Sound of Sirens, Jen Minkman [digital e reader .TXT] 📗

present.

It’s as if they’re trying to save them. Dani’s words echo through my mind, remembering me of the old ink drawings and the things she found out about Dead Men’s Casket Lake. Suddenly, I’m terribly upset about losing the book to the Skelta and the resistance. I would have loved to know more about our lost tales.

“You coming?” Dani wants to know as the square partly empties after the choir has gone off-stage. “You wanted to go see Adrian Limes, right?”

“Yeah. Let’s go.”

We get our bikes and zigzag through the crowd of people, all of them on their way to the park. I know it’s silly, but I keep looking back to see what Royce is doing. According to old customs, he’ll have to wait for the sacred choir of St. Brandan to finish their performance before he can go anywhere else. He’s one of the Current VIPs, after all. For the first time, I wonder how much of a cage the easy life is to Royce. Sure, bars keep the danger out, but they also keep his people locked up. I think he’s trying to escape by composing – his music sounds like he’s celebrating a certain kind of freedom that is always just out of reach.

I should really stop thinking about him.

“So. You and Sytse, huh?” I say once we’ve left our bikes at the park entrance and slowly make our way toward the small stage.

Dani blinks at me in alarm. “W-what do you mean?”

I chuckle. “Just that you guys are going to Osterend tomorrow. But after your reaction, I should probably assume it means more.”

“Don’t be absurd.” She looks away.

“Yeah, ‘cause my brother is not a big fan of age gaps, apparently.”

“Oh.” Dani pauses for a few seconds. “What makes you say that?”

I clear my throat. “He said Royce was way too old to hang out with the likes of me.”

Dani shakes her head. “Not that old.”

“Well. I’m not going to see him again anyway.”

My friend shoots me a sideward glance. “For real?”

“Yes.”

“You’re really giving him up because Sytse wants you to?”

I shrug awkwardly. “I guess.”

In the silence that follows, I can see a look of incredulity grow in Dani’s brown eyes as she stares me down. “You’re not going to give him up,” she finally establishes. “I know you. That’s not the way you tick.”

“Well, maybe I’m resetting my clock.”

She sighs. “Please be careful.”

“You’re not listening!” I cry out in frustration.

“And you’re not being honest,” Dani calmly replies. “Fess up – when are you going to see him again?”

I bite my lip. She knows me far too well. “Tonight,” I admit. “I’ll break it off tonight. Please don’t tell Sytse.”

She rolls her eyes. “Of course not. What kind of blabbermouth do you think I am? I’m your best friend.” Before I can stop her, she hugs me tight, and I try to fight back tears. Somehow, I always cry a little when people comfort me. Maybe it’s because I feel I can finally let go.

I wriggle out of her grasp after a few seconds. “Come on, let’s just chill out near the pond,” I say, my voice a bit thicker than usual. “It’s close enough to the stage but we’ll be able to lie down in the grass.”

I want this afternoon to just be about me, Dani, and our mutual love for music. I’ll deal with whatever comes next by the time I get there.

13.

“Ouch.”

I stifle a curse when I bang my knee against the windowsill. Gasping for breath, I crouch down in the grass underneath my window and carefully crawl away from the house. Sytse and Dad think I’m already in bed for my early start tomorrow, but if they happen to glance out the window and see a shadowy figure running away from the house, they might think to check up on me. I don’t think I’ve ever attempted to escape from my own house by sneaking out through the window, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

The stress lancing through my body makes me run toward the abandoned village despite the darkness. I know the way now, and I know there are no obstacles to trip me up besides the lies I had to tell to even make it here. Maybe I should do what I told Dani I would – I’ll allow Royce to listen to my LP one more time and then take it away from him forever, and myself along with it. If Sytse is right, all of us Skylgers might be able to listen to Jyoti in the near future anyway. So I don’t need Royce or his damn equipment.

By the time I arrive at the cottage, I am completely out of breath and my fingers holding the Phoenix LP are a bit damp with sweat. Sinking down onto the sagging garden fence next to the door, I run my hands through my hair and hope it will make me look slightly more presentable. My chest expands and shrinks, forcing the air in and out of my lungs. Slowly but surely, I calm down.

And that’s when I hear it, through the hammering of my own heart in my ears. It is music – an otherworldly, captivating piano melody that drifts out the window and into my heart. Royce is playing, and this time he’s not wearing his weird earmuffs. I can hear him, softly yet clearly.

