Soul Bound (7 page)

“We should get ready for breakfast,” he said softly, leading me back into our smoldering hut.  I ignored the gazes of the women watching from their doorways and closed the door behind us.  Leaning against the door, I slid to the ground, exhaling heavily.

“What if she’s right, though?” I asked softly, staring up at Brennan.  I could feel wetness forming in my eyes at the mere thought.  “What if we can never learn to harness our power when we’re together?  We’ll destroy everything- including each other.”

Brennan knelt in front of me, staring directly into my eyes.  I concentrated on the amber flecks hidden in his as he spoke.

“Don’t ever think like that, Emmie,” he said slowly.  “We can do anything we decide to do.  And we’ve already decided that this is worth it.  We’ll fight this battle, we’ll win it, and then we’ll live happily ever after.”

I stared at him.  “That only happens in fairy tales.”

He shook his head. “No, it doesn’t.  It happens all of the time in real life.  It will happen to us.  I promise you that.”

I sighed.  “You shouldn’t make promises that you might not be able to keep.”

He sighed back.  “Haven’t you learned by now… I always keep my promises.”

His confident tone made me grin and I leaned forward to kiss him. 

“I love you, you know.”

“I know,” he answered happily. “And I love you back.”

We rose from the floor and cleaned up for breakfast and I couldn’t keep the deliriously happy thoughts from my mind.  Maybe he was right.  Maybe all it truly took was the will to triumph.  And certainly no two people had ever wanted something so badly.  I had to admit that.

Brennan was dressed and ready before I was and he turned to me.

“Do you mind if I get some fresh air?  I’ll meet you for breakfast?”

I shook my head.  “Of course not.  Go ahead.  I’ll be along shortly.”

He kissed my forehead and ducked out of the hut. 

I finished straightening my shift, belting it loosely at the waist. Branwyn had provided us with period-appropriate clothing so that we didn’t stand out quite so much.  Jeans and t-shirts weren’t the thing here.  Pulling a comb through my long hair, I twisted it into a knot at my neck and stuck a couple of chopsticks through it.  The chopsticks definitely weren’t period-appropriate, but I didn’t care.  I had never been one to completely conform.

There was no mirror here and I didn’t want to conjure one, so I could only guess that I looked passable.  Pivoting, I turned to head out of the hut, but stopped short.  With a gasp, I realized that I wasn’t alone.

A beautiful woman was standing directly behind me, perfectly still and quiet.  Deep red hair flowed in waves to the middle of her slender back.  She was wearing a slinky beige gown that puddled around her feet like a mermaid’s tail.  The plunging neckline exposed creamy white skin and she had deep emerald eyes that were gazing directly into my own.

“Hello, Empusa,” she breathed softly.  Her voice was feminine and sexy, slightly throaty.

“Do I know you?” I asked cautiously, keeping an eye on her.

She laughed, a tinkling, light sound.  “No,” she shook her head.  As she did, her fragrant perfume drifted toward me.  And I closed my eyes, inhaling her scent.  Everything about her was appealing, and drew me to her.

My eyes snapped open with a realization.

“You’re a siren,” I gasped. 

She laughed.  “Something that you’re not unfamiliar with,” she nodded.  “And Empusa…I’m sorry.”

“For what?” I looked at her curiously because she hadn’t moved. 

“For this.”

She waved her hand and two men in black cloaks and hoods appeared next to me, grabbing my arms.  They held me with vise-grips, impervious to my goddess strength as I kicked and thrashed.  Before I knew it, they were spinning me around and around and I realized that they were wrapping a mesh-sort of cloth around me, restraining my arms and legs.  I started to scream and realized that I couldn’t open my mouth.  Somehow, they had rendered me mute.

Aghast, I stared at the woman helplessly. 

She looked at me sympathetically.  “Relax, Empusa.  This won’t take long and you will be released again.”

She looked at the men.  “Zeus said to conceal her somewhere where she could watch. She needs to bear witness to this.”  She looked around the room.  “It’s too small in here, though.  He’ll see her.” She snapped her fingers. “I know.  Invisibility.”

With a few murmured words, I felt a familiar lightening of limb as I faded from sight.  I could still see everything in the room, but I knew that anyone who entered would not be able to see me.  The two men on each side of me had faded with me and they pulled me into the back corner of the hut, directly in front of the bed.

