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“A gold digger who asked for her wings and was rejected?”
Her tone dipped, and I didn’t have to see her aura to know how much being away from the den was hurting her. She wanted to be part of the spirit world once more, the world she was built for.
“I’ll see that you make it back,” I said. “I gave you my word.”
Why I made such a promise, I still wasn’t completely sure. It wasn’t that her happiness was my responsibility, was it? Perhaps as a Judge with the responsibility to look after the sirens, and her responsibility to look after the humans, we had similar goals. That’s why I looked after her, even though she was quite irritating from time to time.
But all in all, we had the same objective. A type of…partnership.
She stepped in closer to me, and the light and airy scent of her soap stirred my senses.
“Why are you helping me, Jacques?”
I tried to brush off the question. “Because it’s my duty as a Judge.”
“We both know that’s not true.”
Her aura changed to affection once again. I was tired of her looking at me in a such a way. If she had looked at me with lust, it would have been different. Lust was self-serving and possessive. But her aura was pure fascination, nothing selfish in her affection at all.
That also pissed me off.
I grabbed her by the waist, and set her on the dresser. She only blinked at me in surprise.
“Do you want me to confess to you?” I asked, leaning in closer. “Do you want me to tell you that I’m caught in your siren spell and can’t live without you?”
Perhaps she wanted me to be as obsessive and needy as the pirate captain and first mate. Hell, even her little siren friend had obvious feelings for her, and sirens weren’t even supposed to have such strong feelings.
But I wasn’t that kind of man. I didn’t have feelings like those.
At the same time, this woman was one of the few in the world who understood my world and everything that went with it. And even though she had her own power, she still needed me to come save her. I was oddly…needed.
“I just want the truth,” she whispered. “Why are you going this far for me?”
I swallowed before answering truthfully. She would see it in my soul eventually.
“I’m intrigued,” I replied.
The longer she looked at me, the more I lost my interest in keeping my walls up. And when her hands went from my arms to the back of my neck, I knew I was in trouble.
This woman had a lock on me.
I couldn’t call it love—not as it was—but there was something that constantly drew me to her, even though her powers had noeffect on me. It was something else that kept me around her, even at times like this, when there was no reason to stay.
I wanted to know what it was.
I wanted to know why I was so drawn to her, and what would happen if I had surrendered.
I had already surrendered to evil once.
I wanted to know what it would be like to surrender to something pure.
LUC
ONE
I stepped back to eyeball the fluffy green dress on the mannequin. Women’s fashion was always so much more complex than men’s clothing, which was maybe why male fashion designers found themselves so interested in it. It certainly held more of a challenge for the designer. And what creature didn’t love a good challenge?
I pinched the rough fabric between my fingers, sniffing with disinterest. Maria never agreed to wear such itchy things like this. She always wore simple cotton and lace, straight gowns with no petticoat. She had no interest in crowds, which is maybe why she never went to parties that required dressed like these.
