Siren's Call

Chapter 15 - Return

15 - Return

A soft gale rose from the languid air, swirling a quiet dance around their entwined bodies. The silent breeze washed over the fiery leaves that lay scattered upon the earth, picking them up from their sleep to resume their astral dance.

In this world where the leaves twirled their resplendent ballet, Danae's lips met Lucas' once more. Her hand touched his cheek tenderly, his fingers caressing hers. As they finally broke apart, Lucas crushed her in his embrace. "Don't go," he breathed, the warmth of his breath keeping the iciness of the boreal winds away.

Danae bit her lip, but did not reply, and in that inconsequential movement, she held back far more than the words she wished to utter. It held back tears. Tears that she forbade to fall.

"Lucas." A new presence had joined their clandestine conversation, one that was not welcome. Her heartbeat rose in its frequency, and her fingers tightened around Lucas'.

Lucas did not move, allowing himself to remain motionless, arms still laced around Danae. He spoke without turning around; the voice that had spoken moments earlier was much too familiar in its belligerence and harshness. "Is a little privacy too much to ask?" Lucas said.

"It's time," was the ringmaster's only reply. When neither of them made an attempt to break apart, Ferran said, "Do not make this hard, Lucas."

At this, Lucas finally straightened. He twisted to meet Ferran's stare with one of his own. "I'll take her back," he said flatly.

"No. You will remain here. I will bring her back," the ringmaster snapped in reply, eyes knowing. He shifted his steady gaze to hers, and raised a hand.

Danae shut her eyes as the pain returned to haunt her. "Lucas," she murmured as he turned back to face her. Amber eyes collided with the blue, the sun and the moon, each eternally different. One step back, and then another, until their fingers, still linked, were the only things left bridging them together. Her hands, clutched for so long around his, found it difficult to let go. "Together," she whispered.

Lucas did not reply, but simply looked at her, eyes holding not just the anger but also home to the distress she had first seen when he lost Erelieva. Her heart twisted and thrashed in her chest as realization struck. Don't, they seemed to beg her, plead with her.

She steeled herself, speaking her words in her mind; he would hear her.

One, she murmured, feeling the word drift in his mind.

Two. She forced her fingers to slacken its grasp upon his hand.

"Three," she whispered. And she wrenched her fingers from his.

As she twisted, she ran from him, and allowed her hand to fall into Ferran's. Not once did she look back, but she saw his pain with perfect clarity. As the ground disappeared from beneath her, awareness burned her like a brand, a permanent imprint that scorched her heart.

Black and white. Gold and silver. Amber and blue. Human and siren. As she finally realized the fool she had been to believe they were ever going to be together, she heard it.

His last message, words that clawed their way from her ears down to her chest, where they seared a gaping hole in her torn heart:

Together, Danae. Forever.

Silence.

That was all that remained as the winds died, and earth reappeared beneath Danae's feet. As she lifted her lashes, the wooden-tiled floor stretched out beneath her, and as she traced its journey throughout the room, recognition scalded her.