Slade looks at me for a moment, then asks, “Should I attempt to… verify whose desire it is speaking to?”
I tilt my head curiously. “Can you do that?”
His smile is bright as he nods. “You will need to put your hands on your ears first. I can alter the tonal quality of my song not just to draw you in based on desire, but to find out what I need to use to draw you. IthinkI can… fiddle with that notion a bit and see what the magic is attracted to.”
“Think, hmm?” Kaspar says as he looks at the siren. “You’re getting bold about your skills, kid. That’s a good thing, but you need to be careful. You don’t want to get zapped by whatever the fuck it’s possible to be zapped by down here.”
Damon makes a face as he nods at the sentiment. “The dragon is right. Even demons can run afoul of others’ tricks and shit. I sure did when I lived here. Angelo likes to pretend I didn’t go anywhere but the library, but that’s not entirely true. I had a studio with computer things, and I definitely ran into crap that gave me a good whammy when I was working to learn my trade.”
“Oh! I get it,” Salem says with a grin. “You were learning to hack and shit, but doing that meant you had to show you could get into shit within Hell and Discordia. People put protection that’s physical, magical, technological, and more on their secrets. You got smacked by some of it in the course of doing what you had to do.”
“Yes,” the younger twin says as he rubs the back of his neck. “When you’re new, you get slapped alot. Some of it is more effective than others, and some is downright dangerous. You could end up in the infirmary for a week or more if you’re going up against the oldest students or even the crown.”
“Okay then, it’s settled.” Kaspar looks at Slade with a firm expression. “Find out who the thing is calling to, if possible. Once we know, we’ll work out where it is, and then how to get to the fucking thing.”
Slade turns to face the end of the hallway we haven’t explored yet and says, “Cover them now.”
We all put our hands over our ears and brace for impact, and I assume the siren starts singing as the air gets tight around me. Flashes of color and magic spark in the air as he does so, making me squint to see if I can identify what he’s activating. A playful pink sparkles through the air, then a deep wine color, and it’s followed by a rainbow band that twists together to dance along the space. It looks like they’re searching for our target, but they’re… working together?
I have no idea what the fuck that means.
Salem nudges me through the caliphate bond, and I feel a questioning emotion. He’s wondering what the hell this is, and I agree with him. We haven’t had the pleasure of working with a siren before, so this feels weird and mysterious. But the others probably feel just as off when dealing with our shit, and they get over it, so… I send him the feeling of patience, hoping that he will stay focused on the result and not the method. I’d rather speak out loud because it would be easier to make him understand, but with our ears covered, that won’t work.
The colors dance around for a few more moments as we watch and then finally rest in front of the last door at the end of the hall before the door to the stairs. Then they disappear entirely, and the siren turns around to gesture for us to remove our hands. He smiles brightly before he says, “That door contains something that I believe is important toallof us. The mixing of the magic and the emotions coming from what you could see told me that it would link to the desires of all three of our women.”
I blink rapidly as I parse that statement. That would mean the pink belongs to the Fae woman, the wine to the gargoyle, andsomehow, the rainbow must have been the mark of Kat. Sincemymagic is often rainbow tinted, that wigs me out a little. I fidget with my hands for a few moments, working out why it would appear that way but failing.
Salem turns to me and rolls his eyes. “Dude, we can’t get all the answers right away. You know that. Don’t get lost in the applesauce about stuff; the genuine issue is finding out what is in that room and who owns it… then we can worry about why. You know?”
If only my brain worked that way, I’d be comforted.
Twenty-Seven
KIT/KAT
The pleasure goes on for whatfeelslike forever, but even in this half-drunk, out-of-control state, I know it didn’t. However, the scents in the room are now amplified even more, and I curl my lip as I find the curious addition of one I’m not familiar with. I’ve grown used to the smell of my body responding to the guys, but this? It’s not me and it’s sodeliciousthat I want to take a bite of something. I can’t, obviously, because Oriel is lying on me with his head on my thigh breathing heavily. But the part of me in the driver’s seat really wants to throw him off and jump on top to do… something?
Fuck if I know, I’m so torn between all these damned emotions and desires that are whirling around in my head.
“O?” I say and almost die on the spot at the sound of my super husky purr. My voice sounds like something out of Bridget Bardot or Eartha Kitt’s catalog, and what the actualhellis that?!
He lifts his head, and I see the flash of his demon peeking at me in great satisfaction. “Yes, little shadow?”
The deep baritone of that reply makes my girly partsandthe colors inside of me shiver in anticipation. “Um… what just happened? Not… thephysicalpart, I understand it in concept, if not practice, but…”
Neat. My very aggressive side is allowing my brain to function enough to say semi-intelligent sentences.
“Well, I came in my goddamn pants for the first time since mytrueadolescence, so good on you…”
“Again, that’s—wait, seriously?” My internal emotions war between embarrassment, pride, and a renewed desire to bite something. Pushing those scattered feelings aside a bit, I respond softly, “I meant… Why am I… whatever I am right now? I know it’s not… the same.”
That gets his attention, and he shakes his head like he’s trying to clear it. Once he’s done blinking and muttering to himself, he looks up at me again. His eyes widen and he grins so big that it looks like it’s going to split his face. “KK! You did it!”
I frown. “I mean, yes, I overcame the fear, but that’s still not?—”
“No, no, no!” he growls with a frustrated tone. “Notthat, though yes, you did, and I’m so proud. You didit.” The crow shifter rolls to the side and rummages through a pile near the bed, and makes a happy squawk when he finds whatever he wants, then comes back to hold up a mirror to my face.
Holy hand grenades and feral bunnies… I’m a fucking demon-chick.
