Page 13 of Enchanting Him
“Dane, his name’s Dane,” Celestia says with a bit of a flush in her cheeks.
“Dane,” I say with a nod, “well, you found him just a couple hours after Serenia found…”
“Duncan,” she states, and I grin, giggling a bit when Celestia gives her a curious look.
“Does he own a greenhouse?” Celestia asks and Serenia nods, looking shocked. “Dane said his best friends were Duncan who runs a greenhouse and…”
“Dylan who owns a restaurant,” I state unable to hold it in another moment.
“Wait, what?” Serenia gasps and I nod nearly bouncing in my seat with giddiness. “So the guys we met all know each other?”
“Seems so,” Celestia states, shaking her head a bit still. “So how did you meet Dylan?”
“I walked around town most of the day, being revolted by the men that would look at me. It was late, the sun was setting, and I was tired, my feet were sore, and I was hungry, so I stopped in a restaurant to get something to eat and mope. Worry that I’d end up back home while the two of you found actual love,” I admit. “I was trying to figure out what to eat and all these men kept coming over asking if I wanted a drink or to eat with them—or to go home with several—and I just wanted to get some food and continue to mope. Until this voice told the latest creep who had a wife already,” I add making my friends wrinkle their noses in disgust, “to leave me alone. One look at him and I washooked. He made me the most incredible food ever and then took me home. He told me Friday night he loved me, fell in love the moment he saw me, which was before I ever saw him…”
“Duncan said the same thing when we were falling asleep Thursday night. That the second he saw me, he knew I was supposed to be his,” Serenia says with a sigh, her eyes glowing with happiness and the same look is in Celestia’s as well.
“Dane told me last night he never believed in love at first sight until he saw me. I just…can it really be this simple?” Celestia adds. “I mean, I didn’t tell him I’m…”
“Neither did I,” I admit.
“Are you kidding? I didn’t want him to think I needed to be locked up by telling him that, especially not when he’d just…”
“What?” I ask when Serenia pauses, knowing the answer before she says it as her eyes glow even more.
“Asked me to marry him,” she says, offering us her hand and the ring looks perfect on her finger.
“Dylan asked me Friday night,” I tell them, unable to resist showing off the ring that I adore almost as much as him.
“Dane asked me last night,” Celestia adds, and I squeal seeing it on her.
“Oh they’re even more perfect than when I saw them…”
“Saw them? What?” Serenia says and I clap my hand over my mouth, giggling at my slip.
“Melodia…what’s going on? You don’t have visions,” Celestia whispers giving me a little glare.
“Dylan found a pearl in an oyster mistakenly sent to the restaurant, took me to the jewelry store to get them to make it into a necklace and we ran into Dane and Duncan when they came in to find rings for you,” I admit with one long rush of breath. “I promised I wouldn’t tell. They both were looking at boring diamonds to begin but once I pointed them in the right direction, they didn’t hesitate on which to buy. Dylan wouldn’tlet me try on any of them to see if they’d fit. He had me close my eyes and then slipped this one on me, then bought it without me knowing.”
“Well then, thank you for your help. I love my ring,” Serenia says giving me a hug.
“So do I,” Celestia agrees with a grin at me. “But honestly, is this all it took? I mean, I don’t really feel any different. I guess I was just expecting something more like when we got our…legs,” she adds on a whisper as someone approaches our table.
“And you will, the next time you’re in water,” a voice says from the end of the space, and a gasp falls from each of us seeing the woman there. The undeniable glow surrounding her combined with the adoring looks from all of the men in the diner telling us exactly who she is.
“I’ve been in water since Dylan told me. I was in water with him Friday night when he told me he loved me again,” I add confused, and Aphrodite simply smiles at us.
“Natural body of water—a lake, river, or the ocean,” she expands. “It’d be more of a curse than a gift if you transformed anytime you were in water, or if it rained. To not be able to swim in a pool, especially in a place like this.”
“So the next time we go into the water what? We’ll regrow our tails?” Celestia asks and she nods. “And what about the cold?”
“Have you felt even an inkling of it since you met your men, who by the way, are all outside waiting for you to come out, and who all ignored me on my way in here. If I didn’t know their hearts were only ever meant for you, I might feel slighted,” Aphrodite says with a tinkle of a laugh that brings more male attention to her.
“What does that mean?” Serenia questions her.
“Exactly what I said. You were worried it was too easy, that they fell too quickly,” she adds to Celestia who nods. “It wasnever the men that didn’t fall in love, my dears. Even when the ancient sirens were given their chance, the men fell in love with them, but the sirens only focused on their need for revenge. Only allowed the coldness of their hearts to rule. Only when a siren allows herself to want love over anything else can she find it. Each of you opened yourselves up to its possibility and listened when it spoke. You could have ignored the pull to go through the park, but you didn’t, Serenia, which allowed you to find Duncan. Celestia, you ignored the rest of the crowd pushing you forward, winding your way down a strange path to find Dane. And my dear sweet, Melodia, you ignored all of the men that would have gladly fallen in love with you but opened yourself up when Dylan appeared.
“No other siren has ever allowed herself that, but I always hoped you three would be different. No matter how many temptations were put in front of you, you never once used your powers to harm. I wouldn’t have been so forgiving of the man you saw on the beach that night that killed his girlfriend. I would have still offered you the chance if you had used your powers and lured him to a watery death,” Aphrodite adds to Celestia who is even more shocked now, but then again, I think we all are. “So now that you know, go get your men. Tell them what you really are so they can love all of you. Oh, and in case you’re worried, there’s one—or two, last gifts for you. The first is perhaps more for your men than you,” she says making us curious. “They won’t have to worry about anyone seeing what’s theirs when you’re in water. You’ll still feel as you did, but your body will be covered entirely like your tail, think more mermaid than siren.”