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"Right now," she answered quickly, "in time for feeding time." The crowd seemed to follow us over, gathering around as a hammock device was lowered in. When it was fully submerged, the shark swam out, looking exactly as I pictured in my mind. The two swam around each other for a moment, as relief and excitement replaced the overwhelming sadness.
Now that they were reunited, I slipped away so the crowd could watch feeding time. The others followed me without hesitation. As soon as we were outside and out of earshot, the questions began.
"How did you know there was another shark?"
"Why were you crying?"
"What the hell was that?"
"How did you not notice all the fish following you?"
"Did he speak to you?"
"Calm down guys, I'll explain in the car," I fired back, annoyed by their badgering. “I'm still trying to figure this whole thing out myself.” I spent the entire ride back to campus explaining the mental images she sent, and the emotions that came with it. Even Calev was surprised, which meant they knew just as much about my powers as I did.
This should be an interesting learning curve.
March 19
Midnight
Lennox
A soft knock on the adjoining bathroom door woke me from my dreamless sleep. I listened for a moment, wanting to see if there was another. A moment later, the light rapping continued. With a quick stretch and a yawn, I padded across the cool wooden floors and unlocked the door. If I said I was surprised to find Calev on the other side, it would have been an understatement. Faint snores could be heard from the other room, so I doubted anything was wrong.
"What's going on?" I whispered quietly as my eyes studied his, looking for any clue as to why he was standing there. His stoic face morphed into a grin that had my jaw dropping in shock.
"Just come on," he said, closing the door quietly as he stepped into my room. "Grab shoes and a jacket or hoodie, and let's go." Too intrigued to argue with him, I did as he asked, grabbing a zip up hoodie and slipping on my sandals before following him to the door. "Shadow to hide us," he said simply, pulling the shadows around us so we were covered in the same black smoke as yesterday. I couldn't see, but he reached for my hand and led me out of my room. Everything on campus was indoors, so I wasn't too worried about being in my sleep shorts and tank top. He lead me down from the second floor and through the academic halls. I could tell where we were generally heading from the bits and pieces of our surroundings that filtered through the dense fog, but not much else. Eventually, the smell of chlorine and the echoing of footsteps were all the clues I needed to know where he had taken me. Once we were against the wall, he dropped the shadows surrounding us.
"Hang on," he murmured, sending a puff of black fog to the corner of the room where the security camera was. The shadows clung to the camera lens, shrouding the entire feed in darkness. He did the same for the windows and doors until we were in a room of shadows, safe from humans finding our secrets. He finally dropped his hands and turned to me. "Well... jump in."
"Gladly!" I squealed, feeling elated for the first time in days. I stripped off my hoodie and sandals before diving into the pool without hesitation. I came up for air and let my body get used to it, hoping the gills wouldn’t try and kill me this time. "Time me?" I joked as I dove to the deep end and let myself sink to the bottom. The chlorine felt gross to me now, the chemicals permeating my lungs as they filled with water again. It was painful still, but much less than last time. It was likely something my body would have to adjust to. I sat at the bottom until my body was filtering the water in and out properly, before I dared to move. The pool lights gave enough light to see the scales covering the tops of my arms from shoulder to wrist, and my legs from ankle to thigh. I felt a dusting of them on my forehead and throat, but that was all the physical changes I noticed... other than the breathing water part. I pushed off the bottom of the pool with my feet, sliding easily through the water. I made several laps before shooting out of the water and diving back in with ease. I'd never felt more exhilarated in my life.
Deciding I had made Calev wait long enough, I swam to the edge of the pool where he waited, but I couldn't bring myself to get out. The memory of throwing up water until I passed out wasn't forgotten, and I wasn't eager to repeat it.
"You're a siren, manipulate the water out of your lungs," Calev called, understanding what my issue was without words, yet still laughing at my plight. Narrowing my eyes at him through the water, I pushed off the bottom and sailed right into him. He caught me easily, cradling me in his arms and looking exasperated. Not sure how to ‘manipulate water’, but willing to try, I visualized the water moving out of my lungs, as I spit it out like a fountain. Once it was out, I took a slow, deep breath and let my body acclimate.
