Page 91 of Hunted in the Shadows
The siren’s voice was petulant in my mind. “May I have one, at least? Half of one?”
“None!” The air shimmered with threatened frost, the grimy water beginning to sparkle. “I’ll freeze this swamp solid and watch you starve to death—do we understand each other?”
Those glossy eyes shifted in consideration. A soft, clicking purr came from her throat. I remained tense, every muscle ready to unleash the torrent of ice magic waiting at my fingertips.
After another beat, the siren slumped off the dock and back into the water glumly.
I whirled on Jon and Cliff, searching their faces wildly. My heart twisted to see them like this—so disoriented, their minds desperately trying to surface from a choking fog. Sometimes I forgot how fragile even the sharpest human minds could be.
“Don’t try to move,” I soothed, my voice strained like a wire.
Jon blinked hard. His hands closed around empty air, finding his gun laying on the dock a foot behind him.He scrambled back and seized it. Both men lifted a hand to shield themselves from a second slip of eye contact.
“Fucking siren,” Cliff breathed, furious—though there was still something conflicted and dreamy in his wide eyes, like he was still willing to dive in after the creature. His grip tightened on his handgun, gaze darting between the edge of the dock and thealgae drifting on the water—as close as he could get to aiming at his target. Behind me, the siren gave a throaty hiss.
My heart raced. I wanted to freeze them all solid, if only to prevent a brief and sudden bloodbath.
“Don’t shoot!” I shouted, flying in front of Cliff with my hands raised. “Let me speak to her.”
Jon faltered, angling his incredulous gaze carefully to me—onlyme. He kept his weapon raised, finger tensed on the trigger.“You can understand it?”
I nodded, stealing a glance over my shoulder. I could only imagine what she looked like to them, or sounded. According to Cliff’s sketches and notes, predatory glamour would cloak her sunken, clammy skin and serrated teeth in radiant beauty. The siren’s glossy black eyes protruded over the tide, watching me with a morbid curiosity. I could turn that curiosity into our salvation.
“You have any idea how dangerous sirens are?” Cliff growled. “We’re like walking ribeyes to that thing.”
“And all non-humans are alike with no exception?” I snapped, lifting my eyebrows.
They both fell silent, and I knew my words had cut deep.
“Five minutes,” I pleaded.
I descended to land at the edge of the dock among the items that had been taken from the Pontiac.
The siren bobbed higher in the water, studying Jon and Cliff with a twitch of her lips. “They do obey you. How intriguing.”
I found myself fighting an odd smile at that. Why did a part of me enjoy the insinuation?
“Do you have a name?” I asked instead.
“Aureline.”
My smile was genuine this time. “That’s beautiful.”
Her soft voice entered my mind again.“You are not from here, are you, Mistress?”
“Please, call me Sylvia.”
I chewed my lip, measuring out how much information to reveal. I didn’t sense any immediate malice from her, but Jon and Cliff were right to be cautious. I didn’t miss the way her gaze kept shifting over to them like they were savory herbed pies set out for a feast. She was hungry—and true, gnawing hunger could make even a saint capable of atrocities.
“These items,” I said, gesturing at the flashlights and bullets. “How did they get here?”
“For scenting. Pulled from the wreckage to seek the visiting Fae presence.”Her eyes brightened knowingly at me.
“You were looking for me,” I said, getting the awful feeling that this mission must have led to her capture. I gauged her expression—the way she looked at me like an eccentric friend, not a dangerous outsider. “Your kind couldn’t have gotten close enough to search the car. Which means… other fairies are looking for me, too, aren’t they?” My throat closed around the words, sudden anxiety shooting through me. “Could you take me to them?”
Aureline cocked her head, falling quiet for a few moments.
“Sylv, what’s she saying?” Cliff snapped.
