Savage Beauty

by Casey L. Bond

  I grabbed the damned broom and headed outside. If she was taking me with her, there must be a reason. She must need me for something.

  Ember meowed from the porch as we settled onto the stick. “How is your hair already dry?”

  She smiled. “Commanding the wind has its benefits.”

  “Why are you taking me with you?” I questioned her. “You should send me home or...” I didn’t want to say it. I didn’t want to die.

  “I told you that I would protect you.”

  “For William.”

  She looked over her shoulder. “For you. And for me. William has nothing to do with it or with us. I will keep you safe because I want to. The easiest way for me to do that is for you to be near me. With me. So, we’re hunting sirens this evening. Their song can lure you to a watery death, so with your permission, when I find one, I’ll take your hearing with a spell.”

  I opened my mouth to protest.

  She stopped me with a wink. “I promise to give it back.”

  “Like you’ll give the eyeballs back, or return the spirit to her grave? What about the dragon’s egg?”

  She rolled her eyes. “I need those ingredients for the spell, and your hearing is not on the list. I don’t know if anyone’s ever told you this, but you talk too much.”

  With that snarky reply, we took to the air, but she flew slowly, just above the canopy. The wind whipped her hair this way and that. I saw that Malex had marked her again, but tried to hide it behind her ear. “Why the mark?” I asked, hurt.

  She tensed beneath my fingers. “It’s for protection.”

  “From me?”

  “From Aura... and you,” she shouted back at me. A few tense minutes passed and in no time at all, she said, “There,” and steered toward the ground.

  As soon as I put my feet down, she waved a hand through the air in front of me and suddenly, the world went silent. I couldn’t even hear the leaves crunch beneath my feet. She motioned for me to come with her.

  I could make out one word she mouthed. “Bait.”

  You’ve got to be kidding me.

  LUNA

  I felt guilty using him, but at least I did so with his consent. Sort of. I knew he wasn’t thrilled with luring the siren, but I needed a human and he was the only one I happened to have at my disposal. Plus, despite the fact that it wasn’t his fault that he’d been working for my sister, he owed me. He probably thought my need for him and his help was the only thing keeping him alive right now, but it wasn’t. That wasn’t it at all.

  He walked toward the great lake with me. Most sirens were found in the sea, but that was more than a night’s flight away. This lake was the largest inland, and there used to be sirens in these waters. I just hoped there still were.

  I positioned him at the water’s edge and mimicked the motion of washing my face. He took the hint, rolling his sleeves up, while I hid behind the thick trunk of a nearby oak, the handle of my knife warming in my palm.

  When he dipped his hands into the water, ripples spread out in great arcs, traveling over the water’s surface. The sound of frogs and crickets were the only sounds other than the splashing, watery ones Phillip was making.

  He probably thought it was extreme of me to take his hearing; that he’d be able to hear the siren approach and have time to cover his ears, but they were stealthy beneath the surface, and hands over the ears wouldn’t keep her song from reaching his mind. No, this was the safest way.

  My muscles were tense, but I was ready for her. I just needed her to sense him. I needed her to be hungry for him. The thought coiled in my stomach.

  He looked back to me when a few moments passed and nothing happened. I pretended to unbutton my blouse and he got the hint, swallowing thickly, his Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. But he removed his tunic, pulled it over his head, and then slowly began to unbutton his shirt.

  I watched as, inch by inch, his chest was exposed.

  And then his stomach.

  The muscles across his abdomen flexed as he finished the job and shrugged the shirt off. He splashed water on his skin, his muscles rippling with every movement. He scooped a handful into his auburn hair and I watched it sluice down him.

  My heart beat loudly in my ears. Everything in me hummed to go to him, but then I heard it: the most beautiful voice I’d ever heard. He looked up to find a siren staring him right in the eye, only inches from his face.

