hanging alluringly off of her shoulders and she positioned herself just-so so that she looked beautiful. As she did, I realized something.
This was another challenge. My mother had been correct- we were going to have unexpected challenges. I felt panicky. Brennan wouldn’t be prepared for this. It was almost impossible to stave off a siren. I should know.
She finally finished preening and turned to gaze into my eyes. I stared defiantly back, unable to move. She smiled just slightly.
“Don’t worry, Empusa,” she said softly, her eyes glued to mine. “I won’t hurt him.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. For some reason, I believed her. Killing Brennan now would spoil the game for the Olympians so that wasn’t what I was worried about. Seeing Brennan in the arms of another beautiful woman… that was an entirely different story.
Chapter Seven
It didn’t take long for Brennan to wonder what was taking me so long and come to find me. The wooden door creaked open causing me to open my eyes. The two men on either side of me gripped my elbows hard, although I don’t know why. The strange gauze wrapped around me held me surprisingly tightly. I couldn’t move at all.
Brennan stopped short when he saw the siren on our bed. I gulped hard and tried not to close my eyes. I wanted to, but I had to see what happened here. It was an undeniable and unpleasant need.
“Who are you?” Brennan demanded. To his credit, he kept his eyes on her face, not on her half-naked body.
“Helen,” the Siren murmured in answer. “Come sit with me, Brennan.”
Her voice was like a song, soft and beautiful. The serene sound made you feel relaxed and tranquil, as though you could float away on the sound without a care in the world. No wonder sirens were so successful at luring men to their deaths in the ocean.
“Okay, Helen,” Brennan replied politely. “It’s very nice to meet you. Now tell me…why are you here? And half-dressed? Where is Empusa?”
I again had to give him credit. He still had me on his mind even faced with the siren’s blatant attributes. It was impressive.
Helen smiled again, lifting one elegant hand. “She’s nearby. But you need to focus on me now. I’m your challenge, Brennan. Do you think you can win?”
Brennan looked confused. “You’re my challenge? How so?”
I wanted to throttle him. When a siren tells you that she is your challenge, you don’t stand there and question her. You turn around and walk away. But then, to be fair, I guess he couldn’t do that. We had to win our challenges or the game would be lost. Struggling to swallow, I kept my eyes frozen on the pair in front of me.
I could hear Brennan breathe as he tried to wrap his mind around his current situation. I skimmed through his thoughts quickly and I knew the second that he figured it out.
“No,” he stammered. “That’s an unfair challenge.”
“No one ever said the game would be fair,” Helen answered simply. She patted the bed beside her, her hand slender. “Come, Brennan. Let’s get this started. You must withstand me- every temptation that I might offer you. If you do not, you fail. And you know what will happen if you fail.”
Brennan nodded. “Yes.”
Helen giggled, seemingly unaffected. “So come. This will be fun. Let us begin.”
Brennan sighed a heavy sigh that seemed to shake the room, but that might have been my own breath quivering in my chest. He slowly approached the bed and stiffly sat next to the beautiful siren.
“What do I need to do?” he asked.
Helen moved so quickly that I didn’t even see the movement. She was just suddenly behind Brennan on the bed, her mouth directly behind his ear. “Nothing,” she breathed into his neck. “You don’t have to do a thing.”
“But withstand temptation,” Brennan added.
Helen only laughed. “Good luck.”
I gulped.
Helen slid around Brennan smoothly, like a beautiful snake sliding along a branch. She wrapped herself around Brennan and kissed him lightly on the mouth. The room was so sexually charged that I could practically taste the energy and it was all I could do not to vomit. My stomach was clenched into an iron ball.
Brennan didn’t respond. He sat motionlessly on the bed. Helen pulled back a little bit and stared into Brennan’s amber eyes.
“Is that all?” he asked coolly. Sweet heavens. She would take that as a challenge. I wanted to slap him.
“Oh, dear boy,” she cooed. “I’m only just beginning.”
She snapped her fingers and he was instantly lying on his back, each wrist and ankle bound to a corner of the bed. I gulped again. This couldn’t be good. I wriggled within the confining gauze but there was no way I was getting loose. It was so tight that I could barely breathe.
Hovering above Brennan, her hair dangling along his body, Helen licked him. She traced little trails along his skin; up his legs, over his hips, across his chest. She paused at the most sensitive areas, causing me to close my eyes and Brennan to shudder in pleasure even though he kept his lips pressed tightly together.
Against his wishes, he was enjoying it. I could hear him pleading with me in his thoughts.
Empusa, I don’t know where you are, but I am not enjoying this.
Where are you?
I don’t want to like this. I don’t. What the hell is this woman?
I tried to answer, but found that my thoughts had been blocked, as well as my movement and my voice. I couldn’t communicate with him at all. I was utterly helpless. Helen turned to glance at me, her eyes knowing. She was reading my thoughts, she could hear my frustration. Her lips curved upward in a slight smile. I gritted my teeth. Brennan moaned and then clamped his lips tightly together again.
