The Silver Siren (2 page)

When he came up for air, I sprang up
out of the water like a swan surfacing. I grabbed onto his
shoulders and yanked him into the dark abyss. When he finally
resurfaced, he grabbed my wrists and pulled me close to his chest
in an embrace.

I let him hug me and I took advantage
of the warmth his body was giving off. My wet clothes were making
me very cold and I felt my body shiver. Whether it was from cold or
from Joss I wasn’t sure.

“
Don’t do that,” he
whispered into my hair. Joss’s voice was breathy with exertion.
“You scared me.” He continued to hug me.

I was content to not move or say
anything, but I could immediately tell when the mood
changed.

“
I’m sorry, Thalia,” Joss
groaned and spoke softly, fervently. “I don’t know how to explain
what happened that night between me and Mona, other than that
wasn’t me. It was just as my mother said—I could watch myself doing
things, but I couldn’t control it. A bad dream that I couldn’t wake
up from. I do know, though, that you were meant to see us.” Joss
pulled away from me and grasped my shoulders. Leaning down, he
searched my eyes.

“
I wasn’t in control. You
have to believe me. I left you to go change, and Mona was in the
hall waiting for me. I felt a pinch and then I felt dizzy. Her
voice was mesmerizing. I was compelled to follow her. I heard her
mumble something about you under her breath and then the next
moment, she was kissing me. And I was kissing her back.”

“
Stop…please,” I shook my
head, not wanting to hear more. He had explained enough. But Joss
felt he hadn’t.

“
I heard a noise and
couldn’t look up until she let me, and I saw your face. I wanted to
die. I wanted to scream, to run to you and tell you it’s all a lie,
but I was frozen.” Joss ran his hand through his hair in disgust.
“I wished that you could hear my thoughts. In my mind I was
screaming at you for help, but then you turned away and
left.”

I closed my eyes and looked down
ashamed. I should have known that wasn’t like Joss. I should have
seen the signs that something was wrong. But I was too quick to
believe that he had chosen someone else.

“
I’m sorry, Thalia. I was
angry that you left, that you would believe the worst of me without
confronting me. But then Mona made me return to the party and
that’s when everything went downhill…and you saw the
rest.”

“
No, Joss, I need to
apologize to you too, about the kiss with Kael.” I felt awful that
I was saying I was sorry for something I enjoyed. “He surprised me,
and I didn’t comprehend fast enough to pull away.”

Joss was quiet, thoughtful, and then
he nodded his head in understanding. “So are we good?”

I grinned back. “We’re
good.”

Joss looked at me and started to laugh
again as he pulled a stray twig out of my hair. “You look a
mess.”

I made a face and reached up to feel
for other items that may have gotten caught in my long hair. Yep,
there were other twigs as well. Joss also had a thick twig on his
shoulder and when I went to brush it off, it didn’t
move.

Frowning I reached up to brush it off
again and it only squirmed. That’s when I realized it wasn’t a
twig.

“
Leeches!” I squealed in
horror and ran out of the water as fast as I could and dove behind
a huge rock as my clothes clung to my body. I began to rip my shirt
off to pull off the offending leeches but Joss was right behind
me.

Our screams brought Kael and Darren
running—Kael with his knives drawn, his face a mask of death. They
both stopped in their tracks when they saw our frantic dance to
remove the leeches.

Kael’s eyes locked onto me and looked
at my wet clothes and then glanced to Joss’s similar state, his
mouth turning down in disapproval.

Darren ran over to Joss and began to
pluck the leeches from his body. Kael looked at me awkwardly and
then, turning his back on me, headed back to camp. A few moments
later, Fanny came running down the same path with something in her
hands.

Fanny arrived with a pouch full of
salve. After she plucked all of the leeches from my body, she
applied it heavily to their bites. I groaned in protest as the
pungent order reached my nose. It was hartswood, a salve that
smelled similar to cat urine, and it belonged to Kael. He knew how
much I hated the smell of it, and I could just picture him in my
mind heading back to camp grabbing the pouch and throwing it to
Fanny with instructions.

