Page 24

Evelyn

T he thrum of a low siren’s song reverberates across the beach as I make my way through the party. Weaving between the sweaty, writhing bodies of my sisters and their conquests, I can’t look at them as anything else now.

They are shells of their former selves, and the urge to help each of them begins to overwhelm me. I must figure out what else Florence and Yvette are hiding and find a way to save all these men from the same imprisoned fate I was born into.

Searching, I look for Kai in the fray but can’t see him anywhere.

Maybe he found Mathius and was able to convince him to forgo the Elixir this evening.

I can’t imagine all the memories locked behind the walls of his mind, but why has he never told me about these daydreams trying to break through in all our years together?

I know he’s different from the others, from the sheer size of him, not to mention his eyes, the elongated ears, and the aura that radiates from him.

He never seemed fully human, always more cunning, more powerful, more observant, but he never mentioned these dreams to me.

I wish he had. It might have knocked me from my ignorance and made me realize something wasn’t right sooner.

I shake my head at the thought, continuing through the maze of limbs.

Even though he’s not my father, he has been a resounding presence in my life and someone I can always turn to when I need a shoulder to cry on. We were close, and I just wish he had trusted me enough to confide in me.

Distracted by my thoughts, I accidentally bump into a figure beside me, only to realize it’s Florence.

The emotions of our earlier conversation swirl deep in my gut, and the urge to scream, cry, and run away all come rushing to the surface.

But I know I need to speak with her, I tamp down my frustration and smile, preparing myself for the conversation ahead.

There are so many things Florence is keeping from me, and I need to find out exactly what they are.

“E, where is that man of yours? I’m dying to see him again.” She smiles at me, so genuine and open, I almost feel like the conversation I heard between her and Yvette was a dream—or a nightmare.

“That’s a great question, Flo. I was just looking for him,” I glanced around the hut, realizing that there are far too many listening ears in the space. I don’t want our conversation to be overheard. “He’s got to be around here somewhere. But first, can we step outside? I want to speak with you.”

“Of course, my child. What is it?” She links her arm with mine, and we head out into the quiet night.

My child. Those words, which used to mean everything to me, now feel tainted by this island and its secrets. A resounding fracture splinters across my heart.

Trying to keep a handle on the emotions that slither their way up my throat, I continue on, “I overheard you and Yvette talking earlier today, right before I ran into you.”

Flo has never been able to keep what she is feeling from her face, and I watch as her gaze shifts quickly, looking left and right, anywhere but at my face. She presses her lips into a firm line.

“What happened to my mother?” I ask, keeping my voice even and calm. And how do I get Kai off this island? I know you have the answers, I heard you speaking with Yvette earlier, so it's no use lying to me.”

Florence looks back up at me with terror in her eyes. She grabs my arm and drags me farther away from the hut, closer to the edge of the beach. The waves crest up the sand, and the familiar sounds steady my breath as we walk down the shoreline.

“Eve, I don’t know what to say.” She says, her voice thick with emotion.

“You can start with the truth for one,” I say through clenched teeth, anger spreading through me at a rapid rate.

“It’s a long and sad story, and I can’t tell you. I would be breaking a sacred oath,” She says with a dejected look in her eye. “I swore on the Elder creed to never tell a soul.”

“Oh, the Elder creed,” I scoff. “That means more to you than the daughter you took in and raised after my mother died. More than the siren you taught the songs to, shared your entire life with. You’re my mother, Florence, how could you keep so much from me?”

She audibly flinches at my words, looking away from me again, but I don’t back down. “What happened to my mother, Flo?”

Her whole body seems to sag, and she looks back up at me, unshed tears filling her eyes. “I need you to know that I kept this all from you to protect you, child. I’ve only ever wanted to protect you.”

“From what?” I frown, “What is going on?”

“Your mother was a powerful Elder, and she loved you and your sister more than anything.” Florence begins, with a shaky voice, “But she didn’t die in childbirth.”

