“Patient?” I shrieked. “I think I’ve been patient enough,Henry!” The exhaustion was taking over now. Defeated tears streameddown my cheeks. “I’m tired. I-I’m so freakin’ tired. We have somuch ahead of us still, I was a fool for coming here.”
“You’remany things, but not a fool, Dianna. You’re brave and selfless.You’re everything the world is not. Those men don’t deserve to besaved and, yet, here you are. Risking your life to break theirwretched curse. For nothing in return.”
I plunked downon the floor, deflated and beat. I wanted nothing more than to curlup in bed and sleep for a thousand years. The skim layer of waterthat sat on the deck soaked into my clothes and chilled my skin,but I didn’t care. I didn’t have the strength to stand anymore.Without a word, Henry sat down next to me and then the restfollowed soon afterward. We were all tired, that much was evidentin the way we visibly relaxed. Finn stretched out and lay back onthe blood-stained boards and covered his face with his arm.
I wantedto tell them I was sorry for dragging them across the Atlantic. Iwanted to throw the gem into the sea and tell them to sail TheQueen out of there. But I had no words. So, I sat with them insilence. My eyes fixated on the floor. The way thekraken’s blood leftRorschach shapes soaking into the wood and the how a layer of cleanwater flowed over it. I watched as it moved, the clear substance,twisting and turning. Pooling at my feet as if it were alive. ThenBenjamin’s words rang in my mind like clanging bells. Somethinghe’d told me about his brother…
He jumped onthe water creature and stuffed his hand inside her chest, rippingthe glowing gem from her form and she collapsed into a puddle.
I snappedto attention and eyed the slowly forming puddle of water. It seemedto draw the wetness from all over the ship, compiling it all in onespot in front of me. I opened my palm, revealing the siren’s heart,and it began to pulse once again. The puddle movedcloser as if reachingout.
“It can’tbe…” I whispered in awe.
Henryperked up and looked atme. “What’s wrong?”
I didn’t reply.I was too enthralled in the possibility before me. Amusing myself,I dangled the heart in the air and let it sway back and forth. Thewater mimicked the motion. With aching fingers, I pried open themetal claps that held the gem and freed it from the binds of thenecklace. Carefully, I leaned forward and set the heart down in thepuddle and waited.
The emeraldbegan to glow more than it ever did before, and the tiny body ofwater grew, pulling trickles of the sea up over the sides of theship. We all stared in wonder as a tall shape began to form,resembling that of a person, and the solid appearance of a sirenset before our very eyes.
Similarto that of the siren we’d met on Shellbed Isle, but far more beautiful, the creatureseemed mesmerized by its own appearance. It held its arms out,examining them with admiration, and then cast its giant black eyesto me.
“You,” amelodic voice echoed from all around. “You returned myheart.”
Henry tensedand stood close to my side.
“Yes,that would be me,” I replied. “I was returning it for afriend.”
“Afriend, you say?” The siren was still taking on its solid form.Thick, iridescent scales began to layer its body from the waistdown and the skin of her arms took on a sort of pearl-like texture.Red kelp hung from its head and she took it in her hands, rubbingit between her fingers. “It has been nearly a hundred years sinceI’ve taken form.” Hermouth of pointed shells twisted in anger. “Since my heart wasripped from my chest.”
“I hadnothing to do with that, I assure you,” I told her. “And the manwho did it, Captain Abraham Cook, is dead.”
The creatureappeared interested. “Dead? Then whom is this friend you speakof?”
“Hisbrother, Benjamin Cook,” I replied. “He and the rest of the crewwere unfairly taken under the curse and paid the price they didn’towe.”
“Unfairly?” the siren spat and glided closer to me. Henry’shand shot out and crossed my chest. The creature regarded himcuriously. “They came here together with the same intent. To stealmy heart.”
“No,” Iinsisted. “Only the captain had those intentions. The rest justwanted treasure and were following orders. Please,” I begged her,“They’ve suffered enough. And I’ve come a really long way to returnyour heart.”
My eyes flittedto my friends who stood around us; eager, anxious, but tired. Justlike me. The siren was so hard to read. She was clearly upset,scornful. And rightfully so. But I wasn’t leaving until she liftedthe curse. So, I stood my ground and refused to speak until she didfirst.
Finally, thesea creature stepped forward. “I thank you for your selfless deed,”she paused and grinned wide, “Dianna Cobham.”
I gasped at thesound of my name on her lips. “H-how…”
“I knowmany things,” she added with a bored expression. “Too many things.One of the downfalls of being an immortal. But now, I am completeonce more. I can take form and live on land, should it please me todo so. And for that, Dianna Cobham, I have you tothank.”
My cheeksflushed with blood at the unexpected compliment. “Oh, well, you’rewelcome.”
“So, whatis it you wish for?” the siren asked me. “Riches? Immortality?Eternal beauty?”
I felt stumped.My mind tried to imagine those possibilities. Immortality? Could Ireally ask for that?
“Aye,Lassie,” Finn cut in, “ye get a Siren’s Wish! Ye can ask feranythin’ in the world.”
Henry turned tome. “You can find your mother, Dianna.” His eyes locked onto mine,willing me to keep the wish for myself. To make our next journeyeasier. I imagined reaching England and then using my wish to findmy mother. Or perhaps I should use it to wish Maria would be lockedup in a cell for the rest of her miserable life. Or, better yet.For her death.
I shook thethoughts from my mind. No, I came to the Siren Isles
