"They say the Devil wears many guises, and he is one of them."

As the word 'visitor' left Ezra's mouth, the door burst open, and he vanished from Effie's sight.

Believing that Ezra disappeared in the same manner, he appeared out of nowhere. Effie was struck dumb when a crashing noise came from the end of the small corridor adjacent to the bedrooms.

"Bastard!" Gwendolyn's course notes vibrated through the air.

Panting in the doorway, with wild hair, Effie could only stare at her mother as the arm thrown out lowered to her side.

Gripping the table edge, Effie screeched in surprise and confusion. Her fingers tapped and flicked, and her shoulders hunched up to her chin. Effie stared wide-eyed at her mother.

Was her mother like her? A siren?

As the question circled her too-busy head, Effie discovered where Ezra had disappeared when Gwendolyn stepped inside the cottage, slamming the door behind her.

Ezra lay among the splintered remains of the small table he'd landed on in a heap at the end of the hall.

With one leg drawn up, he rested an arm over it as he surveyed the meagre damage around him. His jaw held firm briefly as if angered, and Effie noticed his hold tighten on the snakehead cane.

When he did, something told Effie that she needed to separate Ezra from it when its jowls widened.

Just as her mother swept across her path, Effie threw out an arm, catching her mother across the waist and pushing her aside.

Focused on the cane, Effie felt pressure build in her chest, like air was trapped inside. Effie's lips parted, but her teeth clenched.

The pressure released Effie's chest, and as it did, a bone-splitting noise left her mouth.

To Effie's ears, the sound was filled with her panic and urgency to keep the snakehead from Ezra.

To her mother and Ezra, it must have hurt.

While Ezra appeared to stay more composed, even when he covered both ears and scrunched up his face like he was in immense pain or discomfort, Gwendolyn cried out.

Hearing her mother's crying plea for Effie to stop, she did.

Focusing on the cane, Effie felt relaxed to see that it was out of Ezra's hand. Whatever Effie did worked.

Relieved but unsure why, Effie turned to her mother as she lowered her hands. Wanting to be comforted by the woman, it was clear that Effie would have to wait.

The squint of pain still in her eyes turned to a blistering rage when Gwendolyn looked toward the man, slowly and somewhat lethargically picking himself off the floor.

"They warned me," Ezra stated bluntly, clearly not in as good a mood as before. "That you were not to be trifled with, Gwendolyn." Head tipped to the side, Ezra gazed coldly at Gwendolyn as he brushed a hand down his dusty sleeve.

Gwendolyn clicked her tongue before snorting. "So the council at least got one thing right," she snarled. "Bravo." Clapping her hands sarcastically, Gwendolyn didn't lower them entirely.

Seeing the change in her mother's temperament, Effie didn't hide her shock, though her voice was nothing more than warbling.

Correcting the suit jacket, Ezra bent to retrieve his cane. The snakehead pointed forward but still down at his side. "Yes. Nice use of sarcasm there, Gwen," he sighed briefly. But I'm not here for a battle of wit," he reprimanded sharply. I would win before I even opened my mouth."

Gwendolyn made a sound of disgust but did not disagree. Instead, she moved as Ezra did, walking until she stood directly before Effie.

"I won't let you take her," Gwendolyn uttered darkly, her voice burning with a warning as Ezra stared down at her with a coy smile.

Closing a hand on the knot of her mother's apron, Effie shuffled in close to her back when her mother swept an arm around to usher Effie closer.

Curled up to her mother's back, Effie could hear the frantic beating in her mother's chest. It made her speed up, and she panicked.

"You won't have a choice soon," Ezra replied calmly. “She is of age, and the Brentwoods are already coming for her." He warned, but his voice sounded more like he was flirting.

Gwendolyn's body stiffened. "And you're the one who will have led them to her," she argued, though her temper appeared to have quelled and become something different "You should have let her be."

As Gwendolyn spoke the last sentence, Effie realised what emotion was being portrayed. For the first time, Effie heard the fear in her mother's voice.

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The idea that even her mother was scared of the Brentwoods left her feeling much the same.

With her face buried between her mother's shoulders, Effie wanted to comfort her somehow, but being equally scared and unsure, all she managed was a quiet trill that faded at the end.

However, the sound made her mother's body relax a little. The tenseness in her softened a bit, and Gwendolyn tapped a hand on Effie's side.

"I have done no such thing, Gwendolyn." Ezra argued, his voice embittered by the accusation, "You did that yourself." Returning an accusation, Ezra flicked up the cane when Gwendolyn's hand raised.

Peeking over a shoulder, Effie's chest again tightened when she saw the snakehead pushed up under her mother's chin.

As though sensing something that Effie was unaware of, Ezra looked down at her. "I won't be caught out a second time," he mused with a half smile. "Be silent for now." His voice was soothing but did not match the intense stare he was putting Effie under.

Clicking the fingers of his free hand, Effie found her lips sealed shut. No matter whether wriggling or pulling her jaw allowed them to separate.

