Page 52 of The Song of the Void

I so badly wanted to look him in the eyes and ask him what exactly it was he was saying, because the thoughts that filled my mind were nothing less than delusional. I couldn't breathe. I wanted to scream and laugh and cry all at the same time. There was no way I’d be able to go back to sleep now, not with my mind whirling, reading into every single grin he had ever given me, every touch we shared.

I snuggled closer, breathing in the scented water he had used to bathe—ever since I told him his smell overwhelmed me, I realized, and that was long before we were cordial with each other.

The mantra I had drilled into myself after meeting Vaetrik echoed inside me, constant, like the endless beating of a drum. He's a Human man, and they are all the same. He cannot be trusted.

Even if he wasn't like Vaetrik, trusting a Human would end the way it always did—with the inevitable slap down to reality that would shake my world. The question was only a matter of when. It had been foolishness on my part, pushing the boundaries of physical touch with him and calling it teasing. Even now, clinging to him, desperately wishing to be able to comfort him, to shield him from all his pain…

If this is foolishness, let me play the fool, just for Reiven.

He stroked my hair, and I basked in his gentle touch until I began to feel guilty for enjoying it while he didn't even know I was awake. Eventually, I pretended to rouse from my slumber, blinking languidly up at him from my place on his chest.

Reiven grinned. “Morning. Did I wake you up?”

I shook my head.

“Hey, don't look at me all confused. You're the one that hugged me in your sleep,” he said, squeezing me to him. “My arm’s going numb.”

“Let go then.”

He didn't. He grinned wider.

“Reiven,” I murmured, sitting up as much as I could without escaping his arms, resting my hand on his cheek. “You’re hurting, aren't you?”

That grin fell away and broke my heart. “I'm fine, Blue. Don't worry about me.”

I trailed my fingers up his face, memorizing every detail through touch. Those divots in his cheeks when he smiled permanently lingered as tiny lines that just made him more beautiful. They served as a constant reminder of how his smile filled my heart with warmth. I traced his jawline, in complete awe of the way the sunrise through the porthole scattered orange-red flecks in the swirling darkness of his eyes.

I gave him a gentle smile of my own as I smoothed some hair out of his face. “You aren’t fine. Watching you suffer hurts me too.”

He stared back at me, like he was trying to read the trick in my eyes, but found none. His hand covered mine, pulling my palm to his lips for a kiss that melted my heart into a puddle.

“Why?” he whispered hoarsely. “You shouldn't want to help me, so why?”

“Because I'm so sick of you twitching while I'm trying to sleep,” I said. My feeble attempt at a playful explanation fell flat to my own ears.

“Sorry about that…What, you aren't going to make me beg on my knees for your help?” Rei tried, just as weakly as me, to lighten the mood, and failed. “Does it hurt you to do?”

I had to explain three times that my Siren power only tired me out if I overexerted myself before he gave me the go ahead. I reached into the sea of pain inside him and drew it out slowly, watching relief and torment simultaneously fill his eyes. He tensed and stared at me until I finished.

“Why…” he whispered again. “Why are you able to get rid of it so easily? I’ve been carrying it with me for years, but you have the power to just…make me feel whole again.” With his arms still around me, he pulled me to lie fully on top of him. “Thank you.”

“Wow, saying ‘thank you?’ Don’t be so nice, or I might start to think you actually like me.”

The smile he gave me was real and perfect. “Never. I despise you, Blue.”

“Well, I despise you more.” I leaned closer to press my lips against one of his dimples, savoring his contented sigh and the lazy pattern he drew on my back.

“I thought you were better at faking things,” he said. “You're not very convincing right now.”

I went back to trailing my fingers down his face and hair, humming the lullaby I had been singing to him since we boarded the ship. It echoed within the confined walls of our quarters. The waves outside seemed to react, hushing their continued crashing against the hull to listen.

Eyes closed, Reiven drank in my voice as if it brought him new life. “Your voice is like magic…I never would have thought a Siren’s song would make me melt like this.”

And I never thought I’d feel so comfortable and safe in a man’s arms.

I gave him a cheeky smile. “Do you want to know a secret about this lullaby? My people say that if you don’t listen for it, you’ll never get close to the Voidtome. Only Sirens are supposed to know it, but…you should know it by now, too. The Song of the Void.”

“Ah, the Druinn general mentioned that on the island. That's why he's still after you. And you didn't tell us because you didn't trust us?”