Chapter 39 | The Devil of Siren City

Skylar

Adrian kisses me, and I kiss him back.

Shivers crawl up my back as Adrian’s hand moves downward along my spine. My hands twitch with an irresistible urge and I can’t help but touch him, too. I feel up his arms, his chest, feeling his soft cotton T-shirt pulled taut over his body, over hard muscles and—

Adrian inhales sharply. I pull back my hand, realizing far too late that I’d pushed against his bandage.

“Shit,” I say, breaking the kiss. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s all right,” he says, moving back in.

“No.” I turn away, already torn by guilt. “We need to stop.”

“No.” His fingers dig into my waist. “We don’t.”

“You’re wounded, Adrian,” I argue.

“I’ll live.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” I say again, weakly.

Adrian shifts over me before I can roll off the bed. He pins me down, his hands easily holding my wrists high above my head as he locks me in place with his legs. “Skylar,” he whispers, easing downward until our lips touch again. “You could never hurt me.”

He kisses me again. This time, I succumb to it, praying for his words to be true.

Moments pass in a blur. I kiss him back, meeting his tongue, feeling our bodies move as one beneath the sheets. Heat flushes on my skin, erasing his coldness. We both shudder, weeks of tension threatening to snap as we explore new parts of each other.

A knock echoes throughout the apartment.

Adrian stops, his tight grip on my wrists loosening as he listens to the quick pounding against the front door.

I ease my hands free and balance up onto my elbows. “Who is that?” I whisper beneath the frantic knock.

Adrian pushes off the bed. “Stay here,” he says.

“Adrian,” I say, nervously sitting up.

“Stay,” he says again, a playfulness in his voice. He leans over and kisses me again, his tongue offering a silent promise for more. “Wait for me.”

I smile. “Okay,” I say, his lips sending a calmness through me. “I’ll stay.”

Adrian walks out of the room and closes the door behind him.

I collapse onto the bed. “Holy shit,” I whisper. I take a deep breath, my body tingling all over. His kiss echoes in every bone and joint and aching crevice of me. I wonder for a moment if I’m still asleep, still dreaming. It’d be a welcome change from the nightmares, that’s for sure.

In the silence, I scan the shadowed corners of the room. “Are you there?” I say to the voice.

I sit still, awaiting her teasing reply. But there’s nothing. There’s only… me.

And other voices from elsewhere in the apartment.

I tiptoe to the door. Pressing my ear against it, I listen for who’s beyond. I hear Adrian’s voice, definitely, and a second voice. A familiar one.

Candy.

I would go say hi, but… Adrian told me to stay here and wait for him.

And I really want to stay here and wait for him.

I return to the bed, reaching over to flick on the bedside lamp. It illuminates the bare space. Just a bed and a desk with a foldable chair. Nothing more. I offered to help him decorate when I first arrived, but he insisted he liked it this way. He didn’t need more than this. Given what I know about him now, I understand that a little better.

I smile at memories of those early days; a strange way to phrase it considering I’ve only been a few weeks. As nerve-wracking and confusing as those days were, it’s nice now to look back on our first moments together. Getting to know Adrian Price has been my favorite part of Siren City so far.

I rise, still waiting. I stretch and twist, shaking off the last of a good night’s sleep from my limbs. As I turn, I partially scan the contents on Adrian’s desk and I spot a golden coin sitting on top.

That symbol on its face. I know it.

No, not a symbol. A sigil.

I remember the words of the gossiping women on the street.

“That was his sigil, yes?”

Curious, I step over to the desk. I reach out to pick up the coin. It’s heavy and metal, the coldness surging through my fingers as I run my thumb over its face, tracing along the two-pronged pitchfork and ocean waves.

Beneath it lies a map of Siren City.

I lean over it, easily finding our building and making my way along the boardwalk to Market Street. Just north of that is Old Town. St. Nicholas’ Church. It’s circled with a name written in red next to it.

Ethan.

Does Adrian know Ethan?

I study the rest of the map. I travel from Old Town to the bridge, heading north into Olympus. There are four other circles. One in the waters east of the city. Another on Scarlet Street. Two near The Tower. Each with names I don’t recognize except for one.

Zeus.

“Zeus won’t like this.”

“Zeus doesn’t like anything, from what I hear.”

“Shh!”

“What for? If the Devil has returned to Siren City, my gossip is the least of his worries.”

I glance at the coin in my palm.

The Devil?

I study the map some more, wondering many things.