Page 31 of Siren Sins
Luke gripped me hard. “No matter what, we stick together.”
“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “But that doesn’t mean we have to get eaten together.”
Blonde hair glinted against the moonlight when the form was close enough to distinguish. What I had thought to be a siren wasn’t a siren at all. She looked up at me with brilliant amber eyes that only one person in the whole world boasted.
It was Sarah.
“The hell?” I screeched as Sarah surfaced and spit water in my face. I coughed and slapped her on the shoulder. “I thought you were a flesh-eating siren!”
She smiled, and I was surprised to see delight and mischief in her eyes. “Oh come on. You deserved to be a little scared.” She glanced at Luke. “Oh. You’ve brought the mute.”
He glowered, but didn’t prove her wrong by trying to speak.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “Luke’s not a mute.”
She splashed water in my face again. “Who cares? You’re back! Race you to the shore!”
Before I had a chance to tell Sarah that I had no idea which way the shore was, she sped off with a thrust that sent the waves reeling. I gawked at her as she left a trail behind her like a speedboat.
Once Sarah had disappeared into the haze of fog, Luke coughed. “Damn muses. I can’t speak around them. They jumble my brains.” He nodded. “Come on. Apparently the shore’s this way.”
Luke splashed through the foamy remnants of Sarah’s departure and I trailed behind him trying not to sputter from the saltwater searing up my nose. Give me demons to fight, dragons to seduce, or humans to save, but toss me into the sea and it’s not pretty.
Once we finally reached a sandy platform I stood and snagged my fingers through my sticky hair. Luke snickered at me when I made a face. “You look fine.”
I glowered. Guys always said you looked fine when you totally didn’t. “Just keep walking, angel-butt.” Luke’s blue eyes shimmered with silver moonlight and now that I knew what to look for, I could spot the supernatural elements in him. His black hair was perfect and slick against his neck. His muscles pleasantly flexed under the clinging t-shirt and his bare feet left deep sink marks as he marched towards a gathering of women who were waiting for us. His gait said he was fearless, but the tension in his shoulders said he knew that he was walking into a nest of dangerous supernaturals. I didn’t care how new Luke was to the supernatural world. Everyone innately knew to stay away from a siren.
Going against my instincts, I followed Luke up to the group. The women didn’t hide their nature. The younger sirens twisted into each other’s arms and scales glimmered on their legs, proof that they hadn’t quite finished their transition into a more humanoid creature.
The elder sirens could be recognized by the depths of madness in their eyes. I kept close to Luke’s side as we approached the group and stared them down. My fingers instinctually went for the Blood Stone around my neck, but it was no longer a necklace and my fingers only met my wet skin. I made a fist. The power of the Blood Stone was within me now, but it felt strange not to have something physical to hold onto.
Most of the sirens staring us down were elders. I expected the depths of blankness and sorrow in their eyes, but what I didn’t expect was to see the same bleakness in Sarah’s. In the water, she’d been happy. But now that she was back on land she seemed lost. The glimmer of light in her eyes was gone and my heart clenched when she looked at me and there wasn’t a reflection in her dead gaze.
“I’ve regained my powers,” she stated flatly.
I blinked at her and gripped her fingers. Her frigid skin greedily leached my heat and I shivered. “What was the cost?” I wanted to strangle her. “Why didn’t you wait for me? I’m stronger now. I could have helped you.”
She tilted her head as if confused. Her brows scrunched. “Wait for you? Where have you been? I wandered alone and desperate in Seattle hoping you’d return like I was some kind of lovesick idiot.”
I sighed. “I had to find Luke, remember? You told me to go for my soulmate so I could stopkillingpeople, remember? So I found him. And then before I could figure out what to do next, I got kidnapped and taken to Shanghai and…” My words drifted off when I realized that Sarah actually looked bored. “Are you even listening?”
She sighed. “Sorry. It’s just that you and I are over. It’s just not that important.” She straightened. “Did you say you were in Shanghai? Did you see what happened with the dragons?” She glowered. “Don’t tell me you were involved.”
My fingernails bit into my palms. “What’s wrong with you? How can you act like everything between us means nothing to you anymore?”
She shrugged. “You and I were only bonded by sorrow. I’m glad you didn’t come back. Anything you could have done for me would have been more of the same. I regained my powers as a muse by my own actions, my own strength. The only cost was the sorrow you had burdened me with, and now it’s all gone.”
I steadied myself on Luke’s waiting arm. “You mean your feelings for me are gone.” Tears stung my eyes and my stomach churned with dread. I snapped my gaze at the sirens and searched them for answers. I landed on one shifting behind Sarah, young, with ice blue eyes and guilt written all over her face. “You!” I said, flinging Luke away as I shoved past Sarah and stabbed a finger pointed in accusation.
“Leave Vikki alone,” Sarah snapped, her words sharp as a dagger.
I blinked at her and let my hand fall to my side. My palm slapped hard against the wet sheet of my jeans. “Vikki?” I bounced my gaze between them. “You’ve already replaced me?”
Vikki, a short-haired siren that was breathtakingly beautiful, straightened under my disbelief and rage. “I can see why she wanted to leave you,” she said with a satisfied smirk. “I’ve never seen so much sorrow in a person. Your grief is wrapped in red rage.” She crinkled her nose. “Even I don’t want to feed on it.”
Luke pressed his fingers into my shoulder before I launched myself at her.
I growled, happily using Luke as an excuse to change the topic. “Sarah. Luke can’t talk around you. It’s a muse thing. It messes with his head.”
