Chapter 4 #2
“Huh.” Ada frowned in thought. “What an odd interaction. He was allegedly willing to steal a human but had a moral code when it came to the unlawful use of sinndra.”
“You’re telling me.” I sighed, then lifted a finger. “Also. What is sinndra?”
Ada was about to speak up before Audrey beat her to the punch.
“All sirens have sinndra to some extent,” Audrey explained.
“In the simplest of terms, it’s their ability to sense your emotions and amplify them to their liking.
Some sirens have a stronger sinndra than others.
Leon’s must have been strong, but not strong enough to fully manipulate you, since you were still willing to fight back anyway. ”
“Good job.” Ada gave me a smile and a thumbs-up, which didn’t feel queenly at all, but I appreciated the praise.
“Thank you.” I gave her a thumbs-up back, and she grinned wider.
Then I thought about Audrey’s explanation and asked, “Sirens?” I glanced around the room, “I thought you were all fae?”
“We are,” Liam muttered. “Leon and Sergei are sirens, though. Known to do the Siren King, Ilia’s, bidding.”
“And this Siren King, he’s claiming he had nothing to do with my attack?” I pointed to Ada, who nodded as I tried to piece all of this together. “So how are sirens different from fae?”
“We’re not pricks, for one,” Liam grunted.
Audrey and Ada both turned to Liam to scold him.
“Enough,” Ada snapped.
“Liam,” Audrey groaned, before turning to me. “Biologically, they’re very similar. But sirens are shapeshifters, whereas fae are not.”
I stared at Audrey before shrugging my shoulders and shaking my head in defeat.
“Yeah. Sure. Of course they are.” This was all so insane. What else was I to do, besides go along with all of the crazy shit flowing out of everyone’s mouths?
Ada gave me a bright smile, as if sensing my overwhelm at her world, before pulling a more oval cellphone out of the pockets of her gown and frowning at it.
“I need to take this.” She nodded to the room, and the healer at my side dipped her chin again, so I followed suit. “I’m glad you’re doing well, Vanessa.”
“Me too,” I replied. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” With that, Ada pinched Liam’s arm in passing, avoiding his swatting hand yet again, and let herself out.
When the doors closed, the healer quietly removed my vitals stickers and cleared me.
“Your ribs have healed,” she read off her tablet. “No more internal bleeding. Your concussion and fractured skull left no scarring. Your ankle is healed, and your oxygen and heart rate are steady for human standards.”
I decided to let “for human standards” lie.
“Goddamn.” My heart rate picked up as she listed off all my injuries, and how I definitely would have been in one of those refrigerator cubbies at a morgue in the human realm if this one didn’t exist. “And you healed all of that with just your hands?”
“The halfl—Audrey—kept you stable until they brought you to me. But I’ve also been doing this for a very long time,” the healer smiled as she asked me one last question. “Are you in need of any pain management? Would you like a tea?”
Audrey giggled. “It’s strong stuff. Only take it if you’re in genuine pain, or you’ll be stoned.”
I shook my head in the negative at the healer. “I’m not in any pain at all—” Then I held up a finger in thought. “Do you have anything if I’m sensing a panic attack coming on, though?”
Audrey frowned at me, but the healer gave me a rueful smile and replied, “Unfortunately, nothing that we have has been tested enough on humans. I can’t guarantee it’s safe for you to take.”
“Oh, for sure.” I waved her off. “I probably won’t need that, anyway.” Audrey’s shoulders dropped in relief.
The healer started packing up her things as she said, “It was a pleasure to meet you. I haven’t met a full-blooded human until today.”
“Um, I’m honored to be your first.” If that was true, what the hell was Audrey? The healer just chuckled at me and let herself out of the suite.
I didn’t even hesitate as soon as the click of the latch echoed in the room.
“Why do people call you ‘the halfling’?”
Audrey bit her lip with a shy smile because she always hated having attention on herself.
“I’m half fae.” She lifted a shoulder and shoved her hands in the pockets of her linen pants.
They were tighter on her legs, but when her fists went into them, I realized the linen stretched.
I wondered how that worked with linen. Was this another detail of being in something called a “magical realm”?
Liam grumbled, and the two of us turned to see what caused his mood to drop.
The red-haired man was on the TV again, this time wearing a black leather outfit that looked a lot like some type of spy or military wear. It was very similar to the outfit that the men—I’m sorry, sirens—who attacked me wore, and I found myself frowning at the screen.
