That evening, rows of purple, blue and red decorated the sky and was reflected on the surface of the lake. The trees on the other side of the lake looked like a stroke of black paint. By the large wooden ledge, on the near side of the lake, sat scores of people. All I could see was their silhouettes. Steeling my heart, I held my head up high and walked towards them. As I moved closer, I noticed the features I had missed before.
One word I could use to describe sirens was, 'sharp'. Angular faces, sharp noses, pointed shoulders and fingers. I'd always had a prominent collar bone, but mine was nothing compared to theirs. As I walked further, all of their heads turned to me in sync as if they had smelt me. It was creepy and I almost shot away from them. My mother had always said to me that I was allowed to feel fear, but not show it. Taking a deep breath, I pressed on. Left leg, right leg, left, then right. I kept walking until I was in their midst.
"You're that girl who challenged Ryne de today, aren't you?" a melodious voice rang out. I searched for its source and found a girl resting on a lounge chair. She had long curly hair. In the dim light it looked like a teal shade, but it could be anything. She wore a white knee length summer dress with a plunging neckline.
I focused on her face but had to look away when her eyes captured mine. I wanted to argue that technically I hadn't challenged him. But I couldn't find my voice.
"You must be here for the mark. Do you already have the other two?" she asked as she sat up and leaned back on her arms.
I only nodded.
She appeared to laugh, but I heard the sound of wind chimes. I had never faced a siren before but all the legends about their heavenly voices must be true. This feeling resembled the time I had alcohol on my sixteenth birthday. My head felt heavy, my senses were diluted and I felt like I was floating. I took an unconscious step forward before realizing what I was doing.
My energy was blocked which meant that I was nothing more than a human now. It concealed me, but also made me vulnerable to a lot of things, sirens' voices included. I shook my head violently and heard chuckles from around me.
"You are stronger than this. You are stronger than them, Meredith," I told myself.
"I am here for your mark," I said, finally finding my voice.
Her eyes widened and then she smiled.
"A human with a strong will, this is interesting," she said.
I now became more aware of the people around me. The heady feeling was still there, but I kept fighting it. It would be so easy to give in, but the fear of what they would do to me once I lost myself kept me awake.
"I can't give it away so easily, though. You'll have to work for it," she said as she looked at her nails.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked.
"Bring Ryne Novak to me."
A splash of cold water. That's what it felt like and I was sober all of a sudden. She wanted what?
"The ti-eglor?"
"Yes, him. I have been trying so hard to have him, that delicious piece of crispy yum-yum. But he keeps evading me. So, bring him to me and I'll give you the mark," she said and I began seeing her for the teenager that she was unlike the ethereal being she looked like before.
"So... you want to eat him?" I asked, confused.
"Not in the way I would like to eat you," she said and I just stood there opening and closing my mouth before clamping it shut.
"He'll be in the male dorms right now. Warlocks are in the South Wing. Hurry, quickly!" she said, practically beaming.
I nodded and turned to leave but realized that I couldn't exactly trust her words.
"Just to make sure, do you swear by the Lake P'Koi, that if I bring Ryne Novak to you, you will give me the mark of the siren echelon?" I asked. I had heard a legend that an oath made in the name of a water body was binding for a siren. I just hoped that it was true.
She chuckled and I again heard the sound of wind chimes, "You're good, I'll give you that."
She looked at the sirens around her, took a deep breath and said, "I swear in the name of Lake P'Koi that if you bring Ryne Novak to me, I will give you the siren mark."
I smiled and began retreating. Now, I just needed to find that douchebag and try not to kill him before dragging him to the lake.
***
The South Wing was magnificent. Warlocks lived in much more comfort and luxury than humans did. This was so unfair! They had a huge steaming indoor pool. Millions of tiny lights around the pool gave it an unearthly glow. The roof was transparent like the hall where we had the orientation. There was no one in the pool yet, so I sneaked in quickly.
As I walked around it to the back, it led to the building that housed the dorms. The man at the reception was reading a book. I got down and crawled through the area. Just as I was about to reach the door, I heard a thump. 'Did he put down the book?' I really hoped not. When nothing happened for a moment, I quickly entered the door and leaned against the wall. I let out a sigh when I noticed that the halls were empty too.
"Thank you, Lord Dragomitus," I said a quick prayer of thanks and rushed up the stairs. I knew that the fifth-year students lived in the topmost floor. I took two steps at a time. Once I reached there, I realized that my plan was only up to here. I didn't know which room he lived in. I couldn't exactly enter every room and check. 'Now what?'
I touched my bracelet but pulled my hand away quickly. I couldn't risk it. I had no other choice but to walk the corridor and hope to spot him. As I moved further into the dimly lit corridor, I felt a faint throbbing in my chest. Yes! I didn't need my energy for I could identify his. After all, as much as I hated it, he was the most powerful being on this floor.
