Chapter 6

It had been two weeks since Eric and Van had heard from Telese. Van had continued on with his usual life, going out, tutoring classmates and excelling in Math classes.

Eric, however, began to withdraw even more than previously. He rarely came down for meals, turned off his phone so that even his parents couldn’t get hold of him and had to leave messages (“Just wanted to make sure you still aren’t dead in an alley somewhere,” his father would inform him) and his homework became his second priority. Van tried to convince him that calling this much attention to himself would do him no favours. Finally, things progressed to a more serious level.

Eric began skipping classes.

The entire time he had been at school, Eric’s attendance had been flawless. Now, it was lucky for him to show up ten minutes late. He began receiving emails from his professors. They warned him of the attendance policy and often added a note to ask if everything was okay. Eric would write and tell them that he had come down with a serious stomach bug and go back to translating the Sirens’ book.

One day, Van came into holding a half-eaten sandwich in one hand and his chin resting in his other. He was staring at the book, droopy-eyed and twitching his lips every once in a while, as though reading.

“Eric?”
                The other man didn’t respond. He ran his hand through his short red hair and kept muttering something. Van moved closer.

 “Mi-izesh, kaddee polless.”

“Eric?”

“Mi-izesh, kaddee polless.”

Van had a very bad feeling about the whole thing. He walked to his friend’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder. Eric seemed to snap out of whatever it was he had been doing and looked up at him. He had a very foggy gaze and his lips appeared to be too heavy for his face as he tried to speak.

“Van? How long have you been there?”

Van stared at him for a moment. “Long enough to know that you need to be seen by somebody. You’re a little messed up.”

“There’s a fire woman.”

Van didn’t know what to say. “There . . . there is?”

“Yes.”

“Is she in the room right now, Eric?”

“I don’t think so,” he looked around secretively and dropped his voice to a loud whisper. “But she’s a fire woman, Van. Do you know what a fire woman is? Because I sure don’t.”

Van continued to stare at Eric. “This bodes ill, pal. I think you need to lie down for a little bit.”

“But . . . but . . . the fire woman . . . .”

“Right, well, she’ll understand, I’m sure.”

As he guided Eric to the bed, he felt a strange heat emanating from the other man’s body. It almost burned to be near him. Above them, the lights began to flicker.

“Oh, boy,” Van said. This wasn’t good. When a human was this warm and the technology around them started going out, it was a sign that a Siren had a lock on them.

“Eric, how would you like to take a walk somewhere?” Van asked, already thinking about places that he could hide Eric.

The lights began flickering faster. Behind them, both men’s alarm clocks began to buzz.

“Walk?”

“Yeah, yeah, buddy, let’s go on a vacation to somewhere far from here,” Van said, looking around the room. Flying Eric out of there might give him away to Alexandros, but if he stayed, whatever Siren was assigned to them would definitely tell.

There was a knock at the door. At the same moment, the computers went off and on.

Van was frozen. He had no idea what to do now.

The knock continued louder, and then….

“Van? Eric?”

Van blinked. “Meg! Oh thank the Creator!”

He lowered Eric to the bed and rushed to the door. Meg was standing there, wide-eyed and terrified. She pushed past Van impatiently and rushed over to Eric. He was mumbling to himself, occasionally using a word in Sireeni.

“What’s going on, Van?” Meg said, her eyes bright.

“Meg, listen, I thought about telling you, but I didn’t know….”

But Meg rushed away from Eric and over to his desk. She picked up the red book, looked at it, and threw it at Van.

“What were you thinking?” she yelled. “My grandfather is looking for this right now. He’ll kill both of you!”

“Are you the one locked on him, Meg?”

Meg looked at him blankly. Then she looked around the room.

“Please tell me that’s you, Meg,”

She looked back at Van.

“It isn’t, is it?” he said weakly.

“Sonofa"“

The door exploded open. Meg raised her hands and a thick cloud of dust covered the room.

“Is this one of my aunts or cousins?” the voice asked in a Russian accent, coughing. “Who is going against Alexandros? The book needs to be returned, don’t make this difficult!”

