Marcy readjusted her glasses on her nose and stared at the floor thoughtfully. “It’s weird that immortality is considered both a blessing and a curse.”
“It is a double-edged sword,” Lydia agreed.
“How do you kill a god?” Gemma asked.
“It depends on the god. If you’re god of the sun, it would probably have something to do with darkness,” Lydia said.
Gemma thought of Achelous, remembering how he was a freshwater god. “So for something like the god of water, it would probably involve being dried out?”
Lydia nodded. “Yeah, something like that.”
“So is that how you kill a siren, then?” Marcy asked.
“No, killing a siren is a lot easier than killing a god. A god—something like Apollo or Achelous—they would be here.” Lydia held up her hand above her head. “And an immortal, something like a siren or even a werewolf or troll, would be here.” She held her hand in front of her chin.
“Where would humans be?” Marcy asked, and Lydia lowered her hand in front of her stomach. “That far down, huh?”
“Yeah, we’re pretty fragile,” Lydia said. “So anyway, lesser immortals like vampires usually have more than one way to kill them. Breaking the curse, starvation, sunlight, a stake through the heart. A god only has one way, and it’s usually complicated and arduous.”
“So there’s more than one way to kill a siren, then?” Gemma asked.
“Since you were here last, I’ve been doing some research. I found a few ways to kill sirens, but most of them are longer-term,” Lydia explained. “Starvation, having fewer than four sirens on a full moon, being apart from each other for several weeks. There’s only one instantaneous way to kill them.”
“And would that involve a stake through the heart or a silver bullet?” Marcy asked.
Lydia shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. It’s not quite that simple.”
“Of course not,” Gemma muttered.
“Hold on.” Lydia leaned back and punched some buttons on the cash register. It made a loud ding, and the drawer popped open. She dug inside, then pulled out a small, folded square of paper. “Here.”
Lydia had her hand outstretched toward her, but Gemma hesitated.
“What’s that?” Gemma asked.
“It’s how you kill a siren. Not all of the sirens at once, but if you’re fighting one hand-to-hand and need to stop her in self-defense, here’s how you do it.”
“Thank you.” Tentatively, Gemma took the paper from her. “How do you know all this stuff?”
Lydia smiled slyly. “You could say that it’s a family business. My grandma is a witch, and my father is a vampire.”
“Wait.” Marcy narrowed her eyes, as if noticing Lydia for the first time. “Does that mean you’re a vampire? Or a witch?”
“I’m neither, actually,” Lydia answered. “It just means I have an affinity, a natural inclination, towards the supernatural.
“If it makes you feel any better, my grandma is more of a good witch,” Lydia said when Marcy continued to scrutinize her. “She used to help various immortals out when they were in trouble, but she was mostly a record keeper.” Lydia gestured to the bookstore. “Many of these books and scrolls you see here came from my grandma, handed down generation after generation.”
“Have you ever destroyed a scroll?” Gemma asked.
“No, I haven’t.” Lydia paused, then took a deep breath. “But if I’m being honest, I never wanted to. It’s always been our job to protect them.”
“Why? Some of these creatures are evil,” Gemma said.
“Some humans do bad things, truly horrendous things, but that doesn’t mean that they’re all evil or that we all deserve to die,” Lydia said. “Though if the right creature found the scroll with humanity’s curse, they might be tempted to destroy it.”
“Are you implying that we are a curse?” Marcy asked, and she seemed to have relaxed around Lydia again.
“Mortality is a blessing and a curse, too,” Lydia said simply.
“What if I find this scroll?” Gemma asked. “Will you help me destroy it? Or will that go against your nature?”
“My nature is to help those in need,” Lydia replied carefully. “If I have the tools or information you need to protect yourself and those you care about, I will gladly give them to you.”
“Do you have any ideas where the scroll might be?” Marcy asked, turning her attention to Gemma. “I know you came up empty a couple times.”
“I think it might be with the sirens now,” Gemma said. “It wasn’t before, but I told Thea I was looking for it. I think they’ll hang on to it to guard until I’m either gone or I’ve lost interest.”
“But you aren’t going to lose interest, are you?” Lydia asked.
“No.” Gemma shook her head. “I can’t.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more help to you,” Lydia said, sounding sincere.
“No, you’ve been plenty of help,” Gemma assured her with a smile. “Thank you.”