“It is a Siren's burden," she whispered, "So much strength, so much pain. You will feel the weight of humanity on your shoulders, though you are only partly human yourself. Soon you will not have any traces of that left.”

“We were the creatures desired throughout the ages... foolish humans didn't even realize it, living in their own little world.”

“Had I ever truly been free? Though I wasn’t shipped off to different countries did that make me any less of a prisoner?”

“How was your day?” he asked. I faltered, unaccustomed to the question. The look on my face must have been strange because he laughed at me and said, “Okay… don’t tell me then.”Considering the question I asked, “Do people normally want a real answer to that?”I’d only been asked for reports by my father or his team.Julian thought for a moment and shrugged, “I suppose not. Most people say ‘good’ or ‘fine’ even when they don’t mean it.”He mistook my question for simple speculation instead of a lack of understanding. Nodding I snickered and said, “Then it was fine. Yours?”He grinned, “Good.”

“The men my family threw me at were strong and powerful. I could kill this boy with a teaspoon, and for some reason that made me feel comfortable.”

“You care so much you feel as though you will bleed to death with the pain of it.”

“You love someone, you open yourself up to suffering, that’s the sad truth. Maybe they’ll break your heart, maybe you’ll break their heart and never be able to look at yourself in the same way. Those are the risks. You see two people and you think they belong together, but nothing happens. The thought of losing so much control over personal happiness is unbearable. That’s the burden. Like wings, they have weight, we feel that weight on our backs, but they are a burden that lifts us. Burdens that allow us to fly.”