Page 6

Duncan

S erenia gives my hand a tug towards the door after we finish the meal Dylan made, and I can’t deny that I like seeing my girl with her friends. Maybe not as much as I like being alone with her, but there’s something about the three of them that’s so incredibly special, and it shines even more when they’re all together.

We head down to the lake, the girls sharing looks before Dylan pulls Melodia into his arms, cupping her face gently, his eyes filled with the same worry I feel seeing the uncertainty on Serenia’s face.

“Whatever it is going on, just tell us, angel,” he urges, and Melodia nods taking a step back from him as Serenia gives the other two a curious look.

“This might be simpler,” Melodia tells him as the three girls toss aside their dresses, leaving them in bikinis, and they dive into the water while the three of us are momentarily stunned.

It grows when there’s a glow coming from the water, but before I can even comprehend it, the three of their heads pop up out of the water. I blink my eyes, swearing I’m not really seeing what I’m seeing. It’s not humanly possible.

Serenia’s body looks like it’s wrapped with silken water, blue along her torso with white foam creating a bikini top hiding her breasts, rather than the green bikini she jumped into the water wearing. Which definitely makes me happy, even if I know from just looking at my friends that they have no interest in my girl—only their own.

Similarly to Serenia’s top changing, Celestia looks like the night sky has wrapped her in layered clouds, darkened with no sun lighting them, creating a feathery look along her torso and over her breasts, rather than the grey one she had on. Melodia looks like she’s wrapped in iridescent gemstones forming an off the shoulder looking top, instead of the pink and purple thing she’d been wearing.

“What the fuck?” I get out, and the girls turn towards us, as we move down the dock towards them.

“So definitely not an actual angel…” Dylan teases, as I slip down onto the end of the dock, seeing more than just Serenia’s top has changed. There’s a little splash of water as a fin breaches the water, and I wrap my arms around her, lifting her towards me, staring down at what’s clearly a tail where her thighs and legs just were. “I wondered where you could have been living to not know what the internet and TV was but this…”

“Never saw this coming,” I say, while Dane is kissing Celestia hungrily. It goes on for several more moments and I can’t stay quiet. “Dude, can you stop long enough for them to explain?” I ask, and finally, Dane lets Celestia up to breathe.

“Okay, this might take a bit so…” Melodia pauses with a glance at Serenia and Celestia. They nod then push themselves up out of the water onto the dock with us. A shock hits when almost instantly, the tail and top disappear, the bikinis returning. I really don’t know if I like all the skin it shows still, but my girl is definitely hot regardless of it it’s in it or with a tail.

“I like the tail more than the bikini, even if it’s just in front of my friends, angel,” Dylan says, echoing my feelings and I can see in the knowledge that I feel the same in Serenia’s eyes as she looks up at me. There’s a bit of hesitation still that kills me. I don’t know what the hell is really going on, how she’s not fully human, but I’m not running away from it. Not a chance. She’s mine and I’m keeping her for good.

I guide Serenia over to a lounge chair, pulling her into my arms and press a soft kiss to her temple, holding her to me tightly as the others settle in around us. My jaw’s almost on the ground when Serenia tells us, “We’re sirens.”

“Sirens, like the beings that lure sailors to their deaths on the rocky shores?” Dane asks and they nod. “I thought they were half birds not…”

“We used to be,” Celestia says making his brow lift even higher but mine goes right along with it, because sure, I’ve read about them before but never imagined finding they really existed. Let alone that I fell in love with one.

“Sirens once roamed the skies, singing their songs, getting men to follow them, on the sea and on land. Others grew jealous, and when a siren lured a man a muse wanted, they went to Hera and claimed the sirens thought they were the greatest beings in the world. The smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, which also upset Athena, because she felt she was the smartest,” Melodia tells us, resting in Dylan’s hold until he leans back a bit, his brow high as he looks at her in shock.

“Hera and Athena, as in the goddesses?”

“Yes,” she answers him seriously. “To teach the sirens a lesson, they tricked them into a singing competition with the muses. A sirens’ song is only meant to lure, it sounds different to everyone, and not every siren can lure every man at the same time.”

“So when several siren sing at once, the ones that have no effect sound hideous to the listener. Muses on the other hand,” Serenia says, “are meant to inspire, especially music itself. So when a group of them get together, it creates the most beautiful sound ever.”

