The Island Curse

Poetic Justice

I'd never moved so fast in the water before, and even knowing we were swimming to my death, I couldn't stop the exhilaration flooding my system. At first, it had been terrifying. Ewan gave no thought to my comfort as he pulled me along. Saltwater flooded my nose and mouth, choking me. He would drown me before I reached Lorelei.

Then, the song grew louder, but now that I was submerged in the sea, it was sweet and lovely. No hint of pain remained behind, and the melody traveled from my shining toes, through my legs, across my abdomen, and settled in my chest, where the notes changed the rhythm of my heartbeat. And the water that poured into my lungs was as satisfying as the ocean breeze.

Within thirty minutes, we reached a familiar place. Ewan slowed, and I jerked my arm free. He didn't reach for me. There was no need. I had nowhere to go.

"Really?" I demanded as I trod water. "Shipwreck Cove?"

"Lorelei has a poetic sense of justice," he replied, pointing a finger to the cliff tops. Water dripped from his raised arm, the inky droplets catching the moonlight as they fell back to the sea, where the light dissolved in the black.

"Because the Halloran Manor is on the hill?"

"No, because she leaped from those cliffs after murdering Jamie. This is where she lost her humanity, and this is where she'll get it back."

His words stole the poison from my next words. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that Lorelei was a victim. Hundreds of years ago, she'd been a simple human girl who was punished for loving the wrong man. That had been her true curse- one I think I understood all too well. She'd been betrayed, but she didn't know the entire truth.

Suddenly, the water churned around us and then a dozen or more heads broke the surface. Directly in front of me was a young man, not much older than Al. Sea-green eyes filled a dark face, and for a moment, he looked as if he would speak, but then he turned and swam to another merrow, his blue and yellow tail spraying water in my face.

Wiping at my face, I looked at the others. Many wore similar looks to the younger merrow, but most had set their jaws in grim determination. While the majority were men, a few women were sprinkled in the mix. Mrs. Rose. Kieran's mother. The two ladies from my shopping trip with Ewan. Did any of them know the truth?

A ripple formed where the green-eyed boy surfaced, and Lorelei appeared before me. My heart clenched. I could see her a hundred times, and I don't think the similarities between her and my mother would stop stealing my breath.

"I didn't think you'd make it that easy," she purred, flipping on her back and raising her tail above the surface.

The moonlight made her scales flash, almost like sunlight across sea-foam. She was a creature of diamond and starlight with hints of indigo night and sunset pink twining through the glitter. But I'd seen her true form below the waves- death and decay. A monster twisted by betrayal.

"I just want to do what's right for everyone," I replied.

She chuckled and rolled to her stomach, dipping below the waves and popping up behind me. Her breath was hot on my ear.

"Why do you think I designed the curse this way? To take a daughter?"

Her question caught me off guard, and I swiveled my neck to look at her. She was so close our noses brushed.

"A daughter for a daughter?"

She shrugged and trailed a pointed nail across my face. "That's part of it, I suppose. Balancing the scales. But the real reason is that women are sacrificial beings. We give and give and give of ourselves for love. A man would have to be dragged here kicking and screaming, and that just wouldn't do. To break the curse, I need a willing participant."

Murmurs broke out across the crowd. The women touched the men beside them as if to comfort them. Lorelei laughed.

"You can't say it isn't true. Why do you think so many of the men give up their souls to avoid death? They're selfish creatures. Your own father trussed you up like a lamb led to slaughter before you were even born. Not once in centuries, did a single Halloran man offer his life to end the curse."

I glared at her. "Why would they? It wouldn't have done any good."

She grabbed me so fast I didn't even have time to scream before she dragged me underwater. I expected nothing by darkness, but my impending shift must have already changed my eyesight. Everything around us was a glowing turquoise, and I could see Lorelei's rotted face as it drew closer.

Her next words blared inside my head, and her lips didn't move. "It would've changed everything."

Gasping, I kicked my legs to put distance between us, but the dress I still wore was so heavy, making me clumsy and awkward with my human limbs. I tugged on the straps of the gown, pushing it off my body until I was free. My hair billowed around my face in a rust-colored cloud, and I pushed it out of my face to see better. Lorelei watched me a hungry smile.

"Y-y-yo." Each attempt to speak turned into a soundless bubble. The siren tapped her forehead, and I directed my thoughts at her. "You don't know the entire truth."

She rolled her eyes, but then she froze, her gaze freezing on my lower half. I looked down. Scales covered my entire right leg. They were not chrome like my father's, or copper like Niamh's. Instead, they were a blaze of starlight and pearl, with ribbons of gold and indigo around my waist. A perfect blend of my mother's tail, and the woman's before me.

"It would seem you are right," Lorelei said, a strange softness creeping through her normally harsh tones.

She reached for me, but someone hooked their arms under my armpits and shot to the surface. I spluttered and coughed, not accustomed to the swapping between breathing water to air.

"Isla, are you okay?"

"Dad!" I resisted the urge to throw my arms around him. He was as much of an enemy as Lorelei.

"What is the meaning of this?" Lorelei asked, rejoining us.

"That's what I'd like to know," Dylan spit out. His blue eyes flashed with anger. "You aren't supposed to toy with her. Break the curse and be gone."

"So eager." The siren regarded me with confusion. "Who is this child's mother? You never said."

"What does that have anything to do with this?"

"I own your soul, which means you answer to me. Who is her mother?"

Dylan clamped his lips shut. I sank lower in the water to hide any scales that might be forming on my upper body, but I hissed as water splashed over my shoulder. Turning my head to the side, I looked down to see blood dripping from a gash.

"Looks like your dad nicked you." Ewan frowned and pulled a sliver of silver from my arm. Blood poured from the wound more freely. "Don't worry. You'll heal quickly in the saltwater."

I nodded, knowing this from my experiences in the pool, but I couldn't pull my eyes from the blood. On my skin, it was the same red as always. Human. But once it hit the ocean, it turned into a sterling trail as it floated away, not fading or dissolving.

"Well, that's different," Ewan said, turning his head to the side before locking suspicious eyes on me.

"All Merrow don't bleed like that?"

"Isla- don't play coy."

"I'm not. I know nothing about this."

"What was in that potion?"

The potion. Could that be why? And to what purpose? I opened my mouth to call him foolish and then doubled over in pain. A fire flared in my blood. I cried out as it grew in intensity, burning brightest in my thighs.

"Lorelei!" Ewan shouted, cradling me in his arms just as I started to go under, unable to keep my head above water as agony overwhelmed me.

The siren stopped arguing with Dylan. No smile graced her lips, and she sounded almost bitter as she whispered, "It's time."