A hand found my empty one, the one that wasn't holding on to Henