The Voice

Chapter 7

"So," asked Chloe, "You are suddenly completely over this? You are just going to forget what he did to you?"

I sighed, and said, "Chloe, you know I'm not going to forget it. But you keep forgetting that he's not to blame. I hate the fucking Voice right now, trust me. Luckily, it hasn't switched on since that night."

Matt quickly said, "It hasn't?"

"Nope," I said, grinning.

"But," he said, his brow wrinkling, "According to my grandmother's stories, a siren's Voice is supposed to be extremely active the first few days after mating."

I thought for a moment, and then said, "I've never heard that. Dammit. And I can't ask Mommy Dearest, either."

Matt asked, "Why not?"

"Because," Chloe said, sneering, "Her mom is a stupid bitch. Sirena came out to her, and she just left. Rina hasn't heard from her since."

"So," Matt said, lowering his troubled gaze to the floor, "You were serious about the lesbian thing."

My smile fell for a moment, and I said, "Yeah."

"Sorry," he said, head still lowered.

I rolled my eyes, and said, "Don't be. Not your fault I like girls."

"No, I mean...," he said, but I interrupted.

"I know what you mean," I said irritably, "And let's not go back to that. I swear, if we talk about that again I'm going to kick you both out."

He gave me a shy half-smile. Chloe rolled her eyes at him.

"So," she said, returning us to the matter at hand, "We need to find out what's going on with The Voice. Who can we talk to about this?"

"Dunno," I said, shrugging.

"My grandmother left me her journals," said Matt, "And she wrote down all her information about supernaturals in them. You can read them."

"Okay," said Chloe, "But for now, try to turn on The Voice, Rina."

I wrinkled my nose, and said, "Ugh, I don't want to. Neptune knows what you two would do."

"Well," said Matt slowly, a grin lighting his face again, "Actually, things like that work differently for naiads. It's sort of like the human immune system. Once a power has been used on us, our bodies have a memory of the power, and become immune to it."

"So," I said, my eyes widening in disbelief, "The Voice won't work on you anymore?"

"Nope," he grinned.

"Hot damn," I exclaimed, "Wish it worked that way on everyone."

"So do it," Chloe said, "You don't have to worry about me. You know that The Voice never holds me for long."

"Okay," I huffed, and reached for the mental switch that controlled The Voice.

But I couldn't find it. I closed my eyes, and focused completely on turning on The Voice. Still nothing. Frantically, I opened my eyes, and ran to the kitchen. Matt and Chloe followed with worried glances, as I turned on the tap, and touched the water. Usually that's all it took to click on The Voice. It was still absent.

I spun, and said, "Fuck! I can't turn it on!"

"Shit," Chloe muttered, and walked over.

She grabbed a cup, stuck it under the tap, and proceeded to throw the entire cup full into my face.

Spluttering, I stepped back, and exclaimed, "What the fuck, Chloe?"

"Sorry," she said, handing me a towel, "I thought maybe more water would make it work. Or maybe the shock would kick-start it."