He knew I would argue with him if he
tried to get me to use it. So he sent someone I wouldn’t argue
with. Kael was beginning to figure me out.

Cold and miserable, I made it back to
camp with the others and grabbed my spare clothes out of Faraway’s
saddlebag. I glanced around for Kael so I could give him a piece of
my mind, but he wasn’t there. So I took out my frustration on
Faraway.

“
Why didn’t you warn
me?”

You weren’t in
danger.

“
Leeches, Faraway. I was
attacked by bloodsucking leeches.” I hissed.

Okay you weren’t in any
real danger,
he chortled.
I wouldn’t say attacked. You were the one who
invaded their home. They were just hungry. Like I am right
now.

“
You’re always
hungry.”

Exactly, so I don’t blame
them.

“
But I blame
you!”

He snorted and went silent on
me.

Once I had changed and laid out my wet
clothes to dry by the fire, I sat and combed out the snarls in my
wet hair while surveying the rest of my traveling companions.
Darren had challenged Fanny to a game involving tossing small
stones into a tin cup. Their contagious laughter filled the camp
and soon Joss and Hemi were calling out bets as to who the winner
would be.

Darren bowed comically whenever his
throw rang true and fell to his knees in dramatic sorrow when he
lost another game to Fanny. “Woman, you’ve stolen my pride, my
dignity,” he crowed, throwing his arm over his face.

“
Nonsense,” Fanny snorted
drolly. “You would need to have a speck of dignity first for me to
steal it. Which you don’t.”

Joss slapped his knee in laughter at
the obvious look of mock dismay that crept over Darren’s face.
Hemi’s stoic face cracked a smile beneath his red beard, and even
Mona had to cover her mouth with her hands to hide her laughter.
Overall, the tension from earlier had been alleviated. The fire
died down and we settled in for the night, each of us taking a turn
on watch.

I couldn’t sleep. Lying in my bedroll,
I stared at the fire until I saw Kael come back to camp. It was the
same as before. I felt that I couldn’t fall asleep outdoors unless
I knew he was near. As if his presence alone kept the bad things
away. Or maybe I knew that if Kael was near, the Septori wouldn’t
be able to take me.

Only Kael didn’t put his bedroll
anywhere near mine. He set it up on the far side of camp and
actually turned his back on me to sleep. I must have angered him. I
was frustrated by the fact that for the last three days he’d slept
near me, but now he refused. Sleep never came.

A few hours later, a hand touched my
shoulder and Darren whispered that it was time for my shift.
Wide-eyed and tired, I nodded and stood up. I walked the perimeter
of our camp and listened while Darren settled into his bedroll.
Within minutes he was asleep.

No one else in the camp stirred. Mona
was chained to a tree that was relatively close to the fire. Hemi
and Fanny were sleeping around her but out of reach. Joss and
Darren snored lightly, and Kael—on the other side of camp from
us—never moved. Not a single sound of sleep ever came from
him.

I scanned with my senses to see if
anyone was near. A badger was digging a burrow, and an owl circled
overhead searching for dinner. Other than a few small animals, I
couldn’t sense anything larger within a half-mile of us.

Maybe I was becoming lazy and relying
on my gifts more than I should. But I let my mind wander, and I
kept going back to thinking about Joss.

I had feelings for Joss, and they were
growing, but I was also deeply troubled by the doubt I had about
our future. When Joss asked if I would be his lifemate as a
pretense to finding his sister, my mind had started to consider the
real possibility. After all, he had hinted to it possibly leading
to more.

We were still young, still unsure. But
what would a life with Joss actually be like? Even though I really
liked Joss, would that be enough to overcome my
reservations?

