Prelude (The Rhapsody Quartet) (26 page)

“I
promise
you, Sarah, it’ll be okay.” Score smiled, pulling his guitar from the back seat of the car and slinging it over his back. He held out one hand, and I accepted it nervously. Leading me through the trees, away from the beaten trail towards the beach, we crested a hillside. It was thick with trees, and foliage brushed against my ankles, leaving a wet dew on the cuffs of my jeans.

Below the hill, the trees thinned, opening up into a tiny section of beach. It was probably only twenty feet long and twelve feet wide, but it accessed the ocean. The dunes towered around it, creating a secure fortress. Two large stone slabs sat a few feet apart, acting as makeshift chairs. It was an oddly perfect slice of the world for two people.

Score hummed softly under his breath. I folded my arms across my chest, my heart starting to beat a little faster. It was too close to singing for me to feel comfortable, and I’d told him at our last meeting I wasn’t ready to hear him sing. Music was just too dangerous. I was relieved when he stopped abruptly. He settled down on one of the stone slabs, leaning back and staring at the ocean.

“We’ll be fine, now,” he said. His eyes were gold, and they crinkled cheerfully. “Your elf friend won’t disturb us. No one will.”

“How can you be so sure?”

He shrugged, “Siren magic.”

I shook my head. “It won’t work on him, Score. He’s an extra— he’s an elf, so he won’t—”

Score pursed his lips. “I forgot you wouldn’t understand.” He sighed, leaning forward, gesturing to the other stone slab. I sat down reluctantly, gripping the case of my dulcimer hard. “You heard me hum,” he said, “I
know
you did. You looked really uncomfortable while I did it.” I nodded, and he continued, “It was just a spell. Something to keep us from being disturbed, to keep our voices muffled, to keep things private.”

My eyes widened. “We can do that?”

Score smiled softly, his eyes falling to the ground. “Yeah. It’s got its limits, of course, but there’s an awful lot we
can
do.”

My lip trembled. I didn’t want to think of wielding even
more
power— it was terrifying. I couldn’t handle
speaking
with anyone, let alone—

Score crossed the gap between us, looking concerned. He crouched on the ground so we were eye-level. “It’s okay, Sarah. You don’t have to do anything that makes you uneasy. It’s all tied to intention.”

I shook my head, “But it’s—” I didn’t want to talk about my foster parents with him yet, so I just said, “It’s too much power!”

His mouth turned to a frown. “It’s a lot, yes, but it’s all under control.”

It was easy for him to say, easy for him to assume. Score always seemed to have complete control of any situation. I turned my head to the tide, watching it roll in and out, steady and reassuring. “It’s all intention?” I asked in a small voice.

He sounded relieved as he answered, exhaling loudly, “Yes. You have to want something, then direct your thoughts and voice to do it.”

I slipped off my shoes, digging my toes into the sand. My shoulders relaxed. If I had no intentions of ever singing, of ever using it, then I couldn’t harm anyone else. I peeked over at him. His eyes were forest green, but they were shifting to a murky purple.

I felt myself grow frustrated. “Why?! Why do they do that?!”

He blinked, taken aback. “Why do what…?” Then he realized what I meant, and started laughing, “Oh…” He grinned at me, “Our eyes?” I nodded, feeling my face screw up in irritation. He smiled. “I promised, didn’t I?”

I nodded, “You did.”

“It’s our
emotions
, Sarah.”

“What?” I asked, trying to fit it together.

He laughed at me, and I blushed. “Confused, now embarrassed…” He looked at his feet, at the sand below. “It works like a mood ring. If it was common knowledge, it’d be dangerous for us— people could practically read our minds. That’s why the colors change so often. We’re always feeling something at least a
little
different than we were, from moment to moment.”

“So you know what the colors mean, then?” I asked, finding myself smiling.

He nodded. “Some of them. Not all, though. I admit, I’ve seen a few new ones in your eyes, but then again…” He shrugged, “I could only compare it to what I’ve seen in the mirror. Even then, I’ve been wearing my contacts for a long time. I usually see my eyes as being brown, like before I transitioned.”

