Lyra unsheathed her claws and gently dragged them up Theo’s arms and across his chest, careful not to draw blood but pressing just enough to get her point across. Theo sucked in a harsh gasp and stopped breathing, desperately trying to keep some blood in his brain as it rushed south.
“What…” Theo’s voice cracked. “What’s your point?”
Lyra smiled, and it was all fang. “My point is that I can handle myself against a couple of opportunistic bitches who think they’re going to weasle me out of a payday.”
“A pay day from…” Theo held his breath, suddenly unsure if Lyra meant to turn him in but almost too turned on to care.
You’re going to need a really good therapist when this is all over, if this is what it’s doing for you.
“Your brother, of course.” Lyra winked. She turned around and started wading back into the water. “I’ve heard the royal coffers are abundant. I wonder if he keeps all of his gold in a big room like a dragon. If he does, I’m going to swim in it.” Lyra tossed her hands in the air and cackled, before executing a perfect swan dive and disappearing beneath the water.
The last thing Theo saw was a flash of her serpentine tail breaking the surface. He stared for a few more minutes beforeheading back to the fire to try and catch some sleep, but he knew attempting to sleep was going to be futile.
He could still hear her laughter echoing off the trees.
CHAPTER NINE
Theo managed to get a few measly hours of sleep and woke with the sunrise. Despite barely getting any rest, he was in a surprisingly pleasant mood. He ignored the thought in the back of his mind telling him that it had something to do with a certain siren he was going to be spending the foreseeable future with.
He ate a small breakfast and banked the fire by the time the sun had fully settled in the sky. He looked around at the now bare campsite before turning back towards the water, wondering how and when they were going to proceed.
Theo knew the basics about sirens, but now his magical education was failing him. Were they nocturnal? A lot of water-dwelling creatures were, or at least they were most active at dawn and dusk. Theo felt himself start to get a little concerned that Lyra had gotten herself into more trouble during the night, and he hadn’t heard it.
Theo edged a little closer to the shore, Lyra’s sharp warnings to stay away from it ringing in his mind while his panic over her safety grew. The rational part of his mind knew she was better suited to protect herself in the water than he was, but it didn’t matter when he imagined her bleeding again in the water. She’donly had a scratch on her forehead, but the sight of blood on Lyra’s face had managed to make Theo go cold all over.
“Lyra?” he called out towards the river, peering over the shallows while trying to keep his feet on solid ground.
“Lyra?” Theo called out a little louder this time while taking a few steps closer to the water. There was a small splash a couple of feet ahead of him, and Theo froze.
“Lyra! Can you hear me?” Theo started running forward, his sneakers becoming waterlogged as he lost his footing on the wet sand. There was a second, bigger splash, and Theo’s eyes widened.
“Okay, um, fuck,” he started looking around and realized he didn’t have anything even closely resembling a weapon, “I’m coming! Ok? I think… Stay where you are!”
Theo was stuck in the sand, the water only knee-high, and panicking. He was convinced Lyra was fighting off some other terrifying creature of the deep, only a few feet away, and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Ly—oh!” Theo called out for Lyra again, but he was swiftly cut off. A heavyweight slammed into the back of his knees, causing him to fall forward into the river. The shock of the cold, brackish water made Theo suck in a sharp breath, swallowing a fair amount of dirty river water. A heavy weight was sitting on top of him, and his eyesight was blurred.
After a few paralyzing seconds that felt closer to an eternity, Theo wiped his eyes and blinked repeatedly.
He was sitting in the shallows of the river, soaking wet, with water up to his chest. Lyra was straddling him with her legs on either side of his torso, glaring at him with a raised eyebrow.
“What did I tell you about going into the water?” Lyra snapped, quickly removing herself from Theo’s lap, much to his disappointment.
She stood up effortlessly, with far too much grace for a human, even if she was wearing a mortal skin. Theo was struck dumb by the sight of the water and the morning light of the sun reflecting off her smooth skin, as if she were made of diamonds.
“Did you hear me?” Lyra demanded, wringing some of the water out of her hair. “What did I say about the water, Theo?” She put her hands on her hips and stared him down with an intensity that should’ve scared him more than it turned him on.
“Um, yes, I did.” Theo attempted to stand up but wasn’t able to move nearly as gracefully as Lyra could. He eventually had to roll over to all fours and push himself up out of the wet sand and water. When he finally got to his feet, he started to walk out of the shallows and slipped. Theo held his hands out to stop his fall, but Lyra managed to grab his arm, steadying him.
“You really don’t have a pair of sea legs, do you?” Lyra’s gaze softened, even though her tone was still full of ire.
Theo shrugged, plastering on what he hoped was a charming and disarming smile.
“Uh, no,” Theo admitted, “but I do think I’m excused, seeing as there’s been a threat over my entire life relating to the sea.”
Lyra didn’t look impressed. “That doesn’t explain why you completely ignored what I said about going into the water.” Lyra dropped her hand from Theo’s shoulder. “You were only in knee-deep water, and I was able to knock you down and attack you. If I had been an angry selkie or a kelpie, that would have been all it would have taken. As soon as you go down and your body is under water, it doesn’t matter how shallow it is. You’re gone. They’ll drag you out to the depths before you realize what’s even happening. The water is dangerous, Theo.” Lyra’s voice picked up in intensity as she spoke, sounding almost frantic at the end of it. Her eyes narrowed, and Theo wondered if she’d had any experience with the horrors she was describing.
“I understand.” Theo nodded eagerly, desperate to show Lyra he wasn’t looking for a fight. “It’s not going to happen again. I didn’t know what time you wanted to set out this morning. I got concerned waiting for you, and when there was splashing in the water, I thought you might be in trouble.”