For one, I didn’t like Skyfell. I
hated it—hated flying, hated being imprisoned in the air. Joss was
to be the future clanleader of Skyfell, so he had to go back. I was
the future clan leader of Valdyrstal. How could both of us uphold
our birthrights and be together?

Second, my clan hates
Denai, and I wasn’t even sure that they would allow me to lead.
Some of my clan already knew what happened to me, and they were
willing to follow me, to protect me. Hemi was proof of that. But
even if I convinced them or was able to hide what I am from them,
they would never
ever
allow Joss, a Denai, to be my lifemate.

Sighing in frustration, I tried to
reason with myself—even to the extent of having pretend arguments
with my father and the council to justify being with Joss. And each
scenario in my head turned out worse than before. I knew the clan
laws; I knew what the punishment would be.

Exile.

Could I live with that? I wasn’t sure.
But it gave enough doubt to a viable future that I felt I should
try and slow down our relationship.

When my shift was over I was to wake
Kael. Walking over to him, I kneeled down and touched his shoulder.
A flash of movement, and I flew through the air and landed on my
back painfully. The impact knocked the wind from me, and Kael
loomed over me, one of his deadly blades pressed to my
throat.

I looked up at Kael in confusion. His
dark eyes glittered dangerously, and I felt my breath catch in my
throat.

“
You’re getting careless,”
he whispered into the night.

“
Whatever are you talking
about? I’m waking you for your shift,” I hissed back
angrily.

“
You are letting your
guard down; I could have killed you right then.”

“
But you won’t kill me. I
trust you with my life.”

Kael didn’t speak. We watched each
other silently. He swallowed, and I reached up to touch his hand
and move the knife away from my throat. He didn’t look too
pleased.

“
Thalia, you can’t trust
me. You can’t trust anyone,” his eyes burned as they stared into
mine. “What happened in Skyfell proved that, and you have to be
extra careful.”

“
I trust you.” I meant
it.

“
You’re a fool if you
do.”

“
Then I’m a fool,” I said
solemnly.

A moment of contemplative silence
passed as Kael’s mood darkened.

“
Thalia, don’t get too
friendly with Joss.” Kael warned, his eyes darkening again. “He’s
starting to fall for you, and if you’re not careful, he’s going to
ask to be bonded to you.”

“
Why not? It’s not as if
anyone else is dying to choose me,” I snapped back.

Kael leaned away from me. I felt the
coldness creep in as soon as he moved. I shivered. Kael noticed and
wrapped his blanket around me. “Get some sleep,” he
ordered.

“
I can’t,” I
murmured.

“
Why not?” He started to
walk away.

I couldn’t look at him; I could only
stare across the fire in silence. In a moment of panic I asked.
“Are you going to leave?”

He stopped and glanced back over his
shoulder at me. “I have to check the surrounding area.”

“
I’ve already scanned.
There’s nothing out there except for a badger, an owl, and some
bats.”

“
Are you sure?”

“
Positive. So are you
going to leave?” I hated how weak I sounded.

Kael studied my downcast eyes and
answered, “No.”

“
Will you stay close?” It
sounded crazy coming from my own mouth, but I needed him
near.

“
I’ll stay as close as you
want,” he whispered. Then he sat near me cross-legged. “Is this
good?” A small smile played at the corner of his lips.

Nodding my head, I curled up in his
bedroll and immediately felt comfortable and safe. I yawned and
inhaled the smell of him from his blanket. I was definitely
tired.

“
Thalia?” Kael leaned over
and whispered into my ear.

“
Hmmm?” I
answered.

“
Why don’t you want me to
leave?”

“
Mmm. ’Cause you keep the
bad things away,” I mumbled sleepily.

“
What if I am the bad
thing?” His thick voice questioned. Was that a hint of fear I
heard?

“
You’re not,” I answered
honestly.

I was almost asleep when I heard
shuffling. My eyes flew open, and I reached out to grab Kael’s arm.
He looked at me in surprise.