  Her hair was stringy with algae clumped in the strands, and her teeth were gray and rotten. However, Phillip looked at her like she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. That look is mine, I thought angrily. I would strip her glamour and shove it down her whore throat, right after I tore out her larynx.

  She was so focused on him, she never saw me coming.

  Before she was aware of my presence, my knife found its mark, slicing right through her flesh and lodging itself into her wretched, shriveled heart. When she cried out, I already had the bottle open and ready to catch her voice. It filled the glass and I corked it, sealing it inside. She began to fall back into the water, but I caught the handle of my knife and pulled it from her chest before she fell backward, splashing us both.

  Phillip was stunned for a moment. He clutched his chest and saw me beside him. Then he stood and began to pace and curse, raking his hands through his hair. “I can’t hear! You promised to return my hearing!”

  I waved my hand, restoring him.

  He calmed.

  “Did you have to be so brutal? She wasn’t hurting me!” he roared.

  “Look at her.”

  “What?” he asked, exasperated.

  “Look into the water at the creature who was luring you in.”

  He looked into the lake and saw her gray body floating there, a stream of blue-green blood flowing out of her chest. “What? That’s not the same creature,” he stuttered, confused.

  “She glamoured herself. It’s part of her lure. She makes you see a lovely, attractive woman, and her enchanting voice snares your soul. Then she drags you to the bottom, drowns you, wraps you in seaweed, and eats little pieces of you at a time until you’re gone. I did everyone in this forest a favor, really.”

  “I was so scared. So damned scared, Luna.” His hands were trembling.

  “Why? What did you see?” Legend said they showed you the person you wanted more than anything. Did he see Aura’s face staring back at him?

  He growled. “She looked like you, and for a second there, I thought someone had hurt you. I thought... I thought you were dying. God, above, I thought Aura had gotten to you somehow.”

  Oh. I swallowed. “It wasn’t Aura’s blade that killed the siren, Phillip. It was mine.”

  His brows furrowed. “Stop comparing yourself to your sister,” he remarked shrewdly. “You aren’t like her.”

  “I’m exactly like her. The fact that I’m capable of collecting these ingredients proves that much.”

  Without another word, he pulled me into his chest and stroked my hair. I sank into him, not giving a damn if it was real or not. Because I needed to believe it was.

  It had to be real.

  My heart cracked a little further, but he held me until I pulled away, and then he placed a soft kiss on my temple.

  We stood in silence for a moment, staring at each other, too many unspoken words stretching between us. But there was nothing we could do about it until this spell was made, and it wouldn’t be made if we didn’t gather what it needed.

  I tucked the siren’s voice into my bag. “We should go. I have one more ingredient to collect tonight.”

  “Only one?” he rasped.

  “I’ll save Terigon for tomorrow, and I have no idea how I’m going to get the last one yet. I’m still working on that.”

  He grabbed his shirt and buttoned it quickly, tugging on his tunic. He kept an eye on the siren as she floated in the water, staring up sightlessly at the star-smattered sky.

  When would he realize that real monsters were alive and well, living a
mong us?

  LUNA

  In my bag, my fingers searched for the golden chain and found it, dragging my moonstone out with it. “What’s that?” Phillip asked, eyeing the sparkling stone.

  “I need to find something. This will help me.”

  “What, does Ember have the night off?”

  I smiled. “Ember is good at tracking animals, but she’s shit with tracking humans.”

  “The umbilis?” he guessed.

  Pinching my lips together, I inhaled. “The umbilis—which I have to cut.”

  “How do you know a child will be born tonight?”

  “I don’t,” I answered. “I’m just hoping for a little luck.” I held my palm out and angled it horizontally, fingers together. Our land was shaped similarly with a small peninsula at the top, cliffs near the eastern shore, and rocky fingers along the western shores that jutted into the sea. The southern shore was sandy and warm. Most of the humans lived there, but it was too far. I needed something closer...

