Lou crossed her arms. “I… I don’t understand.”

“Yemma is part of a passive clan,” I elaborated. “There were once three queens, each with their own family of sirens. Lorelei killed her two sisters to claim a solitary monarchy when they refused her bloodlust, but their lineages still believe in peace. They only follow Lorelei because they have no other choice.” I gestured to Yemma. “She raised me alongside my mother, and she came this evening to warn us.”

I watched a myriad of emotions flicker behind Lou’s amber eyes. “You trust her?”

“Yes.”

Lou nodded as if that simple word sealed a peace treaty… temporarily at least. She marched up to the net, her face only inches from Yemma, a bold statement but also reckless. “If you betray us and get my crew killed, I will hunt you down even if I must make a pact with Hades. I’ll use your own talons to tear through your flesh and pierce your heart.”

Yemma’s lips pursed as she twisted her head toward me. “How do you work alongside her?”

“She’s not always so…”

“Feral?” Smitter offered, eyes twinkling.

“Can you please stop calling me feral!” Lou snarled.

“She stabbed you,” Yemma reminded me.

Lou crossed her arms over her loose blouse. Her blond hair blew back over her shoulders. “I also shot at him…”

“Why?” Yemma gasped. Her brows dipped. Her teeth and claws elongated—a territorial and protective reaction a siren couldn’t help.

“I did shoot at her first,” I admitted.

Yemma’s mouth skewed. “Well, then. I shall not try to understand the ways of the human world.” She turned back to a red-faced Lou. “I would never lead Rylander into a trap. In three days, five hundred sirens are prepared to attack your ship and devour your crew. I suggest you turn back.”

Lou reeled. “A planned massacre?” she breathed.

“We should listen to her,” Smitter said, pushing himself up to sit on a crate. All his amusement vanished. “It’s too risky for the humans.”

“No, we stay on course.” The three of them stared at me with varying expressions. Yemma sadness. Lou anger. And Smitter understanding. “We set out to kill the Siren Queen. That means we fight and finish what we started.”

“And if we fail?” Lou bared her teeth. “You’re playing with the lives of my people. A crew I am responsible for.”

“Then I guess we’d best not fail.”

Chapter twenty-two

Lou

Dawn broke across the ocean in a burst of pink, red, and orange that shattered the sky, a warning of what was to come. Tomorrow, my crew’s blood would slash through the ocean’s pristine surface in similar crimson streaks.