Page 4 of The Scent of Salt & Sand

“Traveling to the Mortal Realm is dangerous, but what happened to your mom doesn’t happen often. Plus, I’ll be there to protect you.”

“Promise?”

“Definitely.” She stood and offered Melody her hand. “Now, let’s go tell the others the good news. It’ll make you feel better.”

She followed Harmony and Allegra as they found each girl and told her she had been chosen to go above. They squealed and laughed and hugged. But Melody felt hollow.

• • •

“Is everyone ready?” Harmony threw up her arms and cheered.

Melody bounced between the girls sandwiched next to her as they gaily whooped and hopped up and down. She forced aside the dread swelling within her and clapped softly.

“Okay, okay.” Harmony held a finger in front of her lips. “Just a bit more housekeeping, and then we’ll get in the water.” She stepped back, clearing room on the invisible stage for the woman who’d been lurking in the background.

Rhapsody stepped forward. Her predatory gaze swept over the row of young Sirens. “I have chosen well.” Her smile was stiff, forced. “It seems all my girls are excited to seize their birthright. Well, most of you.” Her eyes flicked to Melody. “To any who might be afraid”—Rhapsody snarled at the word—“I assure you that will slip away the moment a human is under your control. You fear the unknown, not the acts you are to perform. Those are innate, instinct.”

Melody stepped further back in line, trying to escape Rhapsody’s fiery glances.

“Find a suitable genetic specimen, obtain his seed, exterminate him, and repeat until it’s time for you to return to Tartarus. Listen to your Caretaker”—she motioned to Harmony, who stepped up to join her—“and make us proud.”

Harmony led a short applause. “Now it’s time to make the journey. I’ll channel the power of the Omphalos, which will allow us passage to the seas of the human world.”

Linked to the sacred city of Delphi and the all-consuming power of the Titans, the Omphalos’s magic remained unmatched even after the Titans were jailed and the new god, Apollo, smote the great stone. This god of the oracles scattered the stone’s remnants around the Mortal Realm in an attempt to hide them from the primeval deities who could use those pieces to gain power if they were ever to escape the great prison within Tartarus.

Each of Melody’s tutors had a different story of how Rhapsody found the sacred stone, but the truth was a secret only Rhapsody knew.

“You all know the potential danger, so keep your eyes open and stay together.” Harmony bounced as she spoke. “What are you waiting for? Get in the water, and dive to the deepest section of the pool. As soon as you’re all in, I’ll join you and we’ll be on our way.”

Everyone leaped into the water. Everyone except Melody. She stood frozen on the shore.

“Your mom talked about this day from the moment you were born.” Harmony took her hand, guiding her slowly into the waves. “She would be so happy to see you here, about to make your first journey.”

Together they slipped under the surface and cut through the water to meet the others. The school of Sirens continued to swim deeper and deeper until Tartarus’s light no longer pierced the vast blue. Bright white sliced through the bleak depths, and Harmony ushered them into the warm rays. Melody slowed and let her sisters swim through the tear between realms, terrified she wouldn’t make it through to the other side. When she could no longer see the kicking legs of the final Siren, she set her jaw and charged through the break. The waves were more forceful on the other side. They pulled and pushed her body as she struggled to fit with the new, wilder rhythm. She relaxed a bit, seeing her sisters struggle to merge with the ocean’s tireless ebb and flow. Fighting against it wouldn’t work. Instead, she melted into the waves, and stretched out her fingers and toes, pulling the thin webbing taut. At ease in the savage flow, she closed her hands and took in the foreign ocean.

A ghostly figure bounced off a couple of the girls, unnoticed by them. Melody watched the strange specter navigate the waters with precision.

“Har—” Melody started to call out, to warn Harmony and the others, but the shadow bolted toward her. She tried to swim away, but hadn’t found her stride in the choppy waters.

Fear clawed at Melody’s chest as she bucked and kicked against the dense, dark mass. She opened her mouth to scream, but warm water filled the void and surged down her throat.

Please! A woman’s voice, small and frightened, echoed through the water around her. I need your help.

Warmth continued down her throat, seeping into her core, electrifying her limbs until they shot out from her trunk, strong and solid like the points of a star.

This was it. The end. Her mom must have also heard that same small voice right before she met her death.

Please. You have to help me.

The words echoed between her ears. Inside her.

Blurry hands reached out to her, and her arms listlessly floated to meet them. They wrapped around her wrists and yanked her forward. She breached the surface. Cool air caressed her skin. And then she saw the sun. She squinted. Arietta was right. The light in Tartarus in no way compared to the glorious yellow orb floating in its own sea of cloudless blue.

“You nearly scared the pee out of me!” Dot said, her wide eyes searching Melody’s. “Sorry I yanked you out of the water like that. I thought you were dead.”

Melody’s arms and legs ceased trembling, and she let go of Dot’s forearms to tread next to her. “I thought I was too.”

Dot nodded. “That was a rough swim, but at least we’re here now.” She sniffed the air. “You smell that?”