Dirty Lying Sirens

Chapter Thirty Three

Madeline

The house of sirens was filled with music. The juxtaposition of the ancient building with a Bluetooth speaker still baffled me, but Atlantis had worked hard to incorporate what technology they did bring in while keeping it subtle. Any wires and infrastructure was kept so low-key that I almost never noticed it.

But there I was in the large communal room at the house, dancing with Jacinta under the supervision of Amara and her partner Iris. It was good to finally put a face to the name, and the way Amara looked at the petite and bubbly Iris told me everything I needed to know about their love. It was cute, even if it did stir up some jealousy that I wasn't here dancing with Caspian.

"Watch your left foot more," Amara called, somehow prying her eyes off of Iris for long enough to correct my dancing.

"Got it. Sorry, Jacinta, my mind is wandering."

"It's okay." Jacinta beamed at me. "I'm just excited that I get to go this time."

I smiled back at the young siren, putting her heart into the music and looking forward to the ball. It was true that Ashana had deemed her ready for it, albeit she would be taken back to the house of sirens before the more adult activities began.

Dancing was a welcome reprieve from my worries, and loosening up my body after the feeling of the rope on my arms and legs last night was . . . I could feel the heat creep up my neck and across my face at the thought. I like it, more than I thought I'd like the feeling of helplessness, considering the things I'd been through. But in the end I didn't feel helpless at all, I felt free. What did that say about me? I wasn't sure, but I wasn't about to question it either. For once in my life, I felt good, I had friends, and I was falling for a guy who wasn't an absolute pile of garbage. Quite the opposite, Caspian was a dream, and I was going to fuck his brains out at this ball.

"Okay, that's about enough for now," Amara said, sighing and slumping onto a nearby chaise-like pile of cushions, pulling a giggling Iris down with her.

"Yes!" Jacinta let go of my hands where we had been dancing and ran to another set of cushions nearby, falling onto them with a grunt.

Finding my own cushioned surface to sink into, I propped my feet up on a pillow and laid my head back. "I'm already tired, I can't believe you expect me to do that all night."

"But it's so fun!" Amara beamed, throwing me the hand sign for 'enjoyment' and 'big' while Iris snuggled in next to her. "Oh, by the way, who did you give that invitation to?"

A smile crept over my face. "Caspian."

"Mmm, I can't wait to meet him," Amara said. "Did you happen to accidentally leave your veil out for him to see or do I have a chance?"

Iris grabbed one of the pillows and smacked Amara with it, the siren falling into a fit of laughter as she tried to defend herself.

"Joke! It was a joke!" Amara caught the pillow and took it from Iris before attacking her with kisses, and now it was Iris's turn to fall into laughter.

"Yuck," Jacinta said, getting up. "I'm going to go make sure my new dress doesn't have any wrinkles."

I watched the girl trot off down a hall, presumably to where her room was. I knew there were bedrooms here, obviously the sirens who lived here had to sleep somewhere, but I hadn't been to them yet so I had no idea what they were like. Would they be like my room at Caspian's house with the beautiful decorations and soft bed? Or more like Caspian's room . . .

My face felt flushed as I pressed a hand to my cheek. How long was I going to keep blushing every time I remembered what we did in his room? At some point, Amara or Larisa were going to catch on and tease me to no end.