by Emma Hamm
Now they were both working for different people who were arguably just as bad. They weren’t necessarily unhappy. They were surviving in the only way they knew how. But Bones considered him to be an enabler of her old life. Unhappiness came in many flavors, or so he said.
Lyra didn’t agree with him. She tried to see Jasper whenever she could because he was more family than her own. He wasn’t blood. He was something much more than that.
Jasper pulled back just enough to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “You know I always do my best to find you.”
She tilted her smile into his palm and muffled a laugh. “Yes, you do. On the other hand, I’ve been terrible at finding you. Where have you gotten off to?”
“I found our escape.”
Her breath caught in her throat. “Escape? Jasper you know that’s a pipe dream.”
“You’re in another prison. So was I.”
“I’m happy!”
So she told everyone. She didn’t want to mention that the contract she had signed with Bones was far from what she had originally thought. He had given her power. He had trained her. He had given her everything she needed to be strong and independent.
But she had never gotten that independence. Instead, he had convinced her to stay for another year. Just one more so that he could train her in combat. That year had become another. Now she was looking at fulfilling the contract without ever existing away from him.
Jasper rolled his eyes at her. “You know that’s a lie. Come on, Fish, I found us a home.”
“We don’t have a home. We’re not the type to settle, remember?”
Those were the words they had whispered to each other when she first ran away from home. She had been so young, and he hadn’t been prepared to take care of a little rich girl who wasn’t ready to be on the streets. But they had been adventurers together. And she had finally been free from her family.
Now he was saying he found them a home? They didn’t have the luxury of finding a home. They weren’t the lucky ones.
He seemed to understand what path her thoughts had traveled. Jasper shook his head and held tightly to her arms. “They’re good people. They have a place for us, and they are more powerful than Bones.”
“Now I know you’re lying. No one is more powerful than the Lords,” she rolled her eyes and shoved at him. “Go on; you’re going to get me in trouble.”
“It’s the Five, Lyra.”
“They are a myth. You’re not going to convince me to come with you by telling me that a childhood story has come to life.”
“They have. I’ve seen them with my own eyes. Lyra.” He shook her as though that would make his point. “They’re real, and they’re asking for us.”
“Why us?” Lyra’s whispered question seemed to echo in her mind. Yet again she was going to be used for something. She knew it in the pit of her stomach. This wasn’t the better choice. She should stay here and remain with the devil she knew.
“I don’t know. They don’t seem to know either. They have rooms for us. Food. Drink. Family. Don’t you want to know what being a family feels like again?”
Not really. She remembered what being a family meant. Family was dark looks and statements that were more jagged edges than words. Family was a group of people who despised her for not being the right kind of creature, for things she had no control over.
She looked up into Jasper’s eyes and saw how much he wanted to go. He had never truly had a family other than her. He wanted to know what that life would be like. And even if they didn’t get the family he so desperately wanted then they would still have each other.
“Why do you want this so badly?” she couldn’t help but ask.
“For us. I’m tired of being a weapon, and I’m tired of you being used. It’s time for us to find another life. To be happy in that life.”
Again he ran his fingers behind her ear. His hand traveled behind her head until he could give her high ponytail a playful yank. This resulted in a grin from her though she was still concerned.
Bones wouldn’t be happy. But Jasper didn’t know she only had a few more years until she had to return here anyways. She owed it to him to at least give this a chance.
Sighing, she nodded. “Okay. Okay, I’ll go with you.”
Jasper let out a happy whoop of laughter and wrapped her in a bear hug. “I promise you’re going to like them.”
“I don’t know about that; I don’t like people.”
“You’re going to like these people.”
She didn’t let Bones know where she was going. In the end, she didn’t owe that man anything at all. They disappeared from the street and the door she was guarding. Only to reappear in Haven.
NOW
Lyra gasped and wrenched away from Pitch’s palms. Her head was pounding as the memory was ripped out of her head without her wish. This kind of power was something she had not guessed Pitch was capable of using. Something that no one should have been capable of other than her impossible Magician.
Breathing heavy, she stumbled away from him. “What are you?”
“The same thing I have always been.”
“I said,” she lifted a hand to point directly at him, “what are you?”
He bowed low with a mocking grin on his face. “A creature doing his job. Now you remember, and I need you to hold that memory in your mind. Remember the feelings. Remember what is important to you.”
“Jasper? What does he have to do with this?”
“No. No, Lyra, you’re not thinking like Wolfgang now. The feelings in that memory are the point I am trying to make. You trusted Jasper entirely to bring you to a new life. To a home. And that is precisely what he did.”
“I’m not following you, Pitch.”
He raised a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. “I forget I’m dealing with a Siren. Let me put this as plainly as I can. Every step of your life has brought you to this moment. You have a safe home. A family. The love of your life within your grasp. And you are now frightened so you want to run from it. Yes?”
