The Sound of a Siren's Call

39.) The Unwinnable Case

Ryan's face had sleep lines on it when I woke up. She took deep breaths, a strand of hair moving in time with the movement of her chest. I smiled as I watched her. She really did look innocent when she slept.

Her dark hair was tangled in a sort of halo around her head. I sat up, pulling my attention away from her.

I put my boots back on, and walked out into the open air. The whole camp was bustling around me. A rabbit bounded up the street, transforming into a small boy to walk through a doorway. Centaurs moved around mummies, desperately trying not to run into them. A vampire was sitting across the street. He called to me, but I ignored him. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.

I was aware of him behind me, creeping closer. I tried to seem unaware of him. I felt his cold skin against mine and I reached out and grabbed his hand. With a twist of my wrist, he was flying through the air away from me. The movement drew attention.

For future reference, you're going to want to keep your hands off me. I caught the vampire's eye as I walked away, trying not to speed up. I wanted him to see I wasn't afraid. Maybe my voice wasn't as smooth as he'd expected it to be, but that wasn't my problem.

The atmosphere was suddenly humorous as a centaur doubled over in laughter. The mummy slapped my back in congratulations. I didn't look back to see the vampire.

I walked toward the pond. Castor was already awake when I got there, but he put his finger to his lips. Juniper was still asleep, her head in his lap.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, Arriana."

"How are you?"

"Good. Exhausted. How are you?"

"Good." I didn't mention the vampire or my problems with Ryan. I didn't know how to articulate either. And the vampires were more of a threat to Castor than me. At least I was unappetizing.

"How's Ryan?" He seemed to be treading lightly. He didn't care how Ryan was. I saw in his eyes he was asking something entirely different.

"I don't know."

He nodded. "Do you think you'll be able to F-O-R-G-I-V-E her?"

I signed "forgive." "Probably not. Not unless one of us changes our minds."

"Do you want to forgive her?"

"I don't know. I think I want her to be a different person, being honest."

He nodded. "And you'll find that person."

I snorted. "What if I don't want to?"

"Why wouldn't you want to?"

"Being in love... I hate it. It's so messy, M-E-S-S-Y. I don't want to live my life like that."

"It wouldn't be like that if they were the right kind of person."

"No? Isn't it hard? Even for you and her?"

He looked down at her, his fingers running through her hair. "Not like that.

"Then like what? It's still hard."

"C-U-R-C-U-M-S-T-A-N-T-A-L-L-Y it's hard. The conflict is from them. Not us."

I looked at him. I signed the missing words but didn't offer anything of my own.

"Arriana? Aren't some things worth it, even though they're hard?"

I nodded. "But not this."

He pushed another strand of knotty hair out of Juniper's face. "Okay."