Lost Souls

Chapter 5

I took a steadying breath, wiping any trace of emotion off my face. I needed to keep a calm head for this conversation. Revealing my anger at Zander would not help Waverly. Mom cast a sympathetic look in my direction from where she monitored the room but didn't say a word. She squeezed my arm and kissed my cheek before disappearing around the corner.

I shoved all my emotions into the back of my heart where they couldn't touch me. As I opened the door, I braced myself for tears, anger, fear, shame—any emotion at all. But when uneasy silence greeted me, my heart lurched.

It skipped a beat as I froze in the doorway, the mermaid sitting in the bed across from the lone window staring blankly into the open water. I opened my mouth—to say what, I didn't know—but she spoke before I could, her voice rough and lacking warmth or emotion.

"I should have seen it coming. I knew Zander would come looking for me eventually. I just hadn't thought he'd stoop so low. I'd been returning from breakfast at The Ocean Cafè when he'd cornered me about a league away from Pelathas. He didn't speak at all—he only grinned as he stared at me with a knowing look. I'd thought for sure he was going to hurt or try to kill me.

"I could all but hear the unspoken words hovering in the water between us. It was written all over Zander's face. I knew that if I didn't do as he demanded, he would come after my mom or me. The next thing I knew, I woke up on the ground, my throat aching and body sore. He'd carried me to Pelathas' entrance before dumping me and escaping." Her unspoken words hit me in the gut. Zander hadn't physically harmed her; his torture had been purely psychological—exactly as he'd done to me.

Even as she turned her head and met my eyes—the movement slow and agonizing—I saw the almost imperceptible shudder that ran through her body. "Does your mom know?" My voice was hushed, barely more than a whisper. Before she could open her mouth to respond, we both turned our heads to the door, the knock that conveyed a hundred emotions in a single sound: fear, anger, shame, worry, and love.

Laguna Marshal burst into the room, her face red and blotchy with tears. I took in her appearance, and my heart clenched painfully. Her dress was wrinkled and silt-stained; she looked like she hadn't slept in days. She looked at Waverly—gauging the distance between her and me—and paused, wringing her hands. "Waverly, are you okay? I got here as fast as I could." When she met my gaze, it took every ounce of control I had not to break down sobbing.

When I'd arrived at the hospital, I'd pushed all my emotions into the very back of my heart where I couldn't reach them. Hearing what Waverly had been through—the experience nearly identical to mine—made my calm façade crack. Every emotion from the nightmare came flooding back in full force as tears filled my eyes. Laguna's eyes widened; she rushed to catch me right as I began to falter.

My body shuddered with the force of my sobs. Ella's words from the nightmare haunted my thoughts, waking and sleeping. "'Be careful of the Sirens, Faye. They will try to trick you; they will lure you in with the promise of a family, one who will never leave or forsake you. But don't fall into their trap. They will tell you lies and make false promises, eventually forcing you to choose sides. You will ultimately have to pay a price that will alter your life forever. Get out while you still can.'"

I missed my sister so bad sometimes that it physically hurt. Knowing that Waverly had never had the chance to get to know her sister made everything that much worse. At least Jacob had apologized for his actions; Zander had never—and would never—apologize for the lives he'd ruined or the sins he'd committed. Because, unlike Jacob, he hadn't seen the immorality of what he'd done.

"Faye? Honey, what happened?" Laguna's gentle voice managed to pierce through the haze that had settled over me. But I couldn't speak. I'd tried so hard to turn off my emotions in the wake of the nightmare that now I couldn't stop feeling. Emotion after emotion slammed into me, each one drawing a ragged sob from my lips. Pain, anger, sadness, grief, regret—it was all there and smothering me with every uneven breath.

I clenched my eyes closed as tears slipped down my cheeks. Wrapping my arms around myself, I sank to the floor, sobs shuddering through my body. Sorrow and grief tore through me like a hurricane as I struggled to breathe. My chest rose and fell as I tried desperately to get water into my lungs.

But I couldn't. I tried taking a deep breath but could barely manage a weak inhale. I lurched towards the door, trying to outswim the sorrow and grief threatening to overwhelm me. I dimly felt Laguna place a hand on my shoulder and say something, but I couldn't make out the words.

My surroundings were blurry as I zoomed through the hospital, reaching the entryway in seconds. I felt more than saw the multiple pairs of eyes on me, but I was too frantic to pay them any attention. When I emerged into the open water, my chest was heaving as I finally managed to bring water into my lungs. Choking on the sobs that shuddered through me, I collapsed on the ground, covering my face with my hands as I wept.

If I had been paying attention to my surroundings, I would have noticed the assassin floating behind a cluster of rocks, training a crossbow on me. If I had been in control of my emotions, I would have been able to get out of the way long before Zander took his shot.

As it was, I didn't hear the bolt whistling as it zoomed through the water. It struck true: I felt the tip pierce my left deltoid, directly on top of the wound I'd suffered weeks earlier. Forget fire—this was like someone had reached out and ripped a chunk of skin out of my shoulder. That was the turning point: I realized this was more than some vendetta between the Sirens.

Zander was coming after me because of my relationship with his daughter. He'd murdered each Siren until he reached his goal: me. The only reason Zander hadn't killed Waverly yet was because he knew how important she was to Laguna. He didn't care about my parents, Drew or Jonah. To him, I was fair game. I slammed face-first into the seafloor, gasping for water.

Silent tears of agony slid down my cheeks as I swallowed a scream, biting down so hard I tasted blood. I could still see the front of the hospital, so I wasn't too far away. I knew better than to call out for help, but—oh, gods, the pain—it was all I could do to stay conscious. I'd learn later that the tip of the bolt had utterly shattered my deltoid, narrowly missing my shoulder blade.

My entire left arm was numb, limp at my side as blood gushed from the wound. Rallying my nearly-depleted strength, I dragged myself back toward the hospital, waiting until I was across the threshold to attempt to call out. My voice was hoarse and broken, hardly more than a whisper. "H-help me, p-please."

I groaned as my shoulder gave an additional burst of pain, this one drawing a sharp, stifled sob from my throat. I heard the low murmur of voices, growing louder as multiple doctors surrounded me, all talking at once. "Oh, gods, is she breathing?" "We need to stop the bleeding." "Faye? Oh, honey, can you hear me?"

Through the haze of agony, Dr. Murphy's voice barely registered in my head. When I opened my eyes again (having no recollection of closing them), my vision was blurry. After a few blinks, it cleared enough for me to see the concern in her eyes and the worry lining her face. "Faye? You're going to be okay, sweetie."

As reassuring as she meant it, I could sense the concern and worry underlining her words. Tears streamed down my cheeks at her words, and I hated myself for it. I wanted Jonah to be by my side, holding me in his arms. I wanted to be strong for him and our family. "Jonah?" My voice was weak and faint, but she heard me.

"He'll be here soon, Faye. They all will, I promise. Get some sleep, okay? I'll be right here when you wake up." Her voice was so soothing, and I was already so tired. I wanted to stay awake until they arrived, but the pain—coupled with the exhaustion already tugging at me—was too much for me. I was also terrified of what might be waiting in my subconscious, but I was too exhausted to resist.

The last thing I was aware of before I surrendered to the pain and exhaustion was the sound of Dr. Murphy murmuring to the other doctors.

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