“Do I know you?” I asked cautiously, keeping an eye on her.
She laughed, a tinkling, light sound. “No,” she shook her head. As she did, her fragrant perfume drifted toward me. And I closed my eyes, inhaling her scent. Everything about her was appealing, and drew me to her.
My eyes snapped open with a realization.
“You’re a siren,” I gasped.
She laughed. “Something that you’re not unfamiliar with,” she nodded. “And Empusa…I’m sorry.”
“For what?” I looked at her curiously because she hadn’t moved.
“For this.”
She waved her hand and two men in black cloaks and hoods appeared next to me, grabbing my arms. They held me with vise-grips, impervious to my goddess strength as I kicked and thrashed. Before I knew it, they were spinning me around and around and I realized that they were wrapping a mesh-sort of cloth around me, restraining my arms and legs. I started to scream and realized that I couldn’t open my mouth. Somehow, they had rendered me mute.
Aghast, I stared at the woman helplessly.
She looked at me sympathetically. “Relax, Empusa. This won’t take long and you will be released again.”
She looked at the men. “Zeus said to conceal her somewhere where she could watch. She needs to bear witness to this.” She looked around the room. “It’s too small in here, though. He’ll see her.” She snapped her fingers. “I know. Invisibility.”
With a few murmured words, I felt a familiar lightening of limb as I faded from sight. I could still see everything in the room, but I knew that anyone who entered would not be able to see me. The two men on each side of me had faded with me and they pulled me into the back corner of the hut, directly in front of the bed.
A bad feeling formed in the fit of my stomach as the woman arranged herself on the bed. My bed. She pulled her gown until the straps were hanging alluringly off of her shoulders and she positioned herself just-so so that she looked beautiful. As she did, I realized something.
This was another challenge. My mother had been correct- we were going to have unexpected challenges. I felt panicky. Brennan wouldn’t be prepared for this. It was almost impossible to stave off a siren. I should know.
She finally finished preening and turned to gaze into my eyes. I stared defiantly back, unable to move. She smiled just slightly.
“Don’t worry, Empusa,” she said softly, her eyes glued to mine. “I won’t hurt him.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. For some reason, I believed her. Killing Brennan now would spoil the game for the Olympians so that wasn’t what I was worried about. Seeing Brennan in the arms of another beautiful woman… that was an entirely different story.
Chapter Seven
It didn’t take long for Brennan to wonder what was taking me so long and come to find me. The wooden door creaked open causing me to open my eyes. The two men on either side of me gripped my elbows hard, although I don’t know why. The strange gauze wrapped around me held me surprisingly tightly. I couldn’t move at all.
Brennan stopped short when he saw the siren on our bed. I gulped hard and tried not to close my eyes. I wanted to, but I had to see what happened here. It was an undeniable and unpleasant need.
“Who are you?” Brennan demanded. To his credit, he kept his eyes on her face, not on her half-naked body.
“Helen,” the Siren murmured in answer. “Come sit with me, Brennan.”
Her voice was like a song, soft and beautiful. The serene sound made you feel relaxed and tranquil, as though you could float away on the sound without a care in the world. No wonder sirens were so successful at luring men to their deaths in the ocean.
“Okay, Helen,” Brennan replied politely. “It’s very nice to meet you. Now tell me…why are you here? And half-dressed? Where is Empusa?”
I again had to give him credit. He still had me on his mind even faced with the siren’s blatant attributes. It was impressive.
Helen smiled again, lifting one elegant hand. “She’s nearby. But you need to focus on me now. I’m your challenge, Brennan. Do you think you can win?”
Brennan looked confused. “You’re my challenge? How so?”
I wanted to throttle him. When a siren tells you that she is your challenge, you don’t stand there and question her. You turn around and walk away. But then, to be fair, I guess he couldn’t do that. We had to win our challenges or the game would be lost. Struggling to swallow, I kept my eyes frozen on the pair in front of me.
I could hear Brennan breathe as he tried to wrap his mind around his current situation. I skimmed through his thoughts quickly and I knew the second that he figured it out.
“No,” he stammered. “That’s an unfair challenge.”
“No one ever said the game would be fair,” Helen answered simply. She patted the bed beside her, her hand slender. “Come, Brennan. Let’s get this started. You must withstand me- every temptation that I might offer you. If you do not, you fail. And you know what will happen if you fail.”
Brennan nodded. “Yes.”
Helen giggled, seemingly unaffected. “So come. This will be fun. Let us begin.”
Brennan sighed a heavy sigh that seemed to shake the room, but that might have been my own breath quivering in my chest. He slowly approached the bed and stiffly sat next to the beautiful siren.
“What do I need to do?” he asked.
Helen moved so quickly that I didn’t even see the movement. She was just suddenly behind Brennan on the bed, her mouth directly behind his ear. “Nothing,” she breathed into his neck. “You don’t have to do a thing.”
“But withstand temptation,” Brennan added.
Helen only laughed. “Good luck.”
I gulped.
Helen slid around Brennan smoothly, like a beautiful snake sliding along a branch. She wrapped herself around Brennan and kissed him lightly on the mouth. The room was so sexually charged that I could practically taste the energy and it was all I could do not to vomit. My stomach was clenched into an iron ball.
Brennan didn’t respond. He sat motionlessly on the bed. Helen pulled back a little bit and stared into Brennan’s amber eyes.