Page 42 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

“Bad,” Astraios said, eyes widening at the blue glow of my hands. “We’ll be under in minutes.”

“I can give you a little more time,” I said, soothing the angry currents and lulling them into complacency. “Enough for you to get everyone off the ship.”

“We go, then,” Caspian said reluctantly, clearly torn about abandoning the vessel. “Get everyone out and lead them home.”

“I’ll take her,” Astraios offered, holding out an arm for me. “You’re hurt.”

“I need to be on deck to hold back the sea,” I protested, pushing away from both of the males. This wasn’t strictly true. I had no idea if I could control the seas from the sky. But my heart made a panicked little leap at the idea of leaving Caspian behind.

Caspian nodded, oblivious to my internal struggle. “Get everyone else off,” he ordered, flaring his wings to show the oozing wound from the spear already closing over. “You and Zephyr get them home. We’ll be right behind you.”

“What about the selkies?” Astraios asked, eyes darting to the fleeing forms of the warriors who had underestimated the sirens and the sea so disastrously. “We should send her with them, Cas. This isn’t worth it.”

“That’s not the plan, and you know it,” Caspian growled, steadying me with a large hand on my hip as the ship lurched again.

“I’m not leaving,” I agreed fiercely, still not entirely sure why Ihadn’ttaken the opportunity of all the chaos to flee. Obviously, being eaten by a giant sea creature wasn’t an appealing fate, but there had been time before when I could have made a swim for it.

Except you didn’t want to leave him, whispered a small, traitorous voice in the back of my mind.

“Go,” Caspian bellowed. “That’s an order!”

Astraios nodded uncertainly, launching into the air and shouting orders down at the crew who were attacking the tentacles now with vigor. The song died, an ethereal echo in the night as, one by one, sirens launched into the air. A renewed thunderous roar from the sea monster told me he knew he was losing his meal.

“Time to go, Urchin,” Caspian shouted, as the last of the sirens launched into the sky. The ship lurched again as Caspian scooped me into his arms, and I could feel the air rising as he used his magic to push us into the sky.

I lost my grip on the sea as my feet left the deck, and water began to flood the ship again. The exhilaration of flying almost distracted me from the tableau below. The Argo began to sink, lost to the abyss as the kraken pulled it under in a rage.

With a pang, I realized the pearl comb would be lost too. It made me strangely sad.

“You were right,” I wheezed, suddenly exhausted by the use of so much magic. I felt unpleasantly frail as Caspian soared away from the wreckage, his wings beating against the sky. The exertion reopened his wound, blood slowly dripping into the darkness below. “There are worse things than you in this sea. Are you alright?”

Caspian grunted, but didn’t reply. I looked up to see that his face had turned ashen, his normally warm skin cold to the touch.

“Seas below, you’re not,” I said, measuring the distance between us and the sea. Were we descending? The other sirens seemed to be getting farther and farther away by the second, and Caspian shuddered as we dipped even lower.

“I’m not,” he agreed, his face pale in the moonlight. “I need you to listen carefully, Marina. I’m about to pass out. We are going to hit the water hard. You need to relax and try to land feet first. Then swim as fast as you can and head for land. Do you understand?”

“What?” I squealed, panic rising as we dipped again, Caspian’s face going gray. There was no land in sight, and I had barely any magic left. I thrashed, panic over my imminent drowning taking hold.

Caspian squeezed me, a silent command for me to still. His gold eyes met mine, the light dimming in them. “You can do this. Leave me, and swim to the closest shore,” he said, the words slurring as he wavered again in the air. He grimaced, clearly fighting to stay conscious. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you.”

And then I was falling, the sea rushing up to meet me.

Chapter 15

Caspian’sbodyfellawayfrom mine in slow motion, his wings wrenching back as consciousness left him. I tried to scream, to call for Zephyr or Astraios or anyone to hear me and reach us, but the sound was swallowed by the sea as I crashed into it.

Caspian had maneuvered me so that I had indeed landed feet first. The landing jarred my bones, but I didn’t feel any break as my legs flailed, my tail emerging of its own free will in the cold salt water.

The sea pulled me down for a moment, and the terror of drowning threatened to consume me as I descended into the cold and dark. Golden eyes swam in my mind’s eye, and I pushed myself back to the surface with a flap of my fin, my head fuzzy and body aching.

I stripped off the nightgown when I hit the surface. It was freezing, but the fabric wasn’t much protection against the cold anyway, and the weight was dragging me down. I watched as it was swallowed by the sea, then turned my attention to hunting for Caspian.

He told me to leave him, but I knew I couldn’t. Not just because his death would weigh on me, but because he had saved me. And he had been kind. And he was injured.

And I wanted him.

He must have crashed into the water at the same time as I did, but I didn’t see him floating on the surface. The weight of his wings would surely drag him under, and I dove to search for him. My eyes adjusted to the dark water as I scoured the depths, hunting for a glint of white feather or silver hair.