To Seduce A Siren

40. Epilogue

Raz loved the suburbs. He liked walking by the park and seeing a mother push a pram. He liked seeing the occasional gaggle of kids on their bikes, almost crashing into him as they sped by.

He loved the city too. He liked seeing people rush in the morning, wondering what job they were going to and how they ordered their coffee.

It was a habit he learned from his mother. From the days when they had nothing better to do but people watch from the warmth of a coffee house.

But he liked the suburbs better, the mundane being played out.

"You're never going to be like them you know," A voice interrupted him from his wonderings.

"Hmm?" Raz asked as he sipped his latte, the warm liquid warming him. His mind was always untethered in cafes—this one especially with its dark wood interiors and dim lighting. He didn't even mind they were sitting on a tall table, the kind that needed stools instead of chairs - he was glad to be on a normal date.

Although, he wouldn't use that word with Selene.

Selene nodded to a father sitting at a corner table with a toddler. A boy judging by his blue puffer jacket, dinosaurs peppered across.

"What do you mean?" Raz kept looking as the father broke off pieces of a muffin, handing them to the boy.

Selene put down her still-full cup. She had tried a matcha - because it was green - which had made Raz smile so he didn't dare ask if she wanted something else instead. "You're never going to be able to take a little child to a cafe and get them a babyccino and a choc-chip muffin."

"Was that muffin choc-chip? I thought it was blueberry." Raz ignored her question, then thought better of it seeing Selene's eyes turn downcast. She sipped her matcha and looked to the windows, watching the aimlessness of people walking by in their wool coats.

Raz knew why she had answered so literally. He had begun to get good at decoding Selene. There was a lot that she couldn't say outright.

What she meant was that they could never have a baby. Sirens were infertile.

"That's okay."

Selene stared at him. "Forever is a long time to forgo something," she said, her voice dropping.

"It's not a thing but anyway I don't care if I never have my own children." It wasn't a lie. Raz did want children. He wanted a family of his own. That didn't mean it had to come from him.

He knew how unkind people related by blood could be.

Selene hesitated, "You want someone else's children. Human children."

Raz shrugged. "There are a lot of people out there like me. Half-somethings. That no one wants. We could be helpful for once."

"Maybe," Selene said biting her lip.

A chiming sound caught his attention. The door opened to let in a girl with red hair and glasses. Although, a white beanie was covering most of her bob. Raz knew it was red though. He had seen plenty of her pictures and could pick her from any crowd.

"It's her."

Selene turned her head to the counter and waited for the girl to walk up and order her drink. "It's her," she sighed.

Raz breathed out and began to type out a message to Theron.

We found her. At the coffee shop on the corner of Lincoln Street and Palmier Lane. He hesitated to hit send.

"Her life is disturbed anyway. You know that." Selene said, bringing him back from his visions of doom and guilt. "It won't be long till someone else finds her and when they do, they won't be as nice as we are."

Raz hit send.

Raz put his phone down, unable to lessen the frown that crept in.

He was loathe to pick up this girl from her quiet life as a student, from her dreams of being a scientist and plunge her into a world of monsters and witches.

Even if it was for her own good.

"Okay, we can help one half-ling or whatever you said for every -" Selene paused. "Ten bounties we catch." She held up her hands. "But that's it, I'm not making any more promises."

"Alright," Raz replied, smiling. She had already made one big promise and she didn't even know it yet.

To have Raz on whatever path her life turned into.

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Thank you all for reading this book! It has meant a lot to me to see your comments. It's not a perfect book by any means but it's the first project I've finished. Hopefully, you read my next one.