Chapter 57
F or the first time in a year, I went to my parents’ house. Niamh had told me to speak to Mum, and I’d put it off. But after what happened in the cell, I needed to know. They had a house in St Kilda near the beach with spacious rooms and large windows with a large backyard.
Dad opened the door to my knock, surprise on his face. “Quinn, come in.” He stepped aside, letting me inside. “Good to see you.” A large smile broke out. “Really good to see you.”
I gave him a quick hug and removed my jacket before following him into the lounge room where Mum was sitting with coffee and Tim Tams. Several photos hung from the walls of Dad’s parents, my two uncles, and cousins, along with a framed rugby jersey from the team Dad had played for in New Zealand. Mum’s were framed together on a bookshelf: my uncle, three aunts, and cousins. In the corner of the room was a baby grand piano, decorated with photos of Niamh and myself, along with awards we’d won in music and singing competitions. As I walked past the piano I played a few keys, and I glanced at a photo of us at the beach when I was ten.
“Quinn, what a surprise to see you, is everything okay?” Mum stood up, wrapping her arms around me. We pulled apart, and she turned to Dad. “Why don’t you get a hot cuppa for her?” She held her hand out to the couch. “Please, sit down.” Dad headed to the kitchen.
I took a seat, sitting forward. “Mum, I need to ask you something. Um, it might sound strange. Niamh told me I needed to talk to you, and I get the feeling it’s related.”
“Niamh visited you? You saw her?” she glanced towards the door. “Love, Niamh paid Quinn a visit.”
“You knew she would,” came the reply, followed by the sound of water as he filled the jug.
Her reaction wasn’t what I expected. “Yeah, why are you not surprised?” I asked.
“Sweetie, it’s okay. We can talk about that. First, what did you want to ask?”
Now I had more questions. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Here goes. “Am I…human?” The words tumbled out. “Something’s strange about me. I need to know if…” I left the sentence hanging and shrugged.
Mum squeezed my hand. “We do have a lot to talk about, don’t we?” Her focus was drawn to the back door. “Is someone with you? Did someone follow you?” She rose from the couch.
“No?” I glanced at the door. “Why?” A shiver went down my spine. I knew that feeling. “Oh no.” I had been followed, alright.
Dad walked in, carrying a mug of coffee for me, and he laid it on the table. “Ava, what’s wrong?”
“Why don’t you come in, vampire?” she said in a soft voice.
The door opened, and Carlos walked through. His usual smirk was gone, his eyes red, fangs showing.
Dad glared. “How about you put all that away in my house,” he grumbled. “Why are you following my daughter?”
Their lack of fear surprised both Carlos, and myself.
“How did you know he was there?” I asked.
“I think while I’m in unfamiliar territory, I’ll stick to this,” Carlos said, wary. “How do you know about vampires?”
Mum smiled at me, and she cast a stern look at Carlos. “We can sense vampires, and most other paranormals. Their mind tricks don’t always work on us, either. If any have ever tried to compel you, you were probably aware of it at the time.” She pointed to the chair furthest away from us. “If you’re going to follow Quinn, at least sit down. I’ve known about your kind for years. Also, I’d appreciate it if you stopped trying to get into my mind.”
My parents’ lack of fear of him worried me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked him.
“Keeping a promise to Matteo to keep you safe,” he met my gaze. “You asked your mother an interesting question. One to which I, too, would very much like to learn the answer.” His gaze shifted. “Please, explain yourself,” he instructed Mum.
Mum’s cheeks reddened in anger. “You do not instruct me in my own home,” she glared. “I do not need to explain myself to you.”
I needed to keep the peace. “Mum, please, how about we finish our conversation?” I shot an apologetic look at Carlos.
“What is with your family?” he asked me. “All of you speak with such boldness and blatant disrespect.”
Mum pointed to the chair. “Sit, now.” she ordered, using a tone I knew all too well. Her ‘Mum voice’. “There is no place here for your vampire arrogance. If you want to challenge me, I’ll be all too happy to show you why that is a very bad idea.”
“Mum!” I couldn’t believe how she was talking to him.
Carlos didn’t move.
A humming rose from her. I knew the sound, one of comfort. Only, it came from within her. Her eyes glowed green. Carlos fell to his knees, hands covering his ears, groaning in pain.
“Mum, stop, what are you doing?” I asked, shaken.
“How about we all sit down, put away the fangs and Siren Song, and be civil?” Dad said, always the peacekeeper.
Mum’s humming stopped, and she returned to her place on the couch. Dad sat on the other side of her, his hand on her leg as if to comfort or calm her.