  Holding the chain above my palm and letting the moonstone dangle down, I said the magic words: By the power of the wind and moon, help me a newborn find, somewhere I can fly tonight, before the sun shall rise.

  As the stone began to spin in a circle, tugging on the cord, Phillip made an awestruck sound.

  The stone darted northeast. Brookhaven. We could make it to the tiny village tonight, as it wasn’t far from Virosa. If the midwife or new mother didn’t wish to accommodate my needs, I’d simply have to persuade them to cooperate.

  chapter fifteen

  LUNA

  Brookhaven was asleep. No candles were lit in the windows of the houses, save one. “There,” I said, easing the broom to the ground. Phillip had been quiet on the trip, which was more than fine with me. A woman’s scream of pain came from behind the wooden door, an orange-yellow glow outlining it.

  “I know,” he said quietly. “I’ll stay here and guard the broom.”

  “Thank you. I won’t be long. The babe is crowning.”

  “How do you—?”

  I smiled and eased the midwife’s door open, startling both women and a burly, hairy man pacing in the corner. “What the ‘ell?” he yelled.

  Staring at them, I let a glamour fall over the room. Not much, just enough to calm them. I didn’t want them to fear me. “Hello,” I answered calmly. “I need something that only you can give me.”

  “You can’t have my baby,” the woman panted.

  “I just want part of the cord tethering him to you.”

  She looked at her husband, who pulled his pants up higher. “What’ll you give us in return?” he asked shrewdly. The midwife pushed on the woman’s abdomen, staring beneath the sheet tented by her knees. The mother gritted her teeth and cried out when a new wave of pain struck her.

  “That’s right. One more push,” the midwife said.

  The man looked at his son as his wife pushed him into the world. The midwife gave him a slap and the child began to wail. The mother cried, tears of joy and exhaustion streaming down her face.

  “My God,” he said, moving to her and kissing her head. “You’re beautiful and strong.”

  I swallowed, watching the scene. This was as close as I’d ever get to childbirth, but I’d just witnessed a true miracle. The midwife used a clean cloth to wipe blood and mucous from the child, stretching his arms and legs out.

  She reached for a pair of scissors. “NO!” I shouted, raising my hand toward her. “Please. I need to cut it.” The father stiffened. “I need that cord, sir. Please. If you refuse, I’ll be forced to use magic and take the cord anyway, but I’d rather you give it to me of your own free will. Name your price.”

  “Make him strong and smart,” the father said without skipping a beat.

  I nodded. “I can do that.”

  Moving across the room toward the child, I watched him cry. “Strength he will have till the end of his days, intelligence this witch bestow; guide these parents, show them the way, let the boy child flourish and grow.” As the magic left me and entered the boy, he quieted, staring at me.

  The parents stared at each other and then looked back to me, wariness in their eyes.

  “I won’t harm him. I swear. I did as you asked.”

  The man looked at the midwife. She confirmed, “It needs to be cut, anyway. It won’t hurt your boy.”

  The man stroked his fuzzy beard. “Very well.”

  I took her shears, cut a small piece of umbilis, and tucked it into my bag.

  “Witch?” the woman called out as I turned to leave.

  I turned to her.

  “Can you make sure he never goes near the roses?”

  “You know about them?” I asked, surprised.

  “Everyone does, and we’re all terrified. Can you protect us?”

  “That’s why I needed the umbilis.”

  She nodded, wisdom shining in her eyes.

  “Look at me,” I said. “All of you.” When the three adults and child stared at me, I glamoured them to ensure I had their full attention. “Never step foot near the roses of Virosa. They’re deadly. Toxic. If you see a rose, you will run away. You won’t go near or pluck any bloom.”

  I walked through the door and Phillip handed the broom handle to me. “Did you get it?” he asked.

  “I did, and I didn’t even have to be mean about it. I did have to work a spell for them, though.”

  He smiled. “Small price to pay.”

  “Indeed it was.”

  “See? There are other ways to go about things,” he said smugly. “Take Prince Terigon, for instance. I can help you with him.”

