Chapter 10
Fay stared in shock at the Siren. From all she knew of their kind, scattered and unclear as it was, was a far cry from the genuine look of fear in her eyes. It was a look that Fay felt sickened by. It was different when the wolves were afraid of her – that, she took pleasure in. Mel was different. Staring into her eyes made Fay feel like she was staring into her past self, newly turned.
She composed herself and leant against a tree. “The parties are to feed, aren’t they but how are you doing it, without killing?”
Mel was silent for a moment, a deer in headlights, before she swallowed hard and spoke. “My gran – dad’s side. She helps me control my magic. Hell, she got me away from my mother and the others. This town, whilst some may hate it, is my haven. I’m free here.”
Fay felt like Mel was referring to Tash and her utter scorn of the town and everything within it. Though that sentiment to Tash seemed to run deeper. Still, the thought of someone genuinely liking the town, toxic as it was, was disturbing to Fay. It unhinged the picture she’d cemented in her mind, which was firmly bound in ugly memories and a lot of anger.
“I’ll have to report this to the council but given your unique feeding habits you’ll be left alone. You’re not killing anyone – at least, as far as you say and if you’re lying I’ll kill you myself.”
She glanced beyond Fay to the trees that hid the party beyond. “What about the werewolves?”
“What about them?”
“Don’t they have to know?”
Fay shrugged. “There’s probably a rule on it but not one strictly enforced. Not something I’d enforce anyway, neither would my partner.”
Fay realised her mistake the second she spoke as Mel stood up. “You’re with the Bureau? My gran told me about them, said they were bad news for my kind but wait, you’re here for the poltergeists, aren’t you? Or Amanda?”
“Can’t say,” Fay said. “So, here’s the deal. I keep your secret safe in this town and you don’t talk about who I really am.”
Mel held her gaze for a second, then nodded. “Fine but I should get back to the party. Drinks on me.”
Fay smiled as she walked with the Siren back to the party. “Oh, I know.”
Back at the party they parted ways. Finn came for Mel and a genuine look of happiness crossed her face. Fay pitied him because she knew what fate awaited them both. It wasn’t a secret what happened to those who loved Sirens. Still, it wasn’t her place to intervene and so long as no deaths occurred – though Fay set Mel aside as a suspect for the poltergeist problem – the girl was safe. If she was responsible for what was happening then it was another matter. The girl was, however, quite capable of doing the spells, though if what Fay saw was genuine, she didn’t have the character for it.
As she wandered along the tree line she felt a shiver snake down her spine. A second later, a hand on her bicep. She spun around, instinctively slamming the stranger into a tree – not too hard but firm enough to earn a groan. The dark-eyed stranger, a roguish face with a charming smile, stared down at her and winked.
“Hey Fay.”
The second the words were spoken she stepped back, frowning. “Abe?”
For a second the mirage on his face shimmered, betraying the real face beneath. He nodded and glanced over her shoulder, as if seeing if they were alone. She drew closer. To anyone that looked over it’d seem intimate and normal.
“I had planned to inform you of the disguise but you were otherwise occupied,” he said with a smile.
“Oh, bite me! It wasn’t like I planned it,” she muttered. “Anyway, you never mentioned you were coming.”
His eyes held hers firm. “Like I’d let you do this alone. We’re together, remember?”
She found it impossible to draw her gaze away and realised she didn’t want to. “Partners.”
Perhaps she imagined it but she swore his face inched closer. “You look beautiful tonight.”
“Can’t say the same,” she teased quietly. “Suppose one of us ought to look good.”
“Cruel mistress.”
The next movement was her, inching closer. “I am a monster, you know?” His mouth parted to speak but at the mention of a monster the moment shattered. She stepped back. “The chick who pays for the party, the town heiress, is a Siren.”
He straightened up. “What?”
“Yeah, shocked me too but I saw her properly. No mistake about it. First a Wraith, now a Siren. This town was only meant to be have werewolves – I don’t like how we’re constantly blindsided here by bad intel.”
Abe rubbed his jaw grimly. “An unregistered Siren.”
“Apparently to hide from the rest of her enclave. She’s a little different in her feeding – or so she says. According to her she uses the party to siphon small amounts off everyone. Unnoticeable, especially with all the booze. Real smart if you ask me.”
“And within council law,” said Abe admiringly. The look dissolved as he looked troubled again. “We still have no clues on who brought the poltergeists, though this Siren would have the energy without too many sacrifices could be a suspect. I scoured the whole town but any traces seem erratic. I even browsed through every police report, every story on abandoned houses – any sites that could be used. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It’d be great if we could find the original site but we can’t.”
“And we have nothing,” murmured Fay. “I’ll see if I can work Mel. See if she knows anything about Amanda. My gut says the girl is linked somehow. Might be worth if you can scope out Daphne, Jackson and Lilian – I emailed their files to you. I saw them chatting pretty heatedly and the latter two were Amanda’s best friend. Could be nothing but Amanda was supposedly blowing them off in the end. Could be for Daphne.”
“She’s human, right thought?”
