My stomach twisted and churned until bile rose, forcing myself, I swallowed it down. I didn’t know if I wanted to know what he was doing on his back while here with her. My mind went down the dangerous road of imagining her straddling him, riding him until they both came.
I did hear him groan earlier like he did with me every time he came...
She must’ve not heard my approach as she still sang the achingly beautiful but sad song that I couldn’t understand. Her face was bent toward Rune with her eyes closed like she was in a peaceful moment with her lover, who was mine. One of her hands was tangled in his loose hair, stroking through the brown and gold locks with the few braids in the mix. He groaned again in pleasure as he clutched at her harder. One of his hands swept down to cup her ass like he did with me.
My face grew hot as tingles swept through me. Bile rose in my throat again, which I had to keep swallowing so I wouldn’t puke my guts up from how upset I was. I tried to keep it together, but I trembled with heartache. But underneath it all, I was fucking livid.
She was touching him. She had no right.
But I couldn’t move. I stood frozen in my spot, watching them with wide eyes stinging with tears. I gasped to catch my breath as it became harder to breathe. It didn’t help that my head spun and black spots were dotting the corners of my vision.
Why wasn’t I moving? Why wasn’t I going to them and saving Rune?
It was clear he must be under some spell as she continued singing, and he didn’t know what was going on. I knew him, and he would’ve known the second I ran to him. He most definitely would’ve known as soon as I came through the tree line and saw him with her. So why wasn’t I doing something about it and saving him?
Time slowed down and the siren’s singing became slow-mo, sounding deeper, like what I’d seen in movies and TV shows. The sounds of the night went just as deep and slow. Even the space around me blurred like I had put on glasses with a high prescription for someone who was as blind as a bat.
I jumped when a man murmured by my side, “I never liked sirens.”
I whipped my head toward the voice, my breath hitching on a gasp. Standing next to me with our shoulders a finger away from touching was a man with green eyes and long red hair that stopped just below his shoulders. He curled his lips down in a deep frown and narrowed his eyes at the woman and Rune. They shifted to me as he barely turned his head to give me a better look at his face. He had a straight nose, high cheekbones, and a sharp jawline. He was handsome but gave me chills from whatever power he was emanating.
Whatever it was that rolled off him reminded me of a bonfire rising and about to grow out of control. It held the threat that it would burn everything and everyone that got in its way. No, scratch that. He seemed like the type that would chase everyone down while manically laughing.
Who did he remind me of? Someone I’d seen before had the same type of energy. I could’ve sworn they were popular too. It was at the tip of my tongue...
“Or what we call the huldra in Asgard,” he said with a soft growl.
I blinked. I couldn’t find my voice and say anything. It wouldn’t work, and my head still spun while my chest was still tight. All from hearing Rune groan because of the siren or whatever it was this man called her. My very soul was in pain with what I thought was a deception.
“Follow your gut, beauty. Don’t listen to the lies of your spiraling mind.”Rune’s reminder echoed softly.
The man jerked his chin toward the two with his eyes still on me. “If you cut off her tail and slit her throat to make her stop singing, he’ll come out of it with a little help.”
Who was he?
Why was he helping me?
How did he slow down time?
I drew my eyebrows together, and I forced myself to talk. “Who are you?”
He flashed me a grin and took one step away from me, then another as he made his way toward the siren and Rune. With his back to me, he waved his fingers for me to follow him. For whatever stupid reason my feet moved, and I was by his side. His footsteps were quiet while mine were loud with squishes from the mud.
“You don’t know?” He chuckled and shook his head slightly as he peered at me with twinkling, amused green eyes. “He didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
He waved his hand to dismiss my question and snorted with another chuckle. We stopped halfway to the water, where Rune still held onto the woman, her song a constant slow bass. I shivered and swallowed back the fear and anger.
The redheaded man turned toward me, and his eyes held the same amusement, but the rest of his face set into a mask of indifference.
“He’ll have to tell youeventually. But for now you need to focus on killing the huldra. She’s still disguising herself as someone he desires the most and consuming his soul, but slower for the borrowed time you have. My powers only hold for so long until time snaps back. Cut off her tail to stop the illusion she has over him, and slit her throat to damage her voice. She won’t be happy but—” His green eyes flashed with more amusement and he curled his lips into a mischievous grin. “I have total faith that you’ll kill her before she killsyou.”
A lump formed in my throat, making it hard to swallow as my panic rose. He held my stare for another heartbeat and curved the corner of his lip higher into a smirk. Raising his hand with his palm up, he curled his fingers into a fist and time snapped back.
I opened my mouth in a silent scream as the siren’s—or whatever it was the man called her—singing went back to a high pitch. The suddenness of it pierced my eardrums, vibrating them until I swore my ears were bleeding. With it, gravity changed like what I imagined it would feel like falling from space to earth in a matter of seconds.
Someone grazed their hand over my back, a silent command for me to open my eyes and attack. I gasped with soft groans as I buckled, trying to keep myself standing. The same hand shoved between my shoulder blades, throwing me off balance as I stumbled forward a few steps. I glanced around while gasping for breaths, which were muffled thanks to my now throbbing eardrums. For a moment, I feared I would lose my hearing, but then I was shoved again by the same invisible force.
