Page 73 of A Reckless Indulgence

Lyx doesn’t realize how close she’s gotten to the ledge. Rocks dig into her bare feet, her fingernails imprinting on her palm. Lightning rips across the sky. It scatters over Mollo’s face, the corners of her smile sharp as two daggers while her tail weaves like a snake.

Lyx can take her on. Mollo may be faster with vicious teeth, but Lyx sees red. She braces to dive into the water, knees bent and arms outstretched –

But something appears outside the cave. It’s a massive shape against the fog, a dark mass floating atop the water.

A ship, headed straight toward the grotto.

Lyx’s chest tightens. Only one person knows about this place. Only one person would be foolish enough to return here.

Cav.

She should be furious. She told him to stay away, but when her teeth dig into her lip, she realizes she’s smiling. Her body feels light when she lifts onto her toes, opening her mouth to shout a warning —

But this ship is bigger than she expected. Surely this is too much for one person to handle. Figures appear on the deck. Lyx’s eyes dart from one face to another, but Cav is not among them. She swallows thickly. This isn’t right. All the men on the ship look gleeful and hungry, staring directly at her.

Mollo ducks beneath the waves, and Lyx’s feet slice on shells as she dives. She breaks into the water, body straining back into its siren form. Her flailing legs unravel into tentacles. She swims with all her might and plunges deeper.

The ship hull looms beneath the water. Something splashes down beside her, stretching wider until she recognizes the crisscross of netting. Her gills flutter as she scrambles toward the ocean floor. One of her tentacles tangles in the net, wrapped as tightly as the panic in her throat. She claws to free herself, but the rope surrounds her on all sides, cinching shut and rushing toward the surface.

The muffle of the ocean is shattered when she breaks through to the air. Thunder rolls into cheers from the men. Both Lyx’s gills and lungs splutter for breath, body contorting to find the proper form.

Beside her, Mollo swings in her own net. “Release us!” she screeches, lunging toward the deck. Her siren song permeates the air. She searches wildly for Lyx. “Lend me your song, sister.”

She’s right. The persuasion will be more powerful with the two of them. Lyx hisses. “Release us!”

The words dry up in Lyx’s mouth. Light glints off Mollo’s necklace, but she looks just as disturbed as Lyx. There are no glassy eyes or desperation. Their songs have no effect. Twenty pirates sneer back at them, inspecting their catch.

The mob parts to allow their captain through. His eyes are calculating beneath the clean brim of his hat, bringing out the barest hint of blue to his pale skin. He saunters toward the railing with a rolled parchment and sets a ruffled blade of grass between his teeth. “Do you think this is our first day on the water?”

Lyx’s heart plummets. Siren’s tongue. These pirates are immune to their magic. Terror fills her throat, like her very song has been ripped away. She tries to steady her breathing. This is what happens to sirens. They’re captured. They feed. They fight their way back to the sea.

But Lyx has never been trapped like this.

The captain unrolls the parchment and spreads it against the railing. It’s a map covered in scribbled question marks and scratched out islands, references and page numbers jotted near the key at the bottom. The captain walks his fingers through the printed water toward a frantic circle around the rocky grotto near the map’s edge. “That chatty dragon knew exactly where you’d be.”

The betrayal leaves her entire body cold. Cav told them? He drew them a map? Any hope she’d felt for his return now sickens her, leaving her stomach churning in its wake.

And she’d thought he was a foolish one.

Mollo jerks at her netting. “You don’t want us.”

The captain tips back his head and laughs. It’s a howl that spreads through the rest of the crew, and Lyx wants to scream, to tear out their vocal cords, to slash them down to the quick.

“You know what they say about a siren on a ship,” Mollo interrupts and licks her lips. “Angers the ocean. Brings nothing but treachery and misery.”

The captain’s gaze follows her tongue. “I’ll take my chances.”

This time, the crew’s chuckles are driven away by Mollo’s lazy smirk. “Of course. Who wouldn’t want to risk their ship? Their crew? Their life?”

The captain’s eyes narrow. Behind him, a hush falls over the other men.

Lyx’s body buzzes. It’s chilling how at ease Mollo looks lounging back in her net when she speaks. “Surely two sirens in close quarters wouldn’t conspire. Surely they wouldn’t escape, or worse…return for revenge.”

Lightning strikes behind her. The air sizzles. The crew tries to hide the way they shift toward each other, but the captain doesn’t move.

“Sirens are vengeful creatures,” Mollo purrs. “There are depths to the sea you’ve never imagined. There is cold you couldn’t fathom. A pain your mind could never comprehend — and that’s just what we save for our favorite captors.”

The captain’s eyes give nothing away, but his teeth grind together, hands flexing at his sides. Lyx clutches the net and holds her breath.