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Melissa and I were ready to leave for Europe but before that Alex and I needed a moment to ourselves. We climbed behind the dune, behind our house and leaned with our backs against the sand. I felt the warmth of his body. He put an arm around me.
“It was scary when Eddie almost died. I was so helpless.” A tremble went through me as I remembered the darkness of the forest and Eddie who wouldn’t budge. “I couldn’t help but thinking of you then. I couldn’t go on without you.” I touched my chest where my heart was. “If anything happened to you, I would die as well.” I gulped.
“I’m not the one going to spy on the evil of all evil. How can I even let you go? I’m the man, I should protect you.” He pressed me against him a bit tighter.
“Before I was a Siren, I’d have long gone to a shelter and accepted the meals and security in exchange for freedom. I’m glad you are still here with us. Don’t get caught while I’m away.” I took his free hand and played with his fingers.
We both quietly looked out over the ocean – rather calm, for once. I had seen so many different faces of the majestic ocean during my time on Cape Cod. Still it remained a mesmerizing sensation to stare at the beautiful nature, knowing that despite its beauty it would always stay more powerful than us. Now, we had to fight against something that was powerful but ugly and a bubble of strength rose inside me that we could destroy PaNacea. As if Alex had read my thoughts he started to speak. “What will you do to the person who controls Dr. Palmer, once you know who it is?”
“Separate him or her from Dr. Palmer and afterward hypnotize Dr. Palmer and the closest leaders ourselves. Afterward, everybody can go back to their homes. But I think it sounds easier than it will be, because this person either knows a lot about magical powers or is a supernatural creature as well. Otherwise, he or she wouldn’t know so much about magic and the Orbiters could have stopped that villain a long time ago.”
“Yes. But what will you do to that person?”
“You mean whether or not to kill him or her?” I chewed on my lower lip. I had to kill to survive but hunting people who’d die because of an accident anyway didn’t feel so much like killing. It would be my first person to kill on purpose and even though he or she’d deserve it, the thought made goosebumps appear on my skin.
“Prison is not enough. Our rights system probably doesn’t even understand that what he or she is doing is wrong.” Alex shook his head.
I stiffened. “Killing sounds so brutal.”
“Yeah. Perhaps the Orbiters can do that part once you catch that person or something.”
I looked over at his profile, his long eyelashes bringing a smile to my face as they reminded me of the peaceful look they cast on his face when he was sleeping.
“What are you smiling about now? I love your smile but sometimes it’s hard to know what to attribute it to.” He tilted his head.
“I will miss you.” I sighed.
Alex lifted an eyebrow. “And that makes you smile?”
“No, I’m trying to memorize every inch of your face. You have a lovely face.”
He softly touched my chin and then traced along my cheek to my neck. “You will come back, right?” he asked, his eyes deeply looking into mine so that I magnetically felt pulled toward him.
“Of course.” I breathed. How could he doubt it?
“Still, we should make this kiss a memorable one. One of those movie kisses. So we know what we can look forward to until we are united again.” He swallowed.
“Right.” He pulled me closer and our lips met, partly open. Soon, we both had our arms around each other as far as it was possible. Alex pushed me further back against the sand, the temperature in my body rising with the quickening of his vitally pounding heart. You couldn’t be any closer to a person without being naked. But we kept our clothes on and kept kissing in this intense embrace.
When our faces parted, his was slightly red and I assumed mine as well.
“Yes, memorable enough.” I wandered down to his pants with my hand. “Hard not to want more.”
He stopped me. “That’s what makes such a kiss even better, it lets you know what else could be but then to have to wait for it for a while, that’s what makes it bitter-sweet.”
“Ah, I see, you are an expert on that.”
He smiled. “That and many other areas of expertise.”
“But why would you voluntarily torture yourself like that?”
“It’s not torture. On the contrary, it’s bringing the pleasure to yet another level.”
“I don’t know if sending a sexually aroused Siren on a killing mission is a promising idea, but I have some consolation. At least you won’t cheat on me in my absence because there is nobody else around to cheat with.” I chuckled.
“Ha, ha. Hilarious.” He pulled me closer again. “I love you, you know? There’s nobody else I want. I need you to come back.” His expression was dead serious. “Promise me, you won’t do anything reckless.”
