woman who told her she’d done a great job in the play. “With my luck, they’re probably not even coming, and I showed up for no reason. Maybe we should just bail.”
“No way. I just got a plateful of shrimp.” She held up her plate to show Gemma. “I’m staying. Do you think the drinks are free?”
“No clue.” Gemma’d picked up a plate, so she grabbed a couple crab puffs.
As she was leaving the table, a couple other people came up to congratulate her on her performance. She thanked them, but as soon as they were gone, she made a beeline for the edge of the room, where she could linger in the dim light without having to make small talk, and Marcy followed her, probably also equally happy to avoid it.
“Oh well,” Marcy said through a mouthful of shrimp. “I shouldn’t drink anyway. It’ll probably end up just like my prom, which would be fitting since this looks exactly like my prom. It was even held here.”
“You went to prom?” Gemma asked in surprise.
Marcy shrugged. “It was a different time back then.”
“That was like seven years ago.”
“Eight,” Marcy corrected her.
“It can’t be
“Oh, look, there are your friends.” Marcy pointed as they arrived.
Even though Thea was technically a guest of honor at the party, Penn led the way, striding into the room like she was a model on the runway. Thea and Liv flanked her on either side, and Thea looked as unhappy to be there as Gemma felt.
“Do you want me to pretend to laugh, so it looks like we’re having fun?” Marcy asked when Penn looked over, winking at Gemma.
Gemma shook her head. “No, I think I’m okay.”
In the center of the room, there was a small platform set up, sitting about a foot off the ground. When Gemma had gone to a homecoming dance here, that’s where the band had played. There wasn’t one playing now, though Sting was wafting out of speakers around the room.
Mayor Adam Crawford climbed onto the platform, holding a flute of champagne in one hand, and his son offered a hand to help steady him as he stepped up. The mayor wasn’t particularly overweight, but he had enough of a waddle to his step that it made it hard for him to step up that high.
He clinked his glass, using his wedding band, and the music overhead fell silent.
“It seems like everyone’s here, so I just wanted to say a few words before the party really gets under way,” Mayor Crawford said, his booming voice carrying easily through the ballroom. “As most of you know, I’m the mayor of this fine town, and this handsome young man is my son, Aiden. You may recognize him from tonight’s performance as Petruchio.”
He gestured down to Aiden, who stood at the side of the platform. Aiden was actually very attractive, with sandy blond hair and a stunning smile, although his smile wasn’t quite what it used to be. He’d had a nasty cut above his lip and a black eye, and while they’d healed up for the most part, there was still a small scar just above his lip.
For a brief moment, Gemma had taken a liking to Aiden, and they’d gone on a date nearly two weeks ago. Afterward, Aiden had assaulted her. Gemma had been ready to let the monster inside her out, but thankfully, before she had, Alex intervened, punching Aiden several times.
“Thanks,” Aiden said, smiling his new, slightly crooked smile and waving at the audience as his father talked about him.
“It was a wonderful production, but it wasn’t all thanks to my son, of course,” Mayor Crawford went on. “Praise goes to the capable director, Tom Wagner, and to the rest of the cast, particularly his costar Thea Triton, who played the contrary Katherine.”
He motioned to Thea, and she waved demurely when people clapped for her. She smiled, and it was one of the few genuine smiles Gemma had seen her give. Thea loved performing, and Gemma suspected that the only time she was truly happy was when she was on the stage.
Even as the applause died down, the mayor let his gaze linger on Thea, so long, in fact, that his wife loudly cleared her throat.
“And all of his costars were phenomenal.” Mayor Crawford finally pulled his eyes away from Thea and scanned the crowd. “Are you all here? Why don’t you all come up?”
Thea and Aiden climbed onto the platform first since they were the closest, but the rest of the cast and even the crew started making their way up, crowding around the mayor. But Gemma stayed where she was, picking at her crab puffs.
“I think you’re supposed to go up there,” Marcy told her.
“I’m fine here.”
“You should go up there,” Marcy persisted. “You want to look normal, don’t you?”
Gemma sighed and handed her plate over to Marcy. “Fine.”
She slid through the crowd until she made her way to the platform. There was hardly enough room on it, so she stayed on the floor, standing next to the platform even though Thea motioned for her to join them onstage.
“Isn’t this a wonderful cast we’ve got here?” Mayor Crawford asked, alternating between beaming at his son and staring at Thea. “I hope all of you enjoyed tonight’s performance of
The mayor looped one arm around Aiden’s shoulders and his other arm around Thea’s waist as he continued, “Not to mention that At Summer’s End is kicking off. Tomorrow, in addition to more performances of the play, there’s a fish fry at noon at the Bayside Park Pavilion and a regatta at Anthemusa Bay at four.”
He continued to list all the events going on this week, trying to get everyone pumped up for the At Summer’s End Festival. As he talked, Gemma kept her eyes on Penn and Liv. Penn was doing something on her phone, and Liv stared up at the stage with rapt interest. Her lips were pulled back in a wide smile, and as Gemma watched, her teeth lengthened and grew.
At first, Gemma thought Liv’s gaze was fixed on the mayor, which seemed kinda gross to her. But as soon as the mayor had finished, and the music came back on the speakers, Liv rushed toward Aiden.
Seeing her fangs out, Gemma feared the worst—that Liv’s new siren appetite had gotten the best of her, and she was about to devour Aiden right in front of everyone.
Gemma was just about to dive between them to stop that from happening, but a split second before she did, she saw that Liv’s teeth were back to normal. When she smiled up at Aiden as she put her hand on his arm, she looked human.
Even with his new scars, Aiden was still gorgeous. Not to mention that he was the son of the most powerful family in Capri. And he didn’t seem to mind being cornered. Liv had a siren’s charms now, and he smiled radiantly at her as she laughed and batted her eyes. Maybe it was her appetite for affection and power that needed to be whetted.
At least for now. Gemma knew exactly the kind of monstrous hunger that lurked just beneath the surface, and Liv didn’t seem like the type to go long without being satiated.
“This is some party, huh?” Thea asked as she climbed off the platform, and Gemma turned away from Liv and Aiden to look back at her.
“Yeah, it’s something, all right.” Gemma walked a few feet away to where it was less crowded, then stopped with Thea to talk. “So are you bringing Liv with you everywhere now?”
“It seems that way.” Thea sighed.
“You don’t trust her enough to leave her by herself?”
Thea gave her a sidelong glance. “You know how new sirens are.”
“I do.” Gemma turned to face Thea fully and crossed her arms over her chest. “Which is why I don’t understand why she was Harper’s roommate.”
“That was Penn’s idea.”
“So Liv was supposed to be some kind of spy?” Gemma pressed.
“Not originally.” Thea ran a hand through her long, scarlet hair and refused to meet Gemma’s eyes. “Before