I narrowed my eyes and stared, scrutinizing the color of his irises. At the moment, they were shifting, but settling down to a pretty true liquid gold color that bled into a sort of light pink on the edges. It reminded me of a sunset. It was baffling. “What are you feeling now?”

He smiled. “Happy... I’m often happy when I’m with you, Sarah. I just feel more natural when we’re together.”

My breath caught, and I moved my eyes away from him shyly. I rolled my feet into the sand, letting the grains massage them. It felt soothing, and I asked, “Score, what were you like before you turned?”

“I—” He sounded taken aback by the question. “Why do you want to know?”

I looked up at him. I wasn’t sure what he was feeling, but his eyes were orange now. I had that inkling again— like maybe he wasn’t being completely open with me. I took a breath, “You told me before that you wanted to know me… well, I want to know you, too.”

He turned away from me, his hand on his chin, looking thoughtful. His eyes were narrowed, staring at the ocean. After a long moment, he said, “I was a kid then. Small— scrawny, even. I looked a lot different.”

I laced my hands together, not feeling satisfied with the answer. Though Score was a handsome man, appearances meant very little to me. “I don’t mean what you
looked
like,” I clarified, “I mean what were
you
like? Were you always like this? So confident? So controlled? So… together?”

He laughed a little. “Do I really seem like that?”

“You do.”

Score turned to me, his eyes kind. “Hmm… I honestly don’t know the answer to that.”

I stood up, bridging the gap between us, and sat next to him on the enormous slab. We watched the waves roll in and crash on the shore in silence for a few moments. It was nice, just being with him. I wondered if my eyes were the same gold color that his were. I felt pretty happy.

“You brought your dulcimer,” he said. “Do you want to know your name?”

I felt a strange fluster of nerves, not knowing if I really did. Then again, it was only a label. I nodded, passing my instrument to him.

He unsnapped the case, and I smiled, watching him take it in. His eyes widened as he respectfully picked it up, turning it over in his hands, running his fingertips over the carvings.

“It’s beautiful,” he said, glancing towards me briefly with a smile on his face. His hand brushed over the scrolling letters on the side. For a single moment, he mouthed a word silently before closing his eyes. “Lyra. Your name is Lyra.”

Everything stopped for a moment— my thoughts, my breath, my heart.

It was like I had finally awoken to my real life. For the first time since turning, I felt like a siren.

It was
my name
. How could I have gone by Sarah for so long? No wonder Score had been so insistent that I abandon calling him Will when we were alone. My hands shook a little. I sat rigidly still otherwise, the wind blowing my hair around my shoulders.

Score grabbed my hand carefully, picking it up. I turned to him, searching his eyes. They were golden still— golden and pink and a warm brown in the center. He nodded, “It’s really weird the first time you hear it, because it’s so right.” He gazed into my eyes with a sincere expression on his face. “Thank you for calling me Score.”

My pulse began to race, my stomach filled with butterflies. I leaned against him, closing my eyes. It felt like Score understood me. He wrapped his arm around me, and we sat silently for a long while, just enjoying each other’s company. Everything felt easier when I was around Score, less monumental. I felt safe. I felt normal. It was comforting to have a friend like him.

After a long time, when the sun had dipped below the horizon, he sighed and pulled from me. “If we take too much time, your elf guard will probably tear my house down looking for us.”

He was right. I hadn’t even thought about Glenn. A tiny bit of guilt seeped into my contentment. “Yeah. We need to go.”

I shifted my dulcimer, making sure the snaps on the case were secure before slinging it over my shoulder. I was reluctant to leave. I stood up, and so did he. We faced one another for a long moment, looking into each other’s eyes.

He looked conflicted. Unreadable, evasive emotions translated into a swirl of colors within his gorgeous eyes.

“When can I see you again, like this?” he asked quietly.

I didn’t know. It would depend entirely on how Glenn would react, how strictly he would tighten the reins after today’s escape. I shrugged, shaking my head, at a loss.

Score frowned, holding one of my hands. “I guess that’s a question for another day, then.”

I nodded. In the meantime, I’d miss feeling like I belonged somewhere.

For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me, standing there on the tiny beach. Maybe I was reading into it, though. He stared into my eyes, a soft smile upon his lips. Eventually, he tucked a stray piece of my hair behind my ears. “Let’s get back, then.”