Meg cussed under her breath as the storm in the room began to die down. She grabbed the book and threw it to Van. Then she grabbed him and Eric by the shirts and fell backwards through a vanishing point.

Van felt as though he was being pressed against a massive wall of water that conformed to his shape. Around him, the air went through patches of various temperatures"the air would burn his skin raw one moment and the slice it with icy edges the next. He hated travelling with Sirens.

Suddenly he felt the weight drop and fell to the ground.

Van looked around the room. The walls were rotting wood and mold. Underneath their feet, the carpet was damp and dirty. Glassless windows let in the moonlight over a moth-eaten couch and stretched to a dark, filthy fireplace. All over the walls, he noticed, were small drawings like the ones they had seen in the cave.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Somewhere safe,” Meg snapped, helping Eric sit on the disgusting couch. A cloud of dust and moths filled the slivers of moonbeams as he did so. “What are you doing with that thing? Do you realize that my grandfather is looking for it and the head of whoever has it?”

“Yeah, I definitely understand that. One of your aunts"“

“Oh, gee, I wonder which aunt had the suicidal, desperate idea of giving my grandfather’s book to a human. I’m going to take some magical guess and say it was Telese.”

“Look, I was against this idea the whole time!”

“And against telling me what happened? After I’ve been protecting you for the past three hundred years?”

“Meg?” Eric said, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings.

Meg looked down at Eric.

“Meg . . . you’re a Siren?”

“Yes,” Meg said. “Look, Eric, that book"“

“I’ve been translating it.”

“Yes, I know, and it’s possessing you. You need to stop.”

“Possessing him?” Van asked. “Possession isn’t real, Megaera. What are you talking about?”

“Not possession like inner demons and things,” she clarified. She looked back down at Eric. “Siren magic is strong, but my grandfather’s magic is even stronger. The more familiar with Sireeni a human becomes, the less human they are. Your mind is opening to every single mystery of the world. It’s a threat to my grandfather. Do you really think that this book doesn’t have some sort of protection from that?”

“What kind of protection is a possession that isn’t a possession?” Eric asked. His words were still slurred, but Van noticed a little more enunciation, much to his relief.

“Look, I’m not good with words. Here,” she walked over to a large, dusty mirror next to the fireplace. In the dust, she drew a cloud-like shape. “This is your brain. And this,” she said, drawing a rectangle with a smaller rectangle inside, “is this book.”

She drew lines emanating from the book. “This is the crazy, trippy, Cthulhu-like powers hidden in the book. When you read the book, your brain does this"“ she drew a larger version of the brain, “"but then the powers do this"“ more lines toward the larger brain, “"and, eventually, your brain is filled with this book-magic, as opposed to knowledge. You have to be able to fight through the influence of the magic.”

“How do I do that?”

“Be lucky,” Meg answered. “Really, there’s no way for you to consciously do it. You have to just be sort of predisposed to fight it off, I guess. Most humans can’t handle Sireeni.”

Eric remembered Telese explaining how the sailors used to go crazy when the Sirens tried to speak to them. “She knew this,” he said slowly. “Telese. She told me about how people crashed their boats from the Sirens trying to speak to them.”

He looked up at Van, bewildered. “Why wouldn’t she warn me?”

“Because, she’s Telese,” Meg answered. She sighed. “Look, Eric, you don’t know what you’re dealing with. Even Van here doesn’t know what he’s dealing with and he knows nearly everything there is to know about existence. “

“Care to explain it to us, then?” Van asked.

“I was only born 456 years after my aunt. In Siren years, that isn’t anything at all. We grew up together. So let me tell you why she makes a good diplomat: Telese has very few loyalties. Well, she has a vague idea of loyalty to her sisters and nieces,” Meg amended, “but honest, sincere loyalty? The kind that influences decisions and brings out compassion and selflessness? The only two living things that she feels this toward are Morgie and Roxy. Anything else that comes up"any human or Light Lord"can all be used and discarded for the greater purpose.”

                “That purpose is what?” Van asked, as Eric watched her silently.

                Meg shrugged. “Whatever my grandfather says it is. It changes, really. As far as what his ultimate agenda is, we all have an idea, but we don’t know.”

