The Siren's fate

Capítulo 4

Iryen

I paced the cold stone floor of the cave, the echo of my footsteps swallowed by the oppressive silence. My thoughts pressed heavily on me, like the weight of the ocean itself. Invisibility cloaked me, a shield against the harsh realities of what I was doing. He couldn't know about our world, not yet. Not until I could figure out what his arrival meant.

Through the shadows, I watched him. Adrian Nikolai. A man from the surface, trapped here beneath the waves in a world he couldn't even begin to comprehend. He wandered around the cave, frustration etched into every line of his face as he tried to find an exit. But the spells—layers upon layers of magic woven so tightly—would keep him here. For now.

He was a prisoner, despite my insistence that he wasn't. How could I claim otherwise? This place was a cage, and I was its warden. Food and water, the bare essentials for survival, had been left for him, but it wasn't enough. I knew it wasn't enough. His spirit—restless, defiant—needed answers. Yet all I could give him was silence.

I felt a pang of pity. Cast into a world of secrets and shadows, cut off from everything familiar. How terrifying that must be. And yet, I envied him. For his ignorance. For not knowing the weight of the destiny that had pulled him into my life.

His appearance was striking, more so than I cared to admit. Tall, confident, with a presence that demanded attention even in the stillness of the cave. There was an arrogance to him, the kind born from privilege and power. But beneath that, I sensed something else—an edge, a darkness that mirrored my own. It unsettled me.

And those eyes. Hazel, like the horizon at sunset—burning with a fierce, molten glow that shifted between gold and amber, casting a hypnotic depth that drew you in, much like the fading light of day pulling the sky into dusk.

Adrian's presence stirred something in me I hadn't felt in years. Intrigue, yes. But something more dangerous. A pull. A connection I didn't understand, one I wasn't sure I wanted to.

I clenched my fists, willing the sensation to fade, but it lingered, like the taste of salt on my lips after a storm. Unshakable.

Focus, Iryen.

But it was hard to focus when memories I'd tried so hard to bury kept surfacing. bloody hands. The man I had once loved, the man who had shattered my heart and torn my world apart. My former fiancé. The betrayal had been so sharp, so absolute, that it had changed me. Turned my love to ice and my trust to dust. He had sought me out, not for love, but for power. For the influence that came with my crown, my lineage. It had taken me years to come to terms with that betrayal. And even now, I wasn't sure if I truly had.

I had learned to be wary. To shield my heart, to keep others at arm's length. It was easier that way. Safer. No one could betray you if you didn't let them in.

But now... now I had Adrian. A man who had been marked by fate, drawn into my life whether either of us wanted it or not. His presence threatened to unravel all the walls I had built. And that terrified me.

I knew better than to trust too easily. I knew the cost of letting someone in. And yet, here I was. Watching him. Feeling... something. A spark. An undeniable pull.

I won't let him in.

But even as I thought it, I wasn't sure I believed it.

Adrian's frustration deepened as he paced, his hands running through his dark hair. I  almost feel the heat radiating off him, his restless energy bouncing against the cave walls. He glanced at the shimmering pond, and I held my breath, knowing the magic contained within its depths.

"Fuck it," he muttered, shaking his head as if to clear it. The sound of his voice echoed through the silence, raw and laced with desperation. I wished I could reassure him, tell him it would all be okay, but my voice remained trapped behind my invisibility.