He was walking down a cobbled-stone street, with other tall men walking behind him, wearing face masks. He didn’t wear his, though. The hood that seemed to come with his military uniform was down. Instead, he strutted down the street with a relaxed, casual air of indifference.
The red-haired man nodded politely at pedestrians he passed, even though his lips stayed in a firm line; a couple of teenage-looking girls with gold eyes and more pointed ears giggled at his attention. Apparently, even the teenagers in this realm were capable of fangirling.
“Everyone in that shot has gold eyes,” I murmured, mostly to myself, but loud enough for them to hear.
“All sirens have gold eyes,” Audrey quickly explained before she sighed to Liam. “Just turn it off.”
“I hate that the sirens are still pretending that it’s okay for him to be on their streets like this,” Liam muttered.
Liam and this guy clearly had beef, and while I was curious what it was, I was more concerned with Audrey and how the fucking hell she discovered a whole ass magical realm in the first place.
As if she read my mind, Audrey strolled over to the desk in the corner of the room, near the large window, and unplugged a laptop from it before walking back to me.
“I was writing you a letter the night of, well—” She vaguely waved her arm toward me, and I took that to mean, The night you were attacked by seven foot tall men you mistook for LARPers but were actually evil sirens, before she continued.
“And I didn’t expect you to read it so soon, but it might provide some answers to questions you’re having right now. ”
I gently grabbed the laptop from her, setting it on my lap. I was healed, I didn’t need to stay in bed, but I also didn’t know what else to do while I waited for my grant from Queen Ada.
Plus, this bed was cozy as hell.
“Do you want me to read it out loud?” I asked her.
Audrey’s hazel eyes widened in horror. “Oh dear god, no.” She laughed to herself, and settled in next to me on the bed. She pulled her cellphone out—an oval one from the realm we were in—and started checking through various apps.
I opened the laptop, and sure enough, a document that was clearly a letter from Audrey was left open. I scrolled back to the top and started to read.
Not knowing what to expect.
Not really caring what was in this letter from her.
Just grateful that I was here, sitting next to my best friend, who was finally willing to answer questions I’ve had for years.
After I read her letter, Audrey gave me time to sit with my newfound knowledge of Hyvenmere and what she’s been up to, by leaving to get food. She asked Liam to stay with me while she was gone.
I made an “ew, what the fuck?” face at her request, which she blatantly ignored.
Liam obliged, also ignoring my expression, and we have been sitting here in unbearable silence since. He sat in the recliner again, flipping through channels on the TV, while I stared daggers at him.
Sure, Audrey liked him. Had a friendship with him.
But I still hated him.
“Are you going to say anything, or just continue to sit there, picturing my death?” Liam sighed without looking at me.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “I was just glaring at you, but I can picture your death too, if you’d like.”
“What is your issue with me, specifically?” Liam turned to look at me then. “You got along with my sister. The healer, too. It can’t be a general grudge against fae.”
Obviously not, considering I learned about fae five minutes ago, and I had been building up this resentment toward Liam for just under two years.
“They didn’t pull Audrey away from our friendship for two years straight.” I crossed my arms over my chest and my ankles over each other on the bed, legs stretched out. “According to her letter, you Kool-Aid-Manned your way into her life and stole her away.”
His facial expression made me realize he probably had no idea what I meant by “Kool-Aid-Manned,” but with a shake of his head, it was clear he decided not to ask about the slang.
I wasn’t sure if Audrey remembered that she wrote about her unrequited crush on Liam in her letter, but that detail was in there, and I wouldn’t forget it.
They may not be dating, but she definitely wasn’t opposed to the idea.
“I did not encourage her to keep so many secrets from you, Vanessa.” Liam stood from his recliner, stepping toward the bed to lean against one of the large bedposts at the foot of it.
“Audrey always wanted to keep you safe. You are precious to her.” Liam’s blue eyes locked onto mine. “Who was I to tell her otherwise?”
I frowned at him. “I still don’t like it when men come between Audrey and me, even if you’re claiming that it was unintentional.”
Liam’s eyes narrowed at my words, and his chest rose with something like irritation; his nostrils flared as he composed himself enough to ask me, “Are you and Audrey lovers?”
I opened my mouth to say no, but I hesitated.
