Leviathan's Lament

by Kaye Draper

  Grey rushed on, fearing the worse. Shrieking was coming, she just knew it. “I don’t know why I never told you, Abs. Really. I think I was afraid you’d freak out and ditch me. You were always the one normal thing in my life. The one person who was there through all the other fucked up stuff before and after the change. But this might be too much. And besides, I have no idea how dangerous any of this is. That thing back at my house could be a legendary beast capable of eating people.”

  “You’re an asshole,” Abbie said at last. “Like, really. A complete asshole.” She started the car and Grey gaped at her. “Curses? Sirens? Sea monsters? Fine. Don’t tell me your fucking secret. Just keep being a dumbass.”

  Joy leaned forward. “Abbie, she’s not lying.”

  Abbie rolled her eyes. “Oh, okay. Sure.” She navigated into traffic, shaking her head. “This is a lot of work for a practical joke, Grey. I think you need a hobby.”

  Joy tried again. “I had to fudge her vitals for months so my supervisors in the medical study didn’t notice and take a deeper interest in her. Her body temp is lower than any normal human’s, I don’t think she’s growing or aging. And her blood tests all gradually started coming back as ‘invalid sample.’”

  Abbie huffed. “Cool. So now weird vitals automatically mean magic is real and Grey’s a mermaid. I hate you both.”

  She pulled up and slid into one of the reserved parking spots for Lucifer’s townhouse, then killed the engine and got out. “I’m going to remember this,” she promised. “You just wait. The prank I pull will be so epic you won’t even see it coming. Way better than making up some weird fairytale.” She gestured at the house. “Now get your ass inside so I can dress you for this weekend, you big baby.”

  Grey got out of the car and Joy followed suit, giving Grey a weird look. “Okay, well...I’ve got stuff to do, and this is going to get really weird and loud soon, so...see ya.” She took her shopping bag and gave them both a little wave before she sauntered off down the sidewalk toward her own apartment a few blocks away.

  “Chickenshit,” Grey muttered.

  “Honestly,” Abbie huffed, coming to take Grey’s arm and drag her up the front steps. “I know you hate fittings and fashion, and everything girly. But this is ridiculous, even for you. You should probably see a psychologist about this whole avoidance thing you have going on, Grey.”

  Grey sighed and let herself be dragged. “Abbie. I’m never going to let you forget everything you’re saying to me right now.” Abbie glanced at her and she shook her head. “Blackmail and guilt for years. ”

  She unlocked the door and pushed it open. “You’re gonna—”

  She stopped in surprise when she nearly ran into Leviathan, who was standing in the foyer, arms crossed, back ramrod straight, clothed in a tank top he’d gotten somewhere and those same loose, flowy pants he’d had on when he arrived. His skin was just as violet blue as always, his galaxy eyes narrowed and his horns on full display. “You have been gone too long,” he bit out in the deepest voice Grey had ever heard. “I require food.”

  He turned on a heel and padded barefoot down the hall toward the kitchen, his long silvery-blue hair swaying behind him like a cloak.

  Grey pushed Abbie inside and closed the door, locking it again for good measure. “I’m sorry,” she said sweetly to her silent friend. “What was that you were saying about me seeing a psychologist?”

  Then the shrieking started. A low, furious sound erupted from Abbie, muffled and choked off by her closed mouth so she sounded like a tea kettle in a box. Grey shrugged and left her to it as she went to see what the sea monster was getting up to. At least he hadn’t burned the house down while they were all away. Quite a miracle, really.

  She turned the corner and strode into the kitchen, only to stop dead in her tracks. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Steffen gave her a sly, evil look from where he sat at the center island sipping coffee. “Oh, your new friend let me in.” He glanced at Leviathan, who was standing by the stove with his arms crossed over his chest, tapping his foot.

  “I want the food the tattooed boy made for me this morning,” he demanded. “Do you know how to make it, master?”

  Grey blinked at him. “Waffles. Yeah. I can make waffles.” She gestured at Steffen. “But what is he doing here?”

  Leviathan glanced at Steffen as if he was of little importance compared to the waffles at hand. “He rang the bell. His energies were harmless and human. I was bored. I let him in to wait for you. But he doesn’t know how to make the food. The waffles.”

