Siren Song (The Fated #1)

12 | Midnight Meeting

Iliana refused to stay unarmed. Despite how lacking her knowledge of Nightmares happened to be, even Iliana knew they were more active at night. So, as darkness took over the world outside her cabin, she stepped over to the kitchen and systematically went through the few cabinet drawers until she found a few dinner knives. They were flimsy things-- Iliana doubted they'd be able to cut through the thick hide of a sea serpent-- but sharp enough that holding one in her hand made her feel safer.

Knowing that walking around with it in her hand might not be a good idea, Iliana wrapped the blade in a scrap of fabric from her old trousers, then used another scrap to tie the blade to her thigh. After spending several minutes practicing pulling the blade from beneath her skirt and nearly slicing open her leg, Iliana decided that her make-shift sheath only worked as long as the knife stayed in place. Once she'd pulled it out, Iliana would need to stand still and secure it again if she didn't want to risk making herself bleed. This in mind, she tied a second to her other leg and walked around until she felt comfortable. Hopefully, they wouldn't fall down during the trek to the waterfall. Sending a half-hearted prayer to the gods about it, Iliana returned to the front window.

She chewed her lip, her fingers idly tapping her leg as she stared out into the dark night. It was almost midnight, she was certain. The moon sat high in the sky, urging her to step out of her cabin and set off to meet Callias. She would wait a few minutes longer, however, as the lantern in the cabin across from her own had gone out only a few moments ago. As she watched, waiting for any sign the sirens were still awake, Iliana's mind continuously dredged up worse-case scenarios of what could have happened in the hours she'd left Kain alone.

The merpeople could have changed their minds about the risks-- whatever they were, Iliana hadn't quite understood them, just that they existed-- of keeping Kain in the cave. They could have abandoned him. Nightmares could have attacked. Kain could have sustained an unseen injury while in the water that killed him while she was gone.

Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. She'd just got him back--Iliana wasn't about to lose him again. 

It was time to move.

Within moment she'd slipped out the front door and began her careful, quiet trek to the edge of the village. Luckily, nothing seemed to go wrong and she soon stood just outside the willows, looking around for any sight of Callias. Instead of his blonde locks, however, the longer she stared into the dark woods, the more certain she was that only a dozen feet away, his back against an old tree, stood Aran. In the dark, his semi-transparent figure was even harder to make-out as he seemed to blend into the shadows.

His eyes trained on her, the gatekeeper cocked his head to the side. She had the distinct feeling he was questionin her presence. Well, he wasn't the only one confused.

"You..." she murmured. "Why are you here?"

"We agreed to meet, did we not?"

Iliana nearly shrieked in surprise. Just barely suppressing the noise, she spun around to face Callias. He was watching her with a raised brow, his lips just barely turned up at the edge. The amusement disappeared rather quickly, but in the split second she'd seen it, Iliana realized that Callias was strikingly handsome when he smiled. Of course, she instantly dismissed such a thought as completely unimportant in the current situation.

"We did," she said, then spun around. "I was ask-- where the fuck?"

Callias sighed. "Your language.... Must you talk like a sailor?"

She shot him a glower, before scanning the forest around them. It wasn't her imagination-- Aran truly was gone. Unless... unless she'd imagined him in the first place. In which case, mentioning him to Callias would only cause needless worry. Then again, if she wasn't imagining him...