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I had to know that she was okay.
She turned to go inside, but I didn’t want her to. I didn’t want to be this close and not speak with her. I jumped on the balcony, my wings starting a current that got her attention.
“Luc?” she asked as she turned.
I smiled. She ran to my arms and held me tight, her embrace filling the loneliness I had been feeling.
“You have no idea how much I missed you,” she said.
I laughed to myself. “I missed you too, Astraea. Far more than I should have.”
I swallowed, pulling back to look at her face.
“And your father?” I asked. “Is he well?”
Her eyes dimmed, giving me the only answer I needed. Her words, however, faked optimism.
“He’s healing. He might be sick for some time though.”
In other words, his body had given up on him. That was the beautiful paradox of the humans: to feel so much but to be so easily broken.
“The king knew about your father,” I said. “That’s why he sent you away. I understand it, but…”
I couldn’t finish my sentence. She looked so lovely in the moonlight with the wind caressing her hair, and I had to do the same out of jealousy. I combed her hair with my fingers, the soft tresses stirring emotions in me I had long forgotten.
“Why did you come back?” she asked softly.
I swallowed. “I had to make sure you were cared for, little dove. In our lives as sirens, in our lives as humans…I guess I just got used to being responsible for you.”
She laughed. “You were neverthatresponsible.”
I laughed with her, the feeling more freeing than taking to the skies. Seeing her delicate hands, I took them in mine, looking for the ring on her finger. She had always wanted one, and perhaps now she would have one.
But for now, her hands were bare.
“Are you still engaged?” I asked.
“I haven’t been wed yet,” she said with a shrug. “Do you think the king would be upset if I decided to wed instead of returning?”
I licked my bottom lip. Maybe the king wouldn’t. But I had a few things to say about it.
“He would allow you to make your own choices,” I said honestly.
“Would you come to my wedding?” she asked.
I met her eyes, trying to see if she was joking or not. She had to know that sirens couldn’t attend human events, and at the very least, I had no intentions on watching her be with another man.
Something in her eyes told me she knew that. She was joking with me. How had she become so cruel?
It seemed like she wanted to know my true feelings. Well, if she was going to fool around with such serious things…
“I’d ruin it,” I finally answered.
“Ruin?”
I pulled her in close, leaning down to her ear.
“Haven’t you heard?” I asked. “That I steal other men’s wives?”
