Chapter 13 | The Devil of Siren City

Skylar

“No one knows for sure,” Candy answers. “Except those within his inner circle. Poseidon. Aphrodite.”

“Ares?” I say, a shiver in my spine.

You belong to Ares now.

“It sounds ridiculous, I know,” he says with a smile, but it’s colder than usual. “But it’s all very real.”

“That Greek gods run Siren City?” 

“They aren’t gods,” Adrian says, his jaw held firm. “They’re just men.”

“Either way,” Candy says, still gentle, “they hold the cards, but they didn’t always.” He pauses, his eyes locking on mine. “You came here at an interesting time, Skylar. Even just a year ago, Siren City was a very different place.”

I think of the park I walked through earlier, full of litter and tents. “What happened?” I ask.

“There was a coup,” he says after a moment. “Before Zeus… two brothers ran this city together. And they were beloved. Sure, they had enemies, all great leaders do, but they had the respect of their people and an inner circle who believed in everything Siren City stood for. Freedom. Fairness. Equality. Then Zeus came. One-by-one, he poisoned members of their inner circle, promised them riches and power beyond their wildest dreams. Eventually, the last of them turned and then...”

I don’t say a word, too hooked to even breathe as I wait for him to continue.

“They called a meeting,” Adrian says, breaking his silence once again. Candy looks at him, his shoulders suddenly stiff, his mouth tightly closed. “They all met on a yacht in the harbor under false pretenses. The brothers thought it was to discuss what to do about this Zeus, but it was a trap. They captured the brothers. And tortured them for hours.”

Candy stands up and silently leaves the table. I almost don’t even notice it, Adrian’s stare too powerful to look away from.

“They gave them a choice,” he continues. “Submit to the new order or die.”

“That’s no choice,” I whisper without thinking.

Adrian nods. “They all took turns. They passed the knife over and over again until the brothers finally stopped fighting. Stopped breathing. Then, they took their bodies and threw them into the sea.”

I swallow past the lump in my throat. “That’s terrible,” I say.

Adrian leans forward and I feel myself drifting closer as well. “That’s Siren City,” he says, the words only for me. “The way its always been. There is no honor among thieves, Skylar, and we are a nation of villains. As... beloved as those brothers were, they had it coming, too. Power is not given. It’s taken, often by force and never by choice. No one is safe.” His gaze lingers, sharpens. “Except you.”

My heart pounds. “Me?”

He reaches out. Ice-cold fingers graze my neck as he draws a single line along the cut that no longer exists. Healed, but not forgotten. Not forgiven. “I take care of what’s mine,” he says. “Will you trust me, Skylar?”

I shudder, my core alive with blistering heat. “Yes.” 

“Adrian.”

He flicks his eyes toward Candy at the other end of the table. Within a single breath, Adrian tilts back. His hand falls from my neck and I sit up, the back of the chair preventing me from plummeting to the floor. I place a palm on the table as pain flares behind my eye again. I shake it off, along with the cruel voice urging me to reach out and touch him.

Take him.

Or I will.

Candy clears his throat, his smile returning. “Would anyone like dessert?” he asks.

***

Adrian

“She’s not from Kansas City.”

Candy leans against the elevator wall with his eyes on his shoes, his words clearly bringing him discomfort. 

“And the rest of it?” I ask.

He scoffs, then raises his head. “She’s lying to you, Adrian. What more do you need?”

“We knew that already.” I allow him a moment to pout as the elevator descends to the ground floor. “What else did you get?” I ask.

Candy bites down hard. “Well, she’s not from around here, either,” he says reluctantly. “Her reactions to the auction were genuine. She’s not familiar with our customs, nor has anyone prepped her, so we know she’s not a plant.”

I exhale slowly, relieved to hear it.

“She doesn’t know who you are. Or Dominic. Or Zeus. Though...” He pauses, his brow furrowed in thought. “Ares. She knew him. She fears him. Why?”

“She was there in the alley,” I answer. “His men marked her and tried to take her to him.”

“We can use that,” he says, his strategic mind turning. “Use her as bait. She—”

“No.”

“Adrian.” The elevator stops on the ground floor. The doors open, but he doesn’t get off. “What hold does this woman have on you?”

“She’s important,” I say.

“Why? Would you at least tell me that?”

“Candy.” I stop the doors from closing. “I need you to trust me.”

“Of course I trust you.”

“You just don’t trust her.”

“It’s not that simple,” he says, his eyes sharp. “There was something else there.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. But...” He stares, barely breathing. “There was something else... in her. In her voice. In her eyes. Whenever she looked at you.” He shakes his head once. “I don’t trust her, Adrian. You shouldn’t either.”

His phone vibrates in his back pocket. He takes it out. “It’s her,” he says.

“Speaker,” I say.

