Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Are you sure about this?” Emmett crossed his arms over his broad chest, staring down at Theo. He fidgeted slightly, suddenly feeling like he was under the gaze of a strict parent.
Am I sure about this? Theo asked himself the same question.
Theo knew he was protected by the fae bargain they were making with Lyra, but it still didn't fill him with confidence. There was an answer to every bargain and every curse. Their entire adventure towards the Minch was to uncover ways to break Theo’s curse.
There was something about Lyra that drew Theo in. He couldn’t help but feel alive when he looked at her, as if there was a greater purpose—even greater than his curse—to their meeting.
Maybe you’ve been isolated too long, Theo wondered to himself. It had been years since he’d been out on a date, but being hunted by the queen of the banshees would put a damper on anyone’s romantic life.
“Theo?” Emmett put his hand on Theo’s shoulder. “Are you listening to me?”
“What?” Theo shook himself from his stupor. “Huh? Yeah, I’m listening. How long do the effects of a siren song last?”
Emmett’s brow furrowed further, and he looked back towards Lyra. She was waiting for them on the banks of the river while Pippa stared daggers at her.
“Maybe this isn’t a good idea…” Emmett murmured, and Theo shook his head.
“No, no, it’s fine,” he quickly reassured Emmett. “I was just curious. That seems like an important piece of information to know when traveling with a siren.”
Emmett looked unconvinced, but he nodded and acquiesced. “Are you feeling okay?”
“Yes, I swear.” Theo forced a wide smile on his face.
“A siren song can be deadly,” Emmett noted, “but they are only harmful while the siren is singing. As soon as the song stops, the effect stops. That is their one weakness. The only chance you’d have of getting away.”
“So there are no lingering effects?” Theo paled as he pressed Emmett with his line of questioning.
If the effects of the siren song stop as soon as Lyra is done singing, what is wrong with me?
Theo had been inundated with thoughts about Lyra from the moment he’d seen her, and they’d continued well after her song had stopped.
He didn’t know if he was agreeing to this quest with her because he genuinely thought it was a good idea or because he suddenly couldn’t imagine a world without her in it.
Easy there, tiger. Theo reminded himself. You’ve got to get a grip on yourself and fast.
“No.” Emmett looked concerned. “There are no lingering effects. Are you sure that you’re okay?”
Theo nodded and fumbled for an excuse to give to Emmett for his strange demeanor. “It’s a lot, you know? I've only known Calum for a week, and now we’re here, and I’m setting off with Lyra. I'm just trying to keep my head on straight.”
There, that isn’t a lie. You’re just omitting the fact that now you can’t stop wondering if her hair smells like salt and sweet sea air.
Emmett’s face twisted into an expression that was full of empathy as he scratched his beard.
“I understand that, Theo. We all do.” Theo looked towards Pippa, and his expression softened further.
“We’ve all been there. Not in the exact position that you’re in, but we’ve had to do our fair share of curse-breaking these past few years.
It finds a way of bringing everything unresolved in your life to the surface.
You feel as though you’ve got the entire weight of the world on your shoulders and your whole life is up for questioning, even though you set out with a singular goal in mind. ”
“Yeah, that’s…” Theo trailed off for a second, lost in thought. “That’s exactly what it's like.”
“My advice?” Emmett shrugged. “Let it happen. You never know what the fates have in store for you.”
“Thanks, Emmett,” Theo offered him a genuine smile. “I will.”
Emmett pulled him in for a hug and raised Theo off the ground with a tight squeeze.
“Do you want to stand here all day and say your goodbyes?” Lyra called out from the water, hurrying their farewells along.
Pippa sneered and pointed her finger at Lyra. “Don’t rush us. For the record, I don’t like you, and I don’t like this bargain.”
Lyra rolled her eyes. “It’s been duly noted. Multiple times. If you’re actually writing all of this down, then please let the record show that I’m not a fan of the pushy blood-sucking one either.”
“All right, you seaweed-smelling—” Pippa started to advance towards Lyra, but Emmett wrapped an arm around her waist.
“That’s enough from you.” Emmett gave Theo and Lyra a tense smile as he hauled Pippa over his shoulder.
“If you need anything, there are multiple ways for you to get a hold of us,” Emmett spoke loudly over Pippa’s complaints.
“We’ll be fine.” Lyra was short, looking anywhere but directly at Emmett and Theo.