  “How so?”

  “I’m a prince. I can get us into the castle.”

  I shook my head. “That’s a terrible idea. If we waltz in together and then cut out Terigon’s tongue, you’ll be hunted down.”

  He waved it off dismissively. “You need it, so I’ll do it for you.”

  “Thank you. I really do appreciate your willingness to put your neck on the line for me, but I have a plan.”

  “What’s that?”

  I settled on the broom and waited for him to clasp onto my hips. He did and we took to the sky. “I’m a woman, Phillip.”

  His hands tensed on my sides. “You used my name.”

  I swallowed. “Of course I did.”

  He gave me a squeeze and I settled against the comfort of his back as we flew home.

  Why didn’t Aura hide her deeds? The fact that everyone in Brookhaven already knew what lay beneath the rose bushes meant it was intentional. Aura wanted to frighten the humans. She wanted to send a message; a threat and a promise of what would happen if they crossed her.

  I tightened my grip on the broom handle.

  PHILLIP

  For a moment while we were flying through the night sky, it felt like it was just me and Luna against the world. It felt like for once, our differences weren’t insurmountable. For once, it wasn’t her steadying me; we steadied each other. There was no one but me and her. No outside forces trying to force us apart.

  But when we landed and our feet hit the earth, the gravity of the situation returned and the illusion was erased, the moment was broken. “I’ll take this inside,” she said, carrying her broom in and unfastening the bag from her waist.

  She wouldn’t look at me, and I knew that when we went inside, this awkwardness would continue to grow and build unless I did something to prove myself and my feelings for her. I walked a few steps behind. Ember was on the porch, happy to see us, meowing loudly as Luna pushed the front door open and disappeared into the spell room.

  My thoughts may have been scattered and all over the place, but they weren’t Aura’s. She might have given me false memories, or used me to spy on Luna, but the conversations Luna and I had and the feelings they evoked were mine. I just needed to show her that it was all real. It was all me.

  “Luna?”

  “Yeah?” She walked out of her spell room, eyebrows raised.

  �
��I want to kiss you.”

  She expelled a breath. “Why?”

  I snorted. “Funny you should ask. I’ll admit my emotions have been all over the place.”

  “That’s Aura’s doing,” she interrupted.

  I walked to her and she sucked in a breath when I brushed her jaw with the backs of my fingers. “The way I feel about you? That is not Aura’s doing. Let me show you what you mean to me.”

  “What do I mean to you?” she asked softly. There was fear and wariness in her eyes, and I wanted to erase every trace of them.

  When she looked down, I nudged her chin up. “Look at me.” She fastened her yellow-green eyes on mine. “This is me. This is real.”

  I slowly lowered my lips to hers, placing a gentle kiss on them. And then another. When she relaxed, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her close. She gently raked her nails through my hair. My tongue brushed her lips and she opened her mouth for me, exposing her heart to me as I exposed mine to her. I backed her slowly toward the wall, startling both of us when her back hit it before I realized it would. She smiled, biting her lip, and then pulled my head down to meet her lips again. I captured her bottom one with my teeth and she let out a low moan.

  That was the moment when she placed me under her spell. It was one I never wanted to be released from.

  LUNA

  He was kissing me, and while I couldn’t feel the earth shifting beneath my feet, I felt it spinning out of control. There was nothing but him and me. The taste and touch of us. Together.

  I raked my fingers over his stomach and tugged at the bottom of his tunic. He let my lips go only long enough to pull it over his head. I held my lips while I waited. I savored the stung, swollen feeling of my lips, but only had seconds to register the unfamiliar and warm feeling before his lips were on mine again.

  As we kissed, he slowly walked me across the room to the chair next to the hearth—his chair—and settled into it. I climbed onto his lap and looked into his eyes as he unbuttoned his shirt, button by agonizing button.

  “We don’t have to go any further—” he started.