She nodded.
“I’m telling you to not do that because of that warmth in your gut that I know is difficult for a Siren to remember. Someone is trying to take all of this away from you. Malachi. He is trying to take everything away, and you want to do his dirty work for him?”
Lyra swallowed hard. Every word he said was like a dart being fired directly into her soul. He was throwing her words back against her and making her seem selfish. Perhaps she truly was selfish.
“No, I don’t want that,” she murmured. The words gave her strength. Reminded her who she was and what she needed to do.
“Good.” Pitch looked pleased with himself. “Now I’m going to go get someone who is very important to all of this. I need you to get your team and the Five together. Tell them the truth.”
“About what?”
“Everything, Lyra. Everything.”
Pitch stepped back into the waiting arms of his shadows. They pulled him from her and left her alone with her own thoughts in the shattered remnants of her room. She could only hope that this was not yet another mistake she would come to regret.
Chapter 10
“Thank you all for coming here,” Lyra said quietly as she stared down at her hands.
They were all gathered in the living room. This was where they always talked about important things even though it didn’t always feel like the right place for it. Now was the time for her to come clean. She didn’t want to tell them the truth. She didn’t want them to know about her darkest lie.
But Pitch was right. It was far past time for her to tell them everything that needed to be said. This was her family, as much as she hated to admit it. Sirens didn’t need anyone. They weren’t supposed to be that delicate. Except, Lyra was finding she did need people.
Perhaps she was more human than she thought.
Wren was seated in Burke’s lap next to the fire. Her direct gaze suggested she may already know what Lyra
was about to tell them. E was never very good at keeping things secret in its own head. She wasn’t surprised that Wren knew more than the others.
Jasper was staring at her as though he knew something was up. In a way, she was certain he did. Lyra had been disappearing every night and coming home just before the sun rose. She was avoiding him, which certainly followed her trend of behavior when she was doing something she knew he wouldn’t approve of.
Even the Five were all staring at her as though they were expecting a story to be told. It was harder with them in the room. They were the parental figures of this group. To disappoint them would be a terrible thing.
She cleared her throat. “So. Do you want the bad news or the very bad news first?”
Silence met her question. They were obviously not expecting her to lead with that.
“Why don’t we ease into it?” Wren said quietly. “Start with the bad news.”
“Okay, I found the Graverobber.”
“Isn’t that good news?” Jasper asked.
“I found the Graverobber about a month ago.”
Crickets could not have chirped louder than the silence that rung in her ears. There were even a few dropped jaws from the people seated around her. Then the cacophony of angry shouts began.
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Why would you keep that secret?”
“What did you think that would accomplish?”
She let them have their moment. She would have wanted to yell too if one of them had done something like this to her. They deserved a few moments of anger before they realized how deeply she had dug herself into a hole.
As they quieted down with the expectation she would explain herself, Aether stirred from her corner in the back. Her fingers were drumming against the arm of her chair as she could so rarely stay still.
Aether was not the only one of the Five who was capable of reading minds. But she was incredibly good at it and always knew what others were thinking. Lyra wasn’t surprised at all that Aether had immediately jumped into the shallow depths of the Siren’s head.
“I’m beginning to notice a pattern here,” Aether murmured.
“What? In my behavior?” Lyra nodded. “Irresponsible and selfish has always been my thing.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” The deep voice that muttered the words felt like a knife to her heart. She had known this would hurt Jasper the most. They had shared every secret throughout all of their lives.
Except this one.
“I’m sorry. I should have told you right away,” she tried to begin gently.
“Yes, you should have.”
She hated the hurt expression on his face. She hated even more that she was the one who had put it there. “Jasper…”
“She’s falling in love with him.” Aether’s voice interrupted them.
Instantly, Lyra shook her head. “No, no I can’t be in love with him.”
“And yet you are.”
“No, I—”
Then the words truly sunk into her head. She was a Siren. She didn’t know how to love, nor had she ever wanted to understand the emotion. Yet, every time she thought of Wolfgang, a painful heat spread in her chest.
It wasn’t the way he looked. Nor the way he treated her; he had a lot to learn in that department. The heat was caused by the memory of grace his hands held when he was practicing magic. The expression of wonder on his face that mirrored hers whenever she found pleasure in what he had created. And even more than that, it was his desperate desire to make her happy.
He didn’t want her around to make himself happy. Lyra wasn’t even certain he understood what real happiness was. He wanted her to be happy so that he could find that emotion himself.
What a twisted relationship they had. He was incapable of being happy, and she needed to have someone constantly feeding her compliments. This couldn’t work. Like a bonfire, they would blaze bright and hot but die by morning.
She tried to not notice the way Jasper’s face had turned white. She didn’t want to think about the implications that might mean. He was her brother. She did not need him to be anything more than that.