“Theo,” Emmett smiled softly, “remember what I said.” He lowered his voice slightly. “Take it one day at a time.”
With that parting statement, Emmett turned and started walking back the way they came with Pippa over his shoulder.
“Have fun!” Pippa laughed, picking her head up as best as she could in her position. “Enjoy nature! Let us know if that mermaid…” Pippa’s voice trailed off as they disappeared into the woods, leaving Theo alone with Lyra for the first time.
The silence was deafening. It took Theo a couple of minutes before he summoned enough courage to look over at Lyra, offering her a polite grin.
“I’m ready if you are.” He nodded towards the mouth of the river. Lyra was studying him and taking a few more minutes to respond, which Theo was starting to realize was a habit of hers. Whether she always did this or didn’t trust Theo, he had no idea.
Lyra was standing in the shallows of the water, her hair dripping water from the ends even though Theo hadn’t seen her dip her head underneath the water.
The simple dress she was wearing hung to each perilous curve, making her look as appealing as fresh water itself.
It had been ages since the sight of a woman had so intensely affected Theo, and he was beginning to feel like a faeling again.
Lyra tucked some of her long hair behind her ear.
Even though she looked fully human in this form, her claws and fangs were gone, her ears still tapered to delicate pointed fins.
It wasn’t unlike fae ears but much more dramatic and striking.
There was no form in which Lyra could ever be mistaken for anything other than a supernatural creature, created for the sole purpose of dragging men to the depths.
Theo was ready to jump in.
“We’ll head towards Loch Cluarie,” Lyra started, her voice sounding matter-of-fact. “That is where the selkies hang out. They will have more information on the men of the Minch.”
“Whatever you say.” Theo tried to sound amenable and friendly, thinking of what a poor start Pippa and Lyra had gotten off to.
“Remember that.” Lyra pointed a long, graceful finger at him. “When I say something out here, you need to do it immediately. If we’re going to keep up the pretense that I've captured you for Cliodhna, it won’t do us any good to have you arguing with me.”
Theo fidgeted uncomfortably. He had no problem listening to Lyra when they were out traveling, but she was speaking to him in a way that made him feel like his existence was a problem. It was an insecurity that had been building since he had to go to Calum to ask for help with his curse.
“I understand.” Theo tried and failed to sound more confident and easygoing. “No arguments here.”
Lyra studied him intently, and Theo held her stare for a few more seconds than before, which he counted as a win.
“If we encounter other mermaids and water-folk, you need to let me speak first.” There was something in her voice that made Theo realize she was testing him again.
“Go ahead.” He held up his hands in surrender. “I know you and Emmett completed your bargain. I’m not concerned. Whatever you need to do to get us there, that’s fine.”
Theo watched as Lyra’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and some of the tension disappeared from her face. It appeared she was looking for signs to see if he was going to give her an attitude like Pippa, but Theo didn’t have it in him. He was open to the experience, like Emmett advised.
“Great. It seems like we agree. Do you mind if I swim alongside you? It’s easier for me instead of walking.” Lyra smiled.
Theo felt as if he were being rewarded with a sight for the ages. It was small, barely a smirk, but he hadn’t seen her do anything other than glare. Her intense beauty softened ever-so-slightly, and that alone nearly brought Theo to his knees again.
“Of course.” Theo stuck his hands in his pockets and started walking down the narrow path along the river. “Are we heading west? What’s the best way for me to navigate if you’re in the water?” He tried to ask politely, wanting to make sure they didn’t get separated.
Lyra turned around and stepped deeper into the water.
As it crossed her knees, she pointed her hands and dove in elegantly.
Theo was convinced that anyone else who attempted to dive in that shallow water would hurt themselves, but Lyra obviously navigated it with grace.
He waited for a brief moment, and Lyra’s head popped up and broke the surface of the water, her tail flickering behind her.
“Do you think I’m too far from you now?”
Theo blushed with the realization that she was only a couple of feet from him and able to swim in the shallows quite gracefully without issue.
“Ah,” Theo chuckled lamely, “I thought, you know. You’d have to be…”
“Deeper?” Lyra raised an eyebrow, her expression still tightly controlled but looking almost playful for the first time since Theo met her.
“Um, you know.” Theo was bright red. “I figured you’d need to be deeper. Wet. N—no. Oh god.” Theo started looking around, wondering if it was too late to run back and convince Emmett and Pippa to take him to the Minch.
