by Katie Dunn
Relief washed through me. Even though I had the girls’ permission, I still felt weird about controlling them. I closed my eyes and reached down into the water energy and sang a melody that felt right. When I opened my eyes, the girls were racing to a woman in line and hugging her dust coated body. The woman the triplets hugged held her hands up away from the girls, looking scared.
“Mommy?” One of the triplets asked, realizing her mother wasn’t hugging them back.
“Um, I-” The woman started.
Drakari stepped forward and held out a hand. “Dominic Drakari, Principal of Myth Blessed Academy of Colorado. Can we talk?”
The woman looked relieved and shook his hand. She followed Drakari out of the store, making sure to avoid her daughter’s gazes. Her children shuffled behind her, one of them sniffling and another comforting her sister.
“Now what?” I asked Laneli and Harvey.
Laneli rolled her eyes and walked out of the store with her arms crossed, ignoring me. I looked to Harvey who nodded his head toward the doors. We exited the store, leaving the officers to deal with the people who were now back to human. Laneli was standing by the car trying to get the dust out of her hair so we went to stand by her and waited for Drakari.
Suddenly I remembered Elliot. I quickly opened the car door and peered in to see him with a blank face. Aw man, I must sing again. I hopped in beside him and stared at his blank face for a moment. Even enchanted, he looked handsome, but his emotionless face and dead eyes was creepy. I closed my eyes in concentration and sang a soft melody to awaken him. Even though, I had only tapped into the siren gift a few times, it was getting unnervingly easy to use.
A tight grip on my arm made me fling my eyes open. I looked into confused and angry copper eyes. I sighed in relief despite the tight grip he had on my arm.
Elliot let go of me and rubbed his temples. “What happened?”
“Um, well, I sorta accidentally enchanted you.” I braced for his reaction knowing he hated the idea of being under someone else’s control. Especially since his friends kept finding themselves enchanted when Laneli was around.
Eliot pursed his lips and frowned. “I didn’t know that was possible.”
I jumped, startled by this news. Something Drakari said on the way here came back to me. He said Elliot had immunity and I remembered that the gorgon blessed triplets had no effect on him. Yet, I had enchanted him.
Elliot touched my shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t feel guilty. I understand that it was an accident.”
I was surprised by his forgiveness. After everything I had heard about him and his feud with water myths and Laneli, I never would have thought he would forgive something like that. Even when Ian explained what I did to help him, Elliot had exploded in anger. This new, understanding and calm Elliot was weird but nice. I nodded and gave him a small smile.
An annoying baa sounded from outside the car. I froze and shook my head thinking I must be hearing things.
The door beside me opened and an amused Harvey peered in. “There is a goat here.”
“What!” I shouted and pushed Harvey aside so I could get a good look at the goat. A white furry baby goat with black patches bleated at me. “That goat keeps following me!”
I heard deep chuckling behind me and turned to glare at Elliot.
Harvey stared at it curiously. “You know, I’ve only seen this kind of behavior when an animal is a-”
“-familiar.” Someone from beyond my line of sight finished Harvey’s sentence. Mr. Drakari’s face popped into view revealing the owner of the voice. “Serena, I think this little gal is your familiar, although I don’t know why your familiar is a goat.”
“A goat!” I spluttered. “I don’t want a goat. Tell it to go home,” I told no one in particular.
“Sorry, Serena but a familiar won’t go away. After the power you expressed today, you will need her,” Elliot explained with barely contained laughter.
The passenger side door opened and Laneli got in. “I would say I was jealous that you got a familiar before I did, but,” she glanced back over the seat with a curled lip at the goat that was trying to jump into the car, “you got a goat, so I think I will be fine.”
Baa the baby goat replied.
“Do I have to keep her? Couldn’t I get, like, a cat or something?” I asked Drakari pleadingly.
“That’s not how it works. A familiar chooses you and it bonds to you. Don’t worry, you will come to find that she is a part of you,” Drakari explained.
