Caspian

Madeline wasn't human.

There were suspicions when I heard her voice. A voice that could move mountains and shake the seas, if only she knew how. Now that I had a full-fledged conversation with her, I knew it for sure.

Madeline was a siren.

Fuck, she looked the part too. Every part of her was soft curves, those big doe eyes coupled with her unchecked power has undoubtedly been the downfall of more than a few unwitting men. The way her lips part when she's surprised is too enticing, and I had to keep my hands in my pockets before I reached out to touch them. What would she look like if I slipped my thumb in her hot mouth?

The image of her sucking on it, looking up through those soft, dark lashes was too dangerous to dwell on. A siren will do that to you. Drive you mad with the want for them, and I'm not going to fall for that.

But I am going to get her back to Atlantis where she deserves to be worshiped with her sisters.

The urge to hit that bastard on the beach was strong but the consequences of talking to the authorities would raise too many questions. Maybe I should have done it anyway. It was a good thing that Madeline so gloriously told him off on her own before I did anything rash.

Stepping  back onto the ship, my legs adjusting to accept the bobbing of the deck. It was nothing compared to being deep at sea, something I missed desperately every time we came here. I missed home. I missed Atlantis. And in one more week, we could leave this place and go back to the city-state in the Atlantic.

Going down the stairs and into the cramped cabin area, Nikkos spotted me from the galley and put down his knife and whatever he had been chopping.

"Where did you go just now?" he asked. "I'm making lunch."

Smelling the oils cooking in the galley, I shot Nikkos a tired look. "Is it eggs again?"

A blush crept onto his face, paired with an indignant frown. "Why don't you make lunch if you think you can do better."

I shook my head. "Sorry, Nikkos. I'm just touchy today. I want to go home."

His eyes softened. "Me too, Caspian. I don't like how these people live."

I shrugged. "When Dimitris says go make a deal with the mainlanders-"

"We do it." Nikkos sighed. "I know, I know."

"Have we heard back from the contact?"

"Partially," Nikkos answered, going back to the galley and resuming cutting whatever he had been cutting. I followed, if only to better speak with him. "I called the witch again and she confirmed that she was able to set up the meeting. He's a pricey mercenary but I hear he's one of the best."

"Dimitris has the money, that's not the problem. Our problem now is to hope he will cooperate and can come up with a better plan to bring Dimitris before the next senate session," I said. "I told Dimitris not to hope for results when we only just found the contact but you know Dimitris, don't waste a second of his time."

Nikkos sighed, stopping his knife work and dumping a cutting board of diced tomatoes into the skillet. "I suppose we either come home the victor, or we leave hoping Horace and Nephele's plan worked out."

"That's not going to impress the senate," I murmured. "I don't think dealing with the Circle of Warlocks is the best way to solve our sinking problem."

"Then let's hope our mercenary agrees to liaison for us."

"Or steal the artifact," I murmured. "One way or another, Dimitris will demand he get his way."

I found myself glancing behind me to the stairs as my mind began to wander. Just up those stairs and down to the beach was Madeline. What would the senate think about her? That an Atlantean was found in North America. A siren, of all things.

One of our most important resources in the fight to both hide and protect Atlantis. A marvel that she didn't know what she was, but I would have to convince her to come with us. Somehow. And I had little time left to do that.

"Caspian?" Nikkos jarred me out of my drifting thoughts.

"Hm?"

"I asked you if you want onions in yours." Nikkos held up the half diced onion.

"Sure," I murmured.

Nikkos shot me a concerned look, but began dicing up the onions. "Caspian, you seem distracted. Is everything alright?"

"The siren is on the beach just outside," I said, sitting on the bench by the dining table and laying back on the cushions. "I just spoke to her."

"Here?" Nikkos asked, looking in the direction of the beach as though he could see through the walls. "What did she say? What did you say?"

"She doesn't know what she is. I'm sure of it."

"Truly?" he asked, tilting his head. "I wonder how one could have gotten all the way here to the mainland."

