Chapter 5

Melodia

I grin as Serenia hurries over to the table in the diner to join Celestia and me. It feels like I haven't seen them in ages, although it's only been four days. Dylan and I spent all day yesterday in bed, or at least making love, other than when he went downstairs to cook for me. It was absolute perfection—although I am a bit worried what will happen if he finds out what I really am.

Serenia was the one that broke our silence late last night, checking to see if we wanted to get together this morning and I quickly agreed, wanting to know if Dane and Duncan had asked them and wanting to tell them all about Dylan. As sirens, we can always find each other, speak without the need for words spoken out loud. Under the water, voices don't sound the same, so we always just communicated telepathically. We shut the others out when we went to the lagoon, then agreed to give one another space while we were here, promising we'd be there if one of us needed help, and I'm glad it seems that wasn't necessary.

"You look happier than normal even," Serenia says slipping into the spot next to me at the booth. "I take it you met someone too?"

"After worrying that I wouldn't for the better part of that first day, yeah," I admit making Celestia's eyes widen in a bit of surprise. "You found…" I stop before I slip up, not remembering if Dane introduced himself while we were at his shop or not.

"Dane, his name's Dane," Celestia says with a bit of a flush in her cheeks.

"Dane," I say with a nod, "well, you found him just a couple hours after Serenia found…"

"Duncan," she states, and I grin, giggling a bit when Celestia gives her a curious look.

"Does he own a greenhouse?" Celestia asks and Serenia nods, looking shocked. "Dane said his best friends were Duncan who runs a greenhouse and…"

"Dylan who owns a restaurant," I state unable to hold it in another moment.

"Wait, what?" Serenia gasps and I nod nearly bouncing in my seat with giddiness. "So the guys we met all know each other?"

"Seems so," Celestia states, shaking her head a bit still. "So how did you meet Dylan?"

"I walked around town most of the day, being revolted by the men that would look at me. It was late, the sun was setting, and I was tired, my feet were sore, and I was hungry, so I stopped in a restaurant to get something to eat and mope. Worry that I'd end up back home while the two of you found actual love," I admit. "I was trying to figure out what to eat and all these men kept coming over asking if I wanted a drink or to eat with them—or to go home with several—and I just wanted to get some food and continue to mope. Until this voice told the latest creep who had a wife already," I add making my friends wrinkle their noses in disgust, "to leave me alone. One look at him and I was hooked. He made me the most incredible food ever and then took me home. He told me Friday night he loved me, fell in love the moment he saw me, which was before I ever saw him…"

"Duncan said the same thing when we were falling asleep Thursday night. That the second he saw me, he knew I was supposed to be his," Serenia says with a sigh, her eyes glowing with happiness and the same look is in Celestia's as well.

"Dane told me last night he never believed in love at first sight until he saw me. I just…can it really be this simple?" Celestia adds. "I mean, I didn't tell him I'm…"

"Neither did I," I admit.

"Are you kidding? I didn't want him to think I needed to be locked up by telling him that, especially not when he'd just…"

"What?" I ask when Serenia pauses, knowing the answer before she says it as her eyes glow even more.

"Asked me to marry him," she says, offering us her hand and the ring looks perfect on her finger.

"Dylan asked me Friday night," I tell them, unable to resist showing off the ring that I adore almost as much as him.

"Dane asked me last night," Celestia adds, and I squeal seeing it on her.

"Oh they're even more perfect than when I saw them…"

"Saw them? What?" Serenia says and I clap my hand over my mouth, giggling at my slip.

"Melodia…what's going on? You don't have visions," Celestia whispers giving me a little glare.

"Dylan found a pearl in an oyster mistakenly sent to the restaurant, took me to the jewelry store to get them to make it into a necklace and we ran into Dane and Duncan when they came in to find rings for you," I admit with one long rush of breath. "I promised I wouldn't tell. They both were looking at boring diamonds to begin but once I pointed them in the right direction, they didn't hesitate on which to buy. Dylan wouldn't let me try on any of them to see if they'd fit. He had me close my eyes and then slipped this one on me, then bought it without me knowing."

"Well then, thank you for your help. I love my ring," Serenia says giving me a hug.

