My Sisters in Death (Siren Suicides, Book 2)

Chapter 17. Stern Trawler

I can feel her with my skin before I see her. Canosa seems to materialize out of nowhere. Surfacing next to the rowboat, she props herself up on its edge and pops her head close to our ears to deliver her message, grinning, whispering with her usual condescending drawl, "Ailen Bright, my favorite food kisser, I asked you to wait up, didn't I? Was it so hard to do?"

We break the kiss and turn our heads, startled, but there is no time to react, and I'm slow, still enthralled in Hunter's warmth. She grabs the left side of the boat, curls her fingers around its rim, and adds, "But no, you made me follow you for over two hundred miles! All because of some boy!"

She yanks the side of the boat up. I barely have time to register what she's said. The old wooden boards creak with a sodden sigh and we tilt to the right. Our heads bump once mid-air, our gazes cross in that bewildered amusement that precedes a bout of fear. Another second, and we tip, dunking into the freezing ocean water. The boat follows, covering us with darkness.

Every single sound dampens. Water gurgles in my ears and my gills unfold, grateful for the relief, gulping it and siphoning it out on instinct. I flap my arms and legs like mad and turn around to see something I've seen before, only it's not my father now, it's Hunter who's entwined in Canosa's hold, her arms and legs resembling the long white tentacles of an octopus. I almost expect her to expulse ink to make it harder for me to see. No need, the water is dark on its own, dark and thick like plasma brimming with salt. Hunter's face opens into an inaudible scream through the murk. Canosa's hands circle his neck, her fingers closing under his chin to suffocate him. She sports a victorious smile, her mad hair flowing around her shiny body in the crazy halo of a sea monster. I kick toward them and, this time, I know exactly what to do to make her let him go.

She doesn't flinch away, as if she expects my attack. She's confident in her invincibility, as if this is a game for her, to see how I will react, or even, to make me react. I'm now ten feet away from them, now five, now I'm upon them, twisting my body and making a u-turn to position myself directly behind her, away from Hunter's eyes lest he distracts me and causes me to do something stupid.

Canosa spins to face me, but I spin behind her. For a second or two, we spiral into a downward whirlpool, until I sense the perfect moment, her hair trailing around her in a silky helix and exposing her neck. It flashes directly in front of my eyes. I pull the sleeves of my rain jacket over my hands so that the sharp edges of the Velcro closures sit on top of my forefingers, then I raise my arms and stick both fingers into Canosa's gill openings, pressing hard, turning once, feeling the edges of her frayed skin rip.

She utters a high-pitched shriek that pierces me with its agony and travels for yards, scaring ocean life into crevices to hide. I yank my fingers out just in time. She lets go of Hunter, lifting her arms and covering her gills as she bends forward and doubles down. I swim up and push her away by kicking my feet into her temple, doing a somersault, and twisting at the same time, ending up inches in front of Hunter's deathly pale face; his eyes bulge out of their sockets, and bursts of air bubbles are coming out of his nose and mouth.

I press my hand over his mouth and pinch his nostrils. He gets the message and stops exhaling, nodding to me once.

"Hold on!" I yell, not knowing if he can hear my voice underwater or not. He does, immediately reaching and digging his trembling hands into my shoulders. I seize him under his armpits and throw my legs into a speedy scissor kick, creating a powerful stream of water that propels us upward. We're not very deep, perhaps ten feet at best. A few seconds and we breach the tumultuous ocean surface, rolling into waves and gasping for air.

Well, I don't exactly gasp for air, not feeling deprived of oxygen in the least. But out of habit, I act the same way Hunter does and mimic his panic, gulping for air in quick, short inhales and shivering all over.