Fay turned around and surveyed the party critically. “Honestly, I thought this town just had werewolves and I’ve been wrong twice so far. So, no, I’m not sure anymore.”856Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvyRHlhBOSe
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By eleven the party was in full swing. Heavy music pumped across the stretching shoreline, bonfires roaring, with crowds of people dancing around them. A hypnotic trance had entranced everyone, drawing them into blissful oblivion. Oblivious to the demon that stalked amongst them, Fay’s keen eyes studying everyone. She’d long since been abandoned by Tash, who had dissolved into the crowd some hours ago, but she was content to drift amongst the crowds. Somewhere Abe was doing the same.
She was glad for the distance. There had been something unsettling with whatever had happened before. She’d believed that had ended when he betrayed her; yet, when he leant in close, it was like – just for a split second – nothing had changed. That hunger inside of her purred, stirring within. Shaking her head, she realised she’d passed beyond the glow and commotion of the last bonfire. She stood alone by the lakeside, the shimmering water stretching out before her, brushed with strokes of moonlight.
One minute she was on that shoreline, drifting away to the tangle of her own thoughts, the next she stood in a stone temple. Polished pillars stood proud on either side, holding up an arched roof, a ceiling of carved Goddesses. Names floated through her mind, conjured from depths unknown. She named them all, their stories – tragic affairs, bitter prophecies, their own hubris – and looked down, seeing the prayer room stretched before her. A large room dominated by pillars around the edge and a dais in the middle, a statue of Athena erected in the middle. Small offerings were scattered across stained cloths at her feet, accompanied by brass plates of burning herbs. Suspended about the room, lighting it all, were warmly burning torches.
She felt their warmth brush over her, their ashy smell mingling with the herbs and the offerings of fruit. Each as sharp and vivid, striking a chord of emotion within her; worry, love, fear, anger. She turned her focus inwards, trying to pin the source when footsteps clapped against the temple floor behind her. As she turned a figure strode through her, sending tremulous waves of energy rushing, her heart encircled by ice. Then, another figure followed, striding just as hard. The first of which stopped before Athena, her shape materialising. Her tall, well-built frame with lean, firm muscles, wrapped in a rich dress of pale blue, stark against her dark, olive skin, striking with the ebony hair that was braided and jewelled down her back. She walked like a Queen, the nobles of old, the world set beneath her feet and she knew it. Fay knew her name without even knowing how, as if that knowledge had been there all along. As was the man that followed her.
Nebiru.
“Andromeda, stop!” He ordered sharply. “Let me speak with you.”
She spun around and the blood rushed from her. Andromeda’s eyes blazed furiously, defiance proud in those dark, luminous eyes. She might not have looked like a muscled warrior but there was nothing meek or timid in those eyes. There was the touch of darkness in those eyes.
“She should not have told you,” said Andromeda with barely contained scorn. “It was not her place.”
“I am your brother, so it was mine to know and she knew that,” he replied with a touch of softness. “She said you believed Antiope’s words.”
Andromeda’s hard eyes didn’t soften. “I did not at first but I have been convinced.”
“It is nothing but lies. The girl seeks to destroy your reputation,” argued Nebiru passionately. “You are too valuable.”
She threw her head back and laughed; a cold, brittle sound that cracked like shattered glass across the temple walls. As she sobered she looked at him.
“I am naught more than a brood mare,” she reminded him. “Mother admitted it herself when she thought I was not aware.” She cocked her head. “You think I am little more than a spoiled girl acting out, defiant of what is expected of her?”
Nebiru looked strangely ashamed for the moment, like Andromeda had struck a nerve. He glanced away, perhaps to the temple walls with their rich history, or simply to avoid the piercing intensity of Andromeda’s ruthless gaze.
“I worry where this path will lead you,” he admitted.
“I am bound to a fate I have come to accept. One cannot argue especially when the Goddess of Strife and Discord attends to me personally,” she said, her voice softer than before.
Nebiru glanced at her in surprise. Scepticism danced in his eyes. He must’ve thought she was crazy, going on about a Goddess visiting his sister. It was unusual but from Fay’s experience when the immortals dabbled in human lives it was never for anything good. It always meant something tragic was unfolding. So what schemes had Andromeda been entangled in?
“And what of your lover? I cannot say he would approve.”
“He stands by me and knows all,” said Andromeda with a small smile. Love, Fay realised. “I have not hidden this from him and he was there when the Goddess appeared. I know it worries him but he has stood in no other place but my side.”
Nebiru sighed. “That man is a fool.”
“Yes, but he is my fool, as I am his. You cannot stop me, Nebiru. I will do what I was born to do and fulfil my destiny.”
“Then you will do it without me. I will not watch my sister be torn apart by the Gods. I cannot do it,” he said softly, resolutely, as he turned and strode from the temple.
Andromeda stared at his back but she held firm and didn’t follow him. Her carefully guarded eyes betrayed nothing. Fay stared at her eyes, entranced by the woman before her.
Who are you?
Then, from the real world, piercing the veil of vision and memory, came the sound of a girl screaming.
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