Chapter Twenty-One #2
Simon goes to grab my arm again. “We’re getting the fuck out of here, Pisces.”
It happens before I can stop it. My teeth slide out and my vision completely blurs. All I can focus on is ripping and tearing and the blood that coats my mouth. I feel hands wrap around my upper arms, hauling me backwards away from the flesh I so desperately need.
I’m thrown down onto a pew and Benny is on top of me, yelling, “Sces, stop!” He snaps his fangs in my face and I snap my siren teeth back at him, but he’s restrained me enough that I can’t even nip him.
“Fuck, he got you good,” Evan murmurs a few feet away.
Someone is breathing heavily and I can smell the blood. “Snap out of it, Sces,” Shaun says from my right. I realize he’s holding my shoulders down on the pew.
I look between him and Benny and take a few calming breaths, and then everything comes back to me.
“Oh god,” I whisper. “No, no, no.” I push Benny and Shaun aside, my siren teeth back in my gums. I run to my cousin. “Simon!”
Evan is cradling Simon in his arms. There’s blood everywhere. “What are you waiting for? Heal him!”
“Sces,” Evan says softly. “I already am. Look.”
Guilt and terror war inside my stomach as I take a closer look at Simon’s injuries. I reach out a hand and grip one of his.
Evan’s magic continues to wash over Simon, knitting skin, muscle, and sinew back together.
“He’ll be fine,” Evan murmurs to me. “Just a little nip really. I forget how easily humans bleed.”
I roll my eyes at Evan. The second he’s done healing Simon, I pull him into my arms. “Simon.” I push his dark hair out of his eyes. “Are you okay?”
His eyes flitter open and he looks up at me, horror sketching across his face briefly. He looks around wildly, pushing himself out of my grasp, his hand going to his throat. He scrambles backwards until his back hits the side of a pew.
“What the fuck are you?” Simon eyes us all with fear. “I— I don’t understand.”
“I’m sorry, Simon. I’m so sorry.” I move towards him, but he tries to move backwards again so I stop. “Fuck. I’m so sorry.”
“What are you?” he breathes out.
I don’t dare look at Evan or Shaun. I don’t want them to stop me. “I’m fae. A siren, specifically.”
“You bit me,” Simon says, fear still ruling his eyes.
“Yeah, he does that sometimes,” Evan says.
I glare at him. “Not helping.”
“Your teeth,” Simon says, ignoring Evan.
“Yeah, I know, they’re scary. God, I’m so sorry, Simon.
I—” I look around helplessly. How am I supposed to explain any of this?
I got angry at Simon, maybe even because he was angry with me.
And then I bit him. I almost killed him, and worse, if Evan hadn’t been here, I wouldn’t have been able to do anything to save him.
My head slumps forward. I look to Evan. “Make him forget. Send him home. Maybe add in there something about not looking for me again,” I say in resignation. Simon can’t be around me. He’d be in too much danger.
“What?” Simon asks. “No, I don’t want to forget. I just found you.”
I turn around, seeing him pushing himself to his feet. Tears are in my eyes, blurring my vision. “You can’t be around me. It’s too dangerous.”
Simon wipes at his throat where I bit him. “I’m fine now. I don’t get what’s going on, but I can’t lose you again.” He plants his feet firmly and crosses his arms. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You don’t have a choice,” I say, shrugging. Before I can think better of it, I cross the remaining distance between us and sweep my cousin up in a hug. “I am glad I got to see you one last time. But it’s better if you don’t remember me like this anyways.”
I release him and nod to Evan, who takes a step forward.
Simon shakes his head. “No.”
Evan pauses, looking at me for instruction, but when I turn and see Simon staring Evan and me down defiantly, I find I can’t give the order again.
“I just found you. I’m not going anywhere. Tell me what’s going on. I can handle it.”
“Pisces, we need to wipe his memory,” Shaun says. “It’s better for him.”
I look over to my friend. Maybe he’s right, but— “I can’t,” I tell him. I’m too fucking selfish. “Can’t we tell him? Humans become kindreds all the time, right?”
Shaun shrugs. “He’d need a Born sponsor and he’d have to register and take tests. It’s a long process and we don’t even know he’s cut out for it. Plus, it will put him at risk. Fae society is more dangerous than human society. You know this better than anyone.”
“I don’t care,” Simon tells Shaun. He comes to stand in front of me, looking me directly in the eyes. “I’m staying.” He turns to Shaun. “What’s a kindred?”
Shaun sighs, taking another couple of beers from the cooler and handing one to Simon. “Kindreds are humans who have either grown up in fae families or have become part of fae society. They’re protected and need either a fae guardian, or for adults—a sponsor.”
Simon looks at me. “Okay, be my sponsor.”
I smile softly. “I can’t do it. I’m not Born fae.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Simon asks, grinning.
“This is going to be a long night,” Benny says with a chuckle.
We settle into the pews, pushing a few around so that we can all face each other, though Benny and Evan sit a little away from us, having their own side conversation about the mural Benny wants to paint.
Shaun explains the concept of Born and Made fae, while I study Simon’s face.
He seems to be taking everything in stride.
In fact, he’s actually responding to all this information better than I did.
Though to be fair, I also had to deal with the new craving for blood and flesh.
But that’s Simon, the text book definition of easygoing.
“Simon, how did you find me?” I ask, before Simon can ask any more questions.
“Oh, right.” Simon grins hesitantly. “I followed you back after your show. Took me a while to figure out how to sneak in here, but there’s an open window in the basement.”
“You were at the show?”
He nods, hesitance turning into excitement.
“When I heard about a progressive metal band wearing masks to remain anonymous, it made me think of you. I thought, Pisces would eat that shit up. I’ve never given up looking for you.
I saw the note you left and it definitely seemed like you’d—” He pauses, clearing his throat, not wanting to actually say it.
“Everyone thought you’d done it. Driven your car off a cliff somewhere, or I dunno.
But I just didn’t buy it. You had started writing music again.
You’d been doing better and had been making an effort to get your life back, so I didn’t want to give up on you.
“And then I listened to some Voracious Maw singles, and I heard your voice, and I knew it was you. I couldn’t quite allow myself to believe it, but I still knew it.
So I went to a show. I figured, I’ll go and I’ll see this guy and even in the mask I should be able to rule it out, but then I was sure. Same height, same build, same voice.”
“You seem surprised to see he’s alive, though?” Shaun asks.
Simon nods. “Well, yeah, I mean I knew it, but still, seeing it is something else entirely.” He meets my eyes and smiles at me. “I fucking missed you.”
“I missed you too,” I tell him, putting my arm around him and pulling him in for a hug. Tears streak down both our faces, which makes me smile even more. “So what do you think, mate?” I ask Shaun. “Can we keep him?”