  Grey lifted a hand to rub her forehead, where a building tension said she was working her way toward a migraine. “I told you not to let anyone in, remember? That was part of the deal.”

  He lifted one shoulder in a bitchy, elegant shrug. “One measly human is of no concern, master. If you wish, I will eliminate him.”

  He took a step toward Steffen and Grey hurried to get between them. “No! No ‘eliminating’ anyone. Jesus. Look, I’ll make you food. Then we are going to talk about boundaries and how the hell we get you to go back home to the ocean or wherever you belong.”

  Leviathan narrowed his eyes at Grey. “I don’t think you properly appreciate my awesomeness.”

  Grey dropped her stuff on the counter and pulled out the ingredients to make waffles, pausing to point a spatula at the blue guy. “And I don’t think you properly appreciate my need for you to fuck off.”

  She glanced at Steffen. “Go away.”

  He arched one blond brow at her and grinned. “ Oh, no. You said I could hang out with you. I have no idea what the fuck is going on right now, but this is better than TV.”

  Grey flipped him off and turned to make waffles, forgetting until just that moment that she’d left Abbie in the hallway. She glanced up to find Abbie standing on the threshold, her eyes as big as saucers. “Hey, Abs,” she said calmly. “Help yourself to my closet. I’ve got moochers to feed, apparently.”

  Leviathan spoke from right next to her, his breath stirring her hair, making her jump with how silently he’d moved. “It seems only fair for you to feed me, after all the power I fed you last night.”

  Grey shuddered. No. Nope. Not going there. “Back off, will ya?” She planted a hand in the center of his chest and shoved. He didn’t budge—didn’t even sway a little—but a pulse of something shot between them that knocked Grey on her ass in the middle of the kitchen.

  She blinked up at the weirdo, her hand still pulsing with warm heat. “Forget it. I’m not making waffles after that shit.”

  He just lifted one pale brow at her and tilted his head, a lock of long hair falling forward around one of his horns. “If you wanted power, all you had to do was ask. Honestly, master, your bumbling attempts at sirenhood are appalling.”

  He reached down and yanked Grey up off the floor like she weighed nothing. “But you will make me waffles.” He smirked. “Or I will eat humans instead.” He glanced at Abbie and her friend started making that shrieking teapot noise again, right before she passed out.

  “Fucking great,” Grey muttered, going to make sure Abbie hadn’t cracked her head open on the way down.

  Steffen came over and helped her, eventually getting Abbie into a fireman’s carry and taking her to the living room couch.

  Grey rounded on Leviathan. “Stop terrorizing mortals, or I swear to all the Gods, I’m going to spit in your waffles.”

  He just laughed, low and wicked, and completely fucking unrepentant.

  Chapter 15

  Mat moved around the kitchen, helping Ethan clean up the lunch stuff while the others argued. They’d been at it forever, and no one seemed to realize that between Grey, Steff, and the blue guy, they had all the most stubborn people in the damned country sitting at the kitchen island.

  “I’m not leaving,” Steffen said for the millionth time. “Not when this weirdo is still here.” He tossed his head in the general direction of their creepy new guest.

  Grey gro
aned and Luca rolled her eyes, but Steff ignored them both. “How do you know he wasn’t sent here by them . For all you know she sent him...Arianna...and you’re all about to be cursed again or something.”

  Luca raised one dark eyebrow. She had returned about half an hour ago, a little after Ethan and Mat, and she’d had surprisingly little to say about the sea monster in the room. Either she was just used to this shit—she wasn’t really human either, Mat reminded himself— or she just plain trusted Grey to work it out. Something maybe they should all take a shot at.

  The blue guy stood at the end of the island like some sort of prince looking down on everyone around him while they bickered. Those pretty, freaky, stars-in-the-sky eyes flicked over to Mat and Ethan occasionally and it was all Mat could do to keep breathing. Yeah, probably best to let Luca and Grey handle the supernatural shit. Because all Mat could do about it was stop breathing—and maybe drool a little, because he was never one to let hotness go unappreciated, even if it was...unorthodox hotness. Not very helpful in the current situation.

