Chapter 16 – Steven
STEVEN
It’s my turn to carry Sirena, and I’m so wound up I don’t know what to do with myself.
I honestly can’t believe Max actually handled Clark like that.
After everything, I can't believe that I agree with Max. He may actually be right. When the Elites made Max the leader, I couldn’t figure out why. But now, it makes perfect sense.
Clark’s naturally mistrustful of women, and he hates cruel women. He would’ve killed Keto long before we returned to the sanctuary. Too many answers are suddenly clear. If only it gave me some kind of relief.
And then there’s Clark. I’ve never seen him lose it like that before.
“I’m sorry for everything,” Sirena says.
I look down at her and find myself holding her a little more gently. Her face looks pale, and the lines from her tears still mar her cheeks. I hate that we scared her. I hate that so much of our fucked up pasts are triggering us right now, when we should have it the most together.
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“It was,” she insists, and her expression is heartbreaking.
The last thing this woman needs is to think all our issues are because of her. She’s been through enough.
“Clark is… complicated.” I try to think about the best way to explain without completely betraying him. “The thing is, he and I were both made. We were created to protect our homes, lands, and humans with everything inside of us.”
I swallow around the lump that’s formed in my throat, for some reason.
“But Clark’s master was … well, she wasn’t a good person.
She was a woman who convinced him that she needed his help protecting her from invading armies.
It wasn’t until much later that he learned everything she’d told him was a lie.
He holds a lot of guilt about what he did in those days, and he’s never quite forgiven himself for it. ”
Her expression is far away for a long second, and then she gives a slight nod. “I understand. Sometimes we do things that we regret… things that haunt us. But they aren’t always our fault, as much as we blame ourselves for them.”
For some reason, I smile. “It’s nice that you can empathize with him, even if he’s a jerk.”
“No, he isn’t. I was lying. I’m just sorry he took off.”
I push the hair back from her face, and our gazes meet. Unable to help myself, I lean forward and brush a kiss against her lips.
Her eyes widen and she leans forward and kisses me again, this time deeper.
My cock hardens and my mouth opens. Her hesitant tongue dips inside, and I feel a groan rip from my chest. My hands tense on her thighs, and I’m unbelievably aware that I could touch her right now. I could shift one of my hands just a little lower and stroke her.
Just the idea drives me wild. It’s also a terrible idea, even though my brain’s having trouble remembering exactly why.
I break our kiss, looking up to make sure we’re not about to fly into a flock of birds or any other shit.
She clings to my shirt, panting. “Why did you stop?”
“Because if I don’t, we’re going to have to fuck.”
Every muscle in her body tenses, and I curse myself.
“I mean, I’d want to take things further.”
After a second, she nods.
I’m about to say more when something strange appears in the ocean ahead of us.
At first it just looks like a floating island of mist, but as we get closer, a blood red color seems to rise through the mist. As we fly closer, I recognize the twin volcanoes that look like soulless eyes, and the red plants and trees that cover the volcanoes, disappearing down into the mist where the island is entirely hidden from view.
This is it. The Isle of the Demons.
As we draw closer, the expectant sound begins.
The soft wailing, that made sailors give this place such a name, seems to crawl up my spine, leaving every hair on my body standing on end.
Some instinct inside of me wants to launch forward and find the source of the sound…
help whoever is making such a sad wailing, but I already know it’s not a person.
It’s… something else. Some trick of nature.
Looking back, Max and Arthur catch up to us. Both of them have strange expressions, which makes me wonder what it was that they were talking about.
“We should land on the shore,” Max says.
Arthur’s nose crinkles, and he looks to the setting sun. “We’re not going to sleep at this creepy place tonight, are we?”
“Depends how long it takes us to get the information we need.” Max tries to sound practical, but I can tell he doesn’t want to stay here anymore than the rest of us.
We fly lower, through the heavy mist. We have to be careful.
Trees and branches appear out of nowhere.
I curse as my wing hits one of them, and Sirena gives a little cry of alarm.
She clings to me harder, and it takes me a few minutes to break out of the branches of the tree and find a clear spot near the rocky shore.
We land lightly, but my heart races faster.
The wailing is even louder, and even creepier when surrounded by mist.
