Dirty Lying Sirens

Chapter Seven

Caspian

The upscale boutique was still open, thank the gods.

It didn't take much asking around to find a place nearby that would have an outfit suitable for tonight. I changed quickly into my better suit and we took a taxi to the shop from there. Madeline protested to my choice in boutique at first, and when I insisted she stop looking at the price tags and start looking at the dresses themselves she turned the cutest shade of pink.

The woman assisting us finally had to pull several things from the show floor and window at my request while Madeline's protests at the price fell on deaf ears. It became crystal clear that she and I had two very different ideas on what a formal dress would cost, and she was obviously out of her depths in here. At least the lovely woman assisting us was very professional about it as she took a few measurements and made some insightful suggestions.

Madeline was in the dressing room with the attendant as I leaned against the wall. My mouth twitched in amusement. I don't know if I've ever met a siren who wasn't ready to be pampered, price be damned. I wondered if some time in Atlantis would change her ways, or if this was too firmly ingrained in her by now.

Atlantis. How could I convince her to come with us? I wanted nothing more than to help her, but there wasn't much to be done about it if she refused. Do I ask again before we leave, or would that be pushing the issue too hard? This contract with the mercenary was now more important to me than ever if it meant returning every few months to see Madeline. Perhaps convince her at a later time to come to Atlantis with me.

My mind wandered while she was choosing her dress. Mainland fashion would always perplex me. She would look lovely in anything, but what I really wanted to see her in was the clinging silk dresses the sirens favored, especially at one of their balls.

No, what I really wanted to see her in was nothing but that taunting choker she wore on the beach.

I blinked. No, I couldn't think that way. Madeline was a lovely woman, and she deserved so much more in this world than the mainland had shown her so far, but I couldn't afford to mix myself up with a siren.

Or at least any more than I already had.

I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose, closing my eyes and ignoring the thoughts trying to creep to the surface of my mind. Imagining that sexy smile and those entrancing blue eyes of hers. I tried not to picture how well she would blend in with the other sirens. As far as Atlantis was concerned, they may as well be goddesses among mortals. And Madeline was one of them, even if she had lived such a harsh life until now.

I clenched my jaw, trying not to picture her struggles. Someone, an Atlantean, had to have done this to her. But why? Why take a siren, our city's last threads of defense between us and the hungry tides, and remove her from us? There was something going on, and it all begins with Madeline as a baby. Possibly before that. Asking around could be risky, but if someone knows something I have to try.

"Caspian." Her voice caught my ear, pulling my eyes to her with no effort as I lowered my hand and looked up.

Madeline stood in the doorway of the changing room, a blue dress clinging to her breasts and flowing down her body to flow away at her thighs. The skirt of it stopped before her knees, turning into a froth of chiffon or some other light fabric that danced with her every movement. The sheen of the fabric almost lent it enough magic to compete with the blue of her eyes. She had traded out her shoes for a pair of heels that matched the playfulness of the dress, wrapping around her ankles in thin blue strands before covering her toes and heels in a sturdier material. My lips parted as I took her in. She was stunning.