A bad feeling formed in the fit of my stomach as the woman arranged herself on the bed. 
My
bed.  She pulled her gown until the straps were hanging alluringly off of her shoulders and she positioned herself just-so so that she looked beautiful.   As she did, I realized something. 

This was another challenge.  My mother had been correct- we were going to have unexpected challenges.  I felt panicky.  Brennan wouldn’t be prepared for this.  It was almost impossible to stave off a siren.  I should know. 

She finally finished preening and turned to gaze into my eyes.  I stared defiantly back, unable to move.  She smiled just slightly.

“Don’t worry, Empusa,” she said softly, her eyes glued to mine.  “I won’t hurt him.”

I squeezed my eyes shut.  For some reason, I believed her.  Killing Brennan now would spoil the game for the Olympians so that wasn’t what I was worried about.  Seeing Brennan in the arms of another beautiful woman… that was an entirely different story.   

Chapter Seven

It didn’t take long for Brennan to wonder what was taking me so long and come to find me.  The wooden door creaked open causing me to open my eyes.  The two men on either side of me gripped my elbows hard, although I don’t know why.   The strange gauze wrapped around me held me surprisingly tightly.  I couldn’t move at all.

Brennan stopped short when he saw the siren on our bed.  I gulped hard and tried not to close my eyes.  I wanted to, but I had to see what happened here. It was an undeniable and unpleasant need.

“Who are you?” Brennan demanded.  To his credit, he kept his eyes on her face, not on her half-naked body. 

“Helen,” the Siren murmured in answer.  “Come sit with me, Brennan.”

Her voice was like a song, soft and beautiful.  The serene sound made you feel relaxed and tranquil, as though you could float away on the sound without a care in the world. No wonder sirens were so successful at luring men to their deaths in the ocean. 

“Okay, Helen,” Brennan replied politely.  “It’s very nice to meet you.  Now tell me…why are you here?  And half-dressed?  Where is Empusa?”

I again had to give him credit. He still had me on his mind even faced with the siren’s blatant attributes.  It was impressive. 

Helen smiled again, lifting one elegant hand.  “She’s nearby. But you need to focus on me now.  I’m your challenge, Brennan.  Do you think you can win?”

Brennan looked confused.  “
You’re
my challenge?  How so?”

I wanted to throttle him.  When a siren tells you that she is your challenge, you don’t stand there and question her.  You turn around and walk away.  But then, to be fair, I guess he couldn’t do that.  We had to win our challenges or the game would be lost.  Struggling to swallow, I kept my eyes frozen on the pair in front of me. 

I could hear Brennan breathe as he tried to wrap his mind around his current situation.  I skimmed through his thoughts quickly and I knew the second that he figured it out. 

“No,” he stammered. “That’s an unfair challenge.”

“No one ever said the game would be fair,” Helen answered simply.  She patted the bed beside her, her hand slender.  “Come, Brennan.  Let’s get this started.  You must withstand me- every temptation that I might offer you.  If you do not, you fail. And you know what will happen if you fail.”

Brennan nodded. “Yes.”

Helen giggled, seemingly unaffected. “So come. This will be fun.  Let us begin.”

Brennan sighed a heavy sigh that seemed to shake the room, but that might have been my own breath quivering in my chest.  He slowly approached the bed and stiffly sat next to the beautiful siren. 

“What do I need to do?” he asked. 

Helen moved so quickly that I didn’t even see the movement. She was just suddenly behind Brennan on the bed, her mouth directly behind his ear.  “Nothing,” she breathed into his neck.  “You don’t have to do a thing.”

“But withstand temptation,” Brennan added.

Helen only laughed.  “Good luck.”

I gulped.

Helen slid around Brennan smoothly, like a beautiful snake sliding along a branch.  She wrapped herself around Brennan and kissed him lightly on the mouth.  The room was so sexually charged that I could practically taste the energy and it was all I could do not to vomit. My stomach was clenched into an iron ball.

Brennan didn’t respond.  He sat motionlessly on the bed.  Helen pulled back a little bit and stared into Brennan’s amber eyes. 

“Is that all?” he asked coolly.  Sweet heavens.  She would take that as a challenge.  I wanted to slap him.

