Page 24

Nightmare

The moonlight filtered in through the windows, casting everything in an ethereal glow, just as it had that night. The night my world shattered.

No fishes swimming, no hum of whales and no song carried by the currents.

The silence was thick and oppressive as I swam down the corridor leading to my parents’ chambers.

My heart beat faster, just like it had that night.

I hadn’t known what awaited me behind those doors.

I hadn’t known the horror that would change my life forever.

But this time, I did.

I pushed open the door, and there he was. His back was to me at first, his dark silhouette standing over the motionless forms of my parents. The metallic scent of blood filled the air, suffocating, inescapable. It clung to my skin, my clothes, my every breath.

And then he turned. His eyes, those once gentle baby blue eyes that had held so much love, now gleamed with madness.

The sight of them sent a chill down my spine, a wave of nausea rolling through me.

They filled with something twisted, something dark that I hadn’t seen before, or perhaps I had refused to see.

I tried to speak, but my voice caught in my throat, paralyzed by the terror painted in front of me. All I could do was stare at him, at the blood that stained his hands, at the lifeless bodies of my parents sprawled before him.

“Iryen,” his voice echoed in the dream, just as it had that night, calm, almost tender. “This was necessary.”

I wanted to scream, to run, but I couldn’t. My tail felt rooted to the floor, just like it had that night. Every muscle in my body froze with fear, with disbelief. I felt trapped, forced to relive this nightmare over and over.

He stepped closer, his hand outstretched. His fingers were slick with blood, glistening in the moonlight. “Now we can be together,” he whispered, his voice dripping with a twisted affection. “They were in the way. It’s over now.”

But it wasn’t over. Not then. Not now.

The memory distorted as dreams often do, but the terror remained the same. The horror of it all felt so real, so inescapable, that it consumed me. I was suffocating, drowning in the grief, the rage, and the guilt.

And then, just as it had that night, something inside me snapped. I watched myself break. I watched the moment where everything I had been, every piece of the girl who had once loved him, shattered.

I turned and ran. Just like before.

* * *

Adrian

I jolted awake, the dampness of the cave floor chilling my skin and my clothes clinging to me like a shroud.

The remnants of the nightmare still played in my mind, vivid and haunting, leaving me dumbstruck and breathless.

I still saw the dark silhouette of a triton looming over another triton and a siren, the image twisting like a knife in my gut.

What was that? I saw Iryen there. Was it a dream? Or a memory ?

I was a voyeur in whatever her darkest moment was. Iryen’s terror had felt so real, so palpable, and yet left me with a gaping hallow feeling. I had witnessed her pain but remained helpless to change it.

What does it mean?

The echoes of the cave surrounded me, amplifying my unease. I pushed myself up, running a hand through my disheveled hair.

Why was I pulled into this mess?

The questions circled like vultures in my mind, relentless and insatiable. I felt sick, not just from the remnants of the dream, but from the overwhelming sensation of powerlessness.

I had enough of this. All I want now is to return to my city, even if it means dealing with my father’s clutches.

Something moved in the corner of my vision.

I froze, every muscle tensing, my hand already gripping the blade I concealed earlier.

The cave’s shadows shifted unnaturally, and I caught the faintest breeze of movement, too deliberate to be the wind.

My pulse quickened. I spun, pressing the intruder against the wall, knife poised at their throat.

A sharp intake of breath, familiar. Too familiar. And then she was there. Iryen.

“Do you always sneak up on people like they are your prey?” I said with venom.

Her eyes gleamed, sharp and wicked, the joy that came from knowing she held the upper hand.

“Well, I am a predator, after all.” She delivered the words with the effortless grace of a vixen in her domain, untamed, unapologetic, and entirely in control.

A slow smirk tugged at my lips. So am I.

She played the game well, but I wasn’t the prey that ran.

I met her gaze, letting the silence stretch between us, thick with something darker than mere attraction.

It was the thrill of the hunt, the knowledge that neither of us would back down, that we would push and tear and devour until one of us either surrendered or destroyed the other.

I should have been wary. I should have stepped back. Instead, I leaned in, letting the tension coil tight between us.