“I promise. Don’t worry.” We kissed again, more careful this time but still a feeling that I didn’t want to have to go without for too long.
For the majority of our journey to Europe Melissa and I ran in silence. I was thinking about Alex hoping that he, Luke and Eddie would get along in our absence. It was weird to call Eddie by his new name, but it was much easier than getting used to my own new name. What also made accepting Eddie as Rey’s new name much easier was, that he was so different from the old Rey. He seemed stable and okay enough to leave him with Luke and Alex. Luke would make sure that the house stayed safe from the VCP or help Alex to get himself and the serum to safety in case they searched our house. Further, Luke would take Eddie to The Library. If anyone wasn’t sure whether he liked belonging to the magical world, he surely would love it after having experienced The Library. First of all, your body is invisible while visiting it which is an amazing experience on its own. Secondly, you find beautiful and extraordinary books in there, which are several centuries old. To top it all off, there is a magical fountain which helps you find the book you are looking for. If I had known about The Library from the beginning, it would have helped me accept my faith as a Siren much quicker, because I’d have known that I wasn’t the only odd creature. I hoped that it would also have a positive effect on Eddie. But maybe we wouldn’t even be gone that long because luck would finally be on our side. If we could only get through to the very well protected Dr. Palmer and with that also the person who was hypnotizing him. Then, I’d kill him or her or leave them to the Orbiters but hopefully, it would be enough that the normality of the world could be restored.
“Why were you so ready to come along this time?” I asked Melissa when we were approaching the Atlantic coast of Europe. “Last time you said you were afraid if you met Dr. Palmer, you’d kill him and that would be too dangerous.”
“Well, I can’t expect Themba and Claire to control themselves while I can’t. If we are the ones who can stop this nonsense, I want to and must help as well. Better sooner than later or who else will we lose?”
My body grew heavy as I thought of Cathy who was no longer with us, and Roisin who had been missing for over two months now. How big were the chances that she hadn’t thought of contacting us in all this time?
Claire waited for us in a small country house at the outskirts of London. It was made of grey brick and the roof consisted of red brick with several skylights that had their own little roof. Furthermore, the front wall was covered in purple flowers and ivy. This is how I’d picture a house of a nice witch in a magical garden. However, nothing about the house was magical. Claire thought instead of staying at her home in Ireland it was better if we were near the action zone in London. in case Themba had a window in which he could talk to us. London was also functioning with curfews now and public transportation had seized. With that, the red buses had disappeared from London’s streets and people without cars were forced to stay within the zones where their feet or bicycle could carry them.
We had ventured into the living room. The walls were painted in a soft orange and the room was full of heavy, wooden furniture, a fire place, paintings, book shelves, and small knick-knacks. My attention was absorbed by a beautiful chandelier that hung from the center of the ceiling.
“How are you, love?” Short and slim Claire reached up and gave Melissa a hug and a kiss.
“I’m fine. It seems I should be the one asking you that question.” Melissa regarded her creator with a concerned look.
Claire waved her words off and a red strand of hair fell out of the otherwise neat bun. “Oh, it’s okay, I’m not doing anything. It’s hard to leave the dogs by themselves but they can manage. I leave out food for two days and then I return. They run around on the property on their own.” Claire gave me a hug as well and then took a seat on a tasteful white couch. I fell onto a plush red armchair. “Themba is doing a fine job though. He has collected a lot of information from the inside of PaNacea’s headquarters.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. He had arrived like an angel on our doorstep from the Brazilian jungle. Cathy had found him on our quest to seek other well-functioning male Sirens. He wanted to stop us from creating more male Sirens but then offered to help us, or rather, me, in the fight against Dr. Palmer. He was convinced I was the solution to all the problems on earth because I had appeared in one of their prophecies. A cold shiver went down my spine as I remembered the way he looked at me with his intense eyes that stood out in contrast to his dark skin. “So, he is alright?”
“For now, he is.” Claire nodded. “We can’t talk much as he has a tight schedule with his security job. Everybody working within Dr. Palmer’s circle is closely monitored. He sleeps in barracks with the other security guys. The only time that he can leave unnoticed is when he goes to a toilet in one of the office buildings which has a window. He climbs out and then he comes here for as long as he thinks is appropriate.”
“So, for the most time, you wait here?” I asked. “How did you even find this place?” I pointed around us at the books and fireplace.
