Page 6

Celestia

M elodia is beaming as we wait for Serenia to join us. She’ll be the last to arrive even though she’s the one that reached out to us last night. Thankfully, she did it while I was browsing at the bookstore, so Dane didn’t see that I didn’t actually get a message on a phone when I mentioned needing to stop by here this morning. I know they were likely surprised that I agreed to being up so early, but I figured the earlier we found out where we all stood, the better and longer we would have from then until Monday night. I’m just so glad that it worked out for me and Dane.

Even if he did manage to get me out of the bookstore a little too fast. That place is amazing, and I can’t wait to go back and see what all they have.

It’s so much more than just history texts like our kind record. I mean, yes, I saw some books in a history section that appeared to be facts about the human world. I even saw biographies, which appear to be written about specific people, but there was this huge fiction section that had books of all varieties. Like romance and fantasy and mysteries, and I’m so intrigued.

Serenia finally comes in, slipping into the seat across from me and her smile makes me have to ask, “I take it things are going well with the guy from the park?”

“Better than that,” she states. “You found someone?”

“Yeah, he’s great,” I sigh, a little hint of color in her cheeks before she glances at Melodia who is practically glowing.

“You look happier than even normal,” Serenia says with a little laugh. “I take it you met someone too?”

“After worrying that I wouldn’t for the better part of that first day, yeah,” Melodia says, and my eyes widen in a bit of surprise hearing her true fears in that statement. Of all of us she was the most certain this would work out so it’s surprising to know she had doubts as well.

“You found…” she stops suddenly looking to me curiously.

“Dane, his name’s Dane,” I tell them because she wasn’t there when he introduced himself.

“Dane,” Melodia says with a nod, “well, you found him just a couple hours after Serenia found…”

“Duncan,” Serenia tells us pulling a grin and giggle from Melodia, and I can’t help but give her a curious look.

“Does he own a greenhouse?” I ask and she nods, looking shocked. “Dane said his best friends were Duncan who runs a greenhouse and…”

“Dylan who owns a restaurant,” Melodia blurts out excitedly.

“Wait, what?” Serenia gasps, and Melodia nods bouncing giddily. “So, the guys we met all know each other?”

“Seems so,” I muse, shaking my head a bit still. “So how did you meet Dylan?”

Melodia fills us in making Serenia grin as she adds, “One look at him and I was hooked. He made me the most incredible food ever and then took me home. He told me Friday night he loved me, fell in love the moment he saw me, which was before I ever saw him…”

“Duncan said the same thing when we were falling asleep Thursday night. That the second he saw me, he knew I was supposed to be his,” Serenia admits with a sigh, her eyes glowing with happiness and I know same look is in my eyes as well.

“Dane told me last night he never believed in love at first sight until he saw me. I just…can it really be this simple?” I add, the worry that’s been there since last night still filling me. I guess I was expecting something more after he said ‘I love you’ to me, or at least something more along the lines of what happened when our tails turned into legs. There was this sensation that slipped through me that I could feel. Last night, all I could feel was Dane’s love as he held me, and I’ve been holding onto hope that I didn’t miss something—that we didn’t miss something we had to do for the gift to become permanent. “I mean, I didn’t tell him I’m…”

“Neither did I,” Melodia admits glancing at Serenia.

“Are you kidding? I didn’t want him to think I needed to be locked up by telling him that, especially not when he’d just…”

“What?” Melodia asks when she pauses, a knowing glint in her eyes before Serenia even says anything making me incredibly curious.

“Asked me to marry him,” Serenia states, showing off the beautiful emerald ring on her finger.

“Dylan asked me Friday night,” Melodia tells us, showing off her ring and the pretty pink stone fits her entirely.

“Dane asked me last night,” I admit, showing them the black and blue sapphire ring, he slipped onto my hand and Melodia squeals seeing it.

“Oh, they’re even more perfect than when I saw them…”

“Saw them? What?” Serenia gets out before me, stopping Melodia’s words and she claps a hand over her mouth, giggling.

“Melodia…what’s going on? You don’t have visions,” I whisper giving her a little glare because she wasn’t at all surprised at the sight of either of our rings.

“Dylan found a pearl in an oyster mistakenly sent to the restaurant, took me to the jewelry store to get them to make it into a necklace and we ran into Dane and Duncan when they came in to find rings for you,” she says with one long rush of breath. “I promised I wouldn’t tell. They both were looking at boring diamonds to begin but once I pointed them in the right direction, they didn’t hesitate on which to buy. Dylan wouldn’t let me try on any of them to see if they’d fit. He had me close my eyes and then slipped this one on me, then bought it without me knowing.”

“Well then, thank you for your help. I love my ring,” Serenia says giving her a hug.

“So do I,” I agree with a grin at them, so amazed that their men are Dane’s friends still. It means he won’t mind that we hang out still, which is a total comfort after overhearing some of the men from the beach arguing with their girlfriends when they wanted to go out with other girls, or when they were out with them. Some of them are downright cruel. They’re the ones that tempted me most to give into the bloodlust and kill them—at least they did because right now, I feel none of that.

“But honestly, is this all it took? I mean, I don’t really feel any different. I guess I was just expecting something more like when we got our…legs,” I add on a whisper as someone approaches our table.

“And you will, the next time you’re in water,” a voice says from the end of the space, and a gasp falls from each of us seeing the woman there. The undeniable glow surrounding her combined with the adoring looks from all of the men in the diner telling us exactly who she is.

“I’ve been in water since Dylan told me. I was in water with him Friday night when he told me he loved me again,” Melodia responds, and Aphrodite simply smiles at us.

“Natural body of water—a lake, river, or the ocean,” she expands. “It’d be more of a curse than a gift if you transformed anytime you were in water, or if it rained. To not be able to swim in a pool, especially in a place like this.”

