Page 26 of Song For His Siren
"Tighter," she said.
He pulled the strings and started to tie it off.
"Tighter," she said again as she pulled a brush through her hair. With a look of slight concern, he pulled them tighter and started to tie them off. "Tighter.”
"Don't you need to breathe to sing?" he asked.
"You're cute," she said with a smile as she stepped over to the tiny sink in her camper and got out her toothbrush. "What are you doing today?" she asked before shoving the toothbrush in her mouth.
"I don't have any plans. Although, I am looking forward to seeing you on stage again," he said while he watched her with an interested expression on his face.
"Okay, good. Let's go." She grabbed a handful of pins from the jar next to her small mirror and started pinning up her hair.
He followed out of her camper as she was putting the finishing touches on her dress.
"It's about time!" called the guys waiting for her in the golf cart. "Let's go."
She turned to him. "You'll come find me, right?"
"Yes, my pet. I will always find you," he said with solemn certainty.
She bit her lip and lowered her head. He really didn’t want to get out of bed with her when she looked at him like that. He wanted to sweep her back into that tiny space and have his way with her one more time.
"Calli," called one of the male voices from the cart.
He fought the urge to glower at them. She had a job to do. She bounded over to the cart and hopped on the back. She turned and smiled at him as the cart pulled off. She waved, and he fought the urge to run after her.
Once the cart was out of sight, he took off walking down the trail. As he started down the trail, he felt a funny feeling in his pocket, followed by a ringing sound. He pulled out the phone to find his brother's name had appeared on it, with abar underneath his name that saidanswer. He looked at it in confusion as he continued to vibrate and ring. He shook it, but it did nothing to shut the thing up.
Finally, he tapped the screen, and suddenly, his brother's face was there.
"Brother," he said.
"How is this possible?" asked Khuldruk.
"I received this from the witch in the easterly wood. She said we could communicate."
"It seems we can."
"Have you found your mate?"
"Yes. I have."
"What good news! When will you return?"
His brow furrowed. Now that he was here, he wasn't sure what to do. Surely, Calli wouldn’t want to go live with him in the monster realm. She had a whole life here.
"Brother, when will you be back? I’ll start preparing the ceremony and the mating den."
He had been so certain of his path when he set off. He would come and find his mate and bring them back to the realm and save the magic. But now that he had seen Calli, he knew he had to give her a choice, and he wasn't sure he would be hers.
"Is this still working?" his brother asked loudly, holding his face close to the screen.
"Yes, it is working," Khuldruk muttered.
"Good. When will you return?"
"I don't yet know," he said.