“Yes, spying is not as thrilling as you think it is.” She folded her freckled hands in her lap. “I assume it’s someone’s vacation home but since now isn’t the time to travel, I let myself in. They hid an extra key under the door mat.” She chuckled.
Melissa raised her eyebrows and shook her head, but I had to laugh as well.
“Have you found out anything that could help us?” Melissa asked.
“I’m glad you asked.” A smile broke out on Claire’s face. “We think we found out who controls Dr. Palmer.”
“Seriously?” My eyes widened. “Who is it?” I stammered.
“It must be one of his close assistants as they are with Dr. Palmer wherever he goes. One of them seems to have more to say than the others though. She doesn’t move much and appears to be his personal security guard.”
“A she?” I clarified.
“Yes, Themba says she has quite a powerful aura.”
“Still, the person who is responsible for all the deaths of magical creatures? Not to mention the civilians who died in bombings or were declared as Alternatives? I somehow assumed it would be a guy.”
“That’s why Themba wanted to observe her a little more. Soon, he’ll try to infiltrate me into a conference. It’s good that you are here now. Perhaps, one of you can come with me. The three of us together might be a little much.”
“Right,” Melissa said. “You should go because you know all about hypnotization,” Melissa spoke to Claire. “Do you think it’s safe for you to go again after they threw you out at the press conference?” She looked at me.
I blushed, reliving that shameful memory. Claire and I had attended one of Dr. Palmer’s speeches to get to see him up close. Of course, I then couldn’t hold my tongue and had to ask some critical questions until they threw me out of the room. “I don’t know. If it’s me who has to put an end to this, like the Orbiters or the prophecy of Themba’s tribe said, I think I have to know who the real enemy is and see her firsthand.”
A deep crease appeared on Melissa’s forehead. “I didn’t think it would come down to something like this when we created you.” She swallowed. “I...” She hesitated. “I only wanted to save your life and perhaps also a bit selfish, wanted to have a younger Siren that I could raise.” She admitted contritely, kneading her fingers.
I leaned back in the plush chair. So many times, I had wished to hear this confession out of her mouth. Simply, because it was the unspoken truth. Now, however, I had long stopped blaming her for being the reason for every hardship the Siren life brought. Therefore, I put a smile on my face. “Who could have foreseen this? Besides, they might have picked the right person after all. I’m not willing to go down without a fight. Even if things seem insurmountable.”
Melissa returned my smile. “I didn’t doubt the Orbiter’s choice for a second.”
I sat up straighter and turned to Claire. Enough sentimentalism. “So, what can you tell us about that woman?”
“I have a picture of her.” Claire got up and returned with a newspaper. She opened the paper and we all bent in to look at the photograph.
“Themba thinks this is her.” Claire pointed to a serious looking woman who was standing at the wall behind Dr. Palmer. He gave a speech at the podium. Her posture was straight like that of someone in the army. She was holding a white clipboard and her black hair was tied back in a neat and tight ponytail. Was that what the most powerful and evil person in the world looked like?
“Why is Themba sure that it’s her?” I asked.
“He says it’s the way she can boss other people around and her strong aura. She is not one to eat cupcakes and tell jokes with, as he put it,” Claire explained.
“Yes, but does that make her able to hypnotize someone and become a world leader without ever having climbed the political ladder?” Melissa uttered her doubts.
“That’s why we should check her out as well. Three opinions will be stronger than one.” Claire said.
“That’s great work guys.” I forced my concerned face into a smile. “So, now we wait for an invitation from Themba to attend one of Dr. Palmer’s events?”
“Yes.” Claire sighed.
“How long does it usually take until Themba comes back?” Melissa asked.
“Oh, it can take anything between one day and a week. Sometimes he travels abroad with them when they are attending an execution.”
I shook my head in disgust about the executions of poor innocents. It was a step back in time. They'd declare somebody as an evil Alternative who was cursing us with the night flu. Afterward, they’d shoot him in a big spectacle that people were forced to watch. And poor Themba had to attend those. I felt bad for having put him into this position. Without me, he’d still be in the Brazilian jungle. Untouched by the other problems in the world. Yet, it was his choice to go to London and help us and right now, my curiosity to find out more about the woman who controlled Dr. Palmer was bigger than my feelings of guilt.