"So do I," Celestia agrees with a grin at me. "But honestly, is this all it took? I mean, I don't really feel any different. I guess I was just expecting something more like when we got our…legs," she adds on a whisper as someone approaches our table.

"And you will, the next time you're in water," a voice says from the end of the space, and a gasp falls from each of us seeing the woman there. The undeniable glow surrounding her combined with the adoring looks from all of the men in the diner telling us exactly who she is.

"I've been in water since Dylan told me. I was in water with him Friday night when he told me he loved me again," I add confused, and Aphrodite simply smiles at us.

"Natural body of water—a lake, river, or the ocean," she expands. "It'd be more of a curse than a gift if you transformed anytime you were in water, or if it rained. To not be able to swim in a pool, especially in a place like this."

"So the next time we go into the water what? We'll regrow our tails?" Celestia asks and she nods. "And what about the cold?"

"Have you felt even an inkling of it since you met your men, who by the way, are all outside waiting for you to come out, and who all ignored me on my way in here. If I didn't know their hearts were only ever meant for you, I might feel slighted," Aphrodite says with a tinkle of a laugh that brings more male attention to her.

"What does that mean?" Serenia questions her.

"Exactly what I said. You were worried it was too easy, that they fell too quickly," she adds to Celestia who nods. "It was never the men that didn't fall in love, my dears. Even when the ancient sirens were given their chance, the men fell in love with them, but the sirens only focused on their need for revenge. Only allowed the coldness of their hearts to rule. Only when a siren allows herself to want love over anything else can she find it. Each of you opened yourselves up to its possibility and listened when it spoke. You could have ignored the pull to go through the park, but you didn't, Serenia, which allowed you to find Duncan. Celestia, you ignored the rest of the crowd pushing you forward, winding your way down a strange path to find Dane. And my dear sweet, Melodia, you ignored all of the men that would have gladly fallen in love with you but opened yourself up when Dylan appeared.

"No other siren has ever allowed herself that, but I always hoped you three would be different. No matter how many temptations were put in front of you, you never once used your powers to harm. I wouldn't have been so forgiving of the man you saw on the beach that night that killed his girlfriend. I would have still offered you the chance if you had used your powers and lured him to a watery death," Aphrodite adds to Celestia who is even more shocked now, but then again, I think we all are. "So now that you know, go get your men. Tell them what you really are so they can love all of you. Oh, and in case you're worried, there's one—or two, last gifts for you. The first is perhaps more for your men than you," she says making us curious. "They won't have to worry about anyone seeing what's theirs when you're in water. You'll still feel as you did, but your body will be covered entirely like your tail, think more mermaid than siren."

"Duncan will be happy to know that," Serenia says with a laugh and I'm pretty sure Dylan will be too.

"And the last gift?" I ask Aphrodite.

"You won't have to worry about your daughters' hearts ever being cold. Their fathers' hearts will protect them even more than your fathers' did with you. You were each born of the man who truly loved the woman your mothers should have been, which is why your powers were greater, your ability to resist the cold deeper. None of it will ever touch your daughters and you will get to spend lifetimes with your mates because once your child is born, that is when my last gift to you will come. A shared lifespan created through your shared blood," she says nodding at the questions in our eyes.

"They'll share our immortality?" Celestia questions.

"And every time the others claim another mortal life, it will strength them the same as you. My own little payback for them ignoring my gracious gift so many centuries ago," Aphrodite says getting up, giving us smiles before she heads out the door, leaving a trail of drool in her wake that makes me giggle.

"Should we tell them together?" I ask and at the nod from them, we make our way out of the diner to find our men. I grin seeing the three of them talking until we're outside and I jump into Dylan's arms as I reach him, laughing when his hand slides onto the back of my skirt, keeping it down. Yeah, he'll be extremely happy to know no one else will see anything when we transform now.

"Done already?" Dylan asks, his brow lifting a bit as my stomach rumbles. "You clearly didn't eat enough, angel."

"We actually only got around to ordering drinks," Serenia says pulling a grumble from Duncan as she slips into his side, resting her head on his shoulder. She's just slightly taller than Celestia and me. I think it's from her living on land the first four years—that or her being born full-term unlike us.

"Everything okay, baby?" Dane asks Celestia making me grin at the pet name towards my friend.