“Oh, dear boy,” she cooed.  “I’m only just beginning.”

She snapped her fingers and he was instantly lying on his back, each wrist and ankle bound to a corner of the bed.  I gulped again.  This couldn’t be good.  I wriggled within the confining gauze but there was no way I was getting loose.  It was so tight that I could barely breathe.

Hovering above Brennan, her hair dangling along his body, Helen licked him. She traced little trails along his skin; up his legs, over his hips, across his chest.  She paused at the most sensitive areas, causing me to close my eyes and Brennan to shudder in pleasure even though he kept his lips pressed tightly together. 

Against his wishes, he was enjoying it.  I could hear him pleading with me in his thoughts.

Empusa, I don’t know where you are, but I am not enjoying this.

Where are you?

I don’t want to like this.  I don’t.  What the hell is this woman?

I tried to answer, but found that my thoughts had been blocked, as well as my movement and my voice.  I couldn’t communicate with him at all.  I was utterly helpless. Helen turned to glance at me, her eyes knowing.  She was reading my thoughts, she could hear my frustration.  Her lips curved upward in a slight smile.  I gritted my teeth. Brennan moaned and then clamped his lips tightly together again. 

He really was trying.  His knuckles were turning white as he gripped the skins covering the bed.  He was doing everything he possibly could to avoid being affected. But he was a man.  He couldn’t help having a physical reaction.

“Do you want to make love to me?” Helen purred into his ear as her hand stroked his body.  He shook his head and I knew it was because he didn’t trust his voice to speak.

She licked the skin on his neck, blew on it and then whispered again in his ear, ever-so-softly. 

“Are you sure?”

Brennan gritted his teeth and once again nodded.  He was literally pale with his efforts to remain unfazed by her.  I had never been so proud of him. He was certainly tapping into his demi-god abilities.  A regular mortal would have been butter in Helen’s hands by now. 

Helen sighed.  “Why must you be so difficult?” she asked softly, breathing into his ear.  Her breasts were pushed in his face and the seductive scent of her perfume filled the small hut.  I honestly didn’t know how he was restraining himself.  It was taking a Herculean effort. 

“I don’t want you,” Brennan said firmly, even as a thin bead of sweat broke out on his forehead.  “Not truly.  You are simply making me feel like I do.”

“But aren’t feelings the most important things of all?” Helen asked innocently, weaving her fingers through his. 

“Lust is not a true feeling,” Brennan told her, his voice stronger now.  “It is a fleeting sensation.  It isn’t important.  The moment this challenge is over, I won’t ever think of you again.  Caving into you now would not be worth it.”

Helen laughed again.  “Oh, trust me. I’ll make it worth it.”

But Brennan shook his head, his jaw set stubbornly.

“Fine,” she sighed, rolling her beautiful green eyes.  “We’ll have to do it this way.”

I could taste the alarm in my mouth, the metallic taste lingering on my tongue. But before I could even think one more thought, Helen started singing. 

In a wordless melody, she hummed and sang a song that was absolutely breathtaking.  The beautiful notes hit high and low, weaving a tapestry of music that I’d never before experienced.  Along with the music, she was somehow releasing pheromones into the air.  I could taste them as they wrapped around me and I breathed them in.  It compelled me to move toward her, so much so that if I wasn’t restrained, I would have walked straight to her and offered myself to her in whatever way she deemed fit.  Her song was that profound. 

I realized in that moment that her song was her deadliest weapon. When her physical charms failed to work, she simply opened her mouth and sang her deadly song.   And it was powerful.  My heart pounded in my chest as I waited for Brennan’s reaction.

His face drained of color, his knuckles turned purple from the strength that he was clenching them with.  He even stopped breathing.  He was literally holding his breath in his effort to restrain himself.  I ached for him, because I knew the tremendous effort it must be taking. 

Helen ceased her singing just long enough to stare down at him, perched as she was atop his chest. 

“I know you want me,” she murmured.  And then she started singing again as she bent and draped herself on his body.  She trailed her fingers lightly along Brennan’s arms and I could see him begin to shake as he fought hard to resist her. 

“Just say the words,” she suggested to him.  “Tell me you want me.  Tell me to make love to you.  And this torment will be over.”

Brennan gritted his teeth as sweat poured down his temples.