of chemicals and fake leather. “You smell like you overdosed on body spray.”
“Yeah, sorry.” Alex appeared sheepish and shoved his hands in the pocket of his jeans. “I borrowed some body spray from one of the guys at work. I might have gone overboard.”
Gemma laughed. “It’s okay. I’m just glad you came.”
“Me, too.” He bent down, kissing her gently and briefly on the lips, but it sent delighted butterflies swirling in her stomach.
When he slid his hand into hers, Gemma thought she might explode. It was so simple, but she didn’t think she’d ever be able to do anything like this again. At least not with Alex. She’d been afraid that her chance with him was over, and now here he was, holding her hand as they walked into the cook-off pavilion.
And nothing said romantic reunions like watching Marcy and Daniel run around, taking little sample cups of soup from each entrant, and wolfing them down with lightning speed. Well, Daniel was eating rather fast, but Marcy was literally gulping it down, then racing on to the next chowder.
“What are they doing?” Kirby asked, and Gemma looked over to see that he had joined Gemma, Alex, and a handful of onlookers in standing off to the side, watching Marcy and Daniel run around.
The breeze ruffled his dark hair, and his blue eyes were fixed on Marcy. Even though he was actually a year older than Alex, he was shorter and leaner, especially now that Alex’s physique had grown muscular.
Not that Kirby was bad-looking. He was cute, with an easy smile and an earnestness about him that had endeared him to Gemma earlier this summer. Despite that, he wasn’t Gemma’s type, and she was happy to see him getting on so well with Marcy.
“I’m not really sure what they’re doing,” Gemma admitted. “It’s called a ‘chowder off,’ I guess. I wasn’t paying attention to the rules, though, but it seems kinda like some type of eating contest or race or something.”
Kirby’s eyes widened, and he shrugged. “Makes sense.”
Gemma laughed, and she was relieved to see that he didn’t seem to harbor any attraction to her anymore. In all honesty, she didn’t think he’d ever truly been into her because as soon as he had the chance to take a break from her and her siren charms, he’d lost interest.
But his eyes did seem fixed on Marcy, and while that sounded like a peculiar pairing to Gemma, she couldn’t really think of anyone that sounded like a true “match” for Marcy anyway. She was just about to ask Kirby if he and Marcy ever had their
“Done!” Marcy announced proudly, and walked to the center of the pavilion with her arms held high above her head. Then she pointed at Daniel. “I schooled you!”
Daniel shook his head and walked over to her with a half-eaten sample in hand. “Okay, there is no way you tasted all that chowder. You could not get all the nuances and subtle flavors in them.”
“Whatever,” Marcy insisted, and crossed her arms over her chest. “I got the nutmeg, the hints of sea salt. That one over there in the corner had cilantro in it.”
Kirby walked over and joined their group, “I suppose a congratulations is in order.”
“Oh, uh, hey, Kirby.” Marcy wiped her mouth with the back of her arm, which was a wise decision since she had a clam-chowder smile. “I didn’t know you were watching that. But … yes, thank you for your congratulations. I won. And, um, I’m awesome.”
“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” Kirby smiled at her.
“I think I’m going to try the food at a normal human speed,” Gemma said, and looked up at Alex. “Would you care to join me?”
“I’d love to.” Alex squeezed her hand, and they walked over to the first station.
“They seem to be having some kind of moment,” Daniel said as he joined Gemma and Alex. She looked back over her shoulder, and saw Marcy actually smiling at something Kirby was saying to her. “Mind if I tag along with you?”
The samples they were giving out were in little plastic bowls not much bigger than a Dixie cup. The point was to be able to taste them and judge them, not get full of them, and not many people really wanted to fill up on warm chowder on a nice summer day.
Gemma had taken her first bowl, but she hadn’t even gotten to try it when she heard the sound of Liv’s laughter. It was light and lyrical, but it sent the same shivers down her spine that her song had. The hair on the back of Gemma’s neck even stood up.
“Oh, what fresh hell is that?” Daniel asked, looking around for the source of the laughter.
In fact, everyone was looking toward it. A siren’s laughter wasn’t usually that powerful, but Liv was purposely manipulating it, adding a musical edge to it. And she was doing it in the middle of a crowded park, where there were people all around she could control.
“That’s Liv,” Gemma said. She set her sample down on the table and stepped away, craning her neck so she could see what was going on.
“Hey.” Alex took her hand, and she glanced back at him. “If you’re about to get into something, I’m going, too.”
She smiled at him and held his hand as they walked. If they were going to be together, and he wanted to be a part of her life, then she had to let him actually be a part of it, even the dark, scary parts. She’d protect him when she could, but he was her boyfriend, and she had to trust him to be at her side.
Penn and Thea were easier to find. They were right outside the cook-off. Thea was looking bored and picking her fingernails, apparently unperturbed by Liv, who laughed again, only louder this time.
Right next to Thea was Penn, who for some reason was getting her face painted. She was sitting on the face painter’s lap, of course, with her arm around his neck and her chest pressed up against him as he painted sparkly waves along her cheeks.
“I just can’t believe you’d want to be with trash like that,” Liv was saying, and her sweet voice had a razor edge.
Gemma stepped out of the pavilion, with Alex right beside her, and she finally spotted Liv. The crowd had made a small circle around her. People were still walking and moving, but they couldn’t help but leer when they got within listening distance of Liv.
Between shoulders and heads, Gemma was able to see Liv staring down at Aiden Crawford and some poor blond girl next to him. His arm loosely encircled the girl’s waist, which apparently did not please Liv at all.
“I’m not really with her,” Aiden said. His words were nearly lost in the noise, and Gemma strained to hear him. Then he stepped away from his date and moved toward Liv.
“You think you can just come crawling back to me?” Liv asked. “You’ll have to do better than that.”
“I’ll do whatever you want. Anything. I swear,” Aiden pleaded, his eyes glazed over.
“Okay. You I can work with.” Liv laughed again, and Gemma wanted to put her hands over her ears to block out the sound. “But something must be done about that girl.”
“Me?” Aiden’s former date asked, staring up at Liv with wide, confused eyes. “I didn’t do anything.”
Liv stepped past Aiden, pushing him aside, and stopped directly in front of her. Liv wasn’t much taller than the girl, but she seemed to tower over her.
“You think you can just take what is mine?” Liv asked, and Gemma heard the subtle change in her voice.
Humans might not be able to perceive it, but Gemma knew what to listen for. An almost inaudible growling sound, a slight demonic warp to the vowels. That was the monster inside Liv talking.
“What’s going on?” Daniel asked, coming up beside Gemma to watch the show.
“I don’t know exactly, but it can’t be good,” Gemma said.
Then Liv’s lip began to twitch. Her fangs were either about to come out, or they were already starting to.
“Shit, she’s gonna change,” Gemma whispered.
Alex was right beside her, and stupidly, she hadn’t thought to bring any earplugs, so she didn’t want him anywhere near the sirens. Marcy and Kirby were standing just behind her, both of them staring ahead at Liv, Aiden, and the girl.
“Alex, cover your ears,” Gemma commanded. Alex looked like he wanted to argue with her, and she shook her head. “You can’t help me if Liv gets to you, so please, just cover your ears.” She turned to her friends. “Marcy,
