Page 83 of Ensnaring the Siren

Nireed’s hair had been loosely curled and braided, spilling over a bare shoulder in a waterfall of silky brown. Her Grecian-style dress was a deliberate nod to the sirens of old and in a light blue shade that reminded him of the periwinkle flowers his mom grew back home. The bouquet in her hands was a mix of blues, whites, and filler greens, and he didn’t know enough about plants to identify any of them, but they had a distinctly wild, plucked from a field look.

At a glance, Nireed might be mistaken for human, but her eyes were just a little too luminescent, her nails a little too sharp, and along the smooth, ivory column of her neck, three faint horizontal slashes teased where her gills would be. That was, if you knew to look.

His sister drew up beside him, only the whisper of footsteps alerting him to her approach. “She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

Ethereal. A sea goddess gracing the shore with her divinity.

“Takes my breath away every single time.” Figuratively, sometimes literally.

Smiling, his sister bent, pulling a black photo album from the bottom shelf, and flipped it open to a page with individual shots of all the bridesmaids. Carefully, she removed the one of Nireed from its sleeve and handed it to him. “You can have this one.”

He took it reverently, keeping his fingers at the edges so not to smudge the surface.

Fierce amber eyes stared straight into the camera; lips quirked mischievously. This one snapshot in time was so quintessentially Nireed his heart squeezed, and for one beautiful moment, it felt like she was looking right at him and smiling, and that they existed in a world where he hadn’t run when she needed him to trust her. “Thank you.”

Lorelei took him down to the beach to talk, just the two of them. They plopped on the sand, sitting side-by-side with their arms folded around their knees, wind whipping their dark auburn hair. Mirror images of one another.

“So, you and Nireed, huh?” Lorelei bumped her shoulder into his. “That’s new.”

He sighed heavily.

“Uh-oh. That’s got ‘complicated’ written all over it.”

Picking up a broken piece of mussel shell, Reid ran his thumb across its sharp edge before chucking it out into the ocean. “I fucked it up already.”

Her smile dimmed. “Want to talk about it?”

“I didn’t exactly handle my emotions well when I found out the truth behind The Osprey and the origins of Shorewalkers. She gave context, and I understood it, but I had also just found out that you were my sister and that Mom had been attacked. It all just dogpiled. I took off without explanation.”

“It’s a lot to take in. I’m sure she understands that.”

He bowed his head. “She could smell fear on me. Since the day I met her, she’s tried to prove to me that she’s not some mindless, bloodthirsty monster. Leaving like I did? It’s like I never listened.”

“You had a lot to process.” Lorelei’s tone was even and judgment-free, which was rather gracious considering he’d hurt her friend. “It’s okay to shut down for a little bit and make space to lick your wounds. I’ve done it plenty, in my own way. And yeah, it would’ve been better if you’d told her, but there’s still time to do that.”

He nodded along, unable to voice his fear that he’d irreparably broken Nireed’s trust, as if saying it would make it come true.

“What were you afraid of?”

“Loving her.”

“Oh,” she breathed. “You love her?”

Practically heartsick with it.

When he didn’t answer, she kept going. “This kind of stuff happens to couples all the time. Doesn’t mean it’s over. Not until one of you says it is.”

A shred of hope was still hope, and he’d take it if it meant he’d a chance at earning Nireed’s forgiveness and keeping her affection.

“I want to find her and apologize, but I don’t know how.”

Lorelei perked up. “Oh, I do!”

Launching to her feet, she reached for his hand and yanked him up with ease despite their significant height and weight difference. “Come on. We’re calling Lila.”

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

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