I closed my eyes and focused on that pulsating sensation. I knew that I was nearing him as the air grew warmer and my heart began drumming against my chest. I ran my fingers on the wall on my left. I felt a different material, door, then metal. 'The knob?' I kept my eyes closed as I curled my fingers around it and pulled it down. The door opened, first a crack and then entirely. Since I was focusing on his energy, I was hit by the full force of it and was almost knocked out cold. I took deep breaths and steadied myself before opening my eyes.
"Meredith? What are you doing here?" Ryne stood there, in the process of removing his cufflinks. Some of the buttons on his shirt were undone and his olive skin glistened underneath.
'Oh, Lord of all good things!' I gulped, 'Pull yourself together, Meredith. You hate this guy!'
I realized he was expecting an answer and moved my mouth. But it was so, very dry. I licked my lips, swallowed and looked away from him. I needed to gather my senses first. Damn, it was a repetition of how I felt when I met the siren, maybe even more intense.
"I... uh,"
Genius! Didn't think this far ahead, did you?" a voice inside my head yelled at me. In my defence, I actually didn't think I would get this far.
He took slow steps towards me, "How did you get in here?"
"I walked," I said and looked up at him.
He raised his brow, smirked and pulled me inside. I was so focused on the fact that he had touched me that I didn't realize that he had proceeded to shut the door. I whirled around and saw him leaning against it, his arms folded across his chest.
"I came here to... apologize," I said. That word reminded me of what had happened in the morning and how much of a jackass he had been to me. It reminded me that his idea of punishment was either successfully sucking up to the heads or being the rosa of the Moon festival. It reminded me that he had been trying his best to humiliate me. Most of all, it reminded me that I was alone in an enclosed space with my mortal enemy and that thought sobered me up, very quickly.
"Sure, then. Go ahead," he said, gesturing lazily with his hand like he had all the time in the world. Of course, he did.
"Ryne, it was... wrong of me to interfere in what happened this morning and, and I shouldn't have spoken against a higher echelon," I hoped I came across as sincere, because I sure didn't feel so.
He looked down and smiled, "Okay, then. Now that you delivered your apology to me, what do you want me to do? Before you ask anything, let me tell you that I cannot take back what I said this morning."
If I expected that he would revoke the punishment, I would have done this earlier.
"I didn't come here to ask that of you..." I said as I took a step forward. What was I planning on doing? Seduce him with my beauty? Who was I kidding? I wore the same uniform that all the girls did, white shirt, black plaid skirt and converse shoes. I didn't have anything that made me stand apart from anyone else who pursued him. 'But... why is his energy spiking?' I wondered. Did he find this amusing?
I licked my lips again and took another step forward, "I just wanted you to... I want to," I looked down trying to get over my own mortification. I cursed him inside my head for making me do all kinds of weird things. If only I hadn't interfered today! I had come to Adelmiro Circle for a reason and that was much more important than any of this. Fine, I would take the punishment if I had to, but I couldn't do this!
"Did the sirens send you here?" he asked softly and I looked up at him surprised.
"I... how did you know?" I asked, my eyes wide.
"Kiera has been chasing me around for two years and her methods haven't changed yet. She keeps sending humans to fetch me," he said with a chuckle. He walked to the large mirror attached to the wall and redid his buttons. He then grabbed his coat and held the door wide open. I stood there frozen. 'Is he actually coming with me?'
Flustered, I stumbled forward quickly and exited his room. I followed him as I heard the door shut behind us and the lock click. This guy was really something!
By the time we got to the ground floor, many boys were swimming around in the pool. I struggled to keep pace with him and be hidden from their view at the same time. One boy still in his uniform, hooted at the sight of us exiting the building together. Ryne flicked his hand, and he was thrown into the pool. The rest of them began laughing and hopefully minding their own businesses.
We walked the rest of the path in silence. I promised myself that once this mark business was done, I was going to put all my time and effort into finding Lord Dragomitus. Once I did, I was getting the hell out of this place.
Just as the lake came into view, Ryne asked, "What was your plan?"
"Hmm?"
"Were you trying to seduce me?" I could hear the laughter in his words.
My face was hot and I was thankful for the darkness, or he would be able to see how much I resembled a ripe tomato.
"Of course, not!" I cried out, "I was going to threaten you."
He laughed out loud, "That's even more ridiculous!"
"Whatever," I mumbled.
I was looking down, so I didn't know what it was, but I felt something brush against my hair. I looked up at him. 'Did he just ruffle my hair?' Ryne looked straight ahead and I followed his gaze. There standing against the backdrop of the glistening lake, glistening just as much, was Kiera. Now that was someone who stood out. I looked back at him as I pushed my hair behind my ear. 'No, he couldn't have.'