Page 40 of A Song of Death and Desire

She pauses, considering the question. “I don’t know. Maybe? I don’t miss having to hunt for food and the boredom of existing with little to do. But I sometimes do miss the connection to the ocean, and I definitely wish that I didn’t have to leave my sisters. Overall, I’m much happier here. I just wish that I didn’t have to leave them behind.”

“Your sisters, are they all related to you?”

She shakes her head. “Oh no, none of them are actually. But because we are part of the same group it’s just how we refer to ourselves.”

“Do you all get along?”

“Hmm, kind of. We didn’t fight or anything, but I never felt like I was truly able to be myself around them. The only one I felt completely connected to was Raidne. She’s my best friend and the closest thing to a biological sister I could have.” Her eyes drop and her shoulders slump.

“Tell me about her,” I encourage softly.

“She’s amazing. Snarky and sassy but also mushy on the inside. There weren’t many of us that got to see that side, but I was definitely one of them. Raidne and I tended to be a bit moreisolated from our group. For me, it was because I felt like I didn’t quite belong, but for Raidne, I honestly just think she didn’t like to be around others in general,” she laughs and it’s clear just how important Raidne is to her.

“Goddess, I miss her so much,” she says as her eyes dim once more.

Changing the subject, I ask her if her hangover is easing.

“Yes, thank you. The food and aspirin helped.”

We pay and leave the diner, and I find that I’m not quite ready to return home just yet.

“Would you like to go for a walk?” I ask and Kairi nods in response. We start walking towards the ocean and I resist the urge to hold her hand. Up ahead I notice a small group of people talking loudly. As we approach, I recognize the journalist again. Why does he keep popping up? Ryan? Roland? No, Rylan, that’s the one. He’s from the Cove Chronicle.

“— I work with Pete and it’s so unlike him to just not show up to work one day,” an older woman with frizzy hair exclaims. “And no one has seen or heard a peep from him. We reported it to the sheriff's department when none of us could get hold of him,” she continues.

A middle-aged man with a bushy mustache and dark rimmed glasses chimes in, “I haven’t seen my buddy Lachlan for a week. We talked on the phone every day, and one day, he just didn’t call. Me and my wife Darlene have been going crazy with worry.” As they talk, Rylan is writing everything down.

“It’s the witch!” a woman cries out. “She’s not content stealing people from the ocean anymore. She’s coming and plucking them straight from their homes.” Mutters break out amongst the group.

Rylan looks at the woman who spoke. “So, you think these disappearances are linked to the ones of the fishermen?” he inquires. “What makes you think this? Do you have any proof?”

“I don’t need proof to know that this is the mark of something evil happening in Witches Cove. We should all be afraid. No one is safe,” the woman continues, speaking loudly enough for other people passing by to hear and causing many to stop to listen.

Kairi pales at the mention of the witch and I must admit it, just the thought of Vala makes my stomach churn. This time I do reach for her hand and pull her past the group that has gathered. She doesn’t speak for a few minutes as we walk. I haven’t let go of her hand. It feels natural.

“Do you think the woman was right?” she questions. “Is it possible that Vala is making people go missing?”

I think about it for a moment before I respond. “The people in Witches Cove believe that a witch is responsible for the people missing at sea but we both know that it is sirens. If Vala wasn’t taking people before, why would she be doing it now? And sirens can’t take people from land, can they?”

“Technically, we could coerce them with our song to walk into the ocean, but we don’t do this anymore. It’s too easy to get caught and we don’t risk it. None of my sisters would do it. You’re right, it’s probably nothing.”

I’m filled with unease when I think about the journalist digging around in the disappearances, especially the ocean ones, and the pointed questions he asked me, hinting that perhaps he knows more than he should. It would be disastrous if anyone found out about the sirens. They would be hunted and slaughtered. A couple of weeks ago, I would have been all for that. But not now. Now that I am starting to get to know Kairi and am learning about those she cares about. I don’t want her to be hurt.

We wander around, stopping to sit by the beach and enjoy the warmth of the sun on our skin. Kairi gazes mournfully at the beach and I wonder what she’s thinking. What would it feel like to give up such a huge part of your life? How do you moveon from that? I know she said that she was always interested in being human, but I can’t imagine how difficult it would be to have been pulled out of your life with no warning. I don’t even think she would have been able to say goodbye to Raidne. At this moment, I feel a surge of affection and sympathy towards her that I don’t quite know how to process.

Chapter 40

Eagan and I return home after spending some time soaking in the warm summer day. We walk back in silence, and I’m lost in thought. Eagan must realize it because he doesn’t ask me what’s wrong or try to coax conversation out of me. Talking with Eagan about my sisters has churned up some unpleasant emotions and the discussion we overheard outside the diner replays over and over in my head. I have been so caught up in my new life, learning how to be human and forming new friendships that I haven’t really stopped to think about what I left behind. Talking about it has brought all my suppressed feelings to the surface and I don’t know how to cope with the turbulent emotions currently flooding me. I should have made an effort to contact them somehow and let them know what happened. Instead, I just started a new life. What kind of persondoes that make me? Guilt roils my stomach along with a pang of loneliness.

I miss Raidne. I miss her so goddess damned much. No matter how many friends I make here, no one makes her absence less painful. There’s not a single person in my current world that understands everything about me. I can see that Eagan is trying to learn more, attempting to put his negative emotions aside to understand my point of view. I appreciate it more than I can express but he still doesn’tget it.He can’t fully comprehend the anxiety that comes with a limited food source and the feeling of responsibility for keeping others alive as well as yourself.

And then there’s the missing people. From what we heard, it sounds like there are at least a couple of people that have disappeared over the last week, and something about it feels wrong. Like it isn’t a coincidence that this started happening not long after a siren became fully human for the first time in known history. I can’t formulate an explanation for the disappearances, but my gut tells me that I need to pay attention.

After my quiet contemplation I decide what I need to do. I leave my room and find Eagan doing some work on his laptop. He looks up when he hears me.

“Anything you want to talk about?” he asks as I take a seat next to him, pulling my knees up into my chest. He puts his laptop on the coffee table and to my surprise, takes my feet into his lap. He gently starts pressing his thumbs into the arches of my feet and a soft, pleased sigh escapes me. He waits patiently for me to put my thoughts into words, turning his attention from me to my feet and removing a lot of tension throughout my whole body.

“I need to go see my sisters,” I start. “I have to see them, to explain what has happened. I just left with no explanation, and I owe them one. I need to make sure they are okay. Can you please take me out on your boat?”

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