                “And how can I trust you?” Eric said.

                “Eric,” Van said slowly as Meg looked hurt, “Look, Meg is really trustworthy"“

                “Says you,” Eric interrupted. Van also fell silent. “You both are telling me that everybody you know have hidden agenda, and I’m supposed to believe you don’t? Either of you?”

                “Come on, Eric! It’s not like we can just tell you these things. You aren’t supposed to know any of this!” Meg insisted. “If you want to be angry, I understand, but don’t be angry at the wrong people. Be angry at Telese. Van and I are trying to get you out of this.”

                “Sure you are,” Eric said, his voice shrill. His cheeks were flushed and his eyes narrowed. “I’m sure that’s what’s going on, you’re just trying to help. Something came to my room to kill me tonight"“

                “And I saved you, Eric!” Meg snapped. Her eyes began to glow a pale, electric green. “I could have been killed, too! If my grandfather finds out that I was helping you escape with his book, a quick, slightly painful death is asking far too much for me!”

                “And you’re forgetting,” Van said calmly, “that I tried to stop you from going forward with this from the beginning.”

                “Take me back to the dorm,” Eric insisted loudly. Meg and Van looked at each other.

                “You can’t go back, Eric,” Meg said gently, her eyes returning to normal as she looked back to him. “You’re marked. They can track your every movement, and you can’t go back to where they can find you easily.”

                Eric gaped at her for a moment. “I need my phone and my computer. My parents"“

                “"can’t know where you are,” Van said. “Look, I’ll get your things later. But you can’t contact anybody right now.”

                “So let me get this straight,” Eric said, standing up to pace. “I’m supposed to just . . . disappear? I have no idea what’s going on with the fate of all of existence, but I’m supposed to trust two people who’ve been lying to me for years now?”

                “Eric, please,” Van pleaded, “Just . . . just"“

                “Take a walk"“ Meg interrupted.

                Van and Eric looked at her quizzically. “Take a walk?” Van asked.

                Meg nodded. “Sure. Look, I can’t tell you exactly where we are. I can just tell you that you’re safe so long as you stay within a ten-mile radius. This place is protected. My grandfather can’t find you, and neither can any of my cousins or aunts. You’re safe here. If you want to get away from us for a little bit, I don’t blame you.”

                Eric looked from Van to Meg. Without another word, he walked out of the room and through the door. Van jumped as he heard how hard the door slammed.

                “Do you really think that’s a good idea?” he asked her.

                Meg nodded, not moving her eyes. “Just trust me on this one.”

               

                Outside, Eric shivered as he looked around. There was a large, wet forest that stretched in every direction around him in the moonlight. Bright foliage and small scrub palms told him he wasn’t in Maine. The time of night seemed right, though, which meant he was still on the East coast. North Carolina? Maybe Florida?

                He began walking. There was a narrow path through the trees that he took into the heart of the darkness around him.

                “This is ridiculous,” he muttered to himself, reaching out to grab a damp tree trunk when he skidded on a slick patch of mud. “I’m supposed to trust some creature like the one that got me into this? Why did I buy that book? What was I thinking?”

                He misjudged a step and tumbled down into an empty riverbed. The rocky ground sliced his palms as he fell forward and he felt a sharp pain in his left knee.

                He pushed himself up into a sitting position and groaned loudly. He had seemed to fallen into brambles, because he felt as though there were many hands grasping his clothes, his wrists and his ankles.

                When the fingers began to move, he realized that there were many hands grasping his clothes, wrists and ankles. He looked down to see the silhouette of slender hands coming from the cold, muddy riverbed in the moonlight.

                Eric shouted and tried to jump up, but there was no way to stand. The ghostly hands seemed to have an iron grip.

                “You aren’t getting very far from Mud Demons, kid,” a voice said above him. Eric looked up. On the opposite bank, in a patch of moonlight, stood a young woman with thick brown dreadlocks and pale skin. She had her hands in the pockets of her black coat.

                She disappeared and reappeared three feet in front of him. He didn’t move. Meg had assured him that no Sirens could find him here, so how did this one have him? Was Meg lying again?