“The sirens were laughed at by the men present, and because they won, the muses were able to decide what their prize was. They said they wanted the sirens’ feathers, to make them even more beautiful to men, because ours were the prettiest. Once plucked, the sirens’ wings shriveled and could no longer support them in flight, and they were trapped on the ground to walk on their talons,” Celestia adds.

“But the men that once were under their spell now mocked them, and unable to fly, they captured all of them and told them to try and put them under their spell when they looked like monsters. They wanted to drown all of them, and so, they tied the sirens’ feet together and threw them into the water. They sank fast, the pressure made their bodies elongate while their legs fused together, their skin turning to scale, and the wings rotated and became arms. The coldness of the water turned them into the true monsters the men called them. Their once lovely human faces became bone and terror, their hair long weeds, and ice flowed through their veins, allowing them to breathe under the water. Horrified of the creatures they created, the muses disappeared, and the men tried to fight. In the water they stood no chance. Several were killed instantly, others, managed to escape, and when the sirens went after them, it was discovered that they could not cross the land because they had no feet or legs to stand on any longer,” Melodia admits sending Dylan’s brows up higher and mine definitely follows.

“But all of you have…and you’re even more beautiful…” he says.

“The beauty was a gift from Aphrodite,” Celestia explains, and that’s a name I know even if I’m not some scholar on Greek mythology—that suddenly doesn’t seem so mythical now.

“She also gave the sirens the chance to reclaim what was taken from them, freedom to roam the land and sea,” Serenia adds, nodding at me when my brow lifts her way a hint as I glance at her pretty legs still bare beneath my shirt she’s wearing.

“But the sirens used their newfound legs to hunt down the men that mocked them, to kill them instead. Aphrodite offered them the chance to find love, real love, but all they could feel was the cold in their hearts, the urge to kill. And seven days after they were given their legs, as they slayed the last mortal man, Aphrodite took back her gift of legs, forcing the sirens back into the seas. For nearly three thousand years, the sirens have used their powers and Aphrodite’s gift of beauty to kill. Not knowing they had another choice if they just ignored the icy cold,” Melodia says. “None of us ever liked the cold, the urges it created within us to kill. Sirens become their most powerful after they turn twenty-one. The bloodlust is said to be unbearable at that point. Likely because that’s how old the original sirens were when they were thrown into the ocean.”

“Melodia discovered a loophole that could keep us from becoming full-sirens,” Serenia says giving her a grin and once more, it’s like I can feel what she’s feeling. The relief, happiness, joy that it really happened, and I hold her closer. “She told us about it, and we all agreed it was our only option.”

“As long as we didn’t kill by the end of our twenty-first birthday, we would get the chance to have Aphrodite’s gift given to us. So, we spent our birthday together in the lagoon outside of town, keeping each other from letting the cold consume us, and as the night turned to midnight, we found ourselves with legs,” Celestia states, laughing a bit.

“Serenia was four before she came to live with us, so she knew the most basic things about humans, was able to teach us how to walk, and then Celestia remembered a hidden bag of clothes that also had money in it that would likely be useful. We walked to town that morning, and then one by one, met you all.”

“And spent several days worried that you wouldn’t fall in love with us, and we’d have to go back,” Serenia adds, and I just hold her gaze because not loving her is impossible.

“And then worried that it seemed too simple that you did fall in love with us, until Aphrodite joined us in the diner at least,” Celestia says and all three of us guys share confused looks at that. “She walked right into it past you. Said you ignored even her, but it wasn’t a surprise since your hearts were never meant for anyone but us.”

“So, we really were brought here to find you,” Dylan says to Melodia, echoing what I felt once more, and she nods his way. “And you still were worried it wasn’t real?”

“We’ve spent our entire lives fighting against the cold. You’ve no idea just how powerful it was, so yes, when nothing happened when you told us you loved us, we were worried somehow our powers had gotten you to fall for us, even though you said it happened in an instant,” Melodia states.

“Then Aphrodite told us, it was never your love we had to worry about, it was always us. That you would have fallen for us no matter what, because you were destined to be ours, but if we hadn’t listened, hadn’t fought the cold bloodlust, we wouldn’t have seen it, seen any of you, and ended up like the others,” Celestia adds, snuggling into Dane’s hold as he kisses her forehead.