My mouth falls open, and I try to say something, but no words come out.

“She was murdered.”

“I..she…what?” I stammer, unable to form a coherent thought. “Murdered? Why would you keep something like that from me!” I shout. Florence tries to touch my arm, but I yank myself away, unable to stomach the thought of her touch at this moment.

“You remind me so much of her,” She chokes out, the tears finally falling down her cheeks.

“Tell me what happened.”

“She resisted.” Florence sniffles, wiping at the wet streaks on her face.

“She was a strong woman. Long ago, when we first came to this island, we were suffering. We were a wandering people and our magic was dying. We needed people to listen to our songs, to keep our magic alive. Without them, we would have all perished. Though some came to visit on their way home each season, we could not convince them to stay.”

I furrow my brows, listening to this story I’ve never heard before, this history of my sisters that I did not know. We were always told that we were thriving, that the men would come and go willingly from our shores. That we helped them. Was everything we’ve been told a lie?

“Yvette bargained with the spirit of the island, Kafigda. She made a deal with it, sharing its power to create the storms in order to lure men to our island. The storms would capture them like fish in a net, and we would save them, keeping them here on our island to restore our siren powers.” Florence closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a deep breath.

“Your mother, Aurelia, was against it and tried to stop Yvette. She believed that Yvette was wrong, that the men would willingly stay if we told them the truth.”

I swallowed against the knot forming in my throat. I was anticipating her next words, even though I didn’t want to hear them, I needed to know.

“Unfortunately, Yvette had more of the sirens on her side, although they soon learned from their mistake. Yvette killed your mother, draining her of her songs as she siphoned all of our powers into her necklace, feeding them to the island and the storms.” She takes a step toward me, and I back away again, keeping my distance from this woman who I thought loved me.

“Eve, my biggest regret was sitting back and watching your mother be strong, standing up for what she believed in even as she took her final breath. I think about her every single day, and I see so much of her in you. I cherish that part of you, the part that is her. I tried my best to raise you in her image, to keep her memory alive, but you must listen to me, child. There is no way to leave this island. Yvette would kill us all before we even tried.”

It feels as if a hole has been punched through my chest. My fractured heart has shattered and turned the place where it once rested into grains of sand that slip through my fingers. I collapse to the ground—the edges of my vision blur, and my world rocks.

Murdered.

Murdered by Yvette.

Murdered for her kindness.

I don’t think I will ever take a full breath again.

This feeling is too big. An ocean of emotion is brewing, and the waves are gathering, crashing against the shores of my crumbling world.

I want to scream for the mother I should have had.

Cry for the life that was taken. And fight the woman who took all of this from me.

“I’m so sorry, dear, I really am.” Florence cautiously places her hand on my back, and I don’t have the strength right now to push away from her touch.

“You must listen to me now. Everything I’ve told you must stay a secret.

Even Katarina cannot find out. Yvette would kill you and me both if word of this spread through the island. ”

I get up, standing with trembling legs. “I don’t understand.

You’ve always told me you didn’t know how the storms developed.

That they just arrived one day and began to circle the island.

So you’ve forced all these men to live here in this cage, taking their lives from them, without giving them any choice?

And what of the Elixir, whose idea was that?

Can’t have your precious chattel trying to escape now, can we?

” I spit out with more venom than I thought possible, considering the gaping hole where my heart used to be.

“It was Yvette. We needed to keep the men here, not only for our own magic to be tended, but they were dying, Eve, you saw that with your own eyes. We had to do something.” Florence pleads.

“If they were destined to a life here, isn’t it better for them to live than to die on a pointless hope of leaving? ”

“Do you even hear yourself, Flo? And I’m sure the need to please and serve all of us was just a happy side effect.

A perfect solution to a problem you let her create.

Kai couldn’t remember his own brother, Florence.

After a day. What would it be like after a week?

A season? A decade? I can’t imagine how long you’ve been feeding it to Mathius.

Is that even his real name? He has no idea who he really is, does he? ”