                “You’re from Alexandros,” he said weakly. “You’re going to kill me?”

                The woman tilted her head and her lips twisted into an ill-boding smile. “Nope, not even close. So you’re the one that the Sirens have marked. A human that knows about Alexandros? Cool story, bro. In fact, I’ll bet you have all sorts of cool stories that you’re going to tell me.”

                “Why?” Eric said. “If you’re a Light Lord, why do you need me to tell you anything? You know more than me, I promise you.”

                “Wrong again,” the woman said. She sat down in the mud across from him, pulled out a large, twisted knife from the inside pocket of her coat. The handle was maple and decorated with braids of silver and copper. At the end was a silver mold of a fennec fox that looked as though it was listening intently, with its large ears pitched forward and its eyes locked on something with interest. She set it on a rock between the two of them. She looked back at him with her twisted smile.

                “I’m Thalia. I work for the Dark World. And you’re going to tell me exactly how you know about the Sirens and Alexandros, one way or another.”

 

***

Alexandros ran a hand through greying hair. He tapped his foot impatiently. His granddaughter was supposed to report to him ten minutes earlier. There were many things he despised, and tardiness was definitely one thing.

                The Sirens, he thought, standing from the plush maroon chair of the Ruby Room to stand in front of the warm fire, are becoming too much to handle. Just a bunch of nearly-human females that needed to be instructed through every single mission.

                He looked into the flames and his lips twisted down in disgust as he thought of them.  They had nearly served their purpose. For the entirety of The Grooming, they’ve served him without question. But now that humanity was nearly ready for the next phase, they were useless. More of an aggravation than an asset. The sooner he could be rid of them, the better. The only redeeming quality is that they would lie down and die if he so asked.

                All but one, that was.

                He shook his head and looked at the clock above the mantle. Thirteen minutes late.

                Telese was a handful, definitely. And her outburst during the meeting was disconcerting. The last thing Alexandros needed was the whole of the Sirens breaking form and questioning him.

                Too mouthy. Too opinionated. Too much like Mnemosyne. It was a shame. If only she had learned her place long before, he could let her live. Her power would be useful for the second and third phases. But Telese was too much of a loose cannon. 

                There was a knock at the door.

                “Come in,” Alexandros ordered.

                In walked a short, blonde woman dressed in all black"the usual warrior outfit. Aikaterine"or Katerina as she was known in her bonded country, Russia"was a newly trained warrior with a desire to impress her grandfather. Her blind loyalty and unquestioning obedience was every reason that the Sirens would be useless in the second and third stages.

                “I trust that you requested a meeting because you have important news or my book Aikaterine.”

                “I found it earlier, Grandfather, but there is a problem.”

                Alexandros turned to her and raised his eyebrows. “Oh? Which is what?”

                “It’s in the hands of a human that seems to be protected by one of us.”

                “And you know this how?”

                “They were alerted to my presence before I even entered the room. They used a dust spell to stop me from seeing them before they escaped.”

                “A dust spell?” Alexandros repeated, thinking it over. “Such a weak, safe response is either a healer or diplomat. You didn’t see who this was?

                Katerina scrunched her face as she recalled the event. “All I could see was light hair.”

                And that rules out Telese, he thought. The fact sat uneasily with him. If there was another Siren that was supporting insolence, who was to say that it wouldn’t spread into an all-out revolt?

                His face must have reflected his concern because Katerina tilted her head and leaned forward a little. “Is there something wrong, Grandfather?”

                “If you count the fact that you failed to fulfill the task I set out for you, yes, there is something very wrong,” he snapped.

                Katerina straightened up quickly. “I’m sorry, Grandfather. I won’t fail you again. I’ll find where they are hiding and"“

                “You’ll find them? They’re marked, are they not? How do you have to do anything but follow them?”

                “Once they disappeared through the vanishing point, I lost them. I can’t pick up their location, no matter how closely I listen or feel.”

                Alexandros shifted his gaze to the flames. “This is impossible,” he muttered.

                “Grandfather, I assure you, I"“

                “Get out!” he ordered. He turned his back to her as he heard her rush from the room and the door close behind her.