“So, the next time we go into the water what? We’ll regrow our tails?” I ask and she nods. “And what about the cold?”

“Have you felt even an inkling of it since you met your men, who by the way, are all outside waiting for you to come out, and who all ignored me on my way in here. If I didn’t know their hearts were only ever meant for you, I might feel slighted,” Aphrodite says with a tinkle of a laugh that brings more male attention to her.

“What does that mean?” Serenia questions her.

“Exactly what I said. You were worried it was too easy, that they fell too quickly,” she adds to me, and I nod, her eyes flowing over to Serenia as well with a kind smile. “It was never the men that didn’t fall in love, my dears. Even when the ancient sirens were given their chance, the men fell in love with them, but the sirens only focused on their need for revenge. Only allowed the coldness of their hearts to rule.

“Only when a siren allows herself to want love over anything else can she find it. Each of you opened yourselves up to its possibility and listened when it spoke. You could have ignored the pull to go through the park, but you didn’t, Serenia, allowing you to find Duncan. Celestia, you ignored the rest of the crowd pushing you forward, winding your way down a strange path to find Dane. And my dear sweet, Melodia, you ignored all of the men that would have gladly fallen in love with you but opened yourself up when Dylan appeared.

“No other siren has ever allowed herself that, but I always hoped you three would be different. No matter how many temptations were put in front of you, you never once used your powers to harm. I wouldn’t have been so forgiving of the man you saw on the beach that night that killed his girlfriend. I would have still offered you the chance if you had used your powers and lured him to a watery death,” Aphrodite adds to me, and it simply shocks me further.

“So now that you know, go get your men. Tell them what you really are so they can love all of you. Oh, and in case you’re worried, there’s one—or two last gifts for you. The first is perhaps more for your men than you,” she says making us curious. “They won’t have to worry about anyone seeing what’s theirs when you’re in water. You’ll still feel as you did, but your body will be covered entirely like your tail, think more mermaid than siren.”

“Duncan will be happy to know that,” Serenia says with a laugh making mine and Melodia’s brows lift a bit her way, but she just shrugs.

“And the last gift?” Melodia asks Aphrodite.

“You won’t have to worry about your daughters’ hearts ever being cold. Their fathers’ hearts will protect them even more than your fathers’ did with you. You were each born of the man who truly loved the woman your mothers should have been, which is why your powers were greater, your ability to resist the cold deeper. None of it will ever touch your daughters and you will get to spend lifetimes with your mates because once your child is born, that is when my last gift to you will come. A shared lifespan created through your shared blood,” she says nodding at the questions in our eyes.

“They’ll share our immortality?” I ask, thinking of the immense pleasure that an eternity with him will be, but I’m also curious now about Aphrodite’s mention that the men could only ever love us. That along with Dane’s statement last night about not believing that there was such a thing as uncontrollable desire that is. He couldn’t possibly have been a virgin as well, could he?

“And every time the others claim another mortal life, it will strength them the same as you. My own little payback for them ignoring my gracious gift so many centuries ago,” Aphrodite says getting up, giving us smiles before she heads out the door, leaving a trail of drool in her wake.

“Should we tell them together?” Melodia asks and at the nod from us, we make our way out of the diner to find our men.

“Done already?” Dylan asks, his brow lifting a bit as Melodia’s stomach rumbles. “You clearly didn’t eat enough, angel.”

“We actually only got around to ordering drinks,” Serenia says, pulling a grumble from Duncan as she slips into his side, resting her head on his shoulder.

“Everything okay, baby?” Dane asks me, his brows furled with concern that fills me with warmth and more hope that he really was a virgin as well. That I’m the only one he knows and loved in every way.

“Well, we wanted to tell you all something…”

“About where we grew up,” Melodia adds when I pause.

“You can tell us anything, angel. Whatever it is, we’ll be here for you,” Dylan promises.

“Do you think we could go to the house and explain, Dunc?” Serenia asks, telling me and Melodia about the lake on his property telepathically.

“Of course we can, honey,” he instantly replies, his eyes warm as they gaze on her and I know for certain that he loves her as much as Dylan loves Melodia, making me so happy for my friends.

“Let me grab some groceries so I can cook my girl some breakfast and then we’ll be there,” Dylan states and we all agree.

I slip into the car with Dane, watching him as we drive, and his eyes come back over to me when we pull up to a place that’s not quite as large as his house, but there’s even more landscape surrounding us. It’s perfect for Serenia.

“What is it, baby?” he asks me, leaning my way with a soft kiss and I smile, glancing up at him when he pulls back.

“I was just thinking about what you said last night. About desire you couldn’t fight being a myth,” I add, and he smiles just a hint more, teasing my lips with his fingers.

“Did one of your friends tell you that none of us ever dated?” he asks, and my eyes widen a bit more.

“No…but I can understand why you all wouldn’t if we’re the girls that finally won your hearts,” I suggest making him laugh fully as he presses a quick kiss to my lips.

“I had a bad experience when I was twenty-one with a girl that was just after my money. She cheated on me and it made me dislike women, so it wasn’t hard to stay away from them when I never had any desire to touch anyone until I found you, baby,” he states, and my heart flutters uncontrollably. “So, if you’re asking if you’re the first woman I’ve ever slept with, the answer is yes. You’re the only one I want, and I can’t ever imagine that changing. And I’m pretty sure it’s the same thing with our friends though we’ve never really discussed it all. Does that make you happy, baby?”

“Yeah, it does,” I muse with a soft laugh. Surely he’ll understand that we’re sirens, that it doesn’t change who we are—at least not now that we don’t have to worry about the bloodlust at least. “It really, really does.”