Page 62 of Rise of the Siren Queen
No.
She was running. And fuck, maybe she had a reason to. She felt it too, this pull, this obsession coiling tighter around us with every second. But instead of facing it, she left me standing here in the wreckage of something she wasn’t willing to explain.
Fuck, it mattered.
The way her scent clung to my skin, the way I felt her emotions ripple through me like a second heartbeat. It wasn’t natural, wasn’t normal. And no matter how much I wanted to deny it, I couldn’t.Our connection ripped me apart from the inside.
I raked a hand through my hair, pacing along the shore, my thoughts an unraveling thread of anger and desire. This wasn’t just some fleeting attraction. It was deeper. Hungrier. It was in my bones, in my blood, and no amount of distance would erase it.
I stopped, staring out over the dark waters again. The pull was still there, tugging at me like an invisible thread woven between us. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t escape it. She was a part of me now. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t want to escape it.
Iryen had told me she couldn’t afford to be reckless. That her responsibilities were bigger than the bond we shared. But what about mine? I wasn’t some bystander in all of this. I had a say, too. She couldn’t just decide for both of us.
I should go back to Thalassa. Forget her. Forget this.
But the thought was laughable. As if I could walk away. As if I could ever be free of her.
No, I would find her. I would make her face this,face me. She didn’t get to make this decision alone.
She could run, but I would chase.
And this time, I wouldn’t let her go.
* * *
The water in the Moon Pond rippled, and my spine went rigid, every muscle coiled, waiting. Moonlight bathed the clearing in silver, and for a breath, just one, I let myself believe it would be her. That she would rise from the water like some spectral vision, skin glowing, emerald eyes locking onto mine with the same heat that had consumed us before she ran. To explain. To do… something.
But it wasn’t her.
Turquoise eyes, sharp and assessing, met mine instead.
Elora
She surfaced with the effortless grace of a predator, her fiery hair slicked back, water beading on sun-bronzed skin. Even as disappointment sank its claws into me, another emotion curled up right beside it, relief. Because if it had been Iryen, I don’t know what I would have done. I wasn’t ready to face her. Not like this. Not while the bond was still burning through my veins like a brand, searing me with a truth she refused to acknowledge.
With her crimson tail fanning out behind her, Elora raised a brow, her gaze sweeping over me. “Expecting someone else?” she asked, her voice light but with an edge that hinted at knowing more than I wanted her to.
“I thought Iryen might—” I cut myself off, jaw clenching.
She snorted. “She won’t come.” Elora pushed forward, the water parting around her as if it, too, obeyed her will. “And if she does, it won’t be because you’re standing here waiting like some abandoned fool.”
Her words stung, even though I knew they were true. But that didn’t make it any easier to accept. I didn’t need to hear this. Didn’t need her to tell me what I already knew.
“So, why are you here?” I asked, voice flat.
Elora pulled herself up onto the rocky edge of the pond, propping her arms on the shore like she had all the time in the world. “Someone has to make sure you don’t drown in your own fucking misery.” A smirk curled her lips. “And Iryen sure as hell will not do it.”
I shot her a glare, but she just shrugged, her expression unbothered. In the few interactions we had, Elora had always been blunt, but there was something comforting about it. She would not sugarcoat for my sake, and maybe that’s exactly what I needed.
I exhaled harshly through my nose, biting down the surge of angerclawing at my ribs. “You think this is funny?”
Her smirk faded, replaced by something colder. “No. I think it’s pathetic.”
I snapped my gaze to hers, stirring a dark feeling inside me.
Elora didn’t flinch. “You’re standing here, waiting for her to come to you, hoping she’ll give you the answers you already know she won’t. You can keep pretending you’re powerless, or you can get your shit together and start acting like the man you were before all this. It’s time to move.”
A low, humorless laugh escaped me. “Move where? I’m stuck here.”