                He closed his eyes and began to search the waves of existence and air around him for something from his book. With the magic that was contained, he often had no problem getting a lock on it if need-be.

                But now there was nothing. He couldn’t feel it.

                He was blocked from it.

                When Telese had destroyed Atlantis and Pompeii, Alexandros had been unsettled. He had been cautious to keep her in line. But her own fear of herself had seen to that, and he had remained in control. To be blocked from knowing or seeing anything caused him to feel more than unsettled. For the first time in his entire life, every heartbeat seemed to bruise his ribs from the force. His throat became dry and his whole body began to feel weak.

                For the first time, he began to panic.

                Alexandros closed his eyes, sending his thoughts outward. He invaded the consciousness of one of his daughters.

                “Get in here now.”

                Only moments later, there was a knock on the door. Roxy walked in without waiting for an answer. She stood in front of her father, straight-backed and proud. Perhaps one of the few daughters that had inherited many of his traits.

                “You wanted me?” she asked.

                “What do you know about blocking our connections to energy?” he asked her, watching her over his shoulder.

                If she knew anything about this, she hid it flawlessly. “It’s impossible. We’re connected to all living beings and all things, blah, blah, it can’t be done. Why?”

                Alexandros turned to Roxy. She returned his strong gaze with an unwavering one of her own. She wasn’t stupid. She knew he needed her to finish the job he had given her. She was calculating and patient. If he wanted to get information from her, intimidation wouldn’t work.

                “I’m concerned that your youngest sister is somewhere I can’t reach her and in trouble,” he said slyly. “Not that it wouldn’t be doing me a favour if she was somehow taken out of action for a while, but if she’s trapped or hurt, she can’t finish the job I gave her.”

                Then he saw it; the falter in Roxy’s brown eyes betrayed her weakness. It was fleeting before she steeled herself again, but that fleeting break was all Alexandros needed. Roxy’s concern for Telese was something he knew would be useful to inventory in his mind for later.

                “I spoke to Nikki just yesterday. She’s a bit melancholy, but she’s fine.”

                “Are you so sure, Roxias? A lot can happen in a day.”

                Roxy looked down for a moment, then back to him.

                “We both know she’s survived more than anything the human, Dark or Light Worlds have to cast at her. I mean, tortured for a hundred years….”

                “Yes, yes, the age-old ‘awe-inspiring Telese’ story. Don’t think I haven’t heard the whispering that your sisters and nieces do when you think I can’t hear. Oh, relax, Roxias,” he said, as Roxy tensed a little, “I’m not concerned with it. After all, you may hold her on a pedestal, but in the end, she still answers to me. Do you know why that is?”

                “Because she isn’t suicidal?”

                “Because, for all of Telese’s faults, sheer stupidity isn’t one. Do you really think that she ‘won’ those torture sessions?” He scoffed. “She does what I say because she didn’t. She’s afraid of going back to the Correction Rooms again.”

                “Well,” Roxy said, her voice shaking a little. “This has been a very informative chat, Father, but I still don’t understand why you want me.”

                “You say you spoke to Telese recently. What was it you two spoke about?”

                “About how she was feeling after having her reason for living taken away. And she mentioned something about searching for something lately, though she wouldn’t tell me what.”

                “You know, I really don’t feel I show you enough appreciation for what you do, Roxias,” Alexandros said brightly.

                If Roxy was tense before, she was nearly paralyzed now. “Is that so?” she asked warily taking a small step farther from him.

                “Of course. You know, you don’t have to personally have your hand in these wars and skirmishes. I think you’ve really mastered the art of delegation. I’m going to grant you a short reprieve.”

                “Oh?” Roxy said. “Time to sit at home, visit the Sydney Orchestra, do some diving on the Barrier Reef?”

                “If you can fit all of that into keeping a good watch on Telese. But guess which one is the priority.”

                “Probably not the orchestra. Why am I babysitting a grown Siren?”

                Alexandros shrugged as he pursed his lips. “Because I said so. I want you to tell me what she’s doing, who she’s speaking to and, ah, see if you can find out about that blocking thing while you’re at it.”

                “I’m sure she won’t question a sudden holiday for the Siren that should, by all means, be the busiest.”

