Among Demons : A Siren's Voice

Ch. 6 : Questionable Reaction

*Nick Carnia*

All of us had been in agreement that we would keep a close eye on Lora while she healed, each of us bringing our work into the common lounge we used so she could slowly get used to us. I could see how conflicted she was feeling while my sister explained what our positions in this building were. I could see the tiny little flicker of hope along with something else lighting up her ringed eyes.

She was deep in thought once we all turned our focus elsewhere. Yet my mind and my eyes kept circling back to her.

Checking to see how her wounds were healing. Watching her eat when my sister placed more food in front of her. The small wrinkle between her eyebrows as her eyes became unfocused, her mind clearly lost somewhere else, had me guessing what her thoughts could be. And the way she moved, with slight twitches or tightness on certain parts of her body added anxiety to my already overflowing head.

I hadn't stopped questioning why I was reacting so much to her. Going so far as to collapse from relief after we brought her back here, bloody and unconscious. Once I woke up, I continued to hover too, watching her sleep and refusing to leave the building.

The guys had all sat with me just last night to talk it out since I was coming up with nothing concrete on my own. And with their help we came up with a few, very plausible reasons behind my behavior. And my soon-to-be brother-in-law was the one to point out the most likely reason.

"You reacted the same way last year." He muttered, after we had all been talking in circles for a full hour.

"What do you mean?" I asked, moving my gaze from my whiskey glass to him.

He sighed as I took a moment to gather his words, a frown taking over while he stared at his own glass.

"After we found Devin in that warehouse…" I stiffened at the memory, my mind easily pulling up those haunting images. "When Verilla was able to bring her back and told us all how she was going to be fragile for a pretty long time… you reacted just like this."

Danny and Izaak nodded in agreement, bringing up the many times I hovered, fussed and deliberately stepped in to do things for my sister after she returned from the dead. They made their comparisons between the two situations, with them all noting how my sister's lifeless form had been just as bloody and beaten as Loras before she had been revived. So it made sense to them that I was subconsciously reliving that moment after Lora fainted the night she ran into me.

It explained my intense reaction to her. The panic that made me hover over her during the few days she lay healing. And the fact that I was still watching her, noting every slight wince or flinch of pain and discomfort that she was feeling.

But a different part of me was questioning if that was really all it was. Especially when I was paying attention to everything else about her.

The shoulder length, golden blonde locks that framed her soft face. Ringed eyes that now glittered with life. Pouty lips the color of fresh pink roses. And an impossible to ignore figure that was both athletically lean, yet temptingly curvy in places that drew my gaze.

I wasn't blind to the woman at all, or the fact that I was quite obviously attracted to her. Hell, I made myself laugh a few times, catching how I was acting like a horny, love-struck teenager. It all made things that much more embarrassing for me when I locked eyes with her a few times and found myself unable to act like the grown-ass man I was.

Instead I'd just freeze, stupidly smile or nod back and then look away stiffly, unable to say anything to fix the awkward vibe I gave off.

And it all just confused me further.

I mean, it's only been a year since my rapid divorce following the arrest of my ex. And I still felt pain when I awoke from the nightmare that our marriage turned into. So why was I so attuned to Lora like this? Why was I now, as if by magic, suddenly open to the attraction and allure of another woman, when a couple weeks ago I reacted badly to some cashier flirting with me at the grocery store? I hadn’t so much as thought about dating, or even hooking up with another woman since my divorce. And my reactions to women flirting with me weren’t all that good either, yet here I was, nearly drooling like a beast in rut at this woman I barely knew.

Was it because she was a Demon? No, since a few Demon women have been flirty with me since my divorce and I still didn't reciprocate or react positively.

Maybe it was because she was a Siren? But I haven't even heard her voice yet, so how would I become enthralled or interested if she hasn't been able to use her power on me? Of course, there was a possibility that her Pheromones themselves have had some level of affect on me. But that also doesn't fully make sense, because I haven't been in close, physical contact with her.

Sirens were different from Succubus like my sister, in that their Pheromones required romantic physical contact to take effect. And all I've done is hold her in my arms while she was unconscious.

Could I just simply be ready to move on now? No again. It felt too quick to just up and suddenly want to start dating after separating from Holly who still haunted my damn memories.

Then why?

