Siren's Song

by Kaye Draper

  Grey laughed so hard tears streamed down his cheeks. “So, about eighty percent are actually good letters?”

  Brian finally smiled. “Sure are. Good job guys, you’re breaking down some pretty big walls here.” He glanced at Luca, probably thinking he would scare him. “As anyone in the gay community could tell you, unfortunately, hate is to be expected. You learn to grow thick skin. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t still hurt sometimes.”

  Luca just nodded. “Well, Grey, let’s go get some lunch and give the paparazzi something to squawk about.”

  Grey rolled his eyes and patted George on the shoulder in passing. Their manger was hunched over his computer, pretending to be indifferent. “Try to find some time in your gay pride rally for band practice,” he mumbled. But Grey knew the harried manager didn’t mean it. That was just how he was about everything.

  Grey only wished he could explain the whole complexity of it all to the poor guy, but that would only stress him out more. Better George think they were gay than know that his lead singer’s ID was fake, and his name couldn’t be found on any birth certificate.

  Chapter 51

  The next day, Grey managed to set aside some time to help out at the bookstore. He had pretty much given up working any regular hours, but he liked the weird old guy that owned the place, and he refused to just abandon him, so he helped out when he could. It was a pain sometimes, staying away from the younger crowd who might recognize him, but most of their customers weren’t really Lucifer fans.

  Grey left the bookstore still thinking about the new shipment of vintage Ian Fleming books they’d gotten this morning. James Bond books were shallow and sexist, but he couldn’t help but be enchanted by vintage books encased in plastic slip covers. Nerd to the core.

  He frowned as he scuffed along the sidewalk. Lucifer had a practice session tonight, but he should have time to run some errands and relax before then. He sighed heavily. The other guys had all quit their part time jobs, but Grey refused to give up his job at the bookstore, even though the band was getting more and more popular. He had to work mostly in the back now, or come in after hours to clean and stock. People did occasionally recognize him, even with his glasses and old clothes on, and eventually one of them was going to tell the media people. How Clark Kent managed, he would never know.

  He was walking along Seaway when a young man approached him. His fair hair ruffled in the breeze, and his cheeks were slightly flushed. He radiated a kind of nervous energy. Grey patted his pocket surreptitiously. Fresh out of pens, markers, or anything to write with. When was he going to learn to carry them with him? This whole growing star status just hadn’t sunk in yet.

  The man stopped in front of Grey and gave him an awed smile. “You are the one who has declared war on our oppressor?” He sank to his knee and grabbed Grey’s hand.

  Grey stood there, shocked. Maybe he should add pepper spray to his list. This was his first real, live crazy.

  The young man bowed his head over Grey’s hand. His touch was like ice. “We thank you for your bravery and hope you will be merciful.” He pressed cool lips to the back of Grey’s hand, his entire slender body vibrating with either nerves or chill…hard to tell.

  Grey pulled away and the man stood in a swift, fluid movement. Then he turned and headed toward the pier. Grey watched, stunned, as the guy gave him another enthusiastic smile and a little wave before he leapt up onto the railing at the end of the pier and performed a perfect swan dive into the churning, ice cold water below.

  “No!” Grey dashed to the end of the pier, his eyes desperately searching for any sign of the loony idiot.

  He glanced back toward the street and saw a familiar tall form headed his way. “Luca!” Grey thundered back that way and came up next to Luca, gasping for air, for once glad that Luca always seemed to show up whenever he needed him. “Phone!” he demanded, holding out his hand. They had to call the police, the fire department… something. The water was freezing. If he didn’t drown, the crazy guy would die of hypothermia in minutes.

  Luca looked at him in confusion, placing a graceful hand on his back. “Slow down,” he said calmly. “Breathe. What’s wrong?”

  Grey batted the comforting hand away. “Some guy came up to me spouting nonsense. Absolutely crazy.” He gestured helplessly toward the cold ocean. “Then he just up and took a long walk off the pier. We’ve got to get help. I can’t see him anywhere!”