                “Then think of a good excuse,” Alexandros said, his voice becoming razor-sharp. “Lie to her. I don’t care what you tell her. You are to report back to me, and we’ll address what you’ve seen. And don’t worry,” he said with feigned concern, “I know that you would be so wrecked over betraying your little sister. Just know that I have ways of getting the truth from you.”

                Roxy stared at him for a moment. She had the options of standing up to her father or potentially getting both of her youngest sisters killed. She thought of the day that he told them of the purge. She remembered how she had fallen silent when he questioned her. How Layla had done the same.

                And how Telese had insisted on commending the other diplomats, no matter how much her father intimidated her. How she had stood up to him in favour of saving humanity. And then how she had pleaded with Roxy to help her and Morgan.

                “If I don’t want to?” she said quietly.

                Alexandros stared at her as though she had asked him the question in a language she had made up at that very moment.

                “Excuse me?”

                “If I don’t want to follow my little sister around so that you can find a reason to kill her like you’ve been looking for?”

                “You’re overstepping your boundaries, Roxias,” he said in a low, threatening voice.

                “No, Father, overstepping my boundaries would be putting Nikki at risk. Overstepping my boundaries would be deceiving her, overstepping"“

                With one wave of his hand, Roxy was thrown across the room against the wall. Before she could stand up, Alexandros was there, lifting her by her throat and pulling something out of thin air.

                The Eternal Blade would be a thing of beauty to Roxy if it weren’t pressed against her throat at that moment. The blade was a bright gold that seemed like it had never come in contact with the harsh air of the Earth around them. It had a strong metallic smell that overwhelmed Roxy. She could clearly see her wide, frightened eyes reflected back at her. The handle, ivory with ruby embellishments was held so firmly that his knuckles were the same colour as the ivory.

                “Let me remind you of the order of power, Roxias,” he said in his usual calm manner, “you are nothing. You can do nothing to me. But I can end you. I can take you out in one moment or I can prolong death and make you beg for it. Your loyalties are not to Telese, because she is not the one that can tear you apart slowly and drown you in your own blood. Do you understand this?”

                Roxy let out a small sob as she nodded. Alexandros took a breath. He waved his hand and the blade disappeared. He released his grip and Roxy fell to the ground by his feet, coughing.

                “I trust,” he said, straightening his blazer and smoothing his hair back, “that we have reached an understanding. Am I correct to assume this, Roxias?”

                “Yes,” she said weakly, looking down at the floor.

                “In the name of the Creator, get to your feet.”

                Roxy stood up slowly, her legs still shaking. The brush with death and the reminder of her inferiority seemed to take up every part of her resolve and there was none to keep her steady on her feet. She collected herself, took a breath and brought her eyes back to his.

                This man in front of her had haunted each and every one of them their entire lives. He had controlled their being just as he controlled existence around him. Roxy remembered his callous, violent and hateful treatment of their mother. She remembered how broken and different her little sister had seemed when she had come back from the Correction Rooms, as though the passionate, eager young woman had been killed down there and her body used to house a forlorn, sardonic being devoid of connection to most living things.

                And yet, as she looked into his eyes, she saw something a little different. Fear and trepidation hovered just behind those frozen, grey eyes. The Sirens knew a spell that he didn’t; a spell that could loosen his tight hold on them. His lead warrior had just questioned him. And his youngest daughter"the one that he feels should have learned her lesson"challenged him in front of every one of the creatures he felt beneath him. Despite what he said, his eyes betrayed him. He was afraid of what Telese’s insolence could do.

                “Don’t worry, Father,” Roxy said, in her easy, casual voice. “I promise, I’ll find out what my sister is up to and report back to you everything I remember.”

                “Good,” Alexandros said, turning his back to her. That is all I need from you right now, Roxy. You may leave. I will contact you when I need the first round of information from you.”

                Roxy nodded and exited back into the hall. She needed to find Telese and tell her what was happening. She was certain her little sister would not be excited to see her, given their last meeting, but hopefully they could look past it.

                And hopefully she could pull out a good memory block spell while she was so busy working miracles.