I hate that I agreed with the last part. It seemed like just that.
“How do you know for sure…that I do? Or that I should in front of your father.” I wanted to look at him closely, analyze his answers. He didn't know I overheard him in the car. Just then Jason joined us. He’d been absent till now, making himself cozy with the females who surrounded him the second we arrived. He nodded to both of us, eyed our closeness, and then started to walk away.
“Are you my enemy now?” I yelled to him. It was sudden and aggressive, but he just ignored me.
“Don’t do this, Lark,” he half turned.
“What the bleeping—Are you crazy?” I stepped up to my long time friend. We were too loud, but I didn’t care.
“You can keep your tactful “bleeping” curses to yourself Lark. I back you one hundred bleeping percent like I always have. I was the only one bleeping there for you. Crazy doesn’t term it correctly though I readily ask myself the same question at times. So take you’re bleeping—oh, forget it. Whatever the hell you do is up to you. Call me when you need me again.”
Jason pushed my hand away hard enough Daniel intervened. A hand wrapped around my shoulders. Jason looked both of us over carefully noting the closeness.
“It obviously isn’t me you need.” His stiffened stride said it all.
Daniel whipped his arm off me like I was diseased.
I guess we were not far enough apart like he planned, but hero mode wasn't off limits.
Not much was said except to ask if he was always like this and how I managed to want to stay friends with him. I told him he was never like this before which seemed to cause laughter. Giving him an incredulous look, he shook his head and only laughed again. Instead, Daniel ignored it altogether and continued on with the previous conversation like it never happened.
“Because a prophecy was written and hanging in the hidden depths of the safe room said you could.” He answered the question left in the air before Jason made an entrance. Daniel waited till Jason was far enough away, and then squeezed my hand. I couldn’t figure men out for the life of me. “But we figure out how to do it secretly or not at all.”
Which left me defenseless.
“Are there any others like me?” I asked tense with both subjects dueling in my head. I still refused to believe I was that unique.
“I told you, you are one of a kind.”
“Yeah, but was that a line to butter me up or the real truth? There have to be other girls like me who aren’t just regular siphons?”
"No, I have determined just that. You are more than just a siphon."
Just then, a male model of a guy swaggered up to us and stopped way too close to my personal space. “Drop this stiff and I’ll make it worth your while? Dane’s a chop to my steak.” The honey in his voice was disguised with the way he licked his lips. He did all this in front of Daniel. What the heck?
“She is spoken for. Move on!” Daniel’s protective arm moved across the front of me.
The lip licker shrugged and walked away but not without mumbling something about not letting me be alone. Black combat pants were standard here it seemed, but this guy walked like he was on a runway. Men shouldn’t walk that elegant.
“What was that about?” I blushed wanting to hide away.
“My point proven. There isn’t another creature on this planet like you.”
Uh! “Now I am a creature?”
Daniel rolled his eyes. “The only siren/siphon I’ve ever seen.”
“Siren? Like the mermaids in Homer? I’m not a siren.” I pointed down my front, “Look at me. I’m plain.”
He LOOKED at me. All of me. “”Then you are your own fool. Your beauty could not be outdone by even the gods you mentioned.”
I think that was a compliment. “Still. Siren/siphon sounds kind of devilish.”
“Not the word I’d have picked, but if the need be, we will use it to save your life. For now, no singing unless I give the say so. We will not last one minute in here if they find out what you are. Hold your breath if you have to fake it."
"You mean this siren/siphon thing?"
"Mostly," he flipped my hair behind my neck.
He was hiding something again. I wondered if he knew he touched my hair each time he thwarted the truth.
“What happens if they know you’re helping me?” I dared to ask what I probably knew the answer too.
His eyes left nothing to the imagine, “Let’s not think about what can’t happen.”
DANE Seeing Clearly
I already have her taste in my mouth. She has me in hers. I see the way she licks her lips, looks away, and thinks I don’t see. I know it’s because she wants me to kiss her. I want to kiss her.
But I can’t. Not here at the council. They will see. More, they will see the way I kiss her. All consuming and no bars holding me back if she gave the go ahead.
She doesn’t see herself at all. She is the most beautiful girl I have ever seen or known. Of course, she caught my eye the first day I’d followed her home from that wretched school of hers. But the rest of her is what makes her so stunning. Her determination, purity, her tenaciousness for finding the truth that is so hard for me to give yet knowing she will find out anyway.
"I'm not sure you have made it clear on why helping me as a new girl is wrong."
"Because I never have before."
“That’s not fair.”
Fair. A word that doesn’t register with my vocabulary anymore. I lost count of the many times I shouted the words myself. The death of my mother. The day I broke my arm losing the only swim race I ever lost. The day I found out my father only wanted to use me for my talents. The day I found Lark Spur.
Fair. It wasn’t allowed in my world. At least not until now.
LARK ✜ Justification
Daniel grinned in that mocking way he was good at. “That’s one of the things I can’t seem to get enough of. You’re determination to see everyone happy but yourself. Maybe it’s not fair. Everything in life is not fair.”