"Well, we wanted to tell you all something…"

"About where we grew up," I add when Celestia pauses.

"You can tell us anything, angel. Whatever it is, we'll be here for you," Dylan promises, and I snuggle deeper into his hold.

"Do you think we could go to the house and explain, Dunc?" Serenia asks, telling Celestia and me about the lake on his property telepathically.

"Of course we can, honey," he tells her instantly.

"Let me grab some groceries so I can cook my girl some breakfast and then we'll be there," Dylan states and I won't argue that at all, and it seems his friends aren't going to either.

We enjoy the food before we head outside, Serenia leading us down to the lake and the guys follow with ease. Serenia, Celestia and I share looks as we try to figure out how to explain and Dylan pulls me into his arms, warming every bit of me as he cups my face gently, his eyes filled with worry.

"Whatever it is going on, just tell us, angel," he urges, and I nod taking a step back from him as Serenia asks if we should just get in the water and show them.

"This might be simpler," I tell him as the three of us toss aside our dresses, leaving us in our bikinis, and we dive into the water while the guys are momentarily stunned.

There's a tingle all over my body as the water closes around me, it's color brightening as the lights appear, and can't help but giggle seeing both Serenia and Celestia as they pop out of the water, looking at me and each other in just as much shock. Serenia's body looks like it's wrapped with silken water, blue along her torso with white foam creating a bikini top hiding her breasts. Celestia looks like the night sky has wrapped her in layered clouds, darkened with no sun lighting them, creating a feathery look along her torso and over her breasts. Mine definitely reminds me of my tail, iridescent gemstone looking scales, and I love it so much as it comes up forming an off the shoulder looking top.

"What the fuck?" Duncan gets out first and we turn towards them, our breathing shallow as they come down the dock to meet us.

We each take a side and my heart calms when Dylan sits down not caring that he's still wearing his shoes and socks and jeans as he slips his legs into the water. I slip up between his spread legs, pushing myself higher in the water so he can see more of me.

"So definitely not an actual angel…" he teases, his eyes warm and adoring still and I press a kiss to his lips in relief. "I wondered where you could have been living to not know what the internet and TV was but this…"

"Never saw this coming," Duncan said from beside him and I grin seeing his arms possessively around Serenia, while Dane is kissing Celestia hungrily. It goes on for several more moments and I giggle then moan when Dylan's hands tighten on my waist.

"Dude, can you stop long enough for them to explain?" Duncan states, and finally, Dane lets Celestia up to breathe.

"Okay, this might take a bit so…" I pause with a glance at my friends, and they nod before we push ourselves up out of the water onto the dock with them. A shock hits when almost instantly, the tail and covering disappear with just the slightest tingle, our bikinis returning, and I grin when Dylan pulls his shirt off and slips it over my head in the next heartbeat.

"I like the tail more than the bikini, even if it's just in front of my friends, angel."

Now that the worst of it's out, we settle in, telling them about us with ease.

"Sirens, like the beings that lure sailors to their deaths on the rocky shores?" Dane asks and we nod. "I thought they were half birds not half…fish…"

"We used to be," Celestia says making his brow lift even higher.

"Sirens once roamed the skies, singing their songs, getting men to follow them, on the sea and on land. Others grew jealous, and when a siren lured a man a muse wanted, they went to Hera and claimed the sirens thought they were the greatest beings in the world. The smartest, the prettiest, the most talented, which also upset Athena, because she felt she was the smartest," I tell them, resting in Dylan's hold until he leans back a bit, his brow high as he looks at me in shock.

"Hera and Athena, as in the ancient Greek Goddesses?"

"Yes," I answer seriously. "To teach the sirens a lesson, they tricked them into a singing competition with the muses. A sirens' song is only meant to lure, it sounds different to everyone, and not every siren can lure every man at the same time."

"So when several siren sing at once, the ones that have no effect sound hideous to the listener. Muses on the other hand," Serenia says, "are meant to inspire, especially music itself. So when a group of them get together, it creates the most beautiful sound ever."

"The sirens were laughed at by the men present, and because they won, the muses were able to decide what their prize was. They said they wanted the sirens' feathers, to make them even more beautiful to men, because ours were the prettiest. Once plucked, the sirens' wings shriveled and could no longer support them in flight, and they were trapped on the ground to walk on their talons," Celestia adds.

