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“Oh,” I add, “I will also need to know your name.”

Chapter Eight

LARIMAR

Istare at the priest.

He needs to know my name.

I suppose it’s only fair since I know his.

“It’s Larimar,” I tell him.

His eyes flash appreciatively. “Larimar. That’s unusual. What does it mean?”

“It means soul of the sea in Limonos,” I tell him, feeling a surge of pride. My mother said the name came to her in a dream right before I was born. “What does Aragon mean?”

“Nothing as poetic as yours. It’s an area in Spain, where I’m from.”

“You were named after where you were born?”

Darkness comes over his gaze. “Not exactly. I was given the name because that’s where they found me. I was born with a different name, but…I don’t remember it anymore.”

“Where who found you?” I ask, intrigued.

“It’s not important,” he says with a tired sigh.

I shouldn’t want to know more about him, but I do.

“Then I shall call you Priest,” I tell him. “Father Aragon is a mouthful, even if you are a father.”

“I’m not a father,” he says quickly before he swallows, the sound audible. “I’m not a father to anyone, not anymore.” He looks pained, and then the look passes. “It’s just a term of the church, a measure of respect given to a spiritual leader.”

“And you are none of those things to me,” I tell him. “Not a spiritual leader and not a man of respect. But a priest, that is simple enough.”

“Very well,” he says. “Priest it is. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Larimar, I’ll go fetch you more water.”

He takes the bucket and leaves the room, locking it behind him.

It’s only then that I exhale.

He’s going to try to give me legs. He’s going to try and make me human, or at least able to pass for one. I know it will all come down to his magic and if the spell is successful, and I shouldn’t get my hopes up, but I can’t help myself.

For the last eleven years, all I wanted was to follow in my sister’s literal footsteps. All I wanted was to be able to walk amongst humans and find her. I knew searching the seas was futile, dangerous. I had told Asherah as much. She learned the hard way when those pirates pulled her up from the depths. I learned it when I stumbled upon Syrens I shouldn’t have.

And yet, even after losing both my sisters, I didn’t give up. I knew that this drive, this obsession with finding Maren, would eventually put me on the right path. I would get where I needed to go.

Maren traded in her fins for legs so she could become human. Some said she even married a prince from some far-off land. I knew she wouldn’t be found in the ocean, but until I had legs, that’s the only place I could look.

I also know that if Priest is successful in my transformation, I’ll have other problems I’ll need to deal with. If I even make it out of here alive, it’s the question of finding Maren in this big, dry, foreign world. It can’t be easy, but nothing about this can be.

So now, I have to figure out what I’m supposed to offer him in exchange for this. He doesn’t know my plans. He doesn’t know about Maren. I have to give him exactly what he wants and then some, then wait for the right moment to escape.

That’s all I have. A moment. I’m a fighter. I’ve survived this long, and I know that if I play my cards right, I can find my freedom at the first opportunity.

Syrens are sexual beings by nature. I know of our reputation when it comes to the world and will of men. We are known to seduce and destroy. It’s how we charm so many men into the water, how we kill so well.

This priest isn’t like most men, that much I know. He talks about being a blood-drinker and a monster, and clearly, he is both.