Read Online Sirensong by Jenna Black - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Jenna Black
Tags: sf_fantasy_city
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also discovered that I was not destined to be an expert marksman. I had to fight my instinct to close my eyes every time I pulled the trigger, and I jumped at the noise, despite the earplugs.
Dad was pretty patient with me, but I think he was regretting the impulse to give me a lethal weapon by the time we left the range.
There was one bright spot to my day, though it wasn’t the kind of bright spot that soothed my nerves: that night, Ethan and I were going on our first honest-to-goodness date. We’d planned it before the summons, and there was no way I was going to cancel. Although this being our first real date, I couldn’t help being nervous. (As if the knowledge that I would be leaving everything familiar behind and traveling to Faerie in less than twenty-four hours didn’t make me nervous enough.)
It didn’t help that this morning’s session with Keane had made me so painfully aware of all the secrets I was keeping, even from my family and my closest friends. For example, I’d never told Ethan about the Erlking’s mark. His head would probably explode if he ever found out I’d told Keane and not him. I could give Ethan some watered-down version of the story I’d given Keane, but Ethan was more likely to push for details—and I was more likely to cave to his pushing.
The last time Ethan and I had gone out together was before the Erlking had sunk his claws into Ethan. I’d insisted we were just friends, and it wasn’t a date. We’d gone to a movie, and I’d discovered just how creative Ethan was capable of being in a darkened movie theater. Even with Finn sitting there just a few rows back, Ethan had gotten away with things I’d never meant to let him get away with.
Figuring I’d learned the hard way that going to a movie with Ethan was dangerous, this time we were going out to dinner instead.
I have to admit, I felt pretty sophisticated and grown up as I headed out to meet Ethan at a tiny little Italian restaurant he swore was fantastic. Most kids my age did school dances or trips to the mall for their dates, but Ethan had outgrown high school dating practices. He could act majorly childish and immature at times—especially when he was bickering with Kimber—but at the ripe old age of eighteen, he considered himself an adult, and for this date, he’d chosen to act like one.
He was waiting for me just outside the restaurant, and I felt the familiar flutter of excitement in my belly when I first caught sight of him. The Fae are all ridiculously good-looking, but from the moment I’d met Ethan, he’d pushed my buttons in a way no one else did.
His hair was a very pale blond, and it reached to his shoulders when he didn’t have it tied back. His eyes were a shade of teal blue humans can only achieve with contacts. And the slight imperfection of his nose—which looked like it had once been broken—gave him just enough character to save him from being pretty.
Of course, these days, the first thing that drew my eyes when I caught sight of him was the Erlking’s mark, which looked like a tattoo of a stylized blue stag curling around the side of his face. It was the mark that said that even though he was no longer a member of the Wild Hunt, he was still bound to the Erlking. It always gave me a little chill when I saw it, although if I didn’t know what it meant, I might have thought it kinda sexy.
Ethan broke into a smile when he caught sight of me. That smile still had the power to make my insides quiver, but there was a haunted look in his eyes that made my heart ache for him. He was not the same boy I’d first met. Once upon a time, Ethan had been cheerful and carefree. You couldn’t apply either of those words to him now. Everything he had gone through had been because of me, and sometimes I felt like I was drowning in the guilt.
Glancing over my shoulder at Finn—who, of course, had to come with me even on a date, because that’s what bodyguards do—Ethan put his hands on my
Dad was pretty patient with me, but I think he was regretting the impulse to give me a lethal weapon by the time we left the range.
There was one bright spot to my day, though it wasn’t the kind of bright spot that soothed my nerves: that night, Ethan and I were going on our first honest-to-goodness date. We’d planned it before the summons, and there was no way I was going to cancel. Although this being our first real date, I couldn’t help being nervous. (As if the knowledge that I would be leaving everything familiar behind and traveling to Faerie in less than twenty-four hours didn’t make me nervous enough.)
It didn’t help that this morning’s session with Keane had made me so painfully aware of all the secrets I was keeping, even from my family and my closest friends. For example, I’d never told Ethan about the Erlking’s mark. His head would probably explode if he ever found out I’d told Keane and not him. I could give Ethan some watered-down version of the story I’d given Keane, but Ethan was more likely to push for details—and I was more likely to cave to his pushing.
The last time Ethan and I had gone out together was before the Erlking had sunk his claws into Ethan. I’d insisted we were just friends, and it wasn’t a date. We’d gone to a movie, and I’d discovered just how creative Ethan was capable of being in a darkened movie theater. Even with Finn sitting there just a few rows back, Ethan had gotten away with things I’d never meant to let him get away with.
Figuring I’d learned the hard way that going to a movie with Ethan was dangerous, this time we were going out to dinner instead.
I have to admit, I felt pretty sophisticated and grown up as I headed out to meet Ethan at a tiny little Italian restaurant he swore was fantastic. Most kids my age did school dances or trips to the mall for their dates, but Ethan had outgrown high school dating practices. He could act majorly childish and immature at times—especially when he was bickering with Kimber—but at the ripe old age of eighteen, he considered himself an adult, and for this date, he’d chosen to act like one.
He was waiting for me just outside the restaurant, and I felt the familiar flutter of excitement in my belly when I first caught sight of him. The Fae are all ridiculously good-looking, but from the moment I’d met Ethan, he’d pushed my buttons in a way no one else did.
His hair was a very pale blond, and it reached to his shoulders when he didn’t have it tied back. His eyes were a shade of teal blue humans can only achieve with contacts. And the slight imperfection of his nose—which looked like it had once been broken—gave him just enough character to save him from being pretty.
Of course, these days, the first thing that drew my eyes when I caught sight of him was the Erlking’s mark, which looked like a tattoo of a stylized blue stag curling around the side of his face. It was the mark that said that even though he was no longer a member of the Wild Hunt, he was still bound to the Erlking. It always gave me a little chill when I saw it, although if I didn’t know what it meant, I might have thought it kinda sexy.
Ethan broke into a smile when he caught sight of me. That smile still had the power to make my insides quiver, but there was a haunted look in his eyes that made my heart ache for him. He was not the same boy I’d first met. Once upon a time, Ethan had been cheerful and carefree. You couldn’t apply either of those words to him now. Everything he had gone through had been because of me, and sometimes I felt like I was drowning in the guilt.
Glancing over my shoulder at Finn—who, of course, had to come with me even on a date, because that’s what bodyguards do—Ethan put his hands on my
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