A Ship of Bones & Teeth

by Karina Halle

I feel my teeth sharpen in my mouth, look down to see my fingernails extending and curving, growing into hard claws, feel strength building in the marrow of my bones, giving me power I hadn’t felt since I was sixteen. Aerik makes a sound of horror and surprise and my gaze shoots to him, pinning him in place. I growl at him, baring my razor teeth, and before I know what I’m doing, I’m jumping out of the tank and landing right in front of the cell. “From this moment forth, I will never have to listen to you again,” I grind out, my voice sounding less human, more monster. More Syren. His mouth opens to say something but I cut him off. Forever. My arm shoots out through the bars with my claws extended and I pierce his skin with them, reaching through muscle and fat and bone until I feel his beating heart under my palm. I snarl and close my hand around his heart and pull it back out of his chest and through the bars. While he’s still looking at me, while he’s still alive for just a few more seconds, I take his still beating heart and shove part of it in my mouth, biting down with needle sharp teeth as ravenous, monstrous hunger takes over. I make sure it’s the last thing he sees.