“What’s wrong with wanting others to be happy?” I asked trying to stop my rush of emotion.
“Justify it however you want, you’re important too, Lark,” Daniel chuckled low. “You don’t even realize how much.”
Was he meaning to him or the council—I didn’t ask. I severely liked that he hadn't helped another girl get to know the ropes, but he had just told his father he would keep an eye on me. His father even indicated I was some kind of harem female if he wanted me. He had permission to be near me, but he was afraid. My guess is he thinks everyone will decide I am this scary one to fear if he is too near.
"Are you going to ignore me too then? Distance yourself to keep others from thinking I am this girl they fear or worse, hate."
His face said I was all kinds of right. "I think it best, but I don't know yet if I can. I don't want you alone."
He was the one afraid.
“Let me tell you more about where we originated.”
“Like I didn’t already guess aliens or something weird like that.”
He rolled his eyes my direction. “We originated with the American version of the vampire.”
I let one eye lift in disbelief to move him on.
“Historically, all manner of creatures have been created as a result of freak accidents.”
“Then someone should to write it down for the rest of us.”
“And what would the human race do with the information? We already have a large population that believe themselves to BE vampires.”
“Regardless. Too many are in the dark.”
He shrugged. “In 1892 Mercy Brown and her family all contracted Tuberculosis, known then as consumption, over a two year period. People were superstitious about the disease and were easily led to believe that it was associated with the undead. When her father was left alone with only a son who’d also contracted the disease, he took desperate measures at the word of others by digging up his wife and two daughters. Merc
y, who was just nineteen and most recently dead, was said to not be in the stages of decomposition and still contained blood in her heart. The father cut out her heart, burnt it, mixed it with water, and fed it to the dying son, Edwin. He died anyway two months later. Since the mother and other daughter had died two years earlier, their bodies were farther gone, but not as much as they should have been. From there, others tried out the “magic potion” to save their loved ones, but in the end created a new kind of supernatural power in humans. Somewhere along the way, they say the heart of those with the TB created a life force within the surviving sick ones that altered into a greater need to feed off of others. They survived the Tuberculosis, but became the creatures we are today.”
“Vampires?” I smirked.
"Or a version of."
"It just sounds crazy."
Daniel leaned against the wall beside him. “It’s a lot to handle when you’ve been in the dark. I wish like anything someone had told you. I can stop if you want.”
“No. Please go on.”
Daniel looked around though no one was near.
“Let’s talk later. I don’t like you in the open.”
“You can’t hide me away.”
His brow lifted. “Can’t I?” His eyes went up and down my length for the second time in the conversation. At least I wasn’t worried about attraction. I was leery still of his ultimate motive, but something inside told me he was genuine.
Left alone in what could only be called a bedroom, I searched for creature comforts. Behind the thick curtains were nothing more than walls. My best guess is they are there for looks or sanity. The pint sized lamp by the bed illuminated the room like a streetlight requiring no other electricity in the room. I didn’t know what wattage the light bulb was labeled, but it could only be described as high powered. After boredom settled in, I sat in the only chair and willed him to return. Caged and lonely, I decided to make my own will to survive. Escape.
Wanting to ask Daniel a few questions about the next day, I slipped out the door to find him. Assuming he would be in the direction of the council room, I veered that way.
I passed a room where voices were shouting, recognizing one. Two steps backward and pushing the door open, there stood Jason and a girl with long blue streaked hair. Her clothes were far from modest and her attitude was worse. Purple curtains hung on either side of the bed that matched them, but the walls were black. Jet black!
The room mimicked mine in structure, but with less of a feel for someone who lived in it. I knew the second I entered my own that it belonged to someone else. And it wasn’t a girl's room. This one was a girl's room.
Just intending to listen, I leaned on the wall right outside. Stealth didn’t appear to be my best quality because the door screeched open and a fuming Jason stood there watching my face. The girl seemed just as agitated and ready to take me out.
“Come in. Kristy was just leaving.”
He knew her name.
Kristy pushed past me with a hiss and a few choice words ladies shouldn’t even let pass in their mind. Her humongous combat boots clopped the concrete floor with each step. Jason now held the door waiting for me to enter. If this was his room, then it was on borrow.
“You have something to tell me?” I hinted. "That was not new girl, new guy anger."
Without an answer, he closed the door. I didn’t give him time to form a lie. “You know her, don’t you?”
His head inclined slightly.
“And you have been here before?”
Another head bob.
“How long have you lied to me?”
He stood rigidly in the middle of the room, then moved back towards the door.
“The day before I graduated from high school a man met me in the parking lot after school. He said my parents were executed because of who they were and I was hidden away for safekeeping. That part needs to remain a secret if you please. They made me come here, but I refused to stay and went back to Dallas where I got an apartment.”
The events added up, but not the reasoning. “And going back was good for what reason if you weren’t going back for your stepparents?”
