The sea went quiet.
Too quiet.
Even the sirens stopped humming, their golden eyes flicking toward the mist as if they sensed something older… and hungrier.
A ripple broke the still water. Then another. Then—
Hook froze, his hand tightening on my shoulder. "Tell me I'm hallucinating, boy."
I squinted over the railing. Through the fog, something pale floated in the black water. A girl.
Her hair fanned out around her like ink spilled in water. Her skin was ghost-pale, almost glowing against the dark tide. She drifted on her back, eyes closed, lips parted in the faintest sigh.
And she wasn't breathing.
Hook swore under his breath."Oh, stars and sharks… it's a corpse. Why is it always a corpse?"
I leaned out before he could stop me.The sea felt different around her.Still.Heavy.As if it was holding her up instead of trying to claim her.
"She's not dead," I said, and I didn't know how I knew. "The ocean wouldn't let her float if she was."
The sirens hissed, circling wider.One whispered, voice like shards of glass."That is not a meal for mortals… that is a warning."
The girl's fingers twitched.Barely.But I saw it.
I grabbed the rope ladder and slid down before Hook could curse me into next week.The black water licked at my skin like smoke and ice.Every instinct screamed bad idea.
But my hand closed around her wrist.
Warm.Alive.
The moment I touched her, the ocean moved.A deep pulse throbbed under the waves, like a heartbeat that didn't belong to me—or her.
The sirens scattered, vanishing into the depths.Even they didn't want to be near her.
Hook leaned over the railing, face pale under his hat."Boy! Either you bring her up, or I'm cutting that ladder! I can feel the sea plotting murder from here!"
I hooked my arm under her shoulders and hauled her against me.She was light.Too light.Her hair tangled in my fingers, slick and cold.
The moment her head touched my chest, her eyes snapped open.
Silver.
Not human silver.Moonlight-in-a-storm silver.
The feather in my hand burned hot enough to sting.And for the first time in years…
I felt seen.
Her silver eyes locked on mine.
Cold. Endless.Like the moon itself had drowned and chosen me as its witness.
Then her body convulsed.
Black water burst from her lips in a choking gasp, splattering against my chest.It smelled like salt and… something older.Like the deep sea had secrets it wanted to spit in my face.
I tightened my grip as she coughed, every tremor jolting through my arms.
Hook leaned so far over the railing I thought he'd fall in."Boy! Is she breathing or cursing you?!"
"Both," I muttered, hauling her toward the ladder.The ocean clung to her like it didn't want to let go.For a heartbeat, I swore I saw shadows curl around her waist, trying to pull her back.
But the feather in my hand blazed, and the shadows shrieked silently before slipping away.
The sea let her go.
I climbed with one arm, muscles burning, until Hook grabbed her under the arms and yanked her aboard like she weighed nothing.
She collapsed on the deck, hair fanning out like wet ink.Black water pooled beneath her, crawling toward the planks like it wanted to return to the sea.
I knelt beside her.Her lips trembled. Her silver eyes darted from me to Hook… to the night sky.
"Easy," I said, brushing wet hair from her face. "You're safe now."
She flinched at the word safe, like it was foreign to her.
Hook stood back, making the sign of the cross with his hook and muttering under his breath."Safe? Boy, nothing that crawls out of the black like that is ever safe. Throw her back before she grows gills and eats my liver!"
"She's not a siren," I said. "She's… something else."
Her gaze snapped to me again.Then her lips moved.
A whisper, softer than the tide:"…You… found me."
My chest tightened.
"Who are you?" I asked.
Her hand trembled upward, fingertips brushing the glowing feather in my grip.The light flared, blinding, and the entire ship groaned like the ocean itself had taken notice.
Hook stumbled back."Boy! What did I say about collecting cursed women off the sea?! I told you this voyage would end in hell!"
Her fingers curled around the feather.Her voice was a thread of sound, carrying weight that made my bones feel hollow.
"They… will come for me."
"Who?" I asked.
But she didn't answer.She only shivered, her silver eyes rolling back, and collapsed against my chest.
Beneath the ship, the black water pulsed.Once.Twice.
And the sirens began to sing again—This time, not for me.
The girl lay limp against my chest.Silver eyes closed.Skin cold as moonlight.
The feather in her hand glowed faintly, pulsing in time with her shallow breaths.
Beneath the Jolly Roger, the black water moved.
Not waves.Not wind.Something alive.
The sirens began to sing.
Not the playful hum from before.This was sharper.Hungrier.A call that slid into my bones and shook the parts of me that weren't human.
Hook spun in a circle, eyes wide."Boy… tell me you feel that. Tell me you—"
"I feel it," I muttered.I felt everything.
The water rippled with silver light.Faces broke the surface—dozens this time.Sirens.
They weren't smiling now.They bared their teeth.Sharp. Perfect.A crown of predators circling our ship.
One surged higher, hair slick against her shoulders, eyes like twin knives."She is ours, Dark One," she hissed. "She fell to us. She belongs to the deep."
I rose slowly, the girl still in my arms.The feather burned against my skin, and the night air crackled."She's under my protection," I said, voice low, dangerous.
A hiss tore through the night.Dozens of golden eyes flared."Then you protect her… with your life."
The sea erupted.
Sirens leapt onto the rails, claws scraping wood, teeth snapping.The ship lurched under their weight.Hook screamed like a man already dead and swung his sword with his good hand."I told you this was a cursed voyage! Boy, do something before we both end up soup!"
One siren lunged at me.I twisted, clutching the girl tight.Her claws missed my throat by a breath.
The feather flared white-hot.
Power surged up my arm, wild and electric.It filled my chest, my veins, my skull.The world went sharp and bright.
I raised my free hand without thinking.A shadow burst from my palm like living smoke, wrapping the lunging siren midair.
She shrieked as the darkness flung her across the water.The others recoiled, hissing, the song breaking into chaos.
The girl stirred in my arms.Her lips brushed my collarbone as she whispered a single word:"…Awaken."
And the ocean obeyed.
Black tendrils rose from the water, coiling up the hull like hands ready to drag the world under.Sirens dove back into the depths, their song turning to fear.
Hook staggered back, eyes huge."Boy… what in the seven seas are you?"
I stared at my hand.Shadows still licked my skin, hungry and alive.
And deep inside, a voice I hadn't heard in years purred awake.Mine.
The girl shivered against me.The sea went still.And somewhere in the fog, a slow, heavy ripple broke the surface…
Something bigger than sirens was coming.