I marched past the boys to the railing closest to the beast and yelled as loud as I could, “Shut up!”
The stinking bird-woman never even paused her singing. I frowned, searching the boat for something to throw at it. But I knew the idea was futile, as the thing was much too far away.
The boat lurched, and I grabbed the railing to keep from falling backward. I spun around, worried. None of the boys had fallen, their feet were still planted firmly upon the rough-hewn boards of the ship floor. The boat was no longer moving. After glancing on the side opposite the siren, I found we’d run aground on a sandbar about fifty meters from the island on our right. At least it was better than being crashed on the rocks. I glared at my catatonic friends.
This was really irritating me.
How could they so easily fall under the spell of that siren? I stepped up to Declan, putting as much suggestion into my voice as possible and ordered him. “Declan. Wake up. Look at me.”
My power of suggestion usually got others to do what I ordered, which I discovered was a part of the power of a Fae queen. I couldn’t make people do what they didn’t want to do. Because Declan didn’t move from his trance, did it mean that he didn’t want to wake up, and didn’t want to look at me? I frowned. Or maybe the siren’s power was just stronger than mine.
I frowned again, pulled a silver knife from the holster on Declan’s thigh and turned toward the siren. My fist clenched over the hilt of the dagger in my hand so hard, my knuckles turned pale.
Anger welled through me. That monster on the rocks had my friends in a trance I couldn’t break. I couldn’t just sit here and do nothing.
Chapter 5
Dagger in hand, I hopped down from the raised platform where my friends remained still as stone. Then I charged toward the side of the ship where the siren continued to wail. I huffed. The irritating song didn’t have much appeal to me. It truly did sound like nails on a chalkboard.
The clear water below showed the sandy floor beneath. Even with the diffraction of light to the bottom, I would estimate the water to barely be below the hull of the ship. It wasn’t deep enough for the boat to pass through this close to the sandbar. Too deep for me to wade in, though.
The siren sat about a hundred and fifty yards from me, a football field and a half. Taking up almost the whole straight on the way to her, the whirlpool seemed impassable.
If I could change the weather, could I change these conditions?
I glanced up at the clear blue sky overhead, framed in dark cloud at the edges of the circle of sky. The siren didn’t even need to draw breath between stanzas of the song. Her chest heaved with each note and her eyes were fixed on our ship. To stop the siren I’d have to get through the whirlpool. The dagger warmed in my grip, the silver glinting in the sunlight.
I’d never killed an animal before.
The thought of it made me sick to my stomach. Maybe I could scare it off somehow. If I had power over the water, could I cause a wave to knock it off its perch on the rocks?
It was worth a try.
I closed my eyes again, imagining a wave forming in the whirlpool. Not too big, but enough to cover the bird woman and push her into the water. The boat listed toward the whirlpool.
My eyes snapped open. The wave I created pulled at the water on the side of the ship and moved toward the whirlpool. It gathered more water from the whirlpool and grew in height, blocking my view of the bird-woman. The wave moved forward with the force of my hand and I felt as though I pushed it toward her. It crashed against the small outcropping, leaving the rocks bare.
I smiled when I couldn’t find the siren. Then I realized, the song continued. The siren had flown up past the top of the wave, and lighted again on the center of the rock island.
I crumpled toward the floor of the ship in defeat, my back against the railing of the boat. The silver knife I’d been holding clattered to the floorboards. Could I even kill the beast if I could reach her? If I thought of her as monster instead of human or animal, morally, it began to assuage my guilt.
But how would I get within stabbing distance? And if I got close enough, wouldn’t it just fly away again?
If only I had a gun.
I huffed. What would I do with a gun? I didn’t even know how to shoot one.
Purpose and knowledge. I glanced down once more at the dagger. If I had control of the water and the weather, and caused the earthquake the way Kyle said I did, would I really have control of all the elements? Could I use the dagger as a bullet and push it toward the bird with the wind?
I could purpose it and imagine it.
I stood up once more, dagger in hand.
Would my aim be any good? I held it in my flat palm and looked across to the door which led below deck. I imagined my breath gaining power from the air around me, strong enough to lift the dagger from my hand and fast enough to push it into the door. I held my palm to my face, willing the conditions of the air and then blew the dagger as though it were a feather in my hand.
It flew across the ship deck and slammed into the wooden door, burying itself in about an inch and a half.
I smiled and ran over to retrieve the knife. It took a bit of tugging and wiggling back and forth to get it