He really was trying. His knuckles were turning white as he gripped the skins covering the bed. He was doing everything he possibly could to avoid being affected. But he was a man. He couldn’t help having a physical reaction.
“Do you want to make love to me?” Helen purred into his ear as her hand stroked his body. He shook his head and I knew it was because he didn’t trust his voice to speak.
She licked the skin on his neck, blew on it and then whispered again in his ear, ever-so-softly.
“Are you sure?”
Brennan gritted his teeth and once again nodded. He was literally pale with his efforts to remain unfazed by her. I had never been so proud of him. He was certainly tapping into his demi-god abilities. A regular mortal would have been butter in Helen’s hands by now.
Helen sighed. “Why must you be so difficult?” she asked softly, breathing into his ear. Her breasts were pushed in his face and the seductive scent of her perfume filled the small hut. I honestly didn’t know how he was restraining himself. It was taking a Herculean effort.
“I don’t want you,” Brennan said firmly, even as a thin bead of sweat broke out on his forehead. “Not truly. You are simply making me feel like I do.”
“But aren’t feelings the most important things of all?” Helen asked innocently, weaving her fingers through his.
“Lust is not a true feeling,” Brennan told her, his voice stronger now. “It is a fleeting sensation. It isn’t important. The moment this challenge is over, I won’t ever think of you again. Caving into you now would not be worth it.”
Helen laughed again. “Oh, trust me. I’ll make it worth it.”
But Brennan shook his head, his jaw set stubbornly.
“Fine,” she sighed, rolling her beautiful green eyes. “We’ll have to do it this way.”
I could taste the alarm in my mouth, the metallic taste lingering on my tongue. But before I could even think one more thought, Helen started singing.
In a wordless melody, she hummed and sang a song that was absolutely breathtaking. The beautiful notes hit high and low, weaving a tapestry of music that I’d never before experienced. Along with the music, she was somehow releasing pheromones into the air. I could taste them as they wrapped around me and I breathed them in. It compelled me to move
toward her, so much so that if I wasn’t restrained, I would have walked straight to her and offered myself to her in whatever way she deemed fit. Her song was that profound.
I realized in that moment that her song was her deadliest weapon. When her physical charms failed to work, she simply opened her mouth and sang her deadly song. And it was powerful. My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for Brennan’s reaction.
His face drained of color, his knuckles turned purple from the strength that he was clenching them with. He even stopped breathing. He was literally holding his breath in his effort to restrain himself. I ached for him, because I knew the tremendous effort it must be taking.
Helen ceased her singing just long enough to stare down at him, perched as she was atop his chest.
“I know you want me,” she murmured. And then she started singing again as she bent and draped herself on his body. She trailed her fingers lightly along Brennan’s arms and I could see him begin to shake as he fought hard to resist her.
“Just say the words,” she suggested to him. “Tell me you want me. Tell me to make love to you. And this torment will be over.”
Brennan gritted his teeth as sweat poured down his temples.
“No.” One word. He rasped it and the effort that it took for him to speak was unmistakable. And one word was all that he could muster.
But one word was enough.
Helen stopped moving and stared at him, shock apparent on her face.
“What?”
“I said no,” Brennan repeated, this time sounding stronger. “I do not want you.”
“Yes, you do,” Helen said uncertainly, leaning forward and brushing her lips across his. “I know you do.”
“My body wants you. But I do not. Please get off of me. We can sit here and do this all day, but I won’t cave in to you. I won’t. So you won’t like the outcome.”
He was abrupt because he had to be. He needed to focus his energy on keeping his body in check and resisting her. But his tone was firm. He meant what he said. And Helen knew it.
She sighed in defeat and instantly the mood in the room changed.
The smell of sex and pheromones disappeared as Helen climbed off of Brennan and stood on the floor next to the bed adjusting her clothing. She snapped her fingers in my direction and the men holding me shoved me in front of them. I felt to the floor and I knew my invisibility was lifted.
Brennan stared at me in shock as I writhed helplessly on the floor in the impossibly strong gauze. Within a second, he broke the bonds that held him to the bed and leaped to my side. He was able to untangle me from the gauze in just a few seconds and helped me to my feet.
“Empusa, are you alright?” he asked quickly, staring into my eyes. As I looked into his, I was so overcome with his dedication to me that I wanted to cry. In fact, my eyes did tear up. He was instantly concerned, followed by fury at Helen. Turning to her, he started to grab her arm, but I held him back.
“It’s not her fault, Bren,” I insisted. “She was sent here by Zeus as part of the game. And you won this challenge. It’s fine. It’s wonderful, in fact. I can’t believe you did so well.”
“I can’t either,” Helen sniffed. “No one can withstand me.”
“Brennan just did,” I told her with a cocky smile. “Now go home and lick your wounded pride. And on your way, you can tell Zeus that we have another point.”