Slowly, Sirena lowers to the ground, but I hold onto her waist, reluctant to let her go in this place.
Max and Arthur land lightly beside us.
“So,” Arthur begins. “Now what?”
Sirena seems to know. She pushes back from me and I hold her hand as she climbs over the sharp rocks, making her way closer to the forest.
“Where are we going?” I ask her.
She looks up at me, surprised. “To ask the demons about… about Keto.”
“Demons?” Arthur laughs. “There’s not really demons here.”
She stares back at him without speaking.
“There’s actually demons here?”
“Something like that,” is all she says. She gives us a long look before she continues to climb over the rocks.
Exchanging a glance, we follow after her. When she leaps down from the rocks and stops beneath the branches of the thick trees, she turns back to us. “Stay here, I’ll return with any information.”
I laugh. “That’s not happening.”
There is no world in which I’m going to send this tiny, beautiful woman into a misty forest filled with blood-red plants, when there may be demons around. No world.
Instinctually, I shift, my wings disappearing and my human flesh appearing. I reach back and touch the hilt of my sword, reassuring myself that I’m prepared to protect her from any danger that might come our way.
“There’s no need for any of you to go with me.” She frowns. “I can take care of myself.”
Max moves closer to her, and there’s something surprising in his expression: concern. “We’re not sending you in there alone.”
She nibbles her lip, looking uncertain. “Someone will need to stay here. If we get lost, they can shout to lead us back to the shore. This place… it’s magical. We could be trapped in the woods forever without an anchor to the outside world.”
“Seriously?” Arthur asks, raising a brow.
She nods. “Hades has many wards to guard the entrances to the Underworld.”
Every muscle in my body tightens. “I thought the Isle of Demons was all crap, rumors made up because of the red vegetation and strange sounds”
Indecision flickers across her stunning face, and then she speaks. “This place is dangerous. Really dangerous. As a goddess, I’ll be protected from many of his little… security measures, but none of you will be. I’ve been here before, so I know the way.”
“I’ll go with her,” I instantly volunteer.
Arthur and Max start to argue.
“No,” I say. “I’m going.”
Out of the three of us, I have the best sense of direction, and I’m the best fighter.
Max and Arthur have fought monsters and creatures that threatened our sanctuary, but I’m the only one among us old enough to have fought in wars.
I’m the only one who’s been charged with the protection of innocents against nearly impossible forces.
And we all know it.
Please don’t make me say it. Please don’t make me argue with you.
Because I won’t let them be the ones to escort her. As much as I trust them to watch my back in a fight, I trust myself more than them to keep our Sirena safe. Our Sirena? Where the hell did that come from? I push that thought away to deal with later.
They stare at me for a minute longer, and then Max sighs. “Fine, Steven will go, and we’ll stay here. Shout if you need our help, and we’ll be there in an instant.”
Relief washes through me. Looking back at Sirena, I’m reminded of my own builder, an old man who insisted he could go to the big city without me.
Only he would be the one to learn why the church that had commissioned him to make me had failed to send someone to pick me up.
I had felt this same prickling along my spine, this same instinct to go with him.
I’d followed orders and stayed behind with his granddaughter and her son.
He never made it back.
Sirena looks uncertain, but she turns and I follow her beneath the shadows of the trees. Instantly the darkness swallows us. I stumble over a branch, and a second later, her much smaller hand closes around mine.
“There’s a path, just a little further ahead.”
I can’t see her face in the dark. “How many times have you been here?”
Her hand tightens in mine. “Just a few times, to visit a friend of mine.”
A friend?
I think of Clark. It’s kind of strange how instantly we’ve connected with this mermaid goddess, but the truth is that none of us really know her. So what’s made our protective gargoyle instincts accept her so easily?
I wish I knew.
Our journey gets harder. She releases my hand as we climb up hills covered in strange red vines that remind me of veins. The trees shudder overhead, and red leaves drift down around us, catching every stray light between trees.
It also smells strangely here, damp, but also coppery. It's not quite as strong as blood… but just enough that it makes me uneasy.
“Is this place safe?” I whisper.
Sirena doesn’t look back as she answers. “No.”
That’s… reassuring. Not.