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Her aura switched to attraction and fear at the same time. I bit back a smile. She was getting more and more fun to play with.
“Y-you’re joking,” she replied.
“Since when do I joke?”
“That’s a fair point.”
I leaned in closer until she backed down, slowly sitting on the bed as I came closer and closer. Her aura became genuinely nervous, so I decided to stop being an ass.
“We only need one bed,” I whispered, “because I’m going to sleep on the floor.”
I pulled back and let her breathe for a moment. I tried not to laugh as the color rushed out of her skin.
“How long do I have to stay here?” she asked.
“Until it’s time to take you home,” I replied. “I made a promise to your family. I intend to keep it.”
“I thought you said you weren’t coming for me?”
She folded her arms again, her aura a bit…sad?
I huffed. “You want to marry my father that badly?”
She shifted on the bed, her sad aura getting stronger. She didn’t answer me, but she didn’t have to.
“Is he kind?”
Her words echoed in my head. They had ever since that night.
I had wanted her to be twisted, sinful, and greedy. I wanted to find reasons to dislike her or make her my enemy.
But she wasn’t. And I couldn’t. Her biggest sins were that she was too pure and too damn foolish.
“Decide what you want,” I said eventually. “I’ll do my best to take care of it.”
I didn’t look at her, but I could feel her head turn toward me.
“Why would you do that?” she asked.
I shrugged. “There’s no point in making everyone suffer if no one wants this arrangement. Not to mention, your soft spot for the pirate captain is quite obvious.”
She laughed ironically. “You said it yourself: it’s just a spell.”
“For him. Not for you.”
Our eyes met for a brief moment, but she looked away. Her aura didn’t change at all, refusing to show me her true feelings.
Or maybe I was looking at them this entire time and just not accepting them.
“Why are you doing all this for me anyway?” she asked. “I thought you hated me.”
I took a long breath. Perhaps the truth wasn’t out of order.
“You’re a siren,” I said. “And I don’t want the spiritual realm anywhere close to my family. It’s already done enough damage.”
I blinked hard, as if I was watching my mother disappear into the light of the afterlife all over again. I didn’t think I had my back turned for so long, until Esmeralda’s hand came to my shoulder. I turned to face her, her eyes and aura full of sympathy.
“I want to know more of your story,” she said.