Glaring at me, Helen snapped her fingers once again and she disappeared along with the two hooded men.
Alone, I stared at Brennan. “You do love me, don’t you?” I asked softly. He looked surprised at my question.
“You doubted me?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. “You should never bet against me, Emmie. Especially not when it is something concerning you.”
I nodded slowly. “Alright. I’ll have to remember that. I love you, Brennan.”
“And I love you.”
He opened up his strong arms and I flew into them. Cradling me softly to his chest, he kissed my forehead.
“And I just forfeited some pretty hot-and-heavy moments for you. Are you going to compensate me for that at all?”
I yanked away from him and looked up to find him laughing. I swatted at his arm. He was so large that I seemed about as effective as a gnat, but still.
“You’re impossible.”
“I know.” He smirked and I had to laugh before I once again straightened my clothing and hair for breakfast.
Chapter Eight
“You’ve done well,” Circes creaked from across the breakfast table. She paused with her soup spoon midway to her mouth, the steaming porridge dripping back into the wooden bowl. “I’m impressed, son of Apollo. Mortal men can never resist a siren.”
“I’m not a normal mortal, Circes,” Brennan pointed out calmly as he took a bite of his own breakfast. “Although, some advance notice would have been helpful.”
“I did not know in advance,” she replied. “Zeus alone knows his plans.”
“Circes,” I interrupted. “When do you think we’ll hear of our next challenge? It’s maddening to not know.”
She shrugged, dipping her spoon once again into her soup. “I know not, Empusa. Be patient, young one.”
Young one. I had to smile. Only the very ancient could call someone who was a thousand years old young. I heard Brennan chuckle, as well.
“I don’t know what you’re laughing about, young pup,” I told him, jabbing him in the ribs. He laughed even harder until Circes silenced him with an icy, sightless stare.
“There is nothing to laugh about,” she told us. “There is much that still lies ahead. You will need to focus more now than ever before.”
“We know, Circes,” I assured her, quickly finishing up my soup so that I could step away from the depressing conversation. “Trust me, we know.”
She nodded, placated. I grabbed my trencher and left to scrape my dishes off with Brennan on my heels.
“She’s pleasant,” he remarked as we took care of our dishes. Handing my bowl to a young girl, I nodded at her and then replied to Brennan.
“Circes means well. She’s so old that I think she’s lost her tact.”
“You think?” He laughed at my obvious statement. “If she were any less tactful, she would be a Mack truck.”
The village still sparkled with dew and we strolled through it, enjoying the morning sun. The grass was thick and wet and the air smelled fresh and new. I breathed it in and tilted my face to the sun. As the warmth bathed me in its glow, I found myself comparing Brennan to it. It was impossible not to draw the comparisons. He was a child of the sun, after all.
“I wonder what other powers you hold,” I mused, grasping his thick arm tightly as we walked. “What powers you might have that we aren’t aware of yet.”
Brennan didn’t seem concerned. “It’s hard to say,” he answered. “But I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
“I’m sure,” I answered absently. I stared at the beauty surrounding us. The magnificence of nature was impossible to ignore here in this serene place. The air was always hushed, as though it was waiting for something. I almost felt as though I should whisper. The sunlight filtered through the limbs of the trees, creating a beautiful glow. It seemed to illuminate everything around us. I turned to Brennan.
“Have you ever actually thought about how different you and I are? You are born from the sun. You are glowingly beautiful. The sun’s power is bright and warm, illuminating everything that it touches. I am from the moon. I dwell in the shadows, the darkness. Moonlight provides a buffer for the night, hiding things that are frightening…things like me. We’re so different, you and I.”
Brennan stopped in his tracks, his eyes pensive and thoughtful as he appraised me.
“Are you serious right now?” he asked. “Truly serious? Because that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” He reached over and grabbed my hand, his voice earnest.
“Empusa, you are the most beautiful creature, inside and out, that I have
ever laid eyes on. You do glow. Your glow is ethereal because it comes from the moon. So many beautiful things come out at night. There are actually night-blooming flowers that solely bloom in the moonlight. You remind me of those, actually. Do you truly feel that you belong in the night because you should hide?”
I swallowed, trying to swallow the foolish tears that threatened to form at his sweet words. I finally settled for nodding. I just couldn’t trust my voice.
He took a long breath and grabbed me, clutching me to his chest. I could hear his heart beat against my ear as he spoke again.
“Emmie, you’re the most delicate and beautiful thing in the world. Your soul is pure and sweet. You are not frightening, not in the least. I want you to put that thought out of your mind right now. I love you. I wouldn’t love you if you were a monster.”
That thought was meant to be comforting, but it wasn’t.
“Brennan, you would love me no matter what- because we’re connected. My mother still loves my father, who is the most heinous monster in the world. She cannot help it because they are soul mates, like we are. So,