Wren scooted off of Burke’s lap to kneel beside Lyra’s chair. She pressed her hand gently against her arm and squeezed. “If you’re in love with him, that is good. You can bring him here.”
“He won’t come here.”
“Why not?”
“I think you know. For the same reason E didn’t want you to come here.” Lyra stared down at her palms.
Wren arched a delicate eyebrow. “He doesn’t trust the Five’s intentions?”
“Yes. No, maybe it’s not that at all.” She quirked a shoulder. “It could be simply because he doesn’t want to. He’s a very unusual man.”
“If he’s managed to capture your eye, I can only imagine.”
Lyra knew what that meant. They had seen the men she brought back with her after missions. They were model perfect males with sculpted features and perfect hair. She took them to her bed to feel better about herself and then disposed of them later. There was no guilt involved.
But none of them had ever given a part of their soul to her. None of them had whispered dangerous words against her skin. And certainly none of them were quite as addictive as Wolfgang.
Gaia coughed to get the room’s attention. “If the bad news is that you are having difficulty bringing in the Graverobber, then I have high hopes the very bad news is not as awful as you think.”
This was the hard part. She didn’t want to tell them this. Especially since as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Aether’s forehead creased in worry.
“I have been lying to you all for a very long time.”
Lyra couldn’t look at Jasper. He had leaned back in his chair, and his expression smoothed into nothing. She knew exactly what that meant. He had completely shut down from this conversation.
Wren gave her hand a squeeze and moved to sit back with Burke.
“Care to explain?” Gaia asked.
“When I was younger, I signed a contract with one of the Lords of the Black Market. In return for all the magical abilities my species might have been able to control, I offered my life. My contract has ended.”
“The mirrors,” Jasper murmured. “That’s why all the mirrors in your room are shattered.”
“You were in my room?”
“I didn’t know where you were.”
“You invaded my privacy! You aren’t allowed in my room without my permission!” She shouted.
“I am if none of us know where you are sneaking off to at night,” he growled.
“No, you aren’t!”
Jasper slammed his fists against the coffee table. She had not seen him so angry in a very long time. “You are putting yourself in danger knowingly. Without any of us to protect you. I think it’s perfectly acceptable for me to attempt to save you from yourself.”
“I can take care of myself!”
“Obviously you can’t!”
They glared at each other. Drips of water leaked out of Lyra’s ears and soaked the neckline of her shirt. She was angry, but damn it, he was right. She obviously wasn’t capable of taking care of herself if she sold her very soul to a devil.
She wouldn’t have him breaking into her room. She wouldn’t have him knowing that she had shattered every reflective surface in her apartment in hopes that she could rid Bones from her life. These were her problems and her flaws. Not Jasper’s.
“You are not my mother,” she spat at him.
“No, I am not. I am not your blood either although you seem to forget that so easily.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You know damn well what I’m saying to you!”
The worst part was that she didn’t. He wasn’t making any sense to her, or she wasn’t allowing herself to understand what he was hinting at. She didn’t have time to argue with him right now. She had to explain to the team what this meant.
Lyra glanced a
round and made eye contact with the others. “Wolfgang has said he may be able to help. But if I cannot get out of this contract, I will no longer be able to help you.”
“Wolfgang?” Jasper snorted and leaned back in his chair. His crossed arms and his arched eyebrow made her wonder if he was attempting to goad her into another fight. “You’re on a first name basis with the monster?”
“He’s not a monster,” she answered between gritted teeth.
“Really? That’s not what the rumors say.”
“Anyone will embellish rumors into what they want.”
“I don’t think you know this man as well as you think you do.”
She clenched the arms of her chair to stop herself from throwing punches. “You don’t know him at all. You have no right to say anything like that.”
The words shot out of her mouth like arrows. Anger made her foolish until she suddenly froze. Electricity danced upon her arms. Her hair shifted as it stood up on end. He was here. Of course he was here.
She turned, expecting to see an orb like she had seen at the lake. But instead, she saw the shadows at the edge of the room shifting. That too was familiar.
The shadows became sticky as they attempted to hold onto the two people that stepped out of them. First was Pitch who acted as though this was nothing surprising or new for him. He had not changed clothing since the last time she had seen him, and her eyes lingered upon the exposed muscles of his chest.
Until she saw movement from behind him. The knot in her stomach eased as Wolfgang stepped out of the shadows covered by his robe. Blue light, which suggested he was already angered, glowed from the tips of his fingers.
How much of that conversation had he heard? Probably more than he should have, considering the hood of his robe immediately turned to look towards Jasper. She didn’t need to see what would happen if the two of them got into a jealous fit.
She hopped to her feet and quickly made her way to his side. The shadows slid back to their corner although one remained stuck to Pitch’s elbow until he shook it free.