“How?” Theo murmured, now more perplexed than anything. There was something about the gentle noise that washed away all of his concerns. His anxieties and fears had been softly scrubbed away, as if someone quickly and quietly wiped them from his memory.
He took one more step closer to the water. The sound amplified tenfold. Theo nearly fell over but didn’t dare step back. The melodies crystallized, their perfect, haunting harmonies hanging in the atmosphere around Theo. The remaining fear drained from his body, and it was replaced with something different.
Something lighter and full of hope.
“She’s singing to me.” Theo moaned aloud as he started to sway on his feet. His head started to feel light and cloudy, like he’d had the best joint of his life. He took a few more eager steps forward, stepping into the water until his shoes were covered, and the water soaked the edge of his pants.
The sound shifted again, instantaneously, turning from a delicious, lighthearted tune to one full of lust and longing. Theo’s body was alive while the air was stolen from his lungs. He was swaying wildly now, barely able to keep his own weight up, sinking deeper into whatever wild intoxication seemed to be flowing through his blood.
“Where are you?” Theo screamed, starting to cry again, sounding almost like an overgrown child. “I need you! Oh, where are you? Beautiful one!” Theo started shouting random phrases, his head muddled and his speech slurring. He fell to his knees in the water until it reached waist height.
Theo was moaning loudly now, almost entirely consumed by a madness he couldn’t trace or understand. He didn’t want to. All he wanted was to find the owner of that mysterious voice; that beautiful, high tune that was unlike anything he’d ever heard before. In that moment, Theo would go without food or water if it meant discovering the elusive singer. His blood started to race, and sweat trickled down his neck, an intense lust overcoming him and dancing with his sudden onslaught of madness.
“Where are you?” Theo screeched, some spit dribbling down his chin. “Beautiful one!”
A head broke the surface of the water directly in front of Theo, and he gasped, his eyes going wide. He swayed back and forth in the waist-deep water, unable to take his gaze off the mysterious singer.
Her skin was white as the moon, with delicate, webbed ears that stuck out from cascading dark hair. Theo had never seen such unparalleled beauty in all of his life, and he leaned forward as if to kiss her. Her full lips moved delicately with each note of her song, and Theo thought he could practically see the melody taking shape in the air around them. Her presence so enraptured him that he hardly noticed the long claws on her fingers or the serpentine tail that broke the surface behind her.
All of Theo’s life had been reduced to one point, to the woman in front of him and the song she sang. He’d trade everything and give up his existence if she asked.
The words of her song started to change, and Theo knew what she was asking of him, even though he didn’t technically know the language.
He closed his eyes and bared his neck, holding his arms open wide as if she might crash into his embrace. Theo didn’t see her fanged teeth or watch her eyes roll back into her head as she closed the gap between them, still singing.
Theo didn’t hear Emmett crashing through the forest, and he couldn’t hear his warnings.
“Theo!” Emmett’s voice boomed and echoed off the trees. “Snap out of it! That’s a fucking siren!”
CHAPTER SIX
Theo didn't even register the sound of Emmett’s voice. He was completely consumed by the face of the woman in front of him. He didn’t notice the frustration and fury in her expression or how she turned towards Emmett and snarled. Her long white fingers emerged from the water, sharp claws wrapping around Theo’s neck as she prepared to drag him into the depths.
Theo smiled.
Emmett crashed into the shallows, bellowing and swinging his axe as the water crashed around them. He leaped into the air with his weapon raised. The siren released Theo at the last second, disappearing as fast as a blink. When she vanished in the wake of Emmett’s waves, Theo snapped back to his senses. He had been perched on his knees and fell over, crashing into the water.
“Theo!” Emmett shouted. He reached under the water and pulled Theo to his feet by the scruff of his neck like a kitten, which was rather impressive seeing as Theo was not a kitten but a grown fae male, well over six feet tall.
“What the f-fuck was that?” Theo started to shiver as the siren song’s effects wore off.
“Out of the water,” Emmett commanded, “and cover your ears!”
Theo opened his mouth to ask why, but Emmett was already shoving him towards the shore. There was a ripple on the surface of the water, and Emmett choked up on his grip on the axe.
“Now!” Emmett hollered again, his eyes rapidly scanning the water. “She’s coming back around. Pippa!” Theo fumbled through the water in wet jeans, clamping his hands over his ears.
He caught sight of a blur of blonde hair speeding past him, presumingly Pippa on her way to join Emmett. The sweet sensations of the woman’s song were still hanging around in Theo’s bones, the aftermath taking its sweet time to fade out entirely.
As he stumbled to land, he could only hear vague shouting and shrieking noises from the commotion in the water behind him. Theo managed to get out of the water and turned around, trying to make sense of what had happened. Pippa was completely underwater, and Emmett was swinging his axe into the shallows.
Pippa resurfaced with a war cry that would’ve even put Emmett to shame, holding the woman in a headlock. Theo’s jaw dropped as he realized the creature had a tail, and he saw her clearly for the first time.
“What the fuck?” Theo screamed towards the mated pair. “That’s a mermaid!” Theo dropped his hands from his ears and pointed.
Emmett turned around, and his face went red. “Theo, your ears?—”
It was too late. The siren opened her mouth and launched into song. Theo was under her spell again in moments, throwing himself into the water and paddling through the shallows to get to the siren. Emmett dropped his axe and scooped up Theo, holding him around the waist. Theo started screaming as ifin agony, scratching at Emmett’s arms and hollering until spit flecked his mouth.
