Mira nodded. She expected as much, otherwise why would he ask her to meet? She, too, had her own questions. “I have something to ask first.” She needed to start, otherwise who knew what state she would be in after listening to his voice for so long? Leo looked a bit hesitant, but inclined his head in acquiescence. “Yesterday, when I— when I almost drowned.” She didn’t like saying it that way, but there wasn’t really a way around it. “I felt something.”

Leo was silent, but his eyebrow raised slightly. He was, thankfully, quiet, allowing her to keep her mind clear while still conveying his sentiments perfectly. “I’ve been swimming for years,” she continued, voice a little stronger now. This, of all things, she was sure of. “I don’t just ‘drown’ for kicks. The currents were strong but not impossibly so. Something pulled me down.”

Mira looked him dead in the eye. Leo wasn’t on her suspect list, because what she felt wasn’t… human. In any sense. There were no hands or fingers, no skin, and his tail was in no way thin enough to catch her around the ankle. However, that left her suspect list unpleasantly empty.

He didn’t flinch at all by her stare, by he did his head just slightly to the side— thinking. “I didn’t see anything,” he said, words a little slow as he flipped through the memory. Mira appreciated him taking this seriously, because she sure as hell was. “But…”

She ignored her shiver at the soothing, sensual tone of his words. “But?” She prompted; he was taking too long.

“But I did feel something, something unusual. It’s part of the reason I was there in the first place.” Mira took in a few deep breaths as his words danced over her skin, making her tingle. She was going to bring a notebook next time, make him write whatever he needed to say.

“And you don’t know what it was?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Damn. Guess she wasn’t going to swim in the ocean any time soon. She would have to take him at his word, for now. “Is that all of your questions?” Leo continued after she let the silence draw on.

“Yes.” She took her towel and spread it on the sand as the sky grew darker, than sat on it. “What did you want to talk about?”

“First,” Leo said as he, too, sat, crossing his legs on the towel so he could meet her at eye level. “I need to clarify.” He paused and Mira waited, trying not to get distracted by not only the remaining effects of his voice but also the strong, defined muscles of his torso. “You know of us, of Sirens?”

Her mind swirled with desire, to lean forward, to touch him, to listen to that voice forever, but she resisted. “Yes, I know of Sirens.”

Leo watched her intently. “You’ve… met one of us before?”

Mira hesitated for a moment. “Yes.” But her voice was quieter than before. “I have.”

She didn’t elaborate. “I see.” Leo continued, and Mira felt her shoulders relax. He wasn’t going to push. “But,” he said, eyeing her carefully, “you know of us… and you seem to have some resistance to us, to our voice.”

Mira felt a giggle nearly pop out of her as his tenor ran fire through her blood. “I would hardly agree,” she said. It was a battle every time he spoke, every word from him feeling like exactly what it was, a siren’s call.

But his expression relaxed, with sympathy, perhaps. “Many would not have been able to listen to me speak for so long without taking more drastic measures.” He nodded. “You’re doing well.”

Mira just grit her teeth. Could you keep a voice, keep a song? She was feeling unnecessarily possessive. “Yes well,” she began, “that’s all fine and good, but is there any way you can tone it down, turn it off? Just… not talk?”

Because, dear lord, what if she heard him sing?

The thought of it alone set her blood ablaze, racing fire beneath her skin. She remembered waking up to it when she had passed out on the beach, being drawn to it irrevocably—

“I can’t exactly…” She snapped out of it, gaze refocusing on Leo as he spoke, “…turn it off. I’ll try to be poignant.” He nodded in affirmation, and Mira couldn’t help but smile.

“Thank you, I appreciate that.” Leo inclined his head in acknowledgment, lips upturned. “But you will need to talk to tell me about whatever you wanted to tell me about.”

“Yes. I’m sorry, in advance.” He gave her a small apologetic smile, to which Mira winced. It couldn’t just be easy. “I will try to be brief. I need your help.”

That was it. He stopped talking, and Mira blinked a few times in confusion. The shock of the very unexpected question seemed to stave off the effects of his voice. “Um? With what?” She certainly wasn’t going to agree to help when she had no idea what he wanted. She steeled herself for the wave of desire that came with his voice as he opened his mouth to his mouth to speak.

“I have lost something important, and I need you to help me retrieve it. A… a shell.”

Mira just put her head back, too stressed from resisting the mixture of his voice and the pulsing sounds of the sea. “Leo, I hate to break it to you, but there are many, many shells in the world.” She swept her hand out to the side. “We’re literally sitting on the beach.” No lack of shells there. Despite the sarcasm, she figured he meant more than he was saying. At least, she hoped so.

“It is… special, a Siren heirloom. I need it to guide me somewhere, and I can’t go unless I have it. It was last thought to be in this area, but may be far inland. That would be difficult for me. But since you know of Sirens, you could help me.”

Those she was concerned about the power of his voice, Mira seemed less susceptible the longer he spoke; the first few words were nearly agonizing in their pull, but the longer she resisted the easier it became. She breathed a sigh of relief, then pieced through what he had said. Heirloom, lost, sirens.

Heirloom. Lost. Sirens. And she was going to get stuck in the middle of it.

Hey all! I hope you are enjoying the story so far!

I'm going to ask now that you please be patient with me, I'm not the best at starting stories and I know it's been a little rough. That being said, I wanted to give a quick shout out to the followers who have stuck with it, and have also so kindly commented. I very much appreciate that support, it helps give me motivation to keep writing! You can expect a new chapter within a few days ;)

As always, enjoy!