“Knowing what it took to get us all here, in this town, and knowing that we all had listened, we knew her words were true,” Serenia says, giving me a smile that I feel even deeper now.

“And then she told us she’d given us two more gifts,” Melodia states, giggling a bit as she looks up at Dylan. “Well, she said the first was really for you all.”

“Being that when we transformed back into our siren bodies, we’d have a little more coverage than normal, because sirens only have tails,” Serenia says making my brow lift high in confusion.

“And hair for coverage,” Celestia expands on for them, bringing a growl to my lips that Dylan echoes.

“So the other gift is that you all can transform whenever you want?” Dane asks her. “Because in the water you had a tail but once out of it…”

“That was part of her original gift for those that found true love not the extra ones she told us about in the diner,” Celestia answers.

“She did say that we could only transform back into our siren form when in a natural body of water. So the lake, a river, or the ocean. Pools won’t do it, and neither will the rain thankfully because we’ve kept our existence from humans for thousands of years now,” Serenia adds, nodding at me with a grin like she knows I was thinking sirens were total myths earlier.

“So, what was the last gift?” Dylan questions.

“You all as ours forever. Sirens are immortal beings,” Melodia tell him, sending his brow upwards as I hold my breath a bit. The thought of never losing Serenia floods me with a peace I never knew I needed. “Every soul that the Lycophron consumes, gives us more strength. Even if we didn’t do the actual killing or consuming, the strength is shared by all through the bloodline. Normally, when a siren mates, it’s to breed. When a siren has a man under her lure, it’s to kill, unless she’s ready to breed. Once a siren knows she’s with child, she kills the man, so he has no chance of sharing a bond with the child.”

“That bond gives them strength and sirens hatred of men is as deep as the bloodlust that runs through them. But that strength was just that, strength, not immortality,” Serenia adds. Something in her tone hits hard, and I need to know what made her happiness dim this much.

“But it will be different with us, for us,” Melodia says to her, telling me I’m right that there’s something she hasn’t said. “Aphrodite told us that when we have daughters, they won’t ever have to fight the cold. They won’t feel it because of your hearts, and with our daughters’ birth, the bond will create a new one for us, where we’ll get to have you with us for eternity. They as well as all of you will share in the strength, her victory over the ones that use her gifts for evil.”

“They won’t be able to kill you even in the water then,” Serenia says to me, shuddering with the memories in her eyes that hurts deep inside me.

“Until then, you have to swear you’ll stay out of the ocean, away from the rivers or lakes that connect to them, because if our mothers do come, that’s as far as they can go,” Celestia adds.

“Can they try to hurt you?” Dane asks her, making my breath stall again, needing to know that Serenia can’t be taken from me.

“They can try, but it would only kill them as well. A siren can’t kill another siren, without killing all of her blood,” Serenia answers, her hand on my chest, right over my heart calming its racing beat. “If our mothers tried to kill us, it would destroy them, as well as our entire lineage.”

“Even if they tried to have Celestia’s mother kill me, and mine kill Serenia, and hers kill Celestia, it would still kill them as well,” Melodia adds giving Dylan a reassuring smile.

“There must be thousands of sirens out there then,” I say and Serenia shake her head no.

“Sirens can only have one child each, and sirens only have girls,” she tells me, and the fact that we can have a daughter fills me with happiness even if it’ll only ever be one.

“A little you that’s part me too sounds perfect, honey,” I return, making her flush, and her eyes soften more, the glow returning to them.

“Nothing wrong with having more of perfection in the world, that’s for sure,” Dylan agrees.

“I can’t wait to have a little piece of you and me in the world, baby,” Dane states.

“I wonder what our daughters’ powers might be,” Melodia says, bringing curious looks from all of us men her way.

“What do you mean powers?” Dylan asks.

“Well, sirens have powers to lure men,” Melodia states, and he nods. “We have different ways of achieving that, usually they’re enhanced based on who our father is. Mine was a musician, so my song is more powerful than anyone else’s. There was never anyone I couldn’t enchant if I tried. When sirens are pregnant, they can feel what the powers their child will have, and normally we’re named after them in some way.”

