Souls of Three

The Siren's Call (part 1)

Music pulsed in her bones, winding its way through the gyrating crowd into her body, swaying and shaking alone on the edge of the dance floor.

It had been months since she'd felt so alive, so like her old self. Miles from the stone cottage where her life, the entire world, had changed forever. In this moment she wanted nothing more than to forget all that and get lost in her old New York City persona. To be the old Evelyn Locksley, heiress to a billion-dollar empire, business mogul, expert sailor, and man-eater. She wondered if she could still count the last two as characteristics as a part of her previous life. Did they not fall under the umbrella of water witch and siren?

Screw it. Life will never be the same no matter how much I want it to.

She tossed out a new blend of siren and witching magic she'd been playing with. The potent hormones mixed with a mind stimulating spell did their work and Evelyn caught the spectacular specimen of a man she'd sensed watching her. He heeded her call and approached her, his dark eyes hungry as his hips thrust nearly imperceptibly.

Two strong hands cupped her lower back and she allowed herself to be pulled into his hard chest until the space between them was nonexistent. The man beamed down at her. He smelled vaguely like the salty canvas sail of a sailboat and looked like a young Enrique Iglesias, but more macho.

Much hotter, Evelyn thought. She bit her lip and looked up at him through lowered lashes. He ground against her in response and she pushed her breasts front and center, showing off her excellent cleavage.

Time for some fun.

She took it slow at first, commanding small bursts of estrogen into her bloodstream. The hormone emerged from Evelyn's body seconds later, encased in the golden-hued sweat of a siren. Perspiration glistened on her skin momentarily, like a full-body halo attracting its mate before evaporating into the air to capture him. At least a dozen male faces responded to the biochemical change. Their faces turning away from their friends or potential partners to stare at her. Evelyn's dance partner's arms gripped her tighter as he protected his prospective mate.

Evelyn chuckled to herself.

Her arms rose to cup her partner's neck, twisting the ends of his thick, black hair.

His eyes widened, and a bulge pressed against her thigh.

She smiled wickedly. Then she turned to face the rest of her audience.

Her partner's breath covered the back of Evelyn's neck as she grabbed his hands and pulled them to her waist. She swayed her hips from side to side, narrowed her dark sapphire eyes, and smiled at the men who watched, enraptured, from the bar. At her command estrogen leapt off Evelyn's skin, spraying all within a twenty-foot radius with a potent dose of fertility and sexuality.

Evelyn's dance partner's hands inched up and she allowed him a light brush of her breast before commanding them back down, one mind to another.

Let's not get too fresh here, buddy. This isn't your show.

The Enrique look-alike shivered against her, placed his hands back on her rounded hips and squeezed.

Their audience had grown to at least fifty men and a few women, all staring at her. Evelyn repressed a shudder of excitement as the power of captivating so many rushed through her. One glance into the crowd confirmed she had started a few arguments. A leggy redhead grabbed her man by his collar, forcing his eyes to hers. Other women had stormed off, leaving their love interests with their mouths hanging wide open.

Time to finish this.

Evelyn blew her partner a parting kiss over her shoulder and disengaged her body from his, leaving him wanting in her wake. Bodies parted before the curvaceous blonde as she sashayed deeper into the throng of partygoers, to a premeditated cleared circle, her stage, in the precise center of the dance floor.

Evelyn ran her hands down her torso, reveling in the contrast of bare skin and silk, twisting and turning as easeful as water with the beat. A vision of a snake emerging from a basket to dance for onlookers came to Evelyn, and she shook it from her head. Reminders that she was the snake, powerful, seductive, the original sin, were the last thing she wanted to think about right now.

Arms flung wide and head thrown back, she twirled to the music, glorying in the space she occupied and claiming more with each heartbeat. Her hair whipped around her, tossed high in the current of air she called to her aid. Though air was her weakest element, it was worth it to put in a little extra effort sometimes for dramatic effect. As she grew in presence the men under her spell pulled in, creating a tight circle that shielded her from the rest of the bar. She caught sight of her Enrique look-alike dance partner in the passing swirl of faces, sweating a bit but otherwise fine. I chose well. At least he's holding it together. Others had not been so lucky, squirming and trembling uncontrollably. One man was clutching his groin like a child trying not to wet himself.

Evelyn pulled her arms and the energy pulsing around her in an inch closer. She gasped. A flood of power stormed through her, lighting her blood, her mind, her very soul on fire. With the combined sexual energy of so many at her fingertips she felt like she could fly away at any moment.

The song was ending, a perfect natural finale to her own performance. Evelyn followed suit as the beat faded: her rotations growing smaller, her speed slowing, her golden glow dimming. She was coming back into herself, releasing her hold over her prey's bodies and minds, her body filling with what she'd come here for.

Power.

The music fell into a momentary silence and Evelyn stopped, yanked her arms to her sides, and flung her hair back.

The man grabbing his crotch moaned. A dazed look came over the rest. They stared first at her and then each other, wondering why they were standing highly aroused, shoulder to shoulder with other men. Or where their partners were.

Not my problem.

Evelyn shivered as the raw, animalistic energy of a crowd of men and two women pulsed through her. The exchange of energy, their sexual energy for her magic, had been just what she needed. Her power had been pent up for too long. It was exhausting, stifling to live like this between her two worlds, unsuspecting human and witch.

Her partner stood at the edge of the circle, eyes crazed with desire. Evelyn made her way over to him, stood on tiptoe, and kissed him on the cheek before extracting herself from the circle.

"Dedisco," she whispered, spreading her arms wide. She bid the spell to jog around the bar and wipe the memories of everyone in it.

"Thanks for the good time, handsome," Evelyn called over her shoulder and disappeared into the crowd and out onto the street.