  He looked away and started putting plates in the dishwasher while Ethan went to wipe down the island, putting himself right in the line of fire. Brave guy. Or stupid. You could never quite tell with Ethan.

  Matheus straightened and belatedly realized what the drummer was doing—quietly inserting himself between Grey and the silently fuming horned sea serpent of legend. Ethan met Mat’s eyes and gave him a wry shrug, acknowledging how worthless his self-sacrifice probably was.

  “I am not some weak tool to be manipulated by a lowly siren and her ilk,” Leviathan said with what Matheus somehow knew was fake calm.

  “Right,” Steffen said with a contemptuous snarl. “But yet Grey is somehow strong enough to be your ‘master.’”

  Uh-oh. Apparently, Steff hadn’t gotten the memo about how possessive and weird the leviathan dude got over Grey.

  The haughty blue creature started to fucking glow , an eerie white light flickering around him. Steam poured from his mouth as he spoke, raising the temperature in the room by a few degrees. “Grace is not up for discussion. I belong by her side, human. And no one as pathetic and weak as you will interfere.” He puffed up like he was about to start breathing flames.

  Shit, apparently Mat was just as stupid as Ethan, because he closed the dishwasher and inserted himself between the blue guy and Steffen, his back to the monster. “Okay, party people, how about I drive Steff home?” He grabbed the idiot’s arm and yanked him off his barstool, then shoved him out the door.

  Grey let out a tired sigh behind him. “You breathe fire? ” she demanded, her voice and the creepo’s reply fading as Mat grabbed up his keys from the table by the door and steered Steffen out into the warm summer evening.

  “Get in the car, asshole,” he muttered, hurrying to get there himself, keeping an eye out for lurkers, the way he always did these days. You never knew when a random obsessed fan or a mythical creature was going to show up.

  He slipped behind the wheel of his new little Beamer and waited for Steffen to buckle in before he backed out. “Where to?”

  Steff leaned back in his seat, his long, tall form deflating as he lost some of his tension. “The resort on the other side of the island. I’ve got a penthouse room there.”

  Mat whistled as he slid out into light traffic. “Fancy.”

  Steff just shrugged, his expression bitter. “Had a few high-paying modeling jobs lined up still, after the bitch released me from her clutches. She had her name on all my solo stuff, and she manipulated all the deals, so I can’t really go back to that. Figured I might as well ride what was left of my fifteen minutes of fame, enjoy the money while it lasted.”

  Mat sighed. Steffen had been a real asshole at the end of his time with Lucifer , but they’d grown up together. He knew the guy wasn’t all bad. In fact...he wasn’t bad at all until he suddenly fell apart. Maybe they should have worked harder to understand what was going on with him.

  “Bit of advice from someone who isn’t quite as new to Grey and Luca’s life, if you don’t mind?” Mat offered in a cheery voice. “Stop picking fights with shit that can eat you. Let the girls handle it.”

  Steff yanked the hair tie out of his long golden hair and raked his fingers through the mess. Then he braided it over one shoulder and secured it again, fiddling with the end of the braid as he spoke. “Look, I’m sorry. For everything. With the band. With Luca. And anything else I fucked up over the years.”

  Mat swallowed and focused on the road. It was weird. Steff had always hidden his thoughts and emotions under the spoiled, ice-cold pretty guy act. Ever since the sirens messed around in Steffen’s brain and he started going to therapy the guy had this vulnerable feeling about him. It made Mat uncomfortable—made him realize just how much of himself he kept under lock and key as well.

  “Yeah, well. We probably weren’t the best friends we could have been to you either.” He ran a hand though his own hair, then realized he was ruining the mousse he’d applied to keep the waves in order. “What the heck was all that shit, anyway?”

  Steff sighed. “Frustration. Jealousy. Cabin fever. I don’t fucking know. But I’m sorry.”

  Mat sighed. “Okay. Fine. Apology accepted. But what the heck is going on with you following Grey around like a lost puppy?” He shot a warning glance at the perfect blond in his passenger seat. “I thought you were gay. And I swear to fuck, if you’re trying to mess with the band, I’ll end you.”