“Hence Melodia,” Dylan says, and she nods in return.

“My father was an astronomy professor, it left me with an affinity with the sky. Sailors used to track their positions using the night sky. Others with similar gifts would rearrange a star here and there to confuse them, draw them nearer to their deaths. With new machines, their abilities weren’t quite as useful, so when I was born with the ability to disrupt the force of the moon and stars, they realized I could mess with their machines as well,” Celestia adds.

“And men know to watch out for rocks as they bring a ship in, and while some of our kind can mask them, no one else could create an entire vision of land so true that men would leave their ship and fall into the vast ocean for the sirens to drag into their depths. My father was a geologist with the Army Corp of Engineers. He managed to escape my mother when she tried to kill him the first time. Found her when she was having me, and stole me, to try and keep me from her, keep me safe. I was four when we moved to a base near the ocean, and she found me. Despite his strength, he was pulled into the depths and drowned when my mother pulled me into the water so I would have my first transformation. At least now it’s not painful,” Serenia says, and the same sadness from earlier fills her eyes. I wrap her up tightly, holding her close, giving her a soft kiss to show her I understand. That I’m here for her. I always will be.

The others stay through lunch, before heading home and I take Serenia upstairs, kissing every bit of her, showing her my love hasn’t changed a single bit, only grown deeper.

“Promise me you won’t go near the water,” she says as we’re laying in bed, our bodies sweaty and touching one another entirely.

“What?” I ask, turning her to face me, lifting her face up to mine.

“Your lake here is fine. Pools are the same, but the ocean and any of the rivers that flow directly out to it aren’t. Most sirens won’t go too far up a river because it’s fresh not salt water, but some will, especially if they’re hunting one specific person. Modern dams will stop them, but there was lore that one siren traveled all the way from Argentine Sea, up to the Gulf, and up the Missouri River until she found the man that evaded her some two hundred years ago. He was a fisherman from the norther part of the US. What’s now Montana I think,” she says but I still don’t fully understand.

“Why should I avoid the ocean though, honey?” I ask her, seeing fear in her eyes as I run a knuckle down her gorgeous face.

“Because if my mother learns about you, that I’m here with you, staying with you…that I won’t ever become a full-fledged siren, she’ll take you from me and I’d die if that happened. I hated being a siren, being in the ocean. I wanted my dad back but because of me…”

“What? Serenia, what happened?” I ask because that pain from earlier is there but even deeper now, and I hate it.

“When I said my mother found me…my dad told me not to go near the water. That I wasn’t allowed. I kept feeling this pull towards it though and one night, I slipped out to figure out why. I know now that it wasn’t even the water that was pulling me, but my mother telepathically urging me to get to the water. That’s how we talk,” she adds as my brows lift at her news. “The closer to the ocean I got, the deeper the connection became, but it was actually her whispering to me to come to the water that had me so curious. As soon as I stepped foot on the beach she felt I was there and before my dad could get me and get me back home, she and the other sirens were there. She grabbed me, pulling me into the water while the other sirens held my dad under it. He was stronger but against a dozen sirens…he died because of me.”

“No, honey,” I state, wiping away the tears that fall from her sweet eyes. “He died because of your mother and the others who were completely taken by the cold, by the need to kill. He came to find you, to protect you because that’s what dads do, what I’d do if it was our little girl that was missing or taken.”

“I can’t lose you, Duncan,” she cries, the tears falling faster.

“You won’t, honey. Not now, not ever. Isn’t that what you were told? That when we have a baby, the bond created will protect me too?” I remind her, calming her frantic breathing.

“Until then…you have to stay away from the water. Promise me,” she begs and there’s no way I can deny her that.

“I promise,” I whisper to her, softly kissing away her tears. “I’ll be careful, I swear. I won’t ever do anything to risk you being hurt in any way. But you know, if you want to shorten the time until I’m fully protected, that’s apparently up to you,” I add with a grin as her eyes open, staring up at me in surprise. “You said a siren can only breed when she wants to, so whenever you want that, want to bring our little girl into the world, I’ll be more than ready for it.”

“So, if I said I was ready right now?” she asks, her eyes glowing more, and I don’t bother answering her with words. My lips cover hers and I show her just how ready to breed her I really am—all night long.