  Luca still didn’t hand over the phone. “What did he say to you, exactly?”

  Grey shook his head. “Does it matter? He thanked me for my ‘declaration of war.’” Grey held out his hand for the phone, motioning for Luca to hurry the fuck up.

  “Oh, no.” Luca’s face fell. He seemed to finally be getting it. “Oh, hell.”

  Luca finally pulled his phone out of his pocket and hurriedly punched a couple of buttons, running one gloved hand through his hair as he started pacing. Did he have the police on speed dial?

  Grey almost punched him when he spoke. “Hey Dad, got a sec?”

  Grey reached for the phone impatiently, cursing himself for leaving his own at home. Luca dodged and shrugged him off, holding the phone just out of reach, thanks to his unnecessary height. “I think I know what caused The Change. One of our relatives just had a chat with Grey. Thanked him for declaring war.” He paused and nodded. “Yeah, I know. I hadn’t really thought about it. Yeah, I’ll do it now.” He paused, listening, and then heaved a heavy sigh, his blue eyes traveling over Grey appraisingly. “Okay. I will. If he’ll even talk to me after this.”

  He put his phone away and Grey threw up his hands. “Luca! Hello. Someone is drowning! Did you have a nice chat with your dad, jackass?”

  Luca shook his head. “That guy’s fine. I’ll show you.” He held out a hand. “Let’s go down to the beach.”

  Grey couldn’t believe Luca's reaction. Fear coursed through his body. A guy had just committed suicide right in front of him, and Luca didn’t care. Suddenly Luca’s calm, collected, unfazed personality was taking a creepy turn. Numb, he let himself be led down to the beach. Was this where they made a suicide pact over their gay love affair and followed after the guy? He would have laughed if he didn’t feel like he was going to puke.

  Luca led him to the edge of the churning, angry gray water. For some reason, Grey’s feet propelled him even further, to the edge of the waves smashing against the shore.

  Grey felt something building up inside him, rising like the waves at high tide. In fact, the waves were rising, splashing over his Converse. A swarm of seagulls wheeled overhead, carrying on like it was the apocalypse. He glanced at Luca, panicked. His breath came in short gasps as he tried to hold it in. Whatever it was.

  Luca only smiled at him. His eyes were…swirling…the dark blues and grays churning like a stormy ocean. “It’s okay. You don’t have to hold back anymore. Just let it come,” he said confidently.

  Grey gaped at Luca in surprise. The torrent inside him rose up and he felt as if he were drifting in warm surf—not standing calf deep in freezing water. Something drew his attention back to the water. A figure rose up on the surf, frothy and insubstantial, but vaguely human-shaped. Grey stared into silver eyes. Platinum hair nearly as white as the curling surf floated around its—no, his body.

  “Oh, hello again,” the man warbled in a voice like the wind. “Such beautiful men.” His gaze shifted between Luca and Grey. “A water sprite with the siren?” He blinked at Grey uncertainly, as if afraid of being tricked. “Is something wrong? You are the one I felt before, the siren my brothers and sisters told me about, correct? I was afraid I was mistaken, since there are no male sirens. But I can feel it now that you’ve touched the water. It’s you…even though you’re not supposed to be a man.”

  Grey finally found his voice. “You got that right.”

  The man sighed, the sound like a rushing breaker. “Did you need something from me?” His brow furrowed, a ripple in the glass-like skin of his head area. “I only wis
hed to thank you for helping us. My brothers and sisters said you were the one who would save us. We wished for you to know we are grateful and will be happy to pledge ourselves to your cause.”

  Grey gaped. “Uh….” Intelligent.

  Luca piped up behind him. “Thank you for being so thoughtful. By any chance…do you know what caused the women on this island to change?” He didn’t sound shocked or scared. He was suspiciously at ease in the face of…whatever this was.

  The creature glanced at Luca and away, back over the ocean. “You’ll tell Pontus that I helped you?” He wrung his hands, such as they were. “When she finds out, she’ll be furious. We can’t withstand the wrath of her and her sisters.”

