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“I need insurance,” she said. She scanned me. “Eyes or ears?”
“What?” I said with a screech, my hands covering my ears.
She repeated herself, raising one eyebrow. “Don’t worry. You’ll get it back. When you bring me the pearl.” She smiled, her teeth looking more like barracuda teeth than mermaid ones. “It’ll only hurt a moment.”
“I’ll do it,” said Kaga. “You can take my ears.”
“Kaga, no,” I said. “Your parents—”
He cut me off. “I’m doing this.”
The sea witch laughed, a note of evil laced in it. She twirled so her back was to us. I motioned angrily to Kaga, but he just shook his head. We were pulled farther into the cavern, back to the cauldron. The witch sang a horrible song about luring sailors to their death as she gathered her ingredients. Swimming and dancing around the cauldron, she tossed in vial after vial.
“At least if she takes my ears, I can’t hear her singing anymore. What a grating voice,” muttered Kaga.
I snorted, then immediately stopped when the sea witch threw a glare at me. Unnatural fire came out of the cauldron, surrounding Kaga’s face.
The witch’s face radiated eerily, shadows dancing on the wall behind her. Her hair floated in the water above her, the tendrils moving by magic, since there was no current.
The sight was mesmerizing, enchanting. Then she opened her mouth, and fear raced through me. My heart pounded as her voice sang a song, uttering words I’d never heard before.
The fire around Kaga brightened until the entire cave was white. His screams were drowned out by the witch’s song until it was abruptly cut off. The light popped, disappearing all at once. I blinked, adjusting my eyes, trying to see Kaga.
“Can you hear me?” I asked him.
His eyebrows drew together, and he opened his mouth to respond, but not a sound came out.
The witch laughed. “You took his voice?” I asked, incredulous. “Not his hearing?”
She scoffed. “Not after that comment. He deserves to hear my singing as much as possible. I don’t deserve to hear his comments about it.” She started singing again, continuing her song about killing sailors.
I grabbed Kaga’s hand, dragging him out the way we came.
“Don’t forget to return soon with my pearl,” the sea witch sang. “Or his voice is mine forever. And your life. You have until a week after the next full moon.”
That was a month from now. I swam faster, flipping my fins as hard as I ever had. Kaga’s water dog joined us, yipping and speeding off ahead. I followed him, never letting go of Kaga.
At last, we were at the exit. The watery barrier was still gone, and we swam through without trouble. Once I left the cavern, I heaved a sigh of relief, blowing the water away from my face. “Let’s get as far away from here as we can,” I said to Kaga. My hand in his, I sped away from the cave of curses, the witch’s song following us, the haunting melody ringing in our ears.
Chapter 14
After a while of swimming as fast as possible, I dropped Kaga’s hand and floated for a minute, calming my racing heart. “Are you okay?”
Kaga shrugged.
“You can’t speak at all?” I asked, my shoulders drooping. This would make our journey home harder, but not impossible.
He opened his mouth, but not a sound came out. Frustrated, he crossed his arms and frowned.
“Too bad you can’t magick yourself to talk.”
He focused on me for a minute, then his face lit up. Concentrating, he unfolded his arms and traced symbols onto the water in front of him. They stayed there, little bubbled symbols, and he gestured enthusiastically at them.
“Is that supposed to mean something? It just looks like symbols to me.”
Kaga’s face fell and his shoulders dropped. He looked so forlorn, I couldn’t help but feel some sympathy. I patted him on the shoulder. “It’s all right. Maybe Queen Amaria will know a way to fix it.”
Kaga’s face stayed the same. I assessed our surroundings. I didn’t recognize anything yet, but I hadn’t expected to. The sunlight filtering through the sky was low, and exhaustion wafted over me. “Are you tired?”
