Among Demons : A Siren's Voice

Ch. 21 : Undeniable

*Nick Carnia*

A rage, so white hot, spilled over my body like molten metal when Nyla called my sister in a panic. Dev had put it on speaker as soon as she answered since she needed both hands to finish typing out a formal email to another Patron. So I heard everything Nyla had scrambled to get out and was up and out of my seat in less than a second. And I was in my truck another second later, racing towards the flower shop before my sister was off the phone.

Now, with the sharp screeching of my tires as I slammed on the brakes, I was primed for a fight.

I couldn’t fully recall myself stepping out of my truck, let alone walking into the building, but I soon found myself facing a small opening within the many aisles where the employee counter sat. There, I found both Nyla and Lora standing beside said counter.

My gaze barely scanned over Nyla, quickly noting that she was perfectly fine, though a little agitated and scowling down at her phone. But when I locked onto Lora, standing a few feet down the counter from Ny, I completely froze. The rage that had fueled me, made me race to this very location, was suddenly gone. Vanished without a single trace. Even the itch to fight anything and everything in my way wasn’t around anymore, replaced by nothing but concern, relief and pain.

I had seen Lora and Nyla leave this morning, smiling back at her before they climbed into Ny’s car.

Lora had been dressed in loose yet comfortable clothes, the peach colored t-shirt paired nicely with a long white skirt and simple white sneakers. Her silky-looking honey blonde hair was let loose around her, framing her beautiful face with a few shorter tendrils curling towards the corners of her eyes and behind her ears. But now, her outfit was roughly stretched out around the collar and sleeves, with the ragged tear of her skirt coated in blood and exposing her leg. Bruising on her upper arms was beginning to form, taking on the shape and size of a man's hands. Her softly wavy hair was standing on end in certain places, with sweat clumping others parts together. Her sun-kissed skin was ashen or bright pink from a mixture of fear and exertion. And her eyes, those ringed pools of smokey gray and amber, were so filled with terror that my own chest tightened with pain.

“Lora.” My voice was soft, barely a whisper with all the noises and panicked talking going on around us.

But Lora instantly turned to me.

I could see her bottom lip twitch a second before it started to quiver. Then, getting a feeling in my gut as if I knew what was going on in her mind, I opened my arms up for her. She didn’t even hesitate, rushing to me quickly and crashing her body into mine hard, forcing me back a step. Her slim arms wrapped around me tightly and her face burrowed into my chest. I held her to me as she shook her head, so much fear pouring out of her while she sniffled and shook in my arms.

It hurt me to see her like this when she had been smiling so brightly just this morning. She had been hopeful and patient whenever we talked about the scouts looking out for any sign of her young nephew. And her laughter had filled our lounge space, showing that she had truly grown to trust and depend on us, regardless of how long she had known us.

And now…

“I’m here.” I muttered to her softly, pressing my lips to her hair as I held her. “It’s ok, I’m here.” She stopped shaking her head just as my sister ran up from behind me, walking around us and frowning once she saw Lora in my arms. “Everything is going to be ok.” I continued, locking eyes with my sister and communicating with her silently.

Dev stepped back and looked Lora over while I remained focused on Lora herself, still whispering reassuring words to her in an effort to calm her. It, thankfully, didn’t take long for the trembling to stop, though Lora still clung to me. Her fingers fisted tightly into the fabric of my shirt. Her breathing was calmer now too, more even and slow, clearly taking deep breaths to continue to soothe her emotions.

“Lora, your leg.” My sister cut in gently, locking eyes with me over Lora’s head, frowning before looking back down. “You’re bleeding.”

I loosened my hold on her, pulling back just a little so I could see past her body and mine, only to find that the side of her shoe was coated in blood. So, in an effort to keep her close to me and calm, I twisted a bit in her hold, dipping down and hooking the back of her knees with one arm. My other arm braced her back, keeping her pressed to my chest. Blood smeared onto me from the wound, but I didn’t care. I wanted to help her in any way and with anything she needed right now.

If she didn’t want to let me go, then I was going to keep her close.

Devin followed beside me as I turned back towards the main door, stepping outside to find Marcus’ car with Danny and Izaak stepping out with him. Danny bolted towards the building, a murderous look in his eyes while Marcus looked over my sister, ensuring that she was alright. Izaak slowly followed after Danny, pausing to hold the door for Marcus who trailed behind him once he was happy with my sister's unharmed state.

As I walked, Lora shifted a bit and moved her arms, looping them around my neck and resting her cheek against the curve of my neck. I could feel the dampness of her tears on her cheek and felt my rage begin to simmer once more.

But guilt also filled me.

Guilt over her wounded state, feeling that I should've tagged along to watch over her. Guilt over the fear that had returned to her, immobilizing her and pulling her back into the dark corners of her mind. Guilt that those bastards had managed to get so close to her, put their hands on her and hurt her when we all knew that they were still out there, looking for her.

“I’m sorry, Lora.” I told her, unable to stop the words from escaping me.

She stiffened a bit, her head lifting from my shoulder and tilting it up to look at me. Her eyes held confusion and she blinked at me, her eyelashes clumped by her tears. I smiled weakly at her, feeling a little stupid for letting those words out. I was surprised that she smiled back at me, wiping the tears away from her eyes. Then, stunning me even more, she leaned in closer to me, pressing her forehead to my temple while her arms tightened their hold on my neck.