Because what if Liam was homophobic? That made me want to say yes, just to spite him. But I had no idea if lying about this was dangerous. The more I studied Liam’s body language, though, the more I realized his heated reaction to his question wasn’t one of bigotry.
No. He had tense shoulders, tight fists, uneven breathing through his nose. Liam’s reaction looked…jealous.
Well, I’ll be damned.
Audrey’s little crush might not be so unreciprocated after all.
“What’s it to you?” I asked, leaning forward to bend my knees enough to rest my elbows on them. “Would you back off? Would you let us live our happily ever after in my realm without putting weird pressure on her to hang out here?”
Liam closed his eyes, attempting to compose himself. His shoulders inched higher; his irritation with my non-answer made me grin. Without looking at me, he returned to the drink cart. He poured his second drink of the day.
This thrilled me. I loved irritating men.
Suddenly, Audrey threw the suite door open, holding a brown bag of what smelled like food in each hand.
I immediately jumped off my bed, walking toward the table in the corner where Audrey dumped the bags of food and started unpacking them.
“I got these skewers I think you’ll love, Van.” Audrey grinned at me, and she held one up.
I moaned, sexually. “Babe, I could kiss you on the mouth.”
Audrey just snickered, rolled her eyes, and continued to unpack the food. I glanced over my shoulder to see Liam taking a deep pull of his drink as he kept his eyes on us.
I turned back to Audrey, “Can I?”
Audrey grinned, pulling out little cardboard cups of what I assumed were side-dishes.
“Yeah, sure.” She clearly didn’t think I was being serious.
“But let me show you what else I got—” Audrey was cut off because I had cupped both of her cheeks with my hands and slammed my lips on hers, dramatically.
Audrey immediately tried to retreat, startled and confused, and I followed after her, bending my body over hers, like lovers.
I released her lips with a loud smack, and Audrey laughed out loud.
“What the hell was—” Audrey was cut off once again by the sound of glass shattering, making both of us turn to see Liam fuming. The glass in his hand was shattered into pieces on the floor at his feet, his hand bleeding. He had gripped the glass so hard that it shattered in his massive mitts.
“Oh, Liam!” Audrey slapped my hands off her face and ran toward him, wrapping her hands around his injured and bloody hand.
Light started to glow from their touch, and Liam’s shoulders immediately relaxed at her proximity.
When Audrey removed her hand from his, the cuts were completely gone.
As if he had never hurt himself in the first place.
When he lifted his gaze, his expression was no longer furious, but smug. He had the look of a man who felt like he had just won a challenge, but when he saw me, his smug look faltered. Because I was standing there, my weight shifted on one hip, arms crossed, with a shit eating grin.
Liam just showed me all his cards.
“So, tell me, Liam.” I pulled a chair out while Audrey grabbed a rag from the drink cart and dabbed away the blood from Liam’s freshly healed palm. “How long have you—”
“Let’s eat!” Liam clasped his fingers in Audrey’s and pulled her to the table, practically throwing her down in a chair he pulled out for her with one hand. “Vanessa must be famished.”
“She is,” I replied and decided to let this go, because I really was starving.
According to them, I hadn’t eaten in a couple of days while I was healing.
I reached over to open one of the cardboard cups Audrey had set out before I attacked her face and moaned at the familiar look of mashed potatoes.
“Oh, and Vanessa?” Audrey said as she helped distribute the food.
“Yeah?” I replied before shoveling a heaping spoonful of mashed potatoes into my mouth.
“You know you’re not my type.” Audrey raised an eyebrow at me with a smirk. “Right?”
“I was thanking you for saving my life and bringing us food.” I scooped another heap of mashed potatoes, because damn, these were delicious. “Can’t a woman express gratitude with a passionate kiss on the mouth?”
Audrey rolled her eyes and shook her head at Liam. “You should know that Vanessa is a bit of a wild card at times.”
“I’m starting to see that.” Liam smiled at Audrey, but when she looked down at her Hyvenmerian cellphone that was resting face up on the table, he turned and glared at me.
In response, I stuck my tongue out at him.
His face twisted up in annoyance, and I dramatically dragged my thumb across my neck in a clear threat.
Audrey glanced up when my thumb was halfway across my throat, and watched Liam shake his head at me.
“You two are going to get along beautifully, I see.” Audrey sighed to herself before she returned her focus to her phone and scooped green beans into her mouth.