Candy gives me a look. I give him one right back, signaling for him to answer it. He obeys.

“Hello,” he greets, his jovial tone not matching his expression at all.

“Where are you?”

My side twinges as memories of this voice take hold. The last time I saw her. A knife in her hand; a hand covered in blood.

“Don’t worry about your little whore, Adrian. I’ll make sure he’s taken good care of.”

Morgana.

Aphrodite.

“I’m having dinner with a friend,” Candy says.

“Get back here now.”

She hangs up and Candy hums.

“Well, I guess she heard about you,” he says, putting it away.

“Go,” I say. “Find out what she knows. Be careful.”

“I will.” He steps off, then turns back, his eyes shadowed with fear. “You too, Adrian.”

I return to the apartment. It still smells like a delicious mix of garlic and seafood, scents that will probably take days to air out. I exit the mudroom, rounding the corner to watch Skylar at the kitchen sink. She sets the final clean wineglass in the drying rack and turns off the water, her eyes scanning the rest of the kitchen for anything else to clean up, but Candy took care of most of it before he left.

“Hey,” she says when she sees me. “Your friend is really something.”

I laugh softly. “He really is.”

“It’s raining again.”

Streams of rainwater cascade down the windows, the occasional flash of lightning bright along the distant horizon. “So it is,” I mutter.

Skylar dries her hands and leaves the dish towel by the sink. “Adrian, can I...” She hesitates. “Can I ask you something? I know I shouldn’t, but... Candy got me curious.”

“Go ahead.”

She takes a moment to gather her words. “The story he told, about how you two met. The way he described you was...”

“What?” I ask.

“I don’t know.” She smiles. “It’s just not the way I see you, I guess. The man I know doesn’t have muscled men driving him around in fancy cars doing business in red districts. Then again, I’ve only known you for a few days, so maybe I’m wrong and you really are the kind of guy who cares about leather seats. Which is fine! I’m not judging.”

I approach her around the table, quietly delighting in the way her body tenses up as I draw close. “So, what’s your question?” I ask her.

She looks up, her breath held tight. “What changed?” she asks. “If anything has, I mean. Am I just... wrong?”

“No. You’re not wrong.” I pause, part of me wanting to tell her everything, to reveal all of my secrets, but a dull ache in my chest throbs as I look at her. I swallow those words. “I lost someone. After that, everything else became... unimportant.”

“I’m sorry,” she says after a moment.

“I never said you couldn’t ask questions, Skylar,” I say. “You assumed that.”

“Oh.” She chews on her cheek. “Okay. My bad.”

“You can ask me anything. Anything you want to know.”

“Thanks,” she says, the tension in her neck ready to snap. “I’ll remember that.” She shifts away from the sink. “Well, it’s getting pretty late. I think I’ll head to bed. Unless you need me for something?”

“No,” I say. “I don’t need you. Goodnight.”

“Goodnight.”

I listen to her walk away, following the trail of her movements through the apartment toward the bathroom. She closes the door. The sink turns on. She brushes her teeth.

I don’t trust her, Adrian. You shouldn’t either.

I glance at the orchid on the kitchen table. The petals are dark. A deep reddish pink with only spots of white on the edges.

Candy’s right. I can’t trust her. I want to, but I don’t know why I want to. Is it merely the possibility of my salvation? Of victory against impossible odds? Or is it that, despite every warning, the temptress is winning?

My chest burns in a bitter tug of war. It continues into the night, the tap of rain and clap of thunder a gentle lullaby as the painful throb threatens to pull me apart in my sleep.

Then, a touch in the dark.

I shift with closed eyes, but I can’t move, my thighs encumbered. Warm hands caress the bare skin of my chest, soft and comforting. I nearly drift back to sleep, but the touch becomes sharper as hard nails drag across my chest.

I flinch awake and look up into eyes cloaked in shadow. Protective instincts have me rolling my fists, but the subtle shift of her lithe body against mine brings me pause.

“Skylar?” I whisper.

She hovers over me, mounted on my lap, wearing nothing more than a tight T-shirt and a pair of dark panties. Her smiles stretches as she bites her lip, her palms resting on my pecs and abs. “Sorry,” she says teasingly. “Did I wake you?”

Unable to keep a gentleman’s eye, I look her over. “What are you doing?” I ask, the hard nipples beneath her shirt impossible to ignore.

She hums softly, purposefully rolling her lower body against mine. I tremble from it, my blood rushing to meet her. “I want you,” she whispers as she picks up my hand. She brings it to her mouth and kisses my fingertips. “I want you to hurt me, Adrian.”

“No,” I say, confused.

“It’s all right.” She moves my hand to her chest. “I’ve seen the way you look at her when you think she’s not looking.”

A maiden with two faces.

One, a healer.

The other...

“You are not Skylar,” I say.