  Steff bit his bottom lip, looking off into the falling twilight as if he was really thinking through what to say. “I am gay, asshole. I’m not trying to hook up with your singer. Though why you should care if I was, beats me. I thought she was with Luca.”

  Mat slid another look his way, but didn’t comment.

  Steff’s blond brows nearly disappeared into his hairline, then he rolled his eyes. “Of course you’re into that. So, are you trying to steal her away from Luca like a fucking hypocrite while telling me to back off, or are you just lusting after her from afar?”

  Mat snorted. He really didn’t want to explain their relationship to Steff. But then again...he kind of did. They had a...complicated history, and if anyone would understand, it would probably be Steffen. “Let’s just say neither of those options and leave it at that.”

  Steff chuckled. “Okay, bi-boy. Although...I guess that makes you poly- boy now. How does Ethan deal with you all making googly eyes at each other all day long?”

  Mat laughed and Steff just stared at him for a minute before responding. “Okay, that’s...more information than I really wanted to know about everyone involved.” He sighed and stopped fiddling with his damned braid in favor of picking at the seam of his designer jeans, his brown eyes downcast. “I’m surprised Grey didn’t tell you what we talked about already.”

  Mat let out a slow breath and tried not to be mad. Steff didn’t know Grey the way Mat did. It wasn’t his fault. “Grey’s not like that,” he said evenly. “If whatever you talked about was private, she’d keep it that way. She hasn’t explained anything, just told us to leave you the fuck alone about it or she’d kick our asses—which she is perfectly capable of doing, by the way. Even without the whole magic thing.”

  Steff huffed. “It’s really too bad she turned out to be a girl.”

  Mat shot him a warning look. “When she was a guy, you tried to punch her for taking your place, remember?”

  Steff just gave him a wry smile and shook his head. “Oh. I remember, believe me. But what you don’t know is that I was mostly just pissed that I went there looking to intimidate the shit who was taking my place and ended up all jealous that you had to go and pick someone who was not only better than me, but prettier than me too. It was a big blow to the ego. Especially since I laid eyes on him and couldn’t decide if I wanted to murder him or get down on my knees and beg him to let me blow him.”

  Mat snorted out a surprised laugh. “I can’t fucking believe you.”

  Steff just shrugged, his eas
y smile turning into something sad. “Well, from what I understand, they just kind of have that effect on people...sirens. I’m not into pussy and tits either, but I sure as hell went for it when I was mind-fucked the first time.”

  Mat felt like he’d been punched in the gut. Steffen had been through some messed up shit. And he’d been all alone during his recovery, abandoned by the people who were supposed to be there for him, the guys he’d called friends all these years. It was becoming clear who the real assholes were here. “I’m sorry,” he said, wanting to reach over and squeeze Steff’s hand, but not sure he had the right.

  Steffen was quiet for a few seconds, probably collecting himself. When he spoke again, his voice trembled slightly. “When he—she now, I guess—came to get me off that damned boat, I wanted to go right back to that bitch. I was too far under the pull of her magic to think straight. I was like an empty-headed puppet. I suppose Grey didn’t tell you guys all of it, because I know you’re right. She doesn’t work that way.” He cracked his knuckles, the sound loud in the uncomfortable silence inside the car. “Well...she used her own magic song stuff on me to get me to follow her away. Took me to Luca’s dad’s house so he could help. She basically mojoed me just like her damned mother did. But she did it to save me. It helped, so I can’t really complain. Except...now I’m like a fucking recovering addict. I need just a little hit of the stuff now and then to keep myself sane.” He laughed bitterly. “Grey is the damned Methadone to my heroin.”

  Mat licked his lips, not sure what to say to that. “No way is she just going to turn you away, knowing that. You know she must feel guilty. Like she did something wrong.”

  Steff nodded, his voice quiet. “Yeah. I know. That’s probably the only reason she’s tolerating my dumb ass.” He lifted his brown eyes to look at Mat while they sat at a stoplight. “I promise, Mat, I’m not out to get some twisted revenge or try to finagle myself back into the band or something weird like that. I’m trying to do better—to be better. I just...sometimes I need the shit in my head to settle down, and being around her does the trick.”