He dug into his pocket, pulling out his contact lens case and obscuring the beautiful colors with dull brown. It was incredibly disappointing, but I nodded, “Yeah.”

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Compromise

When we pulled up to Score’s house, Glenn was sitting tensely on the porch. His hands were clasped so tightly around his bow that his tan knuckles were white. He scowled openly at Score, who dutifully ignored him, playing his part perfectly. I wasn’t sure how he managed it— I knew Score could see Glenn plainly, and if I were in his shoes, I’d be shaking with so much animosity directed towards me.

“You. Are. Mental,” Glenn hissed at me through gritted teeth. His mouth was a tight line, and he glared.

I gave him a fleeting, apologetic glance and turned back to Score. “That was a lot of fun, Will,” I said.

He smiled, shifting his weight. “I enjoyed myself, too, Sarah.” He picked up my hands in his, “When can I see you next?”

“Never!” snapped Glenn loudly. I felt my spine growing rigid, and I glanced back at him for a moment.

Score brushed his thumb across my cheek. “Everything alright?”

I turned to him. “Yes. Yes, I’m fine.” I sighed. “We… we’ll talk again in school, or…” I had a rush of inspiration and raced down, scrawling my phone number into the sand. “If— if you need me,” I said softly.

He smiled, pulling out his mobile phone and entering it into his contacts.

“
Sarah
,” Glenn said warningly. He’d had enough, clearly. His patience was spent.

Score grinned down at me, still ignoring the elf. “I guess we’ll see each other soon, then, right?” He pulled me close and leaned over, kissing me on the cheek lightly. “Goodnight, Sarah.”

Even that brief contact made my heart speed up. I reminded myself that it was a cover, to make Glenn think we were dating. Despite that, I flushed with contentment. The door clicked closed softly as Score left me.

I could only hope that we’d see each other again soon.

Glenn stood, his arms folded tightly in front of himself. He replaced his bow over his shoulder. My guard was livid. He jerked his head towards the steps of Score’s porch, before taking long, quick strides away from the house. I followed behind, feeling guilty. What I’d done was necessary, but absolving my actions didn’t make me feel any better about them.

“I hope you had a good time,” he muttered, “because it was your last date with him.”

I frowned sharply as we walked the beach towards Marin’s house. “I was completely fine the whole time,” I said, exasperated. “Will’s
human
,” I added, forcing the guilt down as I lied to him. “So what harm can he do?”

“That’s what makes this whole thing so bloody terrible, Sarah!” He shook his head. “You’re— you’re taking
advantage
of him!”

I practically snorted. Score was about as taken advantage of as— but I couldn’t argue, because if Score was simply Will Sanders, I
would
be in questionable territory. As far as Glenn could know, he was completely correct. So I shrugged instead. “I think Marin’s right. I need some fun… and that’s hard to do with you breathing down my neck.”

Glenn stopped moving forward, instead pacing back and forth in front of me, looking to be at a loss. “Are you
mad
? Did you somehow forget about the blood wraith, forget you have at
least
one skilled magic user out to get you, forget the hallucination, forget there could be any number of other terrible things that want to see you exterminated?!”

“No,” I said stubbornly, quashing the guilt down again as it rose up to greet me. Like it or not, it was necessary to lie to continue seeing Score. He was the only link I had to sirens. “But I still think—”

“Goddesses, Sarah, the problem is you
don’t
think! You act like a frivolous—” He stopped, glaring into the sand and grinding his teeth furiously. He took a few deep breaths, calming himself down before he looked up at me. “You can’t do that again.”

“I was totally fine, Glenn,” I said, hoping it would soothe him. Score and I had remained undisturbed during our time together, as intended.

“
This
time, sure.”

I frowned. Why did he even bother? Yesterday, he’d acted like it pained him to be near me. I’d been trying my best to befriend him, and he just pushed me away.

“You know what, Glenn?” I said, beginning to get angry myself. “If something happens to me, then— who cares? It would be a relief for you! You could get back to your old life. I
know
that you miss it! This whole thing has been a chore for you, anyway!” I whipped away from him, intending on stomping back to Marin’s house, but he grabbed my bicep before I had the chance, pulling me back.