Satisfied that Effie was not going to start screeching again, Ezra set to focus on Gwendolyn again. "Your sponsor for the last seventeen years has been keeping a watchful eye on you." He explained with an undertone of disgust.

Gwendolyn's mouth opened to respond, but with a rough push of the cane, it shut again. It seemed Ezra was not going to allow for any interruptions.

"That man is an agent of the Brentwoods," Ezra appeared exasperated as he revealed his knowledge of the man. "They've known where she is from the moment you invited that man into your bed."

Pausing in her struggle to get her lips unstuck, Effie made a strangled and muffled cry. Her eyes swivelling to her mother, she finally stepped out of the woman's shadow.

Gwendolyn was the picture of shock, her skin ashen as her mouth hung agape.

Carefully, Ezra lowered the cane, his posture slightly rigid on one side. Effie guessed that being thrown as he was had actually hurt him.

"You literally sold her safety for a time between the sheets," Ezra continued to drive in the verbal knife as Gwendolyn's eyes became wet. "They have merely been waiting for her to come of age."

At the final comment, Effie whipped her head around to view Ezra. Her eyebrows furrowed, and suspicion rife on her face; it appeared Ezra took notice and turned to her.

"I told you only half of what they want from you," Ezra explained calmly, briefly returning to watching Gwendolyn when she staggered to sit on the chair Effie had been using. "There is something else they need before they want you dead."

Again, he appeared to trip on a word as if replacing it and avoiding saying what he wanted to actually say.

Ezra had done it before mentioning he was sent as a guardian.

Unable to speak, Effie waved her hands, hoping he would understand that she wanted him to explain.

With a finger and thumb running together, Ezra cocked his head. "You're still a virgin, aren't you?"

Knocked sideways by the unexpected question, Effie's skin became hot. Flustered and not sure where to look, Effie ended up in an awkward staring competition with Ezra.

What need was there for such a crude question?

A sympathetic smile swept Ezra's mouth, barely lifting it at the edges. "I apologise for asking such a personal question," he laughed gently, "Especially when I know the answer."

As Ezra's smile became wry, Effie felt another wave of embarrassed heat spread across her face and chest. With her hand out, she pointed an accusing finger toward Ezra.

From the chair, Gwendolyn looked at Effie. The shock and upset of the news that she'd revealed where Effie was apparently gone when Ezra asked the bold question.

"Effie?" Gwendolyn questioned tautly, sounding more like the mother Effie knew and loved "Not that idiot stablehand?" She asked with some disappointment.

Coughing, Ezra looked away as Effie further became an embarrassed mess. With no voice to object, she was left to express herself through the flailing of her arms.

Though at the question of the person she'd almost given her virginity to, Effie stood straight and shook her head wildly.

There was no chance that Effie would endeavour on such a thing with Jean.

Gwendolyn gave a dramatic sigh of relief, a hand to chest. Her shoulder slumped as she swayed to the side. "Thank God." She whispered to herself.

More than confused by the sudden interest in whether her body was still pure, Effie shot Ezra a stare; he'd again dodged the question of what it was the Brentwoods wanted before they planned to send her to the grave.

Ezra gave a calm smile, appearing the image of innocence as he met Effie's eye.

"They want a child from you." Ezra finally elaborated, a brow curving up when Effie's head jolted back in surprise.

From the table, Gwendolyn sighed heavily. "I wanted to keep you safe from all this, Effie."

Meeting her mother's gaze, it was again wet. Eyes brimming with tears, her face was painted in regret for something that, to Effie's understanding, was not entirely her fault.

"I told you the tale of the Siren, but I never told you all of it," Gwendolyn spoke quietly, her gaze flicking away to stare out the window. "The child that was born that night, the boy, syphoned off his mother's immortality. He is still alive now."

At the news, Effie's lips finally snapped apart; it hurt but was quickly ignored when Gwendolyn continued on speaking.

"Because of that curse, you were born a Siren. The promised one who would lay waste to the Brentwood family and enact revenge in place of her."

Effie knew that part already; it was the main point of the tale she'd been told as a child.

Gwendolyn's voice became choked as a sob broke free; hand cupping her mouth, she descended into a weeping mess at the kitchen table.

Wanting to comfort her mother, Effie stepped forward but stopped when Ezra took over from Gwendolyn to explain the parts of the tale that were missed.

"You're suspected to be much like the Siren back then, immortal," Ezra commented wistfully. "And probably like the Siren back then, you will give the child your immortality," he said gravely.

Turning to Ezra, they watched each other curiously for a time.

Neither Gwendolyn nor Ezra needed to speak further, for Effie already understood what it meant.

If Effie bore a child, she would die.

And that's what Brentwood's hoped for. The child born would become one of their fold, and the threat Effie posed would be no more.

As though Ezra believed it was necessary, he added a snippet more for Effie to try and digest: "Like the Siren also, you will probably be with child, from your first time."