I rolled my eyes, and picked up the goat, bringing it into the car with me. “Great. I have a goat as a part of me.”
Drakari looked startled by what I said. He started muttering to himself as he closed my door and walked around to the driver’s side. I gave Elliot a confused look who shared my expression and glanced at Mr. Drakari.
The principal didn’t explain his reaction and I didn’t feel like pushing it. Once Harvey was in the car, we headed back to the school. Apparently, an agent was on scene with the triplets who would finalize their enrollment, so we didn’t need to be there anymore. It was crazy how young kids could be when their gifts developed. Those girls’ lives would never be the same after the day’s events. At least they had each other.
The baby goat slept on my lap and I found myself running my hand along its soft coat. It was an adorably cute baby, but I didn’t feel like she would be a good pet to have at a school. I wondered what Marion would think about having to share the room with her.
“What are you going to name her?” Harvey asked from my left.
I stared down at the soft, sleeping goat on my lap, and titled my head in consideration. “Hmm, I don’t know.”
“What about Panda,” Elliot suggested pointing to my watch that was shaped like a panda.
I gave Elliot an amused grin. “You think Panda would be a good name for a goat?”
His cheeks reddened, “I don’t know, I assume you like pandas, so I thought…” he trailed off and shook his head. “Never mind, it’s a stupid idea.”
I looked down at the baby goat, with black patches of fur on its body, and smiled at Elliot. “Panda is a good name.” Elliot and I stared at each other, my cheeks warming at how his copper eyes stared into mine and seemed to heat me up from the inside. Our moment was interrupted by a groan in the front seat.
“You did not just name your goat, Panda,” Laneli said judgingly.
“Oh, stop it Laneli. Panda is a fitting name,” Harvey muttered.
I gave him a thankful smile and decided to ignore her judgement. Three against one for Panda so Panda it is.
We arrived at school not long after leaving the farm area. The streets of the town near the school were still busy with students and I hoped I could still go out sometime to enjoy my weekend. As soon as the car stopped in front of the school, Laneli got out and stalked away.
Harvey rolled his eyes, “I guess I better get to my…stalking.”
Harvey opened the door and started to get out but Drakari called out, stopping him, “Harvey, wait.” Harvey peered into the vehicle waiting for Drakari to continue. “I was thinking you could take the rest of the day off. I can place someone else on guard for now. Go out and relax.”
Harvey gave him a small smile. “Thanks.”
Wow, man of few words. We got out of the car letting Drakari go park it. We stood around awkwardly, not knowing what to do now.
“Well, I guess I will see you around.” Harvey waved awkwardly.
“Wait!” I stopped him. “Why don’t the three of us go out with Marion and Devon to get dinner?” I offered.
Elliot and Harvey glanced at each other. I assume they were trying to figure out if they wanted to hang out with me and each other. I felt like this mission brought us closer, and maybe we could consider each other friends. I just didn’t want the day to end.
Baa Panda bleated and bumped into Elliot’s leg.
Elliot smiled down at the baby she goat and reached down to pet her. “Alri
ght, I guess I will go.” He looked back up to me, “make sure you leave her in your room or the stables. I will be here at seven.”
Harvey jumped in. “I will meet you two here as well.” I couldn’t tell if he was joining because he wanted to or because he didn’t want to be left out.
Grinning at them, I jumped up and down a couple of times which I often did when I was excited. When I realized what I was doing, I stopped and looked down, my cheeks heating profusely. “See you later. Bye.” I quickly turned and started walking away, leaving behind a couple of attractive chuckling guys.
I hoped Marion was in the room so I wouldn’t have to track her down. We trekked up the stairs to the third floor and paused outside the door. “Alright, Panda, here is your new home I guess,” I told the black and white goat as I opened my door.
A shrieking girl flew at me and squeezed me with a hug. “How did it go!” Marion squealed.
“I brought home a goat,” I told her in response.
Marion stepped back, her face morphing into confusion. The slight glitter left on her face from earlier made the confusion look adorable. “What?”