"But the men that once were under their spell now mocked them, and unable to fly, they captured all of them and told them to try and put them under their spell when they looked like monsters. They wanted to drown all of them, and so, they tied the sirens' feet together and threw them into the water. They sank fast, the pressure made their bodies elongate while their legs fused together, their skin turning to scale, and the wings rotated and became arms. The coldness of the water turned them into the true monsters the men called them. Their once lovely human faces became bone and terror, their hair long weeds, and ice flowed through their veins, allowing them to breathe under the water. Horrified of the creatures they created, the muses disappeared, and the men tried to fight. In the water they stood no chance. Several were killed instantly, others, managed to escape, and when the sirens went after them, it was discovered that they could not cross the land because they had no feet or legs to stand on any longer," I admit sending Dylan's brows up higher.

"But all of you have…and you're even more beautiful…" he says, and I grin, giving him a soft kiss at his words.

"The beauty was a gift from Aphrodite," Celestia explains as I pull back from Dylan.

"She also gave the sirens the chance to reclaim what was taken from them—the freedom to roam the land and sea," Serenia adds.

"But the sirens used their newfound legs to hunt down the men that mocked them, to kill them instead. Aphrodite offered them the chance to find love, real love, but all they could feel was the cold in their hearts, the urge to kill. And seven days after they were given their legs, as they slayed the last mortal man, Aphrodite took back her gift of legs, forcing the siren back into the seas. For nearly three thousand years, the sirens have used their powers and Aphrodite's gift of beauty to kill. Not knowing they had another choice if they just ignored the icy cold," I tell him. "None of us—Celestia, Serenia and I—ever liked the cold. The urges it created within us to kill. Sirens become their most powerful after they turn twenty-one. The bloodlust is said to be unbearable at that point. Likely because that's how old the original sirens were when they were thrown into the ocean."

"Melodia discovered a loophole that could keep us from becoming full-fledge sirens," Serenia says giving me a grin. "She told us about it, and we all agreed it was our only option."

"As long as we didn't kill by the end of our twenty-first birthday, we would get the chance to be blessed by Aphrodite's gift. So we spent our birthday together in the lagoon outside of town, keeping each other from letting the cold consume us, and as the night turned to midnight, we found ourselves with legs," Celestia states, laughing a bit as she remembers our first moments on them.

"Serenia was four before she came to live with us, so she knew the most basic things about humans, was able to teach us how to walk, and then Celestia remembered a hidden bag of clothes that also had money in it that would likely be useful. We walked to town that morning, and then one by one, met you all."

"And spent several days worried that you wouldn't fall in love with us, and we'd have to go back," Serenia adds.

"And then worried that it seemed too simple that you did fall in love with us, until Aphrodite joined us in the diner at least," Celestia says and all three of our men share confused looks at that. "She walked right into it past you. Said you ignored even her, but it wasn't a surprise since your hearts were never meant for anyone but us."

"So we really were brought here to find you," Dylan says to me, and I nod. "And you still were worried it wasn't real?"

"We've spent our entire lives fighting against the cold. You've no idea just how powerful it was, so yes, when nothing happened when you told us you loved us, we were worried somehow our powers had gotten you to fall for us, even though you said it happened in an instant," I state.

"Then Aphrodite told us, it was never your love we had to worry about, it was always us. That you would have fallen for us no matter what, because you were destined to be ours, but if we hadn't listened, hadn't fought the cold bloodlust, we wouldn't have seen it, seen any of you, and ended up like the others," Celestia adds, snuggling into Dane's hold as he kisses her forehead.

"Knowing what it took to get us all here, in this town, and knowing that we all had listened, we knew her words were true."

"And then she told us she'd given us two more gifts," I state, giggling a bit as I look up at Dylan. "Well, she said the first was really for you all."

"Being that when we transformed back into our siren bodies, we'd have a little more coverage than normal, because sirens only have tails," Serenia says making Duncan's brow lift higher on his face.

"And hair for coverage," Celestia expands on for them, bringing a growl to Duncan's lips that Dylan echoes against my temple.

