“Well, my voice can be… dangerous.”
“But only when you’re singing right?”
I nodded. “Right.”
“So, we just won’t invite you to any more karaoke parties,” she answered with a laugh. “Problem solved.”
I let out a small laugh, the tension in my shoulders loosening.
“Now come on inside and let’s try one of these cookies because I’ve been eyeing them since you showed up with them.”
The shop was cozy and cluttered, smelling of herbs, wax, and oils. Shelves overflowed with all shapes and sizes of potions, alongside crystals, candles, and stacks of books.
Poppy crossed the length of her shop in a few short strides. “How does a siren differ from a mermaid?”
I shrugged, shoving my hands into my pockets. I couldn’t quite meet her eyes. She’d handled things well so far, but that didn’t mean she understood the ins and outs. She didn’t.
“You could call it a generational curse. I’m a throwback to an earlier time in our evolution. Predatory. Intensely magical. I can snare the human mind with just a few notes of my song. If I’m not careful with my voice, I can bespell an entire room of unsuspecting humans and monsters.”
“But it’s mostly your singing voice you have to worry about?”
“Right.”
“Hmm,” she said as she tapped her index finger against her mouth. “I think I might be able to help you.”
“Help me?” I repeated, frowning. There was no help for this condition. It just was.
“Yeah,” she started as she walked over to one of her shelves. “Wanda and I helped Fifi with a… pheromone issue she had,” she explained. “Her natural scent was overwhelming to mortal and monster guys, so she wanted to divorce herself from her succubus nature. Instead, we were able to contain it with a mild curse, combined with a suppression potion. It took a bit of coordination, but now it works beautifully.”
“So that means—”
“—that she can interact with humans and monsters alike without anyone jumping someone’s bones by accident.”
“You… suppressed her pheromones?” I asked, incredulous. “You just… controlled part of her?”
“Yes,” Poppy said, leaning forward eagerly, scanning through the titles of her potions. I swore she was going to bob up and down on her toes like an excited kid. “It’s careful work, but the key is to try to work within the parameters of your curse. So you aren’t harming yourself and you can’t harm anyone else. That’s the key.”
“Hmm.”
She pulled her attention to me then, eyes sparkling. “Maybe we could do something for you, Marina. The reverse of what we did for Fifi. We could help you…containthe dangerous aspects of your song, while letting you use your voice in controlled ways.”
I swallowed, my heart racing even as I told myself there was a chance that she’d be able to help me. No one had ever been able to help this curse. “You mean… you think you have a way to fix my voice? To make it safe?”
Makemesafe. Was it even possible? I didn’t want to get my hopes up, because the chances were that it wasn’t possible.
“In a manner of speaking,” Poppy said. “Fifi’s condition had to be contained with a potion to keep her pheromones under control. Think of it as a curse that subdued her natural sexuality. But your condition… well, it’s a curse already. So we’ll need uncrossing potions, blessings, maybe a few other things from the coven. But I think, with the right combination, we could come up with something that could very well work for you.”
I stared at her, half intrigued, half terrified, hardly daring to hope. Magic like this… this wasn’t just potions and rituals. It was a manipulation of something deep, intrinsic, and dangerous. And yet, the thought that maybe I wouldn’t have to hide my voice forever made a spark of hope flicker to life inside me.
Poppy’s grin widened. “What do you think? Want to experiment a little?”
I hesitated, my mind racing, weighing risk against the chance of freedom. And then… I nodded.
“Alright. Let’s see if it can be done.”
***
I chewed the inside of my cheek, staring down at the array of vials and charms that Wanda and Poppy had laid out on the counter. They’d spent the better part of an hour sorting through everything on Poppy’s shelves, weighing pros and cons in what they kept referring to as a “ritual uncrossing”. Some of the debates had actually gotten heated. It was a shame I didn’t understand a word of what they were saying. It was quickly getting to the point where only the ‘buts’ and ‘ands’ were the bulk of what I could understand.