I closed our door and told her everything about the mission including that it had to do with triplets, when I enchanted Elliot, and how I obtained a baby goat. Marion’s eyes got wider as the story progressed. Finally, she looked down at Panda and pet her coat.
“Well, welcome to the water wing, Panda. Just don’t eat my shoes.” Marion looked over at her pile of shoes near the closet then back to the goat.
Baa Panda sounded in return.
I walked over to my bed and flopped down. “Oh, before I forget, if you’re up for it, I was thinking we could go to town for dinner. You could bring Devon.”
Marion nodded and went to sit on her own bed, pulling out her phone. “That sounds good. I will let him know now.”
I bit my lip wondering what Marion would think about the people I invited. One was the King of Drama at the school and seemed to have a short temper and the other had so many rumors flying around that it was hard to tell what was true. “So, I invited a couple people to join us.”
Marion looked up from her phone intrigued. “Who?”
I opened my mouth to answer but a purple smoke filled the room. Marion squeaked in surprise and we both stood up to face whatever it was. I grabbed a notebook off my desk and raised it up to smack whatever was invading our room. Marion took off her shoe and looked ready to tackle the being. Just as suddenly, the smoke dispersed leaving a tall, curly haired woman in its place.
“Tamara? How?” I pointed around the room even though the smoke was gone. I dropped my book back on the desk.
“Surprise! Bet you didn’t know djinns could do that,” Tamara exclaimed, holding her arms out.
“Dj-Djinn?” Marion squeaked still holding her shoe. Tamara was probably the first mythological being that Marion had seen in person.
“Marion, this is my friend Tamara,” I introduced.
“Best friend,” Tamara corrected.
I rolled my eyes and continued introductions. “Tamara, this is Marion my roommate.”
Tam waved in greeting then shrieked when her eyes landed on Panda. “Why do you have a goat in your room!” Tam shouted, taking a step back from the animal.
I crossed my arms and stared at the goat lying on my bed. At least she hadn’t tried to eat anything yet. “Apparently, she’s my familiar.”
“Shut. Up. You have a familiar already?” Tam came to sit on my bed and pet the baby goat. “Why is it a goat though? Do sirens have some connection to goats that I don’t know about?”
“Not that I know of.” I looked at Marion wondering if she knew something I didn’t, but she shook her head.
I sat on the bed with Tam and Panda, telling her about the mission. I knew Mr. Drakari told us not to tell anyone about it but I figured the triplets were coming to the school anyway and telling only my roommate and my best friend wouldn’t hurt anything. The mission was an interesting and frightening experience. I faced three gorgon blessed and survived and found out more things about my powers than I ever thought I would. However, I did not know if these new developments were a good or bad thing.
“Wow, girl. I am almost jealous of your adventure,” Tam admitted.
I shook my head. “Nothing to be jealous about, trust me. Anyway, what are you doing here?”
Tam popped up off the bed as if remembering the reason she arrived in a cloud of purple smoke. “It’s the end of your first week at Myth Blessed Academy! I wanted to hang out and hear about everything!”
Tam was a great friend, always knowing when Rae or I needed her company. Come to think of it, her knowing was probably a djinn thing. I missed Rae and wished she could be there with us.
“Sounds good, but maybe next time you could use the door.” I pointed to our room door hinting that the purple smoke was unnecessary. Marion nodded from her side of the room finally calming down enough to put her shoe back on her foot.
Tam’s smile dimmed. “Right, sorry about that.”
Marion spoke up for the first time since finding out there was a djinn in our room. “We were going to dinner later. You should come with us.”
Tam looked to me to see if that was alright. I frowned and nodded, holding my hands face up with splayed fingers, silently telling her she was ridiculous for even doubting.
We spent the next couple of hours hanging out in the room, Tam and I telling Marion hilarious stories of our past, and the three of us talking about the past week. Marion was used to the school now, having attended since she was thirteen, so it was interesting to hear her compare this year to other ones. When asked about how she met Devon, her cheeks reddened, and her skin turned translucent.