"I'm still trying to figure that out." I sighed through my nose, crossing my arms over my chest. The pan sizzled under Nikkos's touch. He cracked a few eggs into it as the oils sputtered and spat.

"And you're sure she's one of ours?" Nikkos asked.

I looked at him pointedly.

"Right, of course." Nikkos sighed. "Dimitris won't like this."

"Dimitris doesn't like anything," I answered with a yawn. "We can't leave her here. It's been enough of a problem keeping their population up as it is, we can't let this one slip through our fingers. Besides, she doesn't seem to be doing well out here."

"Here, lunch." Nikkos poured half of the pan of eggs, cheese, onions, and tomatoes onto a plate and the rest onto another. Walking over with them, he sat on the bench opposite of me and put our plates on the table between us.

"A siren on the mainland. Imagine the havoc she could wreak, if only she knew how. What do you propose we do, Caspian?" Nikkos asked, weariness in his tone.

"I need to convince her to come with us. Atlantis needs her as much as she needs Atlantis. Don't underestimate that. She's been without answers for what, at least twenty something years if I had to guess?"

Nikkos stirred his plate around with his fork for a moment, thinking. "I trust you, Caspian. Dimitris won't be happy, and I have no idea what the senate will do, but you are... right."

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you." My face broke out into a grin. "What did you just say?"

Nikkos huffed, rolling his eyes. "You're right, you bastard. The siren will need to come with us to Atlantis. She needs training and Atlantis needs the help."

I laughed softly. "Don't worry, Nikkos. Just leave Madeline to me, I hope I can connect with her as a fellow Atlantean. I have a plan."

~

My cabin on the ship was cramped. To be expected on a vessel of this size, but nothing like the space I had in Atlantis where I could sprawl out. So when the phone rang and I reached out to grab it, my hand smacked the wall of the cabin and my eyes snapped open.

"Fuck," I grumbled, letting my eyes adjust to the dark cabin and the illuminated phone screen.

Unknown number.

I checked the time. Nine in the morning. Annoying for me who was trying not to adjust to a different timezone too much before going back to my own, but really not an unreasonable time for someone to be calling. Putting the phone to my ear, I pinched the bridge of my nose as I carefully sat up in bed to answer. "This is Caspian."

"H-hello. It's Maddie. Um, Madeline."

I dropped my free hand from my face, a smile spreading across my lips. "Hello, Madeline. Have you decided to take me up on my offer?"

Her breath caught. She seemed nervous. Frazzled.

I frowned. It wasn't my intent to cause her distress when I hinted about her desires as a siren, but I knew it would affect her to some extent. Her time out here with these people who didn't understand her had closed her off. Any desires she had for intimacy, her warmth. Her enjoyment of singing, or hell, even speaking, were probably tainted by the mainlanders.

"I hope this is a good time to call." The hesitation in her words was sobering. "I think I would like to meet you for lunch. Sometime. When you're free."

She must be desperate for answers, and the desire in her voice came through the phone. I straightened my back, my body reacting to her hopeful plea.

Fuck. I wanted to give it to her, but I couldn't scare her away or make her disbelieve me. It was quite a story to someone who knew nothing of Atlantis, I would have to be careful. Guiding an untrained siren home. What a gods damned mess to fall into. She had no control in her sway at all. She desperately needed someone to show her how to master it, and the only ones who could do that were in Atlantis.

I cleared my throat, trying to remain aware of where my desires stopped and hers began. "I would love to answer your questions over lunch, Madeline."

Actually, maybe not seeing her while that voice was all over the place would be better.

"Or," I offered, "I could answer some of them now on the phone if you like."

A small sigh came from her end of the phone. Pleased. "That would be great. I wanted to talk about the water first. Specifically what you said about loving the ocean."

"Did it strike a chord with you?" I asked. "Many of the... women in my city have the same desires toward the water."

Her breath caught. There was something soft about it. I could tell how much she wanted to open up more, press more. It was already a good sign that she had ditched her one-word answers, but anxious frustration held her back. Or assholes like Trent tangling up her past, more likely.

"You can say what you want to say around me," I promised. "The sway isn't as strong when you know about it."

