Music Recommendation: Bloomsbury- Amelia Warner
Overwhelmed by the revelation, Eve held the edge of the table to support her body from swaying. She asked,
"H--How can this be possible?"
It was as if all these years that she knew had turned into a lie. She stared back at the skeleton and muttered, "Maybe... my mother's clothes were used to distract someone else who this person was..." And though she said it, she knew she was only making up excuses for the reality that was in front of her eyes.
Vincent himself held a serious look on his face and said, "When I saw the skeleton for the first time, I was surprised because of the leather shoes buried with it. The skeleton belongs to a siren, look at the sharp spikes on the back of the spine. No matter how well a person tries to camouflage their true self in the society, the outcasts are bound to get caught in one way or the other. Or don't last long."
He then continued, "You might find your sea creatures in the lower or middle society, but in high class, it is hard to survive unless you are working for or under someone. This is the reason why your eyes turn yellowish gold."
Eve tried to put her mother and her being a siren together, she just couldn't wrap her mind around it. She then asked him,
"Did you know about it before you found her?"
"I had a doubt, but I wasn't sure until I saw her," Vincent jerked his head to where her mother's skeleton lay.
When Vincent had come to Berkshire to bring her home, he knew it. Eve couldn't believe that her mother had not even once let her have a hint of doubt that she wasn't any regular human but a sea creature. A siren. But then she was too young for her mother to explain in depth about such things, she thought in her mind.
Finally, some things started to make sense. The reason why the siren was able to identify her was in her final moments before she was killed.
"Hart believed that the woman he spoke to at the night soiree had golden eyes," Vincent let her know, "Without your knowledge, you subconsciously used your ability to seduce and pull out answers from him. Sometimes when you are aroused, your mermaid self weakens and is taken over by your siren side."
"Thanks for the knowledge," Eve whispered.
"Why don't we take a walk outside?" Vincent suggested, knowing she needed some time to digest.
"Okay," she agreed.
The two of them left the skeleton and stepped out of the building. They walked into the forest that belonged to the Council.
She had been a mermaid until, which had come from her father and now that she knew her mother was a siren, Eve realised she was a mixture of the two.
"Are you okay?" Vincent asked, rubbing Eve's shoulder when they had stepped into the forest and stopped walking.
"How would you feel if I said apart from a vampire, you are a werewolf?" Eve asked him, and Vincent pulled her in his arms to hug her.
"It would be terrible. Did you hate sirens a lot?" Vincent stroked her hair. Eve let him, without resisting his hug or touch.
Sirens were the next hateful creatures right after the witches. To be associated with something considered evil and worse in the entire outcast, Eve wasn't sure how things would turn out in her future. Because right now it only looked like things were starting.
"I just find it hard to place my mother to be a siren," Eve stepped back, and so did Vincent, loosening his hold around her. She said, "My mother was always gentle, always kind and soft-spoken. She never raised her head and looked people in the eye. Instead... she kept to herself because she knew... that if she was exposed she would die."
"And so would you with her," Vincent remarked and Eve nodded.
Eve looked around at the trees surrounding them while a deep frown came to settle on her forehead. She softly said, "I used to wonder why my mother didn't try to sell the pearls that came from my tears. It would have helped whatever debt she had to repay, and live a much more comfortable life, instead of sleeping with men that cost her life."
"Your mother was smart to not sell it as it is a double edged sword. She could either earn well, or she would be killed without hesitation. And you would have turned into someone's quick snack," Vincent responded to her words. "I think the more important and intriguing question is how a merman and a siren got into a relationship. It doesn't happen even in the rarest of rare cases."
Eve stayed quiet, remembering her mother's kindness and their time together. She said, "I don't remember her taking baths with me. It is as if she always waited for me to sleep before she took a bath."
"Maybe when your mother was alive, you didn't show any signs of being a siren until recently and she must have believed it would be right to raise you only as a merman's child," Vincent suggested.
He added, "There is something else you need to know."
"Bad news?" Eve wanted to prepare her mind, feeling dread starting to form in her mind. Her blue eyes looked at him in worry.
Vincent looked curious as he said, "From what you saw and told me, my theory is that your mother had the ability of blood manipulation. Changing one's blood to taste in a specific way. Because I doubt the number of people she 'worked' for, would have spared her without sinking their teeth at least once to not realise that she was a siren."
Vincent continued, "You saw your mother die in front of you, but there was still a little more life within her."
"What are you talking about?" Eve frowned.
"I don't think the man who killed your mother ever knew she was a siren till the very end. Her body, as you saw, was dug out after years. A siren's skeleton. Patton told me that the reason they even found the three bodies was because her finger stuck out of the ground. Over the years, the level of soil reduced, bringing her up a little closer to the surface of the ground. She probably tried to get out, but it was too late."
Vincent's words sank into Eve's mind, and her heart grew heavy in her chest with emotions she couldn't explain. Many years ago, when she had noticed her mother's eyes grow lifeless, she had run, not knowing her mother still had a little more life in her. Their journey had been cut short without her being able to say goodbye.
Eve wondered why her mother didn't try to kill the man who had killed her when she could do it. She could turn into her siren self and kill the person, but instead, she had let him kill her and had told her young self to run and fend for herself.
Did that mean not all sirens were bad? Or that there were exceptions to every kind. And as the thought sank further in her mind, she asked Vincent with a low, worried voice,
"What if this is only the beginning and my siren side takes over my mermaid side?"
"Do you want me to sever your head or pull out your heart from your chest when it happens?" Vincent asked, tilting his head to the side. Eve stared at him and saw him roll his eyes, "I will still protect you the same way as I have until now, silly girl. Maybe even more."
