Elegy

toward the cliff, but once she’d reached the heavily wooded area around the sirens’ house, Gemma had lost sight of her.

It was only a few minutes longer that she had to worry, because then her phone started belting out an old Heart song—Thea’s ringtone.

Gemma answered the phone. “Is something going on?”

Thea waited a beat before speaking. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“I saw you flying overhead,” she replied as she got to her feet. “What’s wrong?”

“Meet me behind the band shell at Bayside Park.”

“Why? What happened?”

“Just do it, okay?” Thea said, then hung up without waiting for a reply.

Gemma shoved her phone back in her pocket and jogged toward the park. It wasn’t that far away, but she kept glancing up to see if Thea or Penn was flying above her, which slowed her down.

The closer she got to the park, the denser the crowd became, and Gemma soon found it impossible to jog because she had to weave through the people. They normally parted for her, thanks to her siren beauty, but everyone seemed too entranced by the band onstage to notice her, and she actually had to push people out of the way.

Gemma wondered if that’s how Thea had flown away without being spotted—she used her siren song to get the crowd to focus completely on the band; so they wouldn’t notice Thea’s transition or any of the trouble going on around them.

The band shell was a concrete bandstand shaped like a seashell, so the music would project better. It was on the other side of the park from where Gemma had been, closer to where her father worked and Daniel used to dock his boat.

Behind the band shell was a thick cluster of cypress and maples, and it went down a rather steep hill before becoming the smooth trail that led to the docks.

Once she reached it, Gemma looked around, spinning in a slow circle to be sure she hadn’t missed anything, but she couldn’t see the sirens anywhere. She wasn’t even sure if Thea could get here so fast, but Gemma headed behind the stage, like she was told.

Large speakers were set up at the sides of the band shell, and Gemma ducked around them. She pushed through a prickly bush and was beginning to think that Thea had been tricking her for some reason when she finally rounded the back of the stage.

The problem was immediately obvious. There was so much blood. Splattered against the smooth, white concrete of the back of the shell and soaking the grass all around. The leaves on the trees were even stained dark red, and parts of human intestines dangled from a branch.

Worse than walking into a bloodbath like this was Gemma’s reaction to it. Instead of wanting to throw up the way she should have, her stomach growled impatiently, and she had to fight to keep her fangs in check.

It only got messier the closer she stepped toward the victim. He’d been completely eviscerated, torn open from his throat down to his groin. Most of his organs had been ripped out, and while some had certainly been eaten, parts of his liver and lungs had been left in chunks that littered the ground.

“Finally, you got here,” Liv groaned, and Gemma realized she had become so entranced by the fresh blood and warm organs, she hadn’t even noticed the siren standing beside the body.

Blood dotted Liv’s cheeks and forehead in a light spray, almost like she had freckles, but her lips were completely covered. Her golden hair was soaked red from her ears down, and it dripped heavy droplets onto her shoulders. From the waist up, Liv looked like she had gotten hit by blood sprayed from a fire hose.

“Finally?” Gemma asked, trying to comprehend the situation.

“Yeah. I’ve been waiting forever.” Liv was completely human, except for a long talon at the end of her pinky, and she used it to pick at something between her teeth. “I don’t know how to get rid of this stupid body.”

“I have no idea what to do with it.” Gemma motioned to the band shell, rumbling doo-wop beside them. “A ton of people are here. There’s no way you can get a mangled corpse past them.”

“Ugh.” Liv groaned and stared up at the sky. “This is all stupid. We should just kill them all.”

“Kill them all? The thousands of men, women, and children in Capri right now?” Gemma asked dubiously.

“Yeah.” Liv glared at her. “They’re weak. We can take them out, and we should. Anything that stands in our way, we should get rid of. We’re the top of the food chain.”

“This isn’t a food chain, Liv! Those are human lives!” Gemma shouted at her, not caring if anyone heard. “You can’t just go around massacring people!”

“Oh, honey.” Liv’s irritation had given way to her innocent act. She batted her eyelashes, which were coated in blood. “Don’t you even realize? Tonight, I just proved that I can. I can kill whoever I want, whenever I want.”

“What are you talking about? Who did you kill?”

Before Liv could answer, Gemma crouched next to the body. His face was almost too drenched with blood to recognize, and maybe she wouldn’t have … if she hadn’t made out with him once.

“Aiden Crawford,” Gemma gasped, and jumped back.

“Oh my.” Liv laughed, almost sweetly, at Gemma’s surprise. “Aren’t you the prude?”

Gemma pressed her hand to her stomach, trying to ease the wave of nausea that hit her. “I thought you liked him.”

“I did,” Liv said. “But I killed one of the most prominent, eligible young men in town not twenty feet from this huge celebration, not to mention from his own father, the mayor.” Liv plucked at a bit skin of stuck to her hair. “I wanted to do it right in front of everyone, on the stage, but Thea wouldn’t stand for that, so I had to sneak back here and pretend I was gonna have sex with the handsome idiot.”

“You killed him…” Gemma trailed off, trying to get a handle on what Liv was saying. “Why? To prove that you could?”

“No, no, of course not.” Her mouth curved up in a smile. “I killed him because I wanted to. I was hungry, and I wanted to taste his blood.”

“Liv, you’re gonna…” Gemma was at a loss for words. She didn’t know how she could possibly reason with someone so cold.

“Now I’m stronger.” Liv stepped over the body, coming toward Gemma. “Much stronger than you. I’m almost stronger than Penn, and I’m certainly stronger than Thea. I eat every day, and it won’t be long until I’m unstoppable.”

“Unless the police or the FBI catch you first,” Gemma said. “I’m sure they’d love to have you. Lock you up, cut you open, see what makes you tick.”

“Gemma, I will kill them all,” Liv told her emphatically. “I will kill everyone on this whole fucking planet if I want to.”

“At first, I thought you were just a little power hungry,” Gemma said. “You were having a hard time adjusting, and this was all going to your head. But now I realize that you’re just insane. Totally and completely insane.”

Liv narrowed her dark brown eyes, and the wide-eyed innocence instantly evaporated, changing into pure evil. Penn was cruel, but empty. Liv was full, but with darkness, and Gemma felt a chill run down her spine.

The brush beside them rustled, but Gemma didn’t look away until Liv did. She didn’t want to take her eyes off her, not when Liv was looking at her like that.

“This is bullshit, Thea, and you know it,” Penn grumbled, and within seconds, she appeared, pushing her through the trees.

“Tell that to Liv,” Thea replied, following at her heels. She had a duffel bag slung over her shoulder, and Gemma could see a blue tarp poking out through the top.

When they emerged from the trees, there was still someone coming up behind them, and Gemma tensed up even more, fearing that a stranger had stumbled on them. Instead, it was Daniel, with his shirt unbuttoned almost all the way down to his navel. As soon as he saw her, he froze.

“What are you doing?” Gemma asked, but he just shook his head.

“Oh, this is ridiculous, Thea,” Penn snapped as she surveyed the mess around her. “You could’ve handled this.”