The Island Curse

Escape

'A daughter in exchange for a daughter.'

'When word got back to us that you'd had a daughter, why we just couldn't believe it."

'Yer a girl.'

My face pressed into my palms. I'd known their fascination with me being a girl was odd, but I'd brushed it aside. After all, I was the first girl born to the Hallorans in centuries. No wonder they were surprised. Turns out, that was only part of it. Everyone had been biding their time, waiting for me to be trussed up like a prize pig and handed off to the Siren who made their life hell.

'A cursed place this is. Wretched are our souls.'

I jolted as Leslie's first words to me came rushing back. Of all the people on the Island, Branna and Leslie Goode were the only ones who'd tried to warn me. Why? What did they have to gain from my salvation? Or, perhaps, they only wished to ease the stain of guilt from the consciences?

Either way, I needed to speak to them.

At the front door, I paused. Dad wasn't home. To my knowledge, he hadn't been home since the night before, though, I supposed there was a very good chance he'd tried to call me. My phone was dead after multiple dunks in the ocean. He could be searching the Island for me, but I doubted it. As much as Kieran's admission had hurt, my father's betrayal was far more painful, a searing pain in my bones that wouldn't recede.

Stuffing my feet into a pair of hunter boots, I zipped up the heaviest jacket I could find despite the mild temperatures outside. The walk to town was long, my body ached, and with the mercurial nature of the Island, a sudden rainstorm wasn't out of the question. Better to be over prepared than under.

Unlike my walks before, I didn't bother to admire the passing scenery. None of it held any pleasure for my senses. I was too distrustful, too certain the beauty hid danger, and I wouldn't be lured in again. But without the Island's flora and fauna to distract me, I was a captive to my tumultuous thoughts.

"What is that supposed to mean?" I demanded, "a daughter for a daughter?"

Kieran reached for me, but I stepped away. "She promised the curse would be lifted if the Hallorans sacrificed a daughter to her."

"Sacrificed?" Images of altars and blood cascaded through my mind, stealing the air from my lungs.

"Not like that. She wants yer legs. She wants to walk again."

"So, what? You all just planned to hand me over to her? My freedom in exchange for yours?"

The boy before me groaned, pulling the ends of his hair. "It was different when you were just some faceless person. Once I got to know you, I knew I couldn't do it."

"So why not just give me to Lorelei the moment I stepped on the Island?"

"It doesn't work like that," he explained as he paced in front of the windows. The sea glass on the walls flickered in the shadows he cast. "Merrow don't shift into their sea forms until they turn seventeen."

"Did Al just turn seventeen?"

"Tara too. But the curse doesn't affect the girls, not the same way it does the boys. They can shift, even if they can't go far from the Island. But for us, not being able to assume our mer forms can be lethal. It's why so many choose to give their souls to Lorelei. It's not just about giving up the ocean; it's about saving our lives."

"Al said he wouldn't survive because he wasn't a green."

"Which is stupid!" Kieran shouted, slamming a fist into the wall. When he pulled his hand away, a smear of blood muted the shine of the mermaid tears, and I saw the slice across his knuckles.