  Luca nodded toward Grey. “Grey will tell him.”

  The figure turned to Grey, speaking hurriedly. “A curse. The other siren was in a rage over something to do with a human man. She begged her sisters for help with her revenge. She was…unhinged. Her sisters agreed to help her, in exchange for her giving up any claim to the other islands…the ones where it is warm. With their combined power, they were able to curse the island.”

  Then the being melted away into the surf without another word, as if the revelation had startled him out of existence.

  The warm, floating sensation left Grey and he hopped back, out of the freezing, calf-deep water. His legs were numb with cold. His sneakers squelched, and his jeans clung to his lower legs in a sodden mass. If there was one thing he loathed, it was wet denim.

  Luca grinned at him as Grey reached his side. He seemed unfazed by the cold water. Or anything that had just happened for that matter. “Nice job! It's hard to communicate with them sometimes. The wilder sprites are a little scattered—a little too…fluid…sometimes, to keep up a train of thought.” He made a gesture toward his head, indicating questionable mental capabilities.

  Grey stared at Luca. “Let’s start over,” he said slowly. “My name is Grey, and apparently my mom’s a siren. And you are?”

  Luca took his outstretched hand. “I’m Luca. Um…I guess you could call me a water sprite.”

  Grey narrowed his eyes. “Sprite? As in those little fairy things?” He fluttered his hands like wings.

  Luca shrugged. “Well sure, siren sounds much cooler. But we can’t all be terrifyingly beautiful women.”

  Grey let that one go. For now. They made their way back up the beach while Grey tried to re-align his thinking. “So, I’m a siren.” He felt weirdly numb. Like he should be freaking out, but just didn’t have the capacity for it.

  “Half-siren, technically,” Luca supplied helpfully.

  “So I’m a half-siren,” Grey amended. “Why didn’t I know this until today?”

  Luca shrugged. “You’re just coming into your power, I think. It’s different for all half-breeds. But most of the sexual predators are late bloomers.”

  Grey halted, stumbling over his own cold, numb feet. “What?”

  Luca held up his hands defensively. “Okay, poor word choice. But you know, sirens aren’t exactly, uh…G-rated creatures.”

  “Fuck me,” Grey muttered.

  Luca waved the issue away. “Let’s focus on what’s important—you can fix this. We know what caused The Change! I thought maybe your mom had something to do with it, but I never thought to just ask a sea dweller.” He smacked a hand to his forehead. “Normally, they’re all too scared of my dad to be chatty. And they’d rather die than piss off one of the more powerful races, like the sirens. They must really like you.”

  Luca made it sound so easy. Grey was surprised when Luca took his hand, as if nothing had changed. His long fingers laced through Grey’s and Grey squeezed back automatically.

  “You’re still you,” Luca said, perceptive as always. “Just you with a little something extra. You must have at least suspected something, even if just subconsciously.”

  Grey glanced at him and Luca smiled. “It’s a lot. I know how you feel. I didn’t know what I was until I was thirteen years old.” He made a circle beside his temple and rolled his eyes. “Though I was obviously not normal even before that. The whole ‘Surprise, you’re not entirely human’ thing wasn’t really a surprise.”

  Grey smiled at his humor. “So your family…they’re all different?

  He shook his head. “Dad is…well haven’t you had any Greek history? Like in high school English or something?”

  Grey raised an eyebrow. “So all that stuff was real?”

  “No. Not at all. Most of it is complete crap. But some things are real. There is a Pontus, for example—primordial sea god and all that. And his children are sea sprites.”

  “Then Cameron’s not human either?”

  Luca sighed. “First off, we’re all human—some of us just have something extra. But I get your meaning. Cam’s not like me, no. He’s a little stronger than most, a little faster and more agile. But that’s about it. I got all the magic—not that it’s much. I have an affinity for water and the ability to see the…other...side of the world—the stuff most humans aren’t aware of.”

  “Does Cam know?”

