Page 16 of Midnight Serenade
“If by good you mean the ability to save lives, yes,” Rafe said. “Our lives will always have storms, but you’re like a sunny, rum-filled port in those storms. There will be those that are drawn to you simply because you’re a siren. But there will be others that are eternally grateful because you quiet the storm within them.”
“You’ll also have a longer life span?about triple a normal human’s. That can be both good and bad,” I added.
She smiled tremulously. “My mom is in her seventies. I’ve always thought she would go before me, but the idea that I’ll liveso much longer than her...” She shook her head. “It’s hard to imagine.”
“Wait, hold up. Your mom is in her seventies?” Micaela said.
Grace laughed a little burble of sound. “Mama adopted me when I was eleven. The adoption agency she went through had strict instructions to only let a single woman adopt me. I guess they’d tried couples and had some problems, but oddly, I don’t remember any of that. I remember bits and pieces from the group home, but not much.” She smiled. “My mom’s a firecracker. She learned early on how guys react to me, so she took to carrying around a baseball bat everywhere we went.”
Her face grew grave as she no doubt imagined living the rest of her long life without her mom.
“I can turn her, if you’d like?” I offered.
Her eyes widened. “Into a vampire?” And then she laughed. “I can just imagine a seventy-three-year-old vampire going around with a baseball bat.” She shrugged. “Well, I can ask her. I’m betting she’ll say no, though.”
“She won’t think you’re crazy for thinking vampires are real?” Micaela asked.
Grace smiled a small little smile and shook her head. “We’ve always been honest with each other. If I tell her, she’ll believe me.”
“Did you want to talk to her? I have a satellite phone in my office.”
Her eyes lit up. “Can we use it after dinner?”
“Of course.”
“Then, yes. Thank you!” She leaned over and gave me a hug, and I looked bemusedly at Rafe as I patted her back. He winked at me, and I shook my head.
I withdrew. “On to factoid number three about sirens. You have a mate. A soul mate. Sirens are generally weak supernaturals. You don’t have extra strength or savagery likea vampire or shifter, you’re not nearly indestructible like a gargoyle, and you don’t have magic like a sorcerer or a witch. In the old days, there were a few sirens that lured sailors to them, crashing their ships upon the rocks. The reason the men were never heard from again is because they chose to stay with the sirens. The sirens didn’t want to be a part of the normal world, but they wanted companionship, and so they stole a few shipfuls of men.” I gave Grace a firm look. “Being a siren does not make you evil. You are who you’ve always been.”
She looked down, but before she did, I saw the naked relief in her eyes. I softened my voice. “So, your mate will be someone strong enough to protect you.”
“It’s because you’re so squishy,” Micaela said with a smirk.
Grace laughed. “Thank you, Micaela,” she said drolly.
Micaela winked. “And on that note! Dessert!”
I triedto unobtrusively do paperwork while Grace was on the phone with her mom, but my vampire hearing picked up every word between them.
“Hey, Mama.” Grace sounded exhausted and I felt bad for her. She was supposed to be on vacation. Instead, she probably felt like she needed a vacation from her vacation. I hoped the spa day would help.
“Gracie!” an elderly lady squealed. “How are you calling me? I thought cellphones didn’t work at sea.”
“I’m calling on a satellite phone, Mama. I’m in the owner’s office.”
“Did something happen? I knew I should have gone with you, Gracie. I justknewit!” I could hear rustling around, and then, “I have my bat. I’ll book a flight. Do you think they’ll let me boardthe cruise ship at a different port?” More rustling. “I’m packing right now. You just let me at ‘em. No one treats my Gracie that way. What is wrong with people? I tell ya, no one has any respect anymore!”
Gracie started laughing, but I could see tears come to her eyes at her mom’s words. Without looking up, I pulled a tissue from the box on my desk and passed it to her.
She grabbed it and delicately sniffled into it, drying her eyes. “Mama, we can talk about all of that in a minute.” Grace hesitated. “You know how I came searching for answers?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I found them. Mama... are you sitting down?”
“Okay, I’m sitting. Lay it on me.”
“I’m a siren.”
