Rise of the Blood

couldn’t meet her fee.”

I stared, gears grinding and clicking into place in my mind. Serena Banks…mermaid show. Siren-a Banks…siren?

What had Apollo said—that the sirens were water divinities, devoted to Poseidon. I stupidly hadn’t taken my suspicions of her seriously enough, chalking them up to jealousy. I’d sent Nick to talk to her instead of interviewing her myself. Nick! To talk to a woman who legends had it regularly lured men to their death. The fact that he’d survived didn’t mean anything long term. She was still free to wreak her havoc on him or to finish off Apollo…

“I’ve got to get out of here!” I said, trying to rise from my chair.

“Oh no you don’t,” Tina said, lunging up from her seat and holding me down with uncanny strength. “You disappeared yesterday and missed my rehearsal. You are not going to miss my wedding.”

It was a huge struggle not to fight her on that, but it seemed bad form to manhandle the bride before the wedding, and she wasn’t letting me go any other way. “Fine, then I need a phone and a moment alone.”

“That we can do. I don’t think anyone’s using the back bedroom.”

“Thanks.”

She let me up. As I bolted for the back of the suite, I heard Junessa ask, “Tina, what do you call the color of our dresses, I just love them. So green, like spring.”

And Tina answered, “Sea glass, though it looks to me more like ‘fern’ or ‘moss’, which is just what I was going for. A foresty kind of look, very natural.”

So, not “puke” green then. Yeah, that probably wouldn’t have made it past marketing.

Then I was in the back bedroom and shutting them out. I went straight to the phone on the bedside table and dialed the room I shared with Nick. He answered on the first ring.

“Nick, it’s me. Did you get anything out of your interview with Serena yesterday?”

“Well hello to you too.”

“Nick?”

“She doesn’t much like you,” he said. “In fact, she offered me ‘an upgrade.’ I told her I already had the top of the line.”

I nearly melted at that. “You are so getting lucky later,” I told him. The knot in my stomach began to unkink now that we had fallen back into our banter. “Just stay away from her, okay? I’m pretty sure she’s like me…but not. A siren instead of gorgon get. You know, the kind of girl who drives men to their death for fun and profit.” Because why lure sailors to their doom unless you were after the booty that went down with the ship? And why Apollo, unless she was acting as Poseidon’s agent just like the Selli were working for Zeus?

“Way ahead of you on staying out of her path,” he answered.

“Good. Because I’m kind of attached to you and I still need a date for the wedding.” Flippant had gotten me this far.

“I’m kind of attached to you too,” he said, the warmth in his voice telling me that we were going to get through this.

As soon as we hung up, I dialed Apollo.

When he answered, his voice was stiff and brittle, barely recognizable. The petrification had to be progressing at frightening speed.

“Apollo, it’s Serena. I’m pretty sure she’s the one doing this to you, acting on Poseidon’s say-so—”

The door burst open, and I spun around to see Althea standing there, “Let me talk to him,” she demanded, holding her hand out as if she had no doubt that I’d obey.

“Huh?” I said brilliantly.

With two strides more worthy of her taller compatriot, she was at my side and ripping the phone out of my hand. “Apollo, tell me how it happened and what you need. We’ve got your back.”

I stared, waiting for understanding to dawn. So she and Junie did know Apollo. I’d begun to gather that much, but as to her behavior…

I couldn’t hear Apollo’s side of the conversation, but Althea answered, “Artemis would never forgive us if we let something happen to you. We’ll handle.”

She handed the phone back to me and started to walk away. “Wait, Althea, what’s going on? Who are you?”

She looked amused at that. “I’m the same person I was two seconds ago—Tina’s bridesmaid, your friend, and one of Artemis’s huntresses.”

My mind boggled. “Tina and Junessa?” I asked, sounding strangled.

“Junessa is the same. Tina…well, I think this whole wedding thing puts the kibosh on the idea of her dedicating herself to a virgin goddess, don’t you think?”

Not to mention I knew for a fact that that ship had sailed at about sixteen.

“Come on,” she finished. “You going to stand there gaping or are we going to kick some siren ass?”

“But Tina—”

“Got it covered.”

But a knock at the suite door stopped us in our tracks.

“Hotel security,” a voice called from behind the door. “We’re looking for Tori Karacis.”

I prayed quickly and quietly that it was about the girl who’d broken into Apollo’s room yesterday rather than the bodies atop Delphi, but I knew better.

“Here,” I said, all eyes turning to me. Not one, but three official-looking men had come to collect me. One was clearly hotel security, based on the suit and nametag. The other two wore cheaper suits, and one had a badge clipped to his belt. Not just cops…detectives.

“Miss Karacis,” said the one with the badge showing, “if you’ll come with us.”

Tina, pedicure foam between each toe, rose from her chair to her full five foot height, facing them down. “What’s this all about? My wedding is today. Just a few hours away, and Tori’s one of my bridesmaids. I need her.”

“I’m sure we’ll have her back to you in an hour or two, but we have some questions that need to be answered.”

“About what? What on Earth is so important that it can’t wait?”

“Murder,” the badged man said into the dead silence of the room. Everyone heard it.

Tina gasped and fell back a step. “Murder? But…but who?”

“Miss, if you’ll come with us,” he said, ignoring Tina’s questions and pinning me with his gaze. It wasn’t a request, and I didn’t mistake it for one.

“Of course—”

“Althea?” I asked over my shoulder.

“Got it covered,” she answered.

“But how’s she ever going to get ready in time?” Tina wailed. “You can’t arrest her. The wedding party will be all lopsided, and there’s no way I can find someone to fit her dress at the last minute, and there’s the filming—” The hotel security man pushed past the police officers to comfort and calm her, mentioning something about complimentary champagne and assuring her that it would all be okay. I looked at the officers to see what they thought, and they didn’t seem nearly as certain of that.

“Call Uncle Hector,” I told Tina, figuring that if anyone here had access to decent lawyers, it would be him. Then I followed the cops out, trying to ignore the fact that Tina had been more worried about filling my spot than about my fate. I was sure that on any other day she’d have been a lot more sensitive about the whole thing. Well, fairly sure.

“Right, Uncle Hector, he’ll know what to do,” she said as the door closed behind me. It sounded pretty final, but I didn’t know whether it was my precognition or just my own fears.

“This way,” badge guy said, leading me with a hand just barely touching my arm.

This way was toward the elevator, and I noticed that while they didn’t actually cuff me, hotel security walked in front and the two cops walked behind, ready to grab me should I try to bolt. I had a hard time not trying it. I had a very, very bad feeling about all of this.

“Murder?” I asked, making conversation to avoid making a run for it.