Lyra started giggling in the water, and Theo’s attention snapped back to her. The sound was almost as intoxicating as her siren song.
“I can navigate the shallows just fine and keep you in my sight.” Lyra smirked, putting Theo out of his misery.
“Don’t you remember when you go to the beach, they always tell you that a predator could still get you in knee-deep water?
” Lyra started swimming west, and Theo began walking down the shore next to her.
“Um, no, not really,” Theo admitted. “I’ve never spent much time at the beach. We’ve driven past them, but honestly, this is some of the most time I’ve spent next to water in my entire life.”
“Really?” Lyra sounded horrified. “This is the most time you’ve spent near water?”
Theo and Lyra fell into a friendly conversation, and some of the tension in Theo’s chest eased slightly. He navigated the small dirt path near the water, while Lyra kept to the shallows and seamlessly swam alongside him.
“Without a doubt,” Theo admitted. “It’s always been too dangerous for me to be near water.” Lyra looked horrified.
“Oh, goodness, of course.” Her lips pulled into a taunt line. “I hadn’t thought about that. Obviously, it would’ve been too dangerous for you near the water. I couldn’t imagine it myself, so I wasn’t thinking correctly.”
Theo shrugged. “It’s okay. It’s been a unique upbringing, that’s for sure.”
“I can’t imagine not being near the water.” Lyra sighed, sounding pained as if the mere idea of being away from the rivers and lakes was unimaginable for her.
“I’m sure,” Theo chuckled, “seeing as you are a mermaid.”
“A maighdeann-mhara,” Lyra corrected him. She was annoyed as her tail slapped the surface of the water in frustration.
“Is there a difference?” Theo asked, careful not to ruin the easy conversation they’d found themselves in. “I’m asking genuinely. I do not mean to offend.”
“Most people don’t,” Lyra admitted, “but it’s still frustrating.
Everyone thinks we’re all basically ‘Ariel’ these days and calls us mermaids.
The maighdeann-mhara have been in these waters for generations.
We crawled out of the shallows while human men were still discovering how to rub two sticks together to get fire.
” Lyra grew louder, and Theo could smell her magic in the air as she heated up.
“We’re sirens. I could drive your civilization to madness and hold all of your precious shipping boats and cruise ships in the palm of my hand.
We’re monsters.” Lyra started smiling, showing off a little bit of fang as she spoke with pride.
“We’re not the fairytale creatures people want to think of when they think of mermaids.
” Lyra stopped swimming and turned towards Theo.
“Do you understand that? Do you know who your friends turned you over to?”
Her serpentine tail was flicking in the water like a cat ready to pounce. The air between them got thicker, and Theo was beginning to get dizzy from the sensation of Lyra’s power emanating from the water.
“I know my friends made a fae bargain with you.” Theo swallowed thickly. There was a shimmer of light in the water as Lyra’s tail shifted back into legs, and she gracefully stood.
Theo was struck dumb at the sight of her naked body, water falling off her in rivulets.
Her fingers had elongated into claws again, and her hair stuck to her skin.
Theo had never seen a creature, magical or not, who was ever as beautiful as Lyra.
Not even some of the elves could hold a candle to her unearthly beauty.
Lyra looked at the undoubtedly dumbstruck expression on Theo’s face and started laughing quietly, walking towards him step by agonizing step. She held up her hand, and Theo leaned forward, his entire body shivering when she placed a hand on his cheek.
It didn’t matter that she wasn’t singing and was probably preparing to eat him alive. Theo was harder than he’d ever been in his entire life.
“Do you know you’re traveling with a monster, Theo?” Lyra smiled, gliding her tongue over her pronounced canines. She traced a claw down his jawline, and Theo nodded dumbly.
“Yes.” He nodded his head eagerly, trying to clear some of the lust from his mind, but completely unable to do so.
“Are you aware of the fact that all I have to do is start singing, and you’d do whatever I’d ask?” Lyra giggled, sounding practically gleeful, and Theo kept nodding. On some level, he knew how stupid he looked, but didn’t care.
“I am.”
“Mmm,” Lyra made a satisfied sound. She looked pointedly down at Theo’s crotch, and her smile widened, her eyes going black.
“Oh, Theo,” she winked, “I think we’re going to have a little bit of fun on this journey, you and I.”
Theo opened his mouth to respond, but Lyra jumped back into the water, transforming again to her natural form and swimming westward as if nothing had happened.