Page 28 of Rise of the Siren Queen
Hybrid.
Her words landed heavily, and I felt them resonate in the pit of my stomach, even though I hadn’t fully processed what she meant.
I fought to keep my composure, even as my mind scrambled to make sense of everything. None of this, none ofthis,made any sense, yet here I was, stuck in a world I didn’t understand, trapped in a body I didn’t recognize.
I swallowed hard, forcing down the sharp edge of panic that still threatened to overwhelm me. “It will be like this forever?” I asked, my voice quieter, though the tremor in my chest betrayed my calm.
“No,” she said firmly, shaking her head. “You can shift back, just like I can.” Her words were quick and clear, no ambiguity, no hesitation. Just the facts laid out plainly.
I blinked, thrown off by how matter-of-fact she sounded now. Her tone had shifted, lost the cryptic edge. It felt almost too easy, too simple. I needed more than this, though. I needed control, something to anchor myself to.
“How do I do it? And… when can I leave?” I asked before I could stop myself, the words tumbling out like a dam breaking. There was a flicker in her eyes, a shadow of something, disappointment, maybe, but it was gone as quickly as it came, replaced by a calm expression.
“You just have to visualize yourself with legs, and let the feeling course through your body,” she explained, her voice steady, though there was a faint flush on her cheeks now. “Also… your clothes are in pieces, so if you don’t want to be naked, I suggest you wait until I bring new ones.”
Her gaze lingered on my torso, and the blush deepened as her words faltered. For a split second, I caught the flash of something in her eyes, a picture, maybe, of what she was imagining. My heart skipped, a knot of discomfort tightening in my chest, though it wasn’t entirely unwelcome.
A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips before I caught myself. Not the time.
“Fine,” I muttered, pulling myself back to the present. “And when can I leave?”
Silence stretched between us like a weight in the air. She wasn’t answering immediately, her gaze shifting away from mine. There was something she wasn’t telling me.
“I will free you,” she said, her voice heavier now. “But right now, you will remain here for one week.”
The words hit me like a stone, and irritation flared inside my chest. One week? I wasn’t used to this, being confined, powerless, trapped. But I kept my face neutral, as best as I could.
“One week,” I echoed, more to myself than to her. The words tasted bitter, a promise I wasn’t sure I could keep.
“Adrian…” Her voice was low, but it reverberated through me like a silent command. When her eyes met mine, something cracked, something I couldn’t quite name but felt deep within my bones. I couldn’t tear my gaze away, as if the very air between us thickened, pulling me in with an undeniable force.
The tightness in my chest, the magnitude of everything I’d just learned, it all faded into nothing. Nothing but her. Her eyes held me captive, intense and unblinking, drawing me closer with every heartbeat.
I couldn’t explain it. It was like I was tethered to her, an invisible thread pulling at me from the inside out. Her gaze, too deep, too knowing, like she could see through the walls I’d spent years building, had a magnetic pull. And at that moment, I was helpless to resist.
My blood racing, the breath in my lungs stalling, as if the very act of being this close to her slowed everything down. There was no logic, no reason left to fight it. It was like gravity itself had decided that nothing else mattered, and I was bound to her.
For a long, breathless second, I simply stared, drowning in the depth of her gaze.
“I have to go,” she murmured, her voice soft but carrying an edge of reluctance, like she didn’t want to leave either. “But you should be safe now.” And just like that, the spell broke. Her body shifted, and reality crept back in, but that connection,that feeling,lingered in the air.
I cleared my throat, feeling suddenly exposed, my heart hammering in my chest. What the hell was that? I had to force my mind back to something practical, something distant. “Fine…” I muttered, trying to push the weirdness down, but it stuck to me.
My mouth opened before I could stop it, words almost tumbling out. “Will you…”
I stopped myself. What was I thinking? Asking her to come back? No, that wasn’t my concern. This situation had already become too complicated. I shook my head inwardly, trying to regain control, but it wasn’t easy with her standing so close, her presence wrapping around me.
She giggled softly, but it sent a shiver through me. Wait, had I said that out loud? I didn’t think I had.
No. Definitely not. This was… weird.
I cleared my throat again. “After you go, I can shift back?” I asked, the question slipping out more to keep her near than because I actually needed the answer.
She paused, and that little smile, slightly amused, knowing, tugged at the corner of her lips. As if she knew exactly what I was doing, but didn’t call me out on it. Thank the gods for that.
“Yes,” she said, her voice soft, reassuring. “Just focus, and you’ll shift back. But like I mentioned before, I’ll bring clothes first.” Her words were light, but there was a glint in her eyes, something playful and knowing. And I couldn’t help but watch her, really watch her, as she turned to leave.
I couldn’t help it. The way she moved, like she was fully aware of my eyes on her, only made it harder to tear my gaze away. My pulse thudded in my chest, and a strange, unspoken longing lingered in the space between us.
