To Seduce A Siren

33. When the Cat's Asleep...

"Theron's hiding the fact that he has a little -"

Pop.

"- human mate!"

It was an odd thing to exist in one reality in one moment and then another in the next. Selene's eyes had adjusted to this new reality but her mind had yet to come to terms with it. It was a prolonged few seconds where she observed the world and made no conclusions from it.

Then clarity came. Like a wave erupting over her head unexpectedly, filling her lungs with water when there should have been air.

She wasn't at Castle Elysium.

She was in a small hut.

It wasn't late in the night.

Sunlight sneaked into the building despite the door and window being blocked off. The mud-brick structure made it cool inside yet she knew if she were to step out, she would walk into warmth so overpowering she'd pass out.

"Selene, that was a very dumb thing to do," Kali said, without her usual veneer of politeness. "You made Denise teleport you before she was meant to! Get your head in the game, there's no time for your bullshit!" Kali pushed her into Denise's outstretched arms. "It's time for phase two."

The rest was a daze.

She went through all the proper motions. She waited for the Redeemers to fall in pain from Maria's discordant waves. She sang the Redeemers to hurt themselves. She watched Denise take Theron away. She allowed Johanna to teleport her back.

Although she expected to appear back in the hut this time, she was still somewhat surprised to find herself there. It was like trying to move through murky waters and her body felt unusually heavy and wilfully rebellious to maneuver.

She heard Kali say in the distance, "Ah Theron, we finally meet."

He must have been shocked because she didn't register a witty quip. She heard nothing.

Voices. Four of them. So hard to concentrate. She couldn't make anything out.

Then the words "Where's that brat Raziel?" shot through all the cloudy sensations she couldn't hold onto. Selene finally looked up, beginning to make sense of the world again. Raz wasn't here.

Theron was.

He was currently slumped against a chair, tied up in mystical rope that glowed in the darkness of the room. His blonde hair - which Selene had never noticed was so similar to Raz's - was limp on his forehead, wet with sweat and darkened with blood. She could make out red bruises forming on his face and the exposed skin of his arms.

Denise shook her head. "I couldn't get to him. The Redeemer holding him didn't even flinch. I barely got myself out in time."

Johanna nodded, her pale blond hair moving in waves. "Yes, it was as if they expected us. I barely teleported the siren. The one you call Isaac was very adamant in his desire to murder Selene."

Kali shot Selene a look. Kali never told them that it wasn't a surprise attack.

Maria who was standing next to Johanna, an arm slung over her frail shoulder, glared at them. As if it were Selene who had ordered Isaac to attack her.

It was unsettling having identical pairs of eyes stare at you. Especially their eyes, which were an unnatural black against their pale skin and even paler hair. A ghost with black holes for eyes.

"So you're saying," Theron said very quietly. "You managed to botch up your little plan this badly?"

"Careful Theron," Kali sang. "Any more criticism and I'll think you actually care for little brother."