Still standing by the door, he held my gaze a little too long before he dropped his hair in his eyes and headed to the only chair in the room. He pulled it out and hinted for me to sit down. I did only for the sake of seeking answers.
“You were the only other I know of who is like me Lark. I couldn’t leave you to the wolves. If they intended to take you like they did me and do the things they did to me…well, that wasn’t going to happen.”
He leaned on the bedpost, folding his arms and crossing his legs like he had to hold himself down.
“Why? What did they do to you?”
“I am here now and you are with Crawford. That is all that matters.”
"I am not a breakable vase you have to keep an eye on. And what does Daniel matter with being here?"
"He will keep you safe where I can't."
He was still hiding something. “Who was that girl?” I nodded to the door.
“The past.”
“While you were here?”
Another nod.
“She seems upset with you. Did you break her heart?” I tried to make the conversation light in lieu of heavier subjects but he barked back with everything I said regardless.
“Passing the time. I was only here for a few months.”
I created a timeline tracing back to when he would have graduated last May. He would have returned to Dallas at the beginning of my senior year and had remained since. “Why did you go back to Dallas?”
“Pointless now," he kind of growled out.
I had a bad feeling where this was going and it would only make us both uncomfortable. He was the one who turned me down. I feared hearing my supposed destinies were the soul of his changed mine. “Are you going to leave again?”
“Are you?”
It wasn’t really a question but more like a plea for something I couldn’t read. I felt like a game show contestant trying to puzzle the riddle and the seconds were ticking. “Not unless we need to. Jason, I need you. I can’t do this without your support. You’re my oldest friend.”
His face darkened. “You need to get back. Your absence will be noticed.”
I watched him cross the room and hold the door open just like when I entered. I pecked his cheek and said goodnight without another word. He grunted in my direction and shut the door with a little more than a slam. I didn’t know what I said to make him so angry, but at least it wasn’t the wrath Kristy witnessed.
DANE Failure is Not an Option
Father intended for her to fail. I knew he was indecisive on whether she was putting on an act or not, but I also knew he’d not wait long to find out. If he felt he could use her as a weapon, he would exhaust that avenue first. What worried me was how far Lark would be put to the test and if she'd break before the right moment. I didn’t want to worry her and at the same time press her to play the part better than anything else. The conflicting emotion I chose to banish forced me to also ignore the consequences of who or what she might have to endure in the process of telling her how I felt about her. It wasn't smart for me to be that consumed by her this fast, but it is what it is. I didn’t want another male body near her, yet I wouldn’t be able to avoid every situation she might find herself in.
Breaking her to see her abilities is the only way my father knows how to do things. The ring room would be her uprising...or her downfall.
“What can you tell me about her, son, that can help the cause?”
I had this rehearsed and ready. “She is diabolical in her actions with others. She likes to appear sweet and wholesome to the humans, but she can be conniving when need be. A vixen in her own right.”
“The evidence is stacked against her from what my PI’s saw of her for the month of December. And all other leads point to the fact that she is a sylph which makes her the nexus. The work Kelvin spent on her mother alone told
us as much.”
A sylph. How did that escape the last round of leaders in the council? Or did it? What if they knew all along?
Sylphs have an affiliation for the air. That explains why they sent for her. Her connection with the song and prophecy makes more sense if she was born from a sylph and a siphon. It explains the signs of the siren in her.
“So if it turns to that, can’t her vow to our council cancel out her destruction?”
My father crossed his leg over his knee and leaned back in his office chair. “Assuming her vow is genuine.”
And with that, I knew he doubted even me. After years of giving in to his ruinous state of council business and my own ineptness at standing my ground against it, I finally admit to myself that it was the wrong path. And that even I am expendable. Following my father was the worst decision I ever made.
“She fights in the ring in a week. I will keep a close eye before and after.” Meaning, her out of his eye.
“Does she require coercion?” He spun a ball point pen on the table, then between his fingers. It was his habit to avoid eye contact.
His question meant drugs. The council believed in dosing up those who needed a boost in artificial energy or strength even though our very essence collected it from humans. The side effects were horrendous in some. Steroids sure messed a person up. Most were faking it by now and taking from each other all they could. But for some, it was too late.
“No. She and I made arrangements while here for her levels to be controlled. I will make sure she is secure.”
"Be careful son. Sylphs are powerful, especially females."
"I thought they were all female?"
He twisted the pen in his hand around again, "Just let me know if she needs coaxing."
LARK ✜ Task at Hand
I grabbed one of the chocolate treats left on my pillow and headed out to meet Daniel. I had a feeling this was his room and worried at first he was sleeping here with me with the comment made by his father, but I stayed alone all night. I could tell the sheets were fresh, but his scent couldn’t escape me. Daniel’s things were in the closet as well as bathroom, so I knew it had to belong to him. A little happier knowing I would see him in a minute, my cloud of gloom lifted. I smacked straight into him coming out the door. Had he been standing guard?
Siphon (Siphon Chronicles, Book One) Page 11