"Good advice, Cal," I joked, which only made him let go of my legs and drop me to the floor. I caught my balance and giggled, the sound melodic and carefree. That moment under the water was the best I had felt in way too long... if ever.
"Thank you," I whispered, turning and kissing him on the cheek. His cheeks tinted pink at the gesture, but he quickly offered me a towel instead of meeting my eyes. It was a sweet gesture, all of this was. Watch him shock me and be the closet romantic. Another thought struck me, and I turned to him with my eyes narrowed.
"What?" he asked, looking around him for the cause of my glare.
"What are you? You guys just skimmed over it last time!" I accused, laughing at his surprise.
"I'm shocked it took you this long. Guess you aren't as quick as I thought, Little Psycho," he teased, his eyes glinting with mischief. Seeing how far I could take my powers, and feeling far more confident than I ever had, I envisioned a stream of water spraying him in the face I laughed when my magic complied. "Oh, it's on," he promised, wiping water off of his cheeks.
I laughed and took off running, circling the pool easily before turning to see where he was. He hadn't moved; instead, he removed his jacket to reveal a tank top. The entire thing threw me off, since I was expecting him to run after me, not strip. Though I was hardly complaining. The way his black tank clung to his abs left little to the imagination. He may have been lithe, but he was built as well.
Without warning, he ran toward the pool, taking a leap off the edge. Instead of plunging into the water, a pair of dark wings sprouted from his back, letting him glide across the pool easily. I was too shocked to move; in fact, I didn't even flinch as he crashed into me, creating a cage with his arms as we fell to the ground. He was breathtaking. The wings jutted out on either side, sleek feathers in dark blue, black, and deep purple lining each one. I reached out to run my fingers delicately over them, itching to touch them. They were velvety soft as my fingers ruffled them in their wake. He let out a slight shiver, bringing my eyes back to his face. My heart thumped in my chest as I stared into his deep gray eyes, a slight swirl of blue in them that I never noticed before. His hair hung gently down, making him look a little less put together.
Before I could stop myself, I leaned up and pressed my lips to his, not even processing what I was doing, just letting the impulse take over. When he didn't kiss back, I pulled away, studying his face. He wore a look of shock before his eyes turned dark and he crushed his lips to mine, wiping away any doubts that started to surface. My hands moved behind his neck before I moved my fingers back to his wings. Something about a powerful man over me with his wings extended, was too hot to pass up. He let out another shiver, along with a low groan that had my body coming alive under him, and pressing my hips to his as the bulge in his pants grew harder. Holy shit what is happening to me? Is this new confidence part of being a siren? Whatever it is, I definitely like it!
He deepened the kiss, his hand moving to my cheek to hold me in place, the other still holding me tight against his chest. My lips parted on a moan, and his tongue swept into my mouth, teasing and tasting. My hand seemed to have a will of its own, as I skimmed down his hard chest before moving under his shirt and exploring his abs.
The sound of a cell phone blaring the Fresh Prince theme song had us both breaking away from the kiss, breathless and flushed. Well, that was unexpected and fucking hot. He finally moved his arm from around me and pushed off the ground. Once he was standing, he reached down to me, pulling me up to my feet. His eyes dipped low at my wet tank top sticking to my chest, where he could clearly see I wasn’t wearing a bra. If it wasn't for his damn cell phone ringing, I might have taken advantage.
He reached into his back pocket with a defeated sigh as the song started up again, before unlocking it and answering with a frustrated tone. "Yes, she's with me. We're on our way back up," he promised, shifting his crotch while walking back to the other side and gathering my stuff. I shrugged on my jacket and slipped on sandals, then followed him to the wall. He hung up before calling the shadows back to him, pulling them around us like a shroud, as his free hand intertwined with mine.
