In which, Freya Swan discovers that being a mermaid isn't exactly a fairy-tale. From fearing the ocean to the siren curse, can Freya Swan find her happy ending?
[New Moon | Breaking Dawn - Jacob Black]
[Book 1 in The Syreni Series]
[cover by @hanni...
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Jacob Black hated the moon, but not as much as he hated the Volturi. Surprisingly, the moon was easier to handle than the old vampire coven, and the moon was near enough impossible to get to. Since Freya had returned with Jacob finding out what she had been through, Jacob had debated paying the coven a visit himself and ending the leech leader, but he knew that would be asking for death.
If he had known that the siren would head there, then Jacob would have gone running blindly and would likely be dead now with Freya truly lost. Maybe he understood why Freya didn't tell him, but the lies still angered him. It was too much: every time he saw her, he wanted to scream but he also wanted to hold her. Being stuck with her had once been a dream but now it felt like a curse — he still loved Freya, of course (how could he not?), but he wasn't sure how to move on from something like this. Jacob had needed space to process what had happened and the two had been forced together.
"What are you going to do?" Paul asked, appearing comfortable on Shelley's sofa. They were taking it in shifts: upstairs Sam, Shelley, and Leah were asleep, then both Jacob and Paul were on watch as they listened to the three sleeping mermaids below.
Jacob shot Paul a look. "What do you mean?"
"With Freya," explained Paul. "The two of you are stuck together but not together? You're mad, but can't bring yourself to be angry with her."
"I don't know," Jacob admitted, shrugging as his eyes fell down to the bracelet that he held in his hand again with his fingers fiddling with the little charms. Since being home, he had kept Freya's bracelet with him, unable to return it for some reason. "What would you do if it was Elodie?"
Paul fell silent. "I don't know," he realised. "I'd want to kill that leech to start with, maybe, but knowing Elodie she'd had found a way to kill him herself. But... I think I would forgive Elodie simply for coming back to me. You spent months thinking she was dead, Jake. The two of you have gone through hell and deserve the time you need, but what I'm saying is...don't let her go again."
"You're giving me advice, Paul?" Jacob's lips twitched, trying to avoid the conversation and how his heart twisted at the words. "Elodie's really got to you, huh?"
"Don't tell her or she'll kill me," said Paul, frowning. "It took me ages to get her to confess that she likes me as it is."
Jacob almost laughed, knowing how tough Elodie could be to crack. He hadn't liked her to start with (mainly because she had knocked Freya out), but she had grown on him. "How is she doing?"
"Not good," Paul crossed his arms. "Alina and Nora recently found her sat where her parents had died crying. Her parents torment her a lot, apparently — at night and during the day now. I don't know how long she's got, Jake. It didn't take long for Freya, but... it's different, isn't it? Freya had troubles with Bella and Edward, and then with Riley..."
Bella... that was another problem: was she dead or alive?
"Yeah, I guess it is," Jacob said. Compared to Alison and Elodie, Freya's falling had been devastatingly quick but he knew that the two mermaids had all the siren powers now. "Is it grief that's driving her?"