Why was this obviously beautiful woman drawing my eye so much? Why was I so focused on every tiny little thing about her now that she was up and walking around? Why was I so eager to hear her actual voice, spend time with her and get to know her?

What the hell was wrong with me?

I groaned a little as I felt a headache start to grow. Then, needing something to either help or dismiss that craziness swirling in my head, I got up and moved towards her.

"Hey." I called out, smiling a bit when she moved those ringed eyes to me. "Mind if I join you?" I asked, motioning to the chair beside her.

She smiled softly and nodded, turning her body in her seat to face me as I pulled the chair back and sat down.

"How are you feeling?" I looked her over more carefully now that I was closer, making a mental note of the places where it seemed to bother her when she moved.

She moved her little notepad towards me a second later, tapping on her response on the top of the page with her index finger.

'A little tight and sore, but good overall.' Was written in a smooth print and tailed off at the ends.

I nodded to her response and paused for a moment, thinking back to the huge information dump my sister had done a little while ago.

"Do you have any questions about us?" I asked her, watching as that little crease between her brows returned while she thought. "Maybe about our work or anything else you're curious about?"

A few seconds passed before she flipped the page on her notepad and started writing. So I watched and waited, feeling myself grow more and more curious, seeing her list several different questions for me to answer. Though most of them were about what each of us did within our position, she had added in a couple more personal questions as well. And strangely enough, those questions were mostly about the other Demons in the room.

So, with a much more relaxed smile, I leaned forward on my arms, resting them on the table as I carefully answered her questions, focusing first on the work related ones before moving on to the more personal ones.

She nodded and smiled, looking curious as I answered each work question for her. And a few times, I would pause when a more detailed question was written down so I could go into better depth on all our different responsibilities, giving her some examples and stories to help paint a picture for her when needed. It was nice having this little conversation with her, though, obviously a little one sided since she still couldn't speak. But it was still peaceful and somewhat soothing to talk to her.

Soon, the more personal questions remained, and I wondered if she ever learned much about Demons other than her own Race.

“I don’t mean anything by this,” I started, pointing to her first question that asked more about my sister as a Succubus. “But, how much do you know about other Demons?” She looked a little embarrassed and I smiled reassuringly, hoping to put her at ease, if only a little. “Were your parents Human?”

It wasn’t strange for Demons to come from Human parents, like Izaak and Sammy with their cute little Elf kids. But it didn’t happen all that often. And when it did, nearly every Human parent rejects and abandons the child once they realize that it's not Human. So being raised by Human parents was the actual rarity, and our friends were, thankfully, a part of that small percentage that accept and continue to love their kids.

Sadly though, being raised by Humans has its disadvantages, since most Humans don’t really know anything more than myths, legends and lore about Demons. And a lot of that was wrong.

I looked down a second later, watching Lora’s hand move over the notepad again, smiling when she turned it for me to read.

‘My mother was a Siren like me, and my dad was a Vampire.’ It read, making me nod and smile some more. ‘I only really learned about my parents and their unique traits as Demons.’

This was another thing that was pretty normal with Demon families, especially ones that were mixed, like hers.

Demons have almost all adopted the same way of thinking since they first became trapped on Earth and separated from their home world of Aether. They focused so much on only passing on the vital knowledge of their own races to their children, helping them understand themselves as individuals as they grew older. It made sense when you looked at it objectively, since the children born to Demon couples always take after one parent or the other. But it created a sort of awkward barrier when those kids interact with Demons of a different Race from their family, sometimes causing misunderstandings or all out fights.

It was, however, nice to see that Lora didn’t have any problems opening herself up to learning more about other Demons now that she’s met two of them that have helped her.

"Alright, would you like me to start on anyone specific?" I asked her, pointing back up to her first few personal questions before glancing at the girls that were currently grouped together, talking about the upcoming weddings.

She focused on the questions about my sister first and I started explaining different things to her about Succubus and Incubus Demons. Then, once that topic was discussed for a decent chunk of time, I moved on to Fairies and made a face up at Nyla when she picked up on our conversation.

After another long while, Devin walked up to us, asking me to help Marcus and Danny pick up a huge order of food from a Mexican place that I knew Nyla loved. So, after joking a bit with my sister and getting nearly shoved out of the room behind the guys, I unwillingly left, catching myself smiling at nothing as we made our way out of the building.