Siren Song? “What does he mean, Siren Song?” I asked.
“You’re sirens.” Carlos climbed to his feet. “I’ve met a few of your kind. They never hid what they were, though, and they didn’t smell human, as you do.” He took his seat.
Mum raised her eyebrows. “You must be very old to have known sirens as they were centuries ago.”
“I thought they had died out,” he said, leaning forward.
“We’re their descendants, and we never lost our voices, nor our love of the sea.” She glanced back at me. “Unfortunately, your sister’s call to the sea was too much for her.”
“Maybe you should start at the beginning,” I said, grabbing a Tim Tam from the coffee table.
Mum sat back. “You’re right. Well to start with, to answer your question, yes, you are human.” She sipped her drink. “You’re also a siren.”
Siren. Love of the sea . She’d told me stories of sirens when I was younger. “Wait, you mean mermaids? I’m descended from fucking mermaids?” I stared at her in disbelief. “No, I’m pretty sure I would have noticed if I had a fishtail.”
Both my parents burst out laughing. Carlos’s intense stare bored into me.
Mum’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Mermaids aren’t real, sweetie. That part of the myth was created from the minds of men. I never did understand it.”
I had no words, so I waited for her to continue.
“We were women of the sea who sang to find the one our heart desired. Unfortunately, our voice still affected all who heard it, drawing them to us. We became hunted, so we left the sea. Unfortunately, we never returned.”
“Why are you just telling me this now?” Stunned, I stared at both of them. “Why did you keep this from me? Is this not something I should have known, been prepared for?”
Mum hung her head. “Niamh reacted the same way when she found out.”
I put my Tim Tam on the coffee table next to my coffee and started to pace the room.
“In the cell,” Carlos spoke up then, addressing me. “Matteo should have killed you, but you dragged him out of his bloodlust. I believe your voice might be what allowed those of us who heard you to break free of Gabriela.”
“Our voice does hold sway over men, and sometimes other women,” Mum said, showing a little concern at Carlos’s words. “It’s how you were able to gain such a following with your music. But only one is worthy of your voice and your heart. One who you Called to you.”
“What do you mean, worthy of my voice?” I sat down again. She’d given me a lot of information, and more questions.
“Our songs drew many men. But we sang to Call the one our heart desired. The one worthy of our song. We inherited that.” She smiled at Dad, grabbing his hand. “I found mine. Niamh found hers. I believe you found yours.” She laughed. “A vampire, of all people. That’s a little surprising. I can’t say any siren has Called a vampire before.”
I frowned across at Carlos. “I drew in ‘the one.’ With my voice? Matteo?”
Mum nodded. “I know you’ve never believed in anything like that, but yes. I was starting to give up on you Calling yours. I was worried that Steven had ruined that, that he’d broken you.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked again, my voice rising with the hurt surging through me.
“You had to find it on your own, just as I did.” She paused. “It was on me to guide your sister, just as she was supposed to be the one to guide you. Hence her visit.”
I absorbed it all in a stunned silence. It was a lot to take in, that ‘the one’ was real. Despite that not being something I’d believed, everything about Matteo and the way we’d been drawn together made sense. Why I’d been able to accept him being a vampire. I grabbed the Tim Tam again and bit into the opposite ends, dipping it into coffee .
“Uh, what are you doing?” Carlos asked, his eyebrows knitted together, staring at me.
I finished my mouthful of gooey chocolatey goodness. “Tim Tam slam,” I said, as if it were the most obvious answer.
He frowned. “And what is a Tim Tam slam?”
Dad chuckled. “Be careful what you ask, she’ll be teaching you.”
I offered a Tim Tam to Carlos. He took one and sniffed it before licking it and stuffing it into his mouth.
“Why is he here, and not the one who you Called?” Mum asked.
“The one she Called has been handed to vampire hunters, and from what I believe, they will execute him tomorrow morning,” Carlos told her.
Mum’s face fell. “Execute?”
Carlos leaned forward in his seat again, his intense stare on Mum. “What happens to either the siren or the one she Calls, if one dies?”
Mum had paled, her eyes filled with horror. “The survivor will never recover. They’ll always feel the loss and will become unrecognisable.” She grabbed my hand. “You saw what happened to Luke after Niamh died. He lost a part of his heart and will be that way until the day he dies. You Called a vampire. In doing so, you sealed your fate that you will become a vampire. If you don’t, he would suffer, were you to die. But if he were to die, as your friend says, you will always feel incomplete. There is no other for you. Only Matteo.”