I froze as she held on tightly, painfully aware that her chest was now right by my chin, grazing my neck and jaw. I tried to calm myself and chase away the heated thoughts that popped into my mind. But it was a struggle to keep my thoughts clean. Especially when she readjusted herself and moved her cheek to the top side of my head, bringing her soft breasts right against my jaw and lower cheek.

A muffled giggle pulled me from my predicament, turning a little to find Devin staring at us with a wide grin on her face. I glared back as she just laughed some more, fully amused, before she turned and opened the door to my truck.

“Guess I’ll drive.” She told me, waving me into the back bench seat of my truck.

“I’m not giving you my keys.” I grunted, moving towards the open door and planning to place Lora gently in the back.

“Oh, c’mon Nicky.” My sister teased, poking at my back while I made sure Lora was as comfortable as she could be. “Nyla or Marcus could drive mine back so you can sit with Lora.” My eyes raised after sitting Lora in the middle of the bench seat, finding her already looking at me with a faint blush on her cheeks.

“What would you like?” I asked Lora softly, smiling a little, my heart thumping at the sight of that blush.

Before she could answer, Dev cut in again, appearing from around the driver's seat with a first aid kit in hand.

“She’s gonna need help with her leg.”

I looked away from the pretty blushing Siren, finding the long cut that was still lightly bleeding. Frowning, I moved the fabric of her skirt, looking over her knee and straightening her leg on the rest of the bench.

“Alright, fine.” I muttered, closing the door behind me and taking a seat.

I lifted Lora’s leg onto my lap with one hand and tossed my keys to my sister with the other, my eyes focused on the wound I needed to treat.

“I should’ve tended to this sooner.” I muttered, opening the med kit. “Sorry, Lora.”

A hand landed on my arm and I turned to look at her, finding Lora smiling at me softly with a slow shake of her head.

“It’s a bad habit of his.” Devin added, breaking the few seconds of silence that took over as I looked at Lora. “My big brother tends to apologize too much for things that aren’t his fault.”

I rolled my eyes and refocused on the wound, pulling out packets of gauze and sanitary wipes.

“You do the same thing.” I said absently, lifting a small bottle of healing potion at Lora and shaking it a little. “It’s going to sting, ok?” She nodded and bit her bottom lip, squeezing her eyes shut and bracing herself.

I smiled, amused, then popped the cork off the top. Lightly, I sprinkled the shiny pale blue liquid over the long cut. Lora jolted, no doubt feeling the light tingling sting that told us that the potion was working. I looked on as the thinner parts of the cut sealed themselves, healing over completely. The part of the cut that went over her knee had worsened and widened, more than likely caused by walking or fighting those pricks off. Thankfully, the wound that remained wasn’t all that big and was easily covered by a few gauze squares that I gently and carefully taped down.

“You’ll need to stay off your leg for at least a day.” I told her when she opened her eyes, amazement glowing in them as she looked at her leg. “We have a better healing potion back in the office that’ll fully heal you.” I moved my fingers over the smooth surface of her skin, trailing right where the rest of the cut had been. “The surface will be fully healed but the internal part of the wound will still need time to fix itself.”

I turned to look at Lora, my hand still on her leg, and a smile pulled on my lips when I realized that she was blushing even more than before. In fact, her lightly sun-kissed face was a cute bright shade of red that looked to even cover her ears. Seeing her like this, I couldn’t resist the urge to tease her a little.

“What’s wrong?” I asked softly, splaying my hand over her shin while my other hand rested above her knee, away from the bandages. “Your face is red, Lora.” Her hands flew up to cover her cheeks, but her eyes continued to look at my hands sitting on her leg. “Are you in pain?” I leaned in a little closer, smiling when she finally looked into my eyes. “Is there anything more I can do to help you feel better?” She squeezed her eyes shut when I took a chance and curled my fingers around her leg, kneading the tender skin above her knee slowly.

“We’re here!!”

Devins loud voice cut into my enjoyment of the situation, turning to glare at her as she stared back with a smug, amused smile.

“Thanks.” I grunted, looking out the windows to find that we really were back to the office.

I hadn't even realized that she had pulled out of the parking lot at the flower shop, let alone noticed that my sister was driving.

Said sister then opened the doors for me as I carried Lora into the building. Her silent mocking looks and the little bouts of laughter she let out annoyed me. But I couldn’t really say anything about it.

Dev had been pushing me to tell her how I felt about Lora and my oh-so obvious attraction to her. She encouraged me to do something about it. To try and see if there was something there between us. My sister had also said that she liked Lora very much and pointed out that the now calm and slightly stiff Siren in my arms held some form of attraction to me too.

Though I denied it at first, not wanting to get my own hopes up or end up misunderstanding the situation.

But the fact that she hadn’t gotten upset with my closeness. That Lora had indulged in the liberties I was taking around her. And those deep red blushes that rose over her cheeks whenever I teased and flirted with her.

It was now an undeniable truth that we BOTH felt something.

We just had to see if it was purely physical, or if, after we found her nephew and eliminated the threat, if things continued to grow.

Or if it was nothing more than a short, blissful fling.