She paused, but she also took a deep breath and asked her question. "Only women that love the ocean. Not the men? Not you?" she asked.

My mouth twitched, a crooked grin taking shape as I decided exactly how to answer. "No more than anyone who loves the sea that is such a part of their home."

"But it's not the same as what you described to me yesterday, is it?"

Good, she was sharp. It would make it all the easier to gently lead her to a truth that would be rather upsetting for anyone to hear. It's always better to come to the conclusion on your own. I leaned back on my bed again, enjoying the soothing calm that only a siren's voice could offer. A little piece of home all the way out here on the mainland.

"No," I answered. "It's not."

She was silent for a moment.

"But," I added. "It's perfectly normal where I'm from. The things you feel are nothing to be ashamed of."

"I never said I had those desires about the water," she said.

"You didn't have to, you sound just like home to me."

"You can't know that," she argued weakly.

Adjusting how I lay in bed, I stretched my free arm behind my head as I answered her. "I'm from an island in the Atlantic. My people practically live in the water. It's about two weeks of good sailing from here in my ship. And I know you are from there because I can hear it in your voice."

"I'm from Michigan," she protested.

"I would bet against that in a heartbeat," I teased.

She made an exasperated sound from her end of the phone, and I had to resist chuckling.

"What about my voice?" she asked. "What is it that sounds so familiar to you?"

The tug again. She wanted it, and the magic of her voice was trying to make me give her what she wanted. Oh, it was subtle. Gentle. Such is the way of the sirens, you wouldn't know something was amiss until it was too late.

Resisting the urge to just tell her what she wanted, instead I gave her more to think about. "When was the last time your voice got you into trouble?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean the last time you opened your mouth and gained attention you didn't want?"

"A few days ago in a coffee shop," she quipped.

Biting my lip, I resisted the urge to laugh at her cheeky retort. "I think we both know that's not what I'm talking about, but I'll bet it wasn't all bad either. How often did you get your way when you really shouldn't have? School, maybe. Or getting pulled over for a ticket and being let go. Maybe a past boyfriend would accuse you of manipulating him. I could see that, in a society that does not know what you are."

Silence again. Gods, she was a quiet one. A siren who didn't use her voice, I never would have thought it possible. I'm sure she had to be this way to navigate life here, but it was growing frustrating to think about what she's been through.

"Madeline, I have barely met you, but I suspect you're not that stupid. You know what I'm talking about, and you fear finding out that all those strange occurrences might actually mean something."

More strained silence. I could almost picture her face, as conflicted as it was yesterday with the man trying to harass her on the beach. There was some history there, and I definitely did not like him. Was he part of what made Madeline so quiet? Alert? She had a playful nature under the surface when she let it slip out, the problem was that she kept herself so tightly sealed.

"Your voice has something my people call the sway." Partially true, but more commonly known as siren sway which she was not ready to hear yet. "I am more than happy to show you what I know of how it's used, though really one of the women back home would be better teachers."

"And where is home?" she asked again.

"Would you believe me if I told you Atlantis?"

She scoffed. "Very funny."

I tried to keep the amusement from my voice. "Suit yourself, Madeline. Do you have any more questions for me?"

She paused a moment, then sighed. "I want to meet you for lunch later. If you're free. Or dinner if that's better. I want to know more."

"I am free if it's for you," I said, smiling into the phone. "What about tomorrow? Lunch will be perfect."

"Oh," she said, almost surprised at my easy answer. "Okay, yeah. Um, I'll meet you by the coffee shop. Noonish?"

"I will be there," I promised.

"Okay," she breathed. "See you later, Caspian."

I shivered at the way she said my name. She had a long way to go to control herself.

"Later, Madeline," I replied, keeping my composure as best as I could.

And she hung up the phone.

I tossed my own device onto the side table and stared at the ceiling of my cabin, my eyes having adjusted to the little light I had with the door closed. Madeline had to get this under control, which meant getting her to her sisters for guidance. Now, all I had to do was convince her of what she was and to return to Atlantis with me.

Simple.