Arms reached for us as I walked across the bridge. Fingers of bone curled around my ankles and grasped at my clothes.
Laila buried her face in my neck and held on tight while I forced my way through the bodies that tried to pull us down. Her grip made my injured neck burn, but I welcomed the pain. It was worth it to have Laila’s hands on me.
After a while the bridge turned into a dock as the sand turned to sea. The skeletons didn’t attempt to enter the water. Their fingers slipped away, and it was just Laila and me, the wood under my feet, and the dark blue water spread out before us. I could just barely make out little rowboats in the distance.
Laila lifted her head and looked out at the water that seemed to stretch endlessly. “How do we get across?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “We might have to swim.” I put her back on her feet but kept my hand on her lower back.
She leaned over the edge of the dock, peering at the dark water. It was impossible to see anything underneath the surface. “Okay then. I guess we’re swimming.”
I grasped her hand in mine, interlacing our fingers. “We don’t have to go right away.”
She shook her head. “I’d rather get it over with if you don’t mind. Ripping off the Band-Aid and all that.”
“Okay. On three?”
Her hand tightened on mine and she nodded.
“One. Two. Three.”
We jumped together. The water was warmer than I’d been expecting. The second it closed over my head, the whole sea seemed to light up, the source of the light somewhere below us. I swam for the surface with one hand, my other still holding on to Laila.
My fingers brushed something hard above my head. The surface of the water had created a solid barrier keeping us from getting back to the air.
Shit.
I pounded against the roof of water, already knowing it wasn’t going to do any good. We were trapped.
Laila’s fingers squeezed mine, and I looked toward her. Her green eyes were wide and terrified, but she wasn’t panicking. She pointed down toward where the light was coming from.
I nodded, and we started swimming downward. I sucked in a mouthful of seawater. It burned my lungs and was uncomfortable as fuck, but it wouldn’t kill me or Laila to breathe water. I just wished she didn’t have to.
The closer we got to the bottom of the sea, the brighter it got. There were whole buildings that seemed to be made out of skulls, red seaweed weaving around them and bringing bursts of color to the pillars and arches.
A woman swam out to meet us. From the waist up, she was as beautiful as an angel, with pale skin and light brown hair that floated around her head. Her bikini top seemed to be made of some kind of metal. A tattoo covered one arm from wrist to shoulder. And from the waist down, she had a black mermaid tail. It looked more like dragon hide than fish scales.
“What are you doing here?” Her voice was enchanting, almosttoobeautiful.
“Where is here?” I asked.
“The realm of dead souls,” she answered, looking between Laila and me. “But you did not die at sea. You are very much alive.”
Laila reached out as if to touch the skull nearest to her. “Are they aware?”
“No,” the woman said. “They are what’s left behind after the soul has faded away. When the soul is completely extinguished, their boat sinks and we use their skulls and bones to build our city.”
“Who’s we?” I narrowed my eyes at the woman.
“Myself and the other sirens.”
“Sirens.” I’d never heard Nathaniel talk about there being sirens in Hell. I’d honestly believed they were a myth created by sailors back in ancient times.
“We oversee the waters of this circle as the hounds oversee the land.”
“You make sure no one leaves?” Laila asked.
“We keep order. If anyone is foolish enough to leave this realm, that is their prerogative.”