"So the other gift is that you all can transform whenever you want?" Dane asks her. "Because in the water you had a tail but once out of it…"

"That was part of her original gift for those that found true love not the extra ones she told us about in the diner," Celestia answers.

"She did say that we could only transform back into our siren form when in a natural body of water. So the lake, a river or the ocean. Pools won't do it, and neither will the rain thankfully because we've kept our existence from humans for thousands of years now," Serenia adds.

"So what was the last gift?" Dylan questions.

"You all as ours forever. Sirens are immortal beings," I tell him, sending his brow upwards as well. "Every soul that the Lycophron—our group or family of sirens," I add at his confusion of the term, "consumes, gives us more strength. Even if we didn't do the actual killing or consuming, the strength is shared by all through the bloodline. Normally, when a siren mates, it's to breed. When a siren has a man under her lure, it's to kill, unless she's ready to breed. Once a siren knows she's with child, she kills the man, so he has no chance of sharing a bond with the child."

"That bond gives them strength and sirens hatred of men is as deep as the bloodlust that runs through them. But that strength was just that, strength, not immortality," Serenia adds, thinking of her father.

"But it will be different with us, for us," I remind her. "Aphrodite told us that when we daughters, they won't ever have to fight the cold. They won't feel it because of your hearts, and with our daughters' birth, the bond will create a new one for us, where we'll get to have you with us for eternity. Our daughters, as well as all of you, will share in the strength, her victory over the ones that used her gifts for evil."

"They won't be able to kill you even in the water then," Serenia says to Duncan, shuddering with the memories of her father.

"Until then, you have to swear you'll stay out of the ocean, away from the rivers or lakes that connect to them, because if our mothers do come, that's as far as they can go," Celestia adds.

"Can they try to hurt you?" Dane asks her.

"They can try, but it would only kill them as well. A siren can't kill another siren, without killing all of her blood," Serenia answers him. "If our mothers tried to kill us, it would destroy them, as well as our entire lineage."

"Even if they tried to have Celestia's mother kill me, and mine kill Serenia, and hers kill Celestia, it would still kill them as well," I add calming Dylan's racing heart.

"There must be thousands of sirens out there then," Duncan says and Serenia shake her head no at him.

"Sirens can only have one child each, and sirens only have girls," she warns.

"A little you that's part me too sounds perfect, honey," Duncan returns, making her flush.

"Nothing wrong with having more of perfection in the world, that's for sure," Dylan agrees dropping a kiss onto my cheek and I giggle as his arms wrap fully around me.

"I can't wait to have a little piece of you and me in the world, baby," Dane states and I grin at the incredibleness that's come to all of us.

"I wonder what our daughters' powers might be," I state aloud, bringing curious looks from all of the men my way.

"What do you mean powers?" Dylan asks and I can't believe we didn't tell them that bit.

"Well, sirens have powers to lure men," I state, and he nods. "We have different ways of achieving that, usually they're enhanced based on who our father is. Mine was a musician, so my song is more powerful than anyone else's. There was never anyone I couldn't enchant if I tried. When sirens are pregnant, they can feel what the powers their child will have, and normally we're named after them in some way."

"Hence Melodia," Dylan says, and I nod.

"My father was an astronomy professor, it left me with an affinity with the sky. Sailors used to track their positions using the night sky. Others with similar gifts would rearrange a star here and there to confuse them, draw them nearer to their deaths. With new machines, their abilities weren't quite as useful, so when I was born with the ability to disrupt the force of the moon and stars, they realized I could mess with their machines as well," Celestia adds.

"And men know to watch out for rocks as they bring a ship in, and while some of our kind can mask them, no one else could create an entire vision of land so true that men would leave their ship and fall into the vast ocean for the sirens to drag into their depths. My father was a geologist with the Army Corp of Engineers. He managed to escape my mother when she tried to kill him the first time. Found her when she was having me, and stole me, to try and keep me from her, keep me safe. I was four when we moved to a base near the ocean, and she found me. Despite his strength, he was pulled into the depths and drowned when my mother pulled me into the water so I would have my first transformation. At least now it's not painful," Serenia says, and the way Duncan wraps his arms around her, I know without a doubt, she's as loved as I am by Dylan, as Celestia is by Dane, and that, is absolutely perfect.