage. I never talked about this to anyone outside of my family before. And even then, I had never been truly honest about it.

“When I was a child, we used to go to the beach every year in the summer,” I started. “It was the best family vacation ever. Sorcha would help me build sandcastles and Sybil helped me learn to read out on that beach.” I couldn’t help the slight smile that came to my lips, thinking about such fond memories.

“One year, when we were there, I walked to the edge of the peninsula by myself. My mothers had warned me to stay close, but I could still see them even if they were just a spec to me at that point.”

Though I wasn’t looking at him, Adrian’s eyes bore a hole into the side of my head as I talked, obviously hanging on my every word. Which for some reason, made me even more nervous. It might have been better if he didn’t care at all.

“Anyway,” I continued. “When I reached the edge and dipped my feet into the water, it was like all the sand beneath me was sucked away, and I disappeared beneath the surface without another moment’s thought.

“I couldn’t breathe, obviously I was underwater. I was sure I was going to drown. I tried to swim up, or down, any direction just to free myself but it was no use. I just kept sinking lower and lower and lower…”

I could feel myself hyperventilating, getting worked up over just telling the story. He must have thought I was an idiot.

“Flower,” he said, the unusual nickname pulling me from my spiral. He had pulled my chair out and was now in front of me with both hands on my shoulders, the warmth reminding me I was in fact not sinking to the bottom of the ocean. I was here, with him.

“It’s alright,” he said. “I’m right here.”

That kind of assurance and platitude had never done much before. But something about how grounding and comforting he was helped. I took a couple steady, deep breaths, and then continued.

“I knew at that point I should have been long dead. I’d been under the water for too long. I tried to scream, to get any attention for help but nobody came. Until I saw her.”

She was so clear in my mind. “The siren who found me was beautiful, no question about it. Her long green hair danced in the water around her. The scales on her face dotted around, leading down to her arms over her stomach until turning into a full tail at the bottom.

“I was pretty sure she said something, but I couldn’t understand her. She came towards me, I instinctually tried to back away, but it was no use. She grabbed me, wrapping the necklace around me, and swam away.

“I don’t remember much after that. I woke up on the beach sputtering water with my whole family around me. I haven’t been to the ocean since.”

I glanced up at Adrian, trying to gauge his expression. Absently, I fumbled my necklace between my fingers.

“It feels like a curse sometimes,” I said. I never admitted that part aloud, not even to myself. “But it’s also a little comforting, always knowing it’ll be there.”

The captain swallowed deeply. “I can understand the hatred of the ocean now.”

A sputtering laugh came from my lips. “Yeah, you could say that. I used to love it though; it was something I looked forward to every year. The feeling of the water on my skin, the sand between my toes.”

I hadn’t really allowed myself to think about it too much before. But I felt a little nostalgic for it all of a sudden.

“Well that’s my sob story,” I said with a bit of false pity in my tone. “I know much worse things happen to a lot of people. And I live a charmed life otherwise, I shouldn’t get so caught up in⁠—”

“You’re not being fair,” he said, interrupting me.

I scrunched my brows. “What?”

“Everyone has their own shit they go through,” he said, gesturing his hands in a circle for emphasis. “And it affects people in different ways. You shouldn’t belittle your own trauma just because it feels like it could have been worse. Anything could be worse.”

“I guess I never thought about it like that.”

The barmaid came over and refilled our glasses, which I appreciated at that point. Adrian had coiled back down, but was now next to me rather than across, which I couldn’t say I minded.

“Would you like to try again?”

“What?”

“To get in the ocean.”

I sputtered into my drink, choking on the sip I took. “Absolutely not.”

“It could be fun,” he said.