  “Nope.” Luca’s eyes had settled down now. They looked normal, but sad. No more swirling, thank fuck. “Mom and dad split when I was thirteen. Dad took me to live inland until I had some control, since being near the ocean made everything a million times harder—it was overpowering at first. Cam stayed here with mom.”

  “That’s why I never knew about you in high school.”

  He nodded. “Yeah. I was home schooled through high school and went right to college. Dad brought me back here not long before The Change, once he was sure I could be trusted to control my magic this close to the sea. I think the old man and my mother were about to get the family back together and settle down.”

  Grey snorted. “Lucky. I mean, if The Change hadn’t messed it all up.”

  They reached the sidewalk and Luca pulled him to a halt. “You’re not mad at me for not telling you sooner? I wasn’t one hundred percent sure what you were at first…and I’ve never told anyone about this part of myself.” He sighed. “And…I was afraid you’d freak out and never want to see me again.”

  Luca sounded so vulnerable…and so relieved. It must have really bothered him, not being able to share this side of himself with the person he was falling in love with. And Grey knew all about keeping secrets to keep yourself safe.

  Grey shook his head. “No. I’m not mad.” And he wasn’t, really. Considering everything odd that had been happening to him the last few years, this was a drop in the bucket. Besides, Luca was right. He’d known something weird was going on for a while now. This was kind of a relief. At least he wasn’t actually hallucinating. Yay. Maybe it explained some of his random weird mood swings lately too. It was nice to know there might be a reason that he felt all weird and out of control, rather than it just being a character defect.

  Luca reached out and swiped a big thumb under Grey’s eye. “Sweetheart, if you aren’t mad, then…why are you crying?”

  Grey wiped at his face. “Sand in my eyes,” he snapped, his face flaming. He couldn’t cry. He wasn’t allowed to cry. Men didn’t cry. And despite everything, he was still a guy. The watery weirdo had even commented on it a few minutes ago—who ever heard of a male siren? He couldn’t even be a good monster, for fuck’s sake.

  Luca grasped his shoulders and gave them a gentle squeeze. “What is it, Grey?”

  He looked up at Luca, his heart clenching. He didn’t even know what was bothering him until the words left his mouth. “The whole siren thing…is that why…?” He couldn’t say it.

  Luca’s eyes widened. “Why I’m attracted to you?” He gave Grey a soft smile. “No. Grey, no.” He pulled Grey into his arms and stroked his back comfortingly. But Grey couldn’t help but wonder. Luca was never attracted to men until he met Grey. What if Grey had somehow magic-whammied him into this? The sirens in mythology weren’t nice creatures. They seduced and killed.

  Luca pulled back and looked down at Grey
with a beaming smile. "There's someone I want you to meet. Maybe he can give us some advice."

  Chapter 52

  Grey sat in his favorite booth at The Chow Hound, staring across the table at Mr. Smith. No, scratch that—Pontus. He sat there staring at Pontus, ancient Greek mythological figure.

  The man still looked like nothing more than a stocky, middle-aged fisherman. But when he leveled that piercing blue gaze on Grey, it induced a shiver that wouldn't be caused by a human stare.

  Luca shifted in his seat beside Grey. His voice carried a hint of amusement. "Come off it, Dad. Grey didn't do anything wrong. You don’t get to pick your relatives." He made it clear he’d like to be re-picking his right about now if that was an option.

  Pontus harrumphed and looked down at his menu. The waiter came and just stood there, glaring down at the three patrons with not a word of introduction or greeting. Grey cleared his throat.

  Luca grinned up at the balding man. "I'll have the veggie burger, please. And fries."

  The waiter sighed and scribbled on his pad. "You?" He turned bleary eyes on Pontus.

  The God tapped the menu. "The Atlantic cod, a basket of shrimp, and the perch fillet. Oh, and a large basket of fries."

  The waiter glared even harder as he wrote all that down. Grey was surprised the paper didn't start smoking from the force of that glare. "What about you, squirt?" Now the glare was for him.