Chapter 48 | The Devil of Siren City

Adrian

Skylar returns to the room with a glass of water and a sandwich on a plate. “You should try to eat something, too,” she says as she sets it down on the desk in front of me along with a bottle of painkillers. “You haven’t eaten yet today.”

“Thank you,” I say.

She fits her stethoscope in her ears and goes about listening to my heart again.

“Still beating?” I ask her.

After a minute, she nods. “Still beating.”

“Thanks to you.”

She doesn’t reply, her green eyes darkening as shadows of Persephone pass over them again.

“Uh…” Candy steps forward. “Skylar.”

She looks at him.

“I’m sorry,” he says. “About before.”

Skylar smiles politely. “So am I,” she merely says.

A phone rings, the tone short and dull. Candy retrieves his phone from his pocket and frowns. “Morgana,” he says. “Probably wondering where I am.”

“Go,” I say. “Answer it. Tell her you needed to be alone after your night with the Captain.”

Candy snorts. “That’s not even a lie.” He looks at me, then at Skylar. “You’ll be all right?” he asks me.

“Yes,” I say. “Check back in soon.”

“I will.” He steps back with a nod and answers the phone. “Hello, Aphrodite!” we hear him say as he enters the hall. “Yes, I’m sorry, I just…” A pause, one full of emotion. “Last night was…”

His voice fades off and disappears completely as he silently walks through the front door.

“The Captain?” Skylar asks, curious.

“Captain Rackham,” I answer. “He’s… well, a long-time client of Candy’s.”

She nods, but asks nothing more.

I look at her. Young and beautiful. She lingers next to me, leaning against my desk with her eyes on the map, still dressed in comfortable slacks and a tank top. Quiet and still. Barely even breathing.

“Skylar.”

“You came back. After they…” She looks up, her eyes drifting to my chest, my scars still exposed. “You came back to Siren City. Why?”

“Because it’s mine,” I answer.

“And… you want to take it back?”

I nod. “I’m going to. Yes.”

“But to do that…”

She lets the words drift off, not wanting to say them out loud.

“To do that,” I continue for her, “I have to kill them all.”

I watch her closely, letting the words sink where they should. Her expression doesn’t change, however. As I expected, she’s already figured that part out.

Power is not given, I told her once. It’s taken, often by force and never by choice.

Skylar swallows hard. “They call you the Devil,” she says slowly. “What does that mean, exactly?”

I pick up the coin again, feeling the rough edges with the pad of my thumb. “I grant requests,” I answer.

“Whose?”

“Anyone’s. My door is open to everyone in Siren City. They come to me, tell me what they want, and I get it.”

“Just like that?”

“For a price,” I say. “Yes. Just like that.”

“What sort of price? Money?”

“Sometimes. But not always.”

Skylar doesn’t move. “And if they can’t pay the price?” she asks.

“Then we make a deal.”

“And if they can’t keep it?”

I pause. “Then, they knew the terms,” I simply say.

Skylar’s eyes flutter with fear once more. Fear of me. Fear for herself.

I turn the coin over in my fingers. “If I give someone one of these, I owe them a favor. A boon. Anything they want, granted without question. It’s considered the most valuable currency in Siren City.”

I hold it out.

Skylar stares at it for a moment before she opens her hand. I set it in her palm.

“This one is yours,” I say.

She blinks in surprise as she holds it, gently running her thumb over its face. “Anything I want?” she asks.

I hold her eyes, unblinking. “Anything.”

Skylar swallows hard. After a moment, she slowly pockets the coin in her slacks as she stands up. “Eat,” she says. “Then, rest.”

I take hold of her hand while it’s still within reach. “Will you stay with me?” I ask.

She pauses, her breath held in. “Adrian, I… Today has been a lot. And it’s not even noon yet.” Her hand trembles in mine. “I’m not sure where I stand in all this yet.”

“You stand by me.”

Skylar looks at our folded hands, her gaze drifting somewhere far beyond them. Persephone lingers behind her eyes again. Whispering to her, filling her head with truthful lies.

The healer and the temptress.

“I’m sorry.” Skylar gently pulls her hand free. “I need time.”

I let her go. “I respect that.”

“Thank you,” she says. Then, she eyes the sandwich, a little authority returning to her spine. “Eat.”

“Rest,” I say.

She nods. “I’ll be back to check on you later.”

With that, Skylar walks out of my room and enters her own, gently closing the door behind her.

She locks it.