“We were sophomores and at the time I preferred to be around the lake rather than people. Well, one day an eagle flew down to me and perched on my shoulder. I was terrified and dare not move.” Marion looked off to the side remembering the moment and smiled. “Devon came running and apologized profusely as he gathered his familiar up. At that time, Devon had only had Gus for a few weeks and was still getting used to his ways. Instead of leaving, he sat down next to me and we talked, and every day since then.” Marion looked back at us still blushing. “And that’s about it.”
“Aww,” Tam and I shared.
It was amazing how familiars could be so influential in our lives. I glanced at Panda and sighed. Even though she was a barn animal and it made no sense as to why she was mine, I knew she was important and special. My stomach grumbled reminding me of food.
I glanced at my panda watch and realized it was already 6:45. “Hey, we should go meet the others. Elliot and Harvey said they would be in front at seven.”
We grabbed our phones, keys, and wallets then headed out to meet everyone in front of the school. Marion told Devon to meet us there as well. As we were leaving, I looked at sleeping Panda on my bed. I hoped she would stay asleep, otherwise she might freak out and disturb the neighbors.
The boys were standing around awkwardly waiting for us. Their hands were shoved into their pockets and they avoided each other’s eyes. Devon and Elliot must have left their familiars behind because they were nowhere to be seen.
Devon looked up, visible relief showing on his face. He rushed forward and gave Marion a kiss. The movement caught Elliot and Harvey’s attention, causing them to look up and watch us approach.
“Ooo, who’re the hotties?” Tamara whispered to me.
I waved at Elliot and Harvey, feeling heat rush to my cheeks at Tam’s words. “This is Elliot and Harvey. You guys, this is my friend Tamara,” I introduced loudly, ignoring her hotties comment.
Elliot nodded in greeting keeping his hands in his pockets. Harvey took Tam’s hand and raised it to his lips like he did to me the first time we met. Tamara’s eyes widened as Harvey placed a kiss on her hand. She glanced at me with her mouth agape, wondering what was happening but I could tell she enjoyed it due to the red in her cheeks.
&n
bsp; “Yeah, he does that,” I chuckled. I looked around to see if everyone was good to go. “Ready?” I asked no one in particular.
The group nodded and we headed out to town, taking Devon’s car since his was the biggest. Tamara probably could have poofed us there, but she couldn’t go around revealing her djinn identity. The town looked nice and quaint especially with the hanging lights and old-fashioned lamp posts along the streets.
Marion directed Devon to a pizza parlor not too far from the State Park, where we got a circular corner booth to fit us all. Music played in the background and there were a few other groups there enjoying the pizza and atmosphere. A couple of people gave Elliot wary looks, most likely expecting drama to go down. Other people from Myth Blessed Academy gave our group strange looks, probably wondering what Elliot and Harvey were doing hanging around us.
While we waited for the pizzas to arrive, Tam kept the flow of conversation going when we fell into uncomfortable silence a few times. “So, what myths are you all blessed by?”
Marion answered proudly from the other side of the table, “Water Sprite.”
“Griffin,” Devon added holding a finger in the air.
Harvey was next and I waited eagerly for his answer. I had been wondering all week what myth would have to do with shadows. Harvey looked at the table and picked at the edge, “I’m Nalusa Chito blessed.”
“Nalusa Chito?” I asked. I had never heard of that before.
“It’s a shadow being from Choctaw mythology. It is known for being a soul eater,” Harvey explained. He shook his head and shrugged, “It’s a spirit myth.”
A soul eater? Could Harvey eat souls? I almost didn’t want to know. I think I understood what he meant by shadow being though since he constantly looked like he was wrapped in shadows. I decided to research Nalusa Chito and Choctaw more when I got back to school.
Tam was beside Harvey, but we skipped her, the others assuming she was human, which made me next. “Siren,” I shared although everyone at the table already knew my myth.
That left Elliot. I was pretty sure all of us, even Tam, knew about his myth as well but he shared it with us anyway, “Dragon.”