I screamed and fucking screamed like I had never screamed before.
I lay in the pool of water in the bathhouse, using my hold on the Element to help me float on the surface of it. I was shifted into my full Siren form, navy blue scales coating my skin and quivers of pleasure tracing through them at the contact with the water.
I drew in a deep breath, working to close my mind and shut myself off from the incessant press of everyone’s emotions which were working to alter my own feelings. It was exhausting being down here, so close to countless Fae at all times.
In truth, I had to work fairly hard to keep my mind clear of others’ emotions at the best of times, and at Zodiac Academy I’d often struggled with this issue, the call of so many emotions drawing me from sleep or making it hard for me to concentrate as they brushed against my senses.
But down here was worse. At the academy I’d had King’s Hollow to escape to, and my room in Aqua House was surrounded by water which dulled the press of external emotions far better than earth or air. Here I felt like I was suffocating with the pain of stubbed toes, indignance over portion sizes, unsatisfied lust and general frustration.
It had been a long time for so many rebels to hide beneath the ground, and the victories we won against Lionel as we tore down his Nebular Inquisition Centres only provided a small respite from the monotony of life hidden away from the world. I had it far better than most in the royal quarters, our space bigger and freedom greater but there was such a pressure of boredom and frustration coming from the rest of the rebels that it was growing harder and harder for me to block it all out effectively.
“I just heard from my mom,” Caleb’s voice interrupted my little haven of tranquillity, and I banished the flash of irritation that passed through me in favour of opening my eyes and looking to him in hopes of hearing some news from my family.
“Anything to worry about?” I asked, rolling over and swimming through the water towards him as he sat down on the edge of the pool.
“No. She says Lionel is still making sure they’re busy with menial tasks, keeping his plans for the rest of the kingdom to himself while sending the FIB out on wild goose chases to search for information stolen by Sphinxes and Minotaurs even though no solid evidence of that has actually been presented. Oh and there was some bullshit party they all had to attend to celebrate his wedding to the shadow bitch.”
“He’s up to something,” I muttered, feeling it in my soul and hating that we couldn’t figure out what that something was.
“Yeah. Mom is going to keep trying to find out more, but I worry about her being so close to him. She said Hadley and the rest of the Spares have been put in special classes at Zodiac with that fucking troll Highspell. No one is allowed to question what they’re learning but I can only imagine there is a whole lot of Lionel loving bullshit involved in it.”
“I’d guess Ellis doesn’t much mind that,” I muttered bitterly, knowing my bratty little sister would be loving every minute of being treated as the Heir to my seat on the Celestial Council. But if she seriously thought she was going to be able to claim it from me without a fight then she was kidding herself.
“Yeah.” Caleb sighed, sitting back and leaning on his hands as he looked out across the pool of water.
“What’s up?” I asked, automatically pushing out to feel for his emotions, but he had them locked down just like he always did recently, and I couldn’t help but frown at that. “You’ve been keeping me out a lot.”
Caleb’s brow dipped and he looked at me, seeming unsure if he wanted to speak about whatever was on his mind before throwing a silencing bubble up around us and leaning closer to where I sat within the pool of water.
“You know how I’ve been hunting Seth a lot recently?” he asked, dropping his voice even though it was unnecessary with the silencing bubble in place.
“Sure.” The excitement Seth gave off whenever he came rushing past me running for his life from Caleb’s fangs put a smile on my face every damn time I felt it.
“Well, I’m thinking about it a lot. Like, any time I’m not actively doing something else, my mind will wander and I’ll start thinking about the rush I get when I’m chasing him, the way it feels to fight for the chance to sink my fangs into his skin and how good it feels to pin him beneath me and just take what I fucking want from him as roughly as I like. And I…I’m beginning to wonder if there’s something more to that…”
“Oh yeah?” I’d caught more than the odd whiff of lust coming from Seth when he and Cal played those games, and I guessed I could see how the thrill of it could be getting the two of them all worked up. Especially seeing as we had all been trapped down here night after night listening to Darius and Tory practically break the fucking walls down with their passion while having very little outlet for our own needs. I’d managed to spend a single night worshipping Gerry’s body after her father’s wedding, but since then I was back living on blue balls mountain while she made me work my ass off for every scrap of attention I gained from her.