It’s now that I see an outline of something in the shape of a Mundane, but quickly discover otherwise. While it has hands, the moment its arms are stretched, there are no fingers, but webbed fins.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
As she approaches the bars, her hand wraps around them. “You can talk; I’ve placed a little friend in your throat.”
I immediately swallow, feeling something large lodged in the center of my throat. It’s like a thick mucus, and no matter how hard I try, it refuses to move.
Her long, black hair flows weightlessly above her, gracefully moving with the current. Her piercing yellow eyes are slanted like a snake’s. “Go on,” she urges, her voice a soft command. She’s close enough that I can see the sharp teeth glimmer in her mouth before she closes her lips.
“I thought your kind were extinct.” Water pours into my mouth, but it never reaches the back of my tongue. It’s as if some instinctual reflex has taken over, sealing my throat without conscious thought.
“I could say the same about your kind.”
Her eyes are at my chest, and when I follow her gaze downward, my bare breasts and body are out for her to see.
What is she looking at?She can’t be seriously checking me out in my current situation.
“You are in quite the predicament, Succubus.” She does a spin, and I track her movements. Her tail, resembling that of a dolphin, but adorned with an array of vibrant colors, flickers in the dark abyss. It’s like it has its own bioluminescent features.
“You don’t say…” Never do I hide my sarcasm, but this time I forcefully put emphasis behind it.
She grins, those jagged teeth fitting perfectly together. “I tried to break through your bars.” She tugs on them weakly. “But alas, it would appear these are from the Beyond, forged from Netherpyre. How inconvenient…”
“What do you want?” I need to die. I want to be back where Kairhyse was.
“Oh, you know…” She swirls again, and for a brief moment, I catch a glimpse of her back. A mold-like green growth creeps up her spine, but I can’t see long enough to gauge how far it has spread. “What do any of us Sirens want?”
I drop my head back, and awkwardly use my elbows to grab the chains, dragging myself down to my knees. “The answer is no. Let me die.”
“What need do you have for it?” She hisses through the façade of playfulness she’d been trying to put forth.
“It isn’t yours.”
“It’s yours to give away, woman.”
“No, it isn’t even mine.” Digging my knees into the sand, I get deep enough to where I can release the chain.
She hisses. “You’ll waste it!”
“It isn’t yours!” I scream. “Remove thisthingfrom my throat and fuck right off, Siren!”
A loud screech erupts from her throat as she shrieks. “Selfish! Your kind have always been so fucking selfish. You deserve to be here. Continue to suffer, filthy bitch.”
Closing my eyes, I exhale fully and open my mouth. The sensation of something brushing past my tonsils nearly makes me gag, but it’s quickly overwhelmed by the rush of water pouring into my throat.
You can’t have it…
It’s not even mine to give…
Chapter 15
Kairhyse
Twenty days later
Buzz. Buzz.
The single piece of ice swirls around in the last swig of my whiskey as the dozen or so buzzes from my phone go unanswered. I know it’s Sydni, trying to track me down, but I can’t be near anyone important right now.
