Page 59 of Cruel Destinies

“Oh, I wanted to,” I confessed. “But I knew it wouldn’t mean anything if I forced her to change. This way, she’ll have to actually reflect on her actions before she bullies anyone, not just me.”

She beamed at me and put her hands on my shoulders. “You are exactly the right person to have the powers of a siren, and Iam so proud of you for making a choice even I would’ve been too selfish to make.”

My heart swelled with unexpected pride. Celeste was the only mother figure I had left. That the head mer would say such a thing to me... I almost wanted to cry with joy.

“For our next lesson, I think we’ll try using your siren voice in the lake. See if we can’t have some fun with our aquatic neighbors,” she said with girlish excitement.

“I can’t wait,” I said honestly.

Now that I knew I could use this voice for good and not just for self-gain, I was eager to see what else it could do. And I couldn’t wait to see how well it worked on Cora in the coming days.

Chapter 19

Julian

It was late and it was cold, but neither bothered me. Time was just as irrelevant as the weather. A snowstorm had passed earlier in the day, but a bitter wind had carried it away from Chicago, leaving the city even colder and the sky open.

I played the part, wearing a puffy gray coat and jeans, although my body needed no insulation. My flesh was as cold as the air, anyway.

As Hadrian ordered, I was within close proximity to the subway station that led to the shifter school. I sat on a park bench with a good vantage point of the staircase that led down to the station. The park was far enough away that I felt confident I wouldn’t look too obviously camped out and stalker-ish. Over the past week, I’d seen police officers go by, their sights not dwelling on me for too long. It was Chicago—there was a lot going on to keep them busy.

As it was late and the city was mostly quiet, I doubted that any shifter would come crawling out of the subway station. Every night had been the same: nobody resembling Hadrian’s daughter had come out.

I turned another page of the book I was reading. For all the music I’d memorized from my favorite composer, I had relatively no idea who Ludwig van Beethoven was. For the past few evenings, I’d read about the prodigy’s abusive childhood, and how he’d been scorned by his father for his “playing by ear” methods with the violin, telling him that he’d never amount to anything.

My own childhood was remarkably similar. My father had been abusive, both physically and verbally, and while I hadn’t spent any time with music as a child, I’d been told enough times that the trees in the orchards would produce just fine without me.

The camaraderie I felt with Beethoven increased, and I knew that the sonatas and marches I’d studied over the years would only have more meaning for me now.

Being so enveloped in the composer’s history, I hardly noticed the soft footsteps in the snow behind me. Snapping the book shut, I whirled around to mark whoever it was daring to sneak up on me.

It was Piper. I barely recognized her underneath all the layers she wore. Her hands were shoved into the side pockets of a padded dark royal purple overcoat that hung down to her shins. She wore tan boots that looked fashionably feminine, and her blonde hair was scrunched under a lavender beanie. A green scarf wrapped around her neck and trailed down her front.

Piper stopped as soon as our eyes met.

“What are you doing here?” I demanded, getting to my feet. I immediately regretted it. Piper had never shown any ill-will toward me. Sure, she had her quirky moments, but she’d always been kind.

She pulled her white-gloved hands out of her pockets and shrugged awkwardly. “Hadrian sent me.”

I stepped toward her. “Hadrian sent you? At this time of night? Piper, you’re going to freeze to death.” I could see her teeth chattering.

“I guess you’d have to turn me into a vampire to save me if that were to happen,” she said, a small smile creeping across her face.

I didn’t see the humor and set my jaw. She knew how I felt about her desire to be turned.

Her grin disappeared. “Hadrian’s waiting in your apartment. He sent me to gather you.”

“Hadrian’s here?” I said with disbelief.

Piper nodded.

“Why in the world did he come? I’ve only been away from Heritage Prep for one week.”

Piper shrugged, then wiped at her nose with her sleeve. She was shaking uncontrollably.

Her condition pushed away my frustration momentarily. I couldn’t let her stay out in the cold like this.

“Let’s get back to my apartment and get you warmed up,” I said. “I’m afraid I don’t have fixings for coffee or tea, but you can at the very least take a warm bath.”

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