“You cannot love something and then just kill it. That’s not love.”
“I never said it was love, Daniel,” Penn corrected him. “It’s
It was true, and he knew it. This was the best he would get from her, and this would be his best chance at protecting Harper and Gemma and everyone else in Capri. He’d have to become a monster and kill strangers to survive, but that had to be better than letting everyone he loved die.
And if he was one of them, it would be easier to try to figure out the curse or at least how to stop the sirens. He’d have their superstrength, so he’d be evenly matched in a fight against Penn. This could be the way out.
“So this is it then?” he asked finally.
“What?”
“I sleep with you now, and tomorrow I become a siren.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and hoped he didn’t look as nauseated as he felt. “And then I’ll leave this life forever and run away with you.”
“You make it sound like a bad thing,” Penn said, pretending to be hurt.
“No, it’s not,” he agreed, and forced a smile at her. “This is the best option I have.”
“It is. So maybe you ought to come thank me for being so nice.”
He walked over to her, almost hurrying to get to her and get this over with. He kissed her, and they seemed to be picking up right where they left off. Only Penn was more insistent now. She began unbuttoning his shirt, but it must’ve been taking too long, because she ripped at it, sending buttons flying across the room.
“Much better,” she said as she ran her fingers over the smooth skin of his abdomen.
His skin trembled under her touch, and that must’ve pleased her, because she laughed. She kissed him again, then, in an inhumanly fast move, she flipped him over. Daniel was lying on his back, and she sat on top of him.
Her dress was hiked up to her waist, exposing the thin straps of her lace thong. He put his hands on her waist, letting his hands slide up under her dress. She smiled, but she grabbed his hands and pinned his arms on either side of him.
“You’re mine now,” she purred.
“I know.”
When she kissed him again, her mouth was hungry and eager. He could feel her teeth scraping against his lips, but there was something pleasurable in it, too. She rocked against him, and when she leaned forward, he could feel the soft flesh of her stomach press against his.
His mind instantly flashed to Harper. When they’d been making out in his bed, her tank top had slid up, and he’d felt her skin against his. It had excited him, and not just because things were so heated. The thought of being with Harper like that, as close as two people could be …
But he had to push her from his thoughts because as soon as he thought of her, he felt sick to his stomach. He’d thought that if he couldn’t get going with Penn, he could try pretending that Harper was Penn, but that would only make it worse.
To keep her safe, Daniel had to forget about Harper and focus on the way it felt when Penn ran her fingers down his chest.
Penn sat up suddenly, and for a second, Daniel was afraid that she somehow knew he’d been thinking of Harper. But then she smiled and slid farther down his legs. Penn leaned down, letting her lips travel down the treasure trail on his stomach, while her hands undid his pants.
Daniel closed his eyes and wished for the moment to be over.
A phone started ringing, a loud, plaintive sound, and Penn growled.
“That’s not mine,” Daniel said, in case she planned on punishing him for it.
Penn glared at the phone on the nightstand. “It’s my damn sister.” She leaned over and grabbed the phone, then threw it so hard against the wall it shattered. “That’s better.”
“You could’ve just turned it off,” Daniel pointed out.
“That was more fun.” She climbed back on top of him. “Now where were we?”
“About here.” He sat up a little so he could kiss her. If they were kissing, then she wasn’t unbuttoning his jeans, and he wasn’t quite ready for that yet.
She pushed him back down, but he tried to hold her to him. He slid one hand up her dress, pressing against her back, and the other one wandered below the string of her panties.
“Penn!” Thea shouted from downstairs, and the front door slammed shut. It hadn’t even been a minute or two since Penn had destroyed her phone, and Daniel had no idea how Thea had gotten there so fast.
“Dammit, Thea!” Penn sat up and shouted back over her shoulder, her voice filled with a rage that seemed to echo inside Daniel’s head. “I will come down there, and rip your—”
“Save it, Penn,” Thea said. She’d reached the top of the stairs, so she was standing at the end of the loft and staring right at Penn straddling Daniel. “I know that I’m only supposed to interrupt if there’s an emergency —”
“No, I said don’t interrupt
“It doesn’t matter.” Thea was totally unruffled by the venom in Penn’s tone, and Daniel sat up so he could see around Penn better. That’s when he noticed that blood was splattered all over Thea’s shirt and face. “All hell is about to break loose downtown. I can’t deal with this myself. You need to come take care of it.”
TWENTY-SIX
Carnage
Anthemusa Bay was far too crowded for a swim, but the watersong was calling to her, so Gemma settled for sitting on the beach. Night was falling, and she’d hoped that some of the people would clear out, but At Summer’s End had brought in far too many tourists for that.
Earlier, there had been a classic car show at Bayside Park, but that had been replaced by a local band playing covers of hits from the fifties. The sound of their crooning an old Elvis song wafted over the beach.
Gemma dug her feet into the sand, not daring to go any closer. The water lapped at the edge of her toes, enough where she could feel the slightest hint of a flutter but not enough to bring on a shift.
Stars shone brightly in the indigo sky, and Gemma lay back so she could stare up at them. Searching for the constellations that Alex had shown her, she almost wished she’d invited him down here with her.
But she’d wanted some time alone. Her head was buzzing from the watersong, and she needed to ease it. Her failed attempts at breaking the curse had left her crestfallen, and her hunger pangs were only growing stronger.
She needed to do something if she wanted to keep from going mad, but it appeared that it would be very late before she’d be able to sneak off for a night swim without the risk of being spotted.
Her eyes automatically shifted in the fading light, and she could see clearly in the night sky. The ocean breeze went over her, soothing her headache some, and she watched as bats took flight from the nearby cypress trees.
As she was staring up, she saw a huge bird taking flight. She turned her head, watching as it flew toward the cliff at the other side of the bay, and quickly realized that it wasn’t a bird. The crimson wings were far too large for any bird in Maryland, and, more telling, she saw human legs.
Thea had taken off from Bayside Park.
Gemma sat up and looked over toward the park to see if anyone was reacting, but she couldn’t hear anything other than “Heartbreak Hotel.” People might not have noticed Thea—either because she’d somehow been discreet since humans didn’t have the night vision that Gemma had, or she’d used her siren song as camouflage —but that was still a big risk for her to take.
Penn and Liv might not care as much about attracting attention, but Thea always did her best to avoid it.
Her heart thudded in her chest, and Gemma began to fear that something was wrong. Thea had flown
