Lost at Sea
Chapter 21

How can one stay sane with someone continuously following them?

Eleanor wasn’t sure she knew the answer. The pressure to do and say all the right things when she was used to complete freedom was not sitting well with her. She had a near constant itch in her right shoulder and it was only the second day. Minutes tracked by like hours, leaving nothing but impatience and irritation in their wake.

She sulked when she wasn’t meeting someone for a pointless instruction on a culture that was already all she knew. Heya, however, was her favorite. There was something about the heat, and the clanging of metal on metal, and even the glow of the fires that felt so familiar to her. The information that Heya poured into her ear was also something she enjoyed. History had always been her favorite--

What? Her favorite what? Eleanor grunted in frustration as that small tidbit of her past life that had come so suddenly also slipped away just as fast. She firmly rubbed circles into her temples, trying to reign in her temper, but it was no use. She had had enough of things being taken from her.

“Should you not head over to your next appointment?” Eleanor’s shadow asked. Eleanor snapped her teeth in a sharp warning that she should not be pressed further. “I will not be deterred by a dim-witted--”

It happened so fast that Eleanor only saw what happened next in mental pictures. Spinning around to face the girl. Her arm was outstretched, her mouth opened wide, her half-lidded eyes drooping in the middle of a blink. Eleanor caught the questing hand and yanked, pulling the girl into her attack zone. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized what was happening.

And yet, still, she was no match for Eleanor’s teeth.

The body floated slowly down to the floor beneath them. The sudden realization that she was free again flooded over her all at once. She laughed once in disbelief, tasting the way the sound felt in her mouth.

Jasper... Jasper. She had to get him out.

She didn’t remember much about the journey back to the cove, just bursting through the cover and exploding to the surface. Jasper leaped to his feet, swinging a stick uselessly and shouting. She laughed, really laughed, for the first time since she’d been reborn. His face fell slack as he listened, although Eleanor couldn’t tell what he was thinking about.

“What happened?” He demanded, dropping to his hands and knees and crawling to the water line.

“Come here,” Eleanor whispered. His brow furrowed and he shook his head. “Please?”

He took a deep breath, then slipped into the water with all the hesitation of a man who wasn’t entirely certain about his actions. He came out as far as he could while still touching a foot to the ground beneath him, then Eleanor came to him and wrapped her slender arms around his middle. She fit just like a puzzle piece there, tucking her head under his chin. He paused, but she slowly felt his arms settle over her.

“You’re so cold,” he murmured. With those three words, all the warmth his grip had pumped into her drained out. This couldn’t keep going on. She was going to get them both killed.

“You have to leave,” Eleanor said, untangling herself from the very place she longed to remain. “You have to leave and you can’t ever come back here.”

“What?” He replied, grasping her shoulders tightly. Small blossoms of heat spread through her skin where he touched her. “What are you talking about?”

“You know that you aren’t safe here. There are more like me, more sirens,” she tried to explain. Her voice shook, portraying the real emotions whipping through her. “They aren’t connected to you, and will not hesitate to destroy you for everything you know. They won’t show mercy for a human. Especially not a man.”

“I won’t leave you again,” he declared. His grip tightened as he pulled her into his chest again. Eleanor inhaled deeply, but even her sensitive nose could not pick up the scent that the ocean had washed away.

“You have to,” she tried again. “If they find you, they’ll kill you. And they’ll kill me, too.”

That seemed to get through to him. He still held her stiffly as he considered, but soon he sagged in defeat.

“All right,” he consented at last. “I’ll go. Isn’t there a way you can come with me?”

“No,” Eleanor admitted. “I’ve tried everything to be turned back, but my transformation is permanent. Even if I came back in this form the humans would kill me.”

“I could protect you,” he whispered, cupping her face in his hands. She closed her eyes, but said nothing. Her stance was final and although it would hurt, it was the right one. Their worlds simply could not overlap any longer.

“Will you tell me the truth before you go?” She asked.

“Yes.”

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