Ronit gets up, but she moves again, putting him on his knees once more.
“You feel good down there, Siren. How about you stay?”
There’s a breathlessness in her voice that has my body tightening. Is this what lust feels like?
She lets out a husky little laugh that makes me want to rub against her.
Ronit gets up again. This time, he moves back, dancing out of the way, making sure she can’t touch him again.
“Are you all done?” Diablos snaps again.
“Yes, we’re done,” she says decisively. “I have had enough.”
Something catches her attention, and she turns, ignoring everything else. She moves in jerks and starts, pausing to listen every few steps.
I turn so I can watch her.
We all do.
She inhales and crouches down.
A butterfly lifts into the air. It’s massive and black and blue; I wish she could see it. The butterfly flaps drunkenly around and then comes straight at her before landing on her cheek.
Mei laughs, a sudden chime of glorious sound that freezes everyone who hears it. It just bursts into the world.
It goes straight into me and grips my soul. Mei was made for laughter. I think I give her a big part of who I am. I know that I don’t care.
She giggles, and the butterfly takes off, and before I can speak, this terrifyingly beautiful monster is surrounded by a cloud of butterflies whirling around her like they know she’s something special.
I know she’s something special, it's why I can’t look away, it's why I won’t leave, no matter what I have to do or who I have to fight.
The butterflies flap and whirl around, and I become aware of the Sirens with their hard stares and distrustful eyes, but there’s something else in them, too.
Maybe they have never looked at her and seen a person, a creature capable of love and laughter.
Perhaps they will change as I have, allowing glowing lanterns lit by strangers to sit inside their hearts and make the worlds just a little bit less lonely.
Mei dances with the butterflies.
No one speaks; no one interrupts her. We just watch, silent witnesses to something I’m sure they all thought was impossible.
How did she know the butterflies were there? Does she feel them in the air around her? Does she call them to her?
Is she magic?
There is so much I need to learn about my mate, but the one thing I know above everything else is that she is mine.
And this morning just proved it. She was willing to save me.
If she needs to get away from the Sirens, I will help her collect these five skins and get her away from them.
Mei laughs again and twirls, her arms stretched out wide.
Whatever it takes. Whatever she needs.
Chapter 10
Mei