When I gingerly push the door open, he doesn’t turn around or look up. Maybe he hasn’t even heard me enter. His body is hunched over the keys and he sits spread-legged on the piano stool as though he is riding a horse, holding the reins to control the melody and shape it like the songs of his soul.

Slowly, I tiptoe toward him, not uttering a single word to break the spell. A part of me wants him to acknowledge my presence, but another part wants to just eavesdrop on him unawares – and become a part of his most private emotions. His shield is down, opening the shutters so I can look in from the outside.

When I come even closer, Royce unexpectedly looks over his shoulder to shoot me a look I can’t fathom. His mouth turns up in a roguish smile before he turns back to the piano. My heart stutters. He has seen me. He knows I’m here – and yet he keeps playing. He wants me to hear this.

Of course, the melody has to run its course and dry up eventually. A meaningful silence descends in the room as Royce gets up from his piano bench and stares at me. A few long strides and he’s standing in front of me, towering over me as I look up and rack my brain for something to say.

“You let me hear your work in progress,” I finally whisper in awe.

“I did.” He nods, and the movement makes a few strands of dark hair flop over his forehead, partly obscuring his blue eyes as they search mine. His lips curl up in a smile. “Isn’t that part of the reason why you came?”

“N-no.” My tongue feels like sandpaper. “I just – wanted to...” Say goodbye, I add in my head.

“No?” Royce takes another step closer, prompting me to hold up the LP like a shield. It makes him smile a bit wider, and I turn red. I don’t know what the hell I’m doing. “Then what do you want?”

He stands there, clad in those way-too-sexy, ratty jeans and a sleeveless black top. I don’t ward him off anymore when his hand reaches out to touch my cheek. The feeling of his fingers on my flustered skin stops any coherent thought I might have conjured up. He slowly leans into me, his face so close to mine that my breath falters. Meanwhile, he’s pulling me in, tugging on a strand of my long, dark hair.

“Stop toying with me,” I croak, despite the fact that I want to shut up and just wait for him to kiss me. I want this, but I don’t. I don’t know.

“I’m not,” he says, softly and seriously. “You really think I’m playing you?”

“I’m scared.” My whisper is hardly audible.

He exhales. “Me too.”

That admission makes me blink up at him in surprise. Why should he be scared? He’s got nothing to lose.

“Why?” I say, but my question remains unanswered.

Royce moves in and his lips briefly touch mine, the heat from his mouth erasing the words that lingered there. He pulls me into his arms and kisses me again, more insistently, trailing his hands down my back and resting them on my hips in a deliberate gesture.

The LP drops to the floor. I moan softly and close my eyes when his tongue parts my lips, stirring a hunger in me that I’ve never felt before. And I know this is what I came for – I could tell myself and Dani and my brother a million other things, but this is what I want. I’ve allowed my sad, hungry heart to lead me astray and make me fall for the wrong guy.

Royce slowly pushes me backward until my back is against the wall, his mouth never leaving mine. A shameful heat flushes my face when I feel just how much I want him. My body is so warm and soft and eager to embrace him. It’s all new to me. I liked kissing Alke, but I guess we never had true chemistry. Nothing like this.

“Enna,” he says when he finally breaks away from our passionate kiss. His rough voice sends shivers down my spine. “I’m so happy you came. I thought you wouldn’t.”

“Why wouldn’t I come?” I say, looking up at him. “I promised I would.”

“Well. It’s late.” Royce shows me that crooked smile that makes my heart race. “Much too late to be out in a dangerous place like this.”

“I saw you today,” I blurt out. “With all those girls.” Inwardly, I kick myself for sounding like a jealous witch seconds after our first kiss.

“They’re freshmen,” he replies calmly. “I was their supervisor during a study project a while ago, so they wanted to say hi.”

“Right.” I stare at the floor.

Royce lets out a sigh and slips his arms around my waist. “I don’t like them, okay? I like you.”

His words make my heart sing, but I’m too scared to believe them. “Why?” I just want to know.

“Because you’re real.”

When I look up again, his blue eyes look so sincere that I can’t stop myself from entertaining the possibility that he’s telling the truth. “You – you don’t meet a lot of real people?” I stutter.

He shakes his head. “They hide. Just like me, actually. I want to be different, but I can’t. The only time I’m showing myself is when I play my music. But people don’t realize it. They think my vulnerable side is just a part of some cunning theatrics I put up to enthrall the audience.” Royce takes a step back and pulls me along to sit on the couch, but I stop to pick up the record I dropped earlier.

“Was it different when your mom was still around?” I hazard once we’re both sitting down.

“Yes.” He caresses