“I could have killed you,” I drawled, pressing the knife harder to her throat. “Perhaps, I still can.” I knew it was a lie. I don’t know why, but I wouldn’t be able to kill her and she knew it, even if I wanted to, which I didn’t, couldn’t.

“Go ahead.” She uttered her green orbs cooling as glacial walls. “But then you would be stuck here, right? Not to mention that Elora would kill you,” she continued with too much calmness for someone who had a knife to her throat, which made me remember the dream.

Maybe it wasn’t just a dream, but a memory.

What happened to you?

I caught myself thinking and saw her gaze darken for a second before returning to that regal and collected one as if I had made the question out loud.

We were standing too close. I was too close, so close I saw the golden freckles in her hypnotic emerald eyes, the thick black eyelashes, her perked nose, and felt her body pressed against mine.

My gaze flickered lower. She was wearing a white see-through gown that clung to her like liquid stardust, sparkling as if alive with moonlight.

It was nearly transparent, revealing enough to leave the rest to the imagination, her every movement sending soft ripples of light through the delicate fabric.

I forced my eyes away, but the heat building inside me made it impossible to ignore the way her body pressed against mine.

The way it glinted, the soft glow that outlined every curve, had my heart beating faster. I shouldn’t be thinking like this, shouldn’t let my gaze linger on how the fabric flowed over her skin, accentuating every inch of her, desiring it was my hands instead .

Her scent filled my lungs—salt like an ocean breeze, sweet like jasmine, something uniquely her— and it sent a sharp hunger tearing through me.

I commit to memory. Until this moment I hadn’t a favorite anything and now I had two favorites, her scent and the flower.

She was freedom, home and everything in between.

My pulse thundered, drowning out reason, drowning out everything except the unbearable heat between us. The warmth of her body seeped through the delicate fabric of her gown, teasing, taunting. An electric charge coiled tight in my gut.

I clenched my jaw, fingers flexing on her waist, feeling the softness beneath them. Too close. Not close enough. A war raged inside me, a primal, insatiable craving battling against the last fraying strands of restraint. My breath came shallow, ragged, every nerve raw and burning.

I knew better.

But I didn’t care.

My gaze roamed her face, tracing every detail, the way her lips parted on a breath, the flush dusting her cheeks, the slow drag of her teeth over her lower lip, tempting, taunting.

My eyes drifted lower, to the delicate column of her throat, the way it bobbed as she swallowed, and something dark in me thrilled at the sight.

Then I saw the knife.

I tore it from her skin in one swift movement, casting it aside before I replaced with my hand.

She stiffened, not in fear, but in something dangerously close to anticipation.

My fingers curled against her throat, feeling the rapid beat of her pulse beneath my palm.

She was ice and defiance all at once, but beneath it, I felt the same hunger as before, that same raw, aching need.

Gods, I wanted to kiss her. I needed to kiss her.

The desire wasn’t gentle. It was vicious, desperate, clawing at my insides, demanding I claim her, consume her, ruin her in the best way possible. My control was slipping, unraveling with every passing second, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to stop it anymore.

My gaze never left hers as I dipped my head lower, slow, deliberate, giving her just enough time to stop me, but she didn’t.

Her breath hitched, her chest rising and falling in quick, shallow movements.

My thumb traced the curve of her jaw, tilting her face up, and I felt her shudder beneath my touch.

Then, finally, I took what I wanted.

My lips crashed against hers, and she melted, soft and trembling, her body yielding as I devoured her. She tasted of salt and chaos, wild and untamable as the ocean itself. A tempest in my mouth. A powerful siren luring me to the depths of my desire. And gods, I crave this drowning.

Intoxicating.

This is all it took. Just one kiss and now she has the power to ruin me and worst, I would let her.

My tongue swept against hers, deepening the kiss, claiming it, savoring the way she responded, hesitant at first, then desperate. A muffled sigh escaped her, and the sound sent a wild, raw need tearing through me.

I pressed closer, trapping her against the wall, feeling every soft curve of her against the hard planes of my body.

My hands gripped her waist, pulling her tighter, as if I could mold her against me, as if it would never be close enough.

My leg slid between hers, and she gasped against my mouth, her fingers digging into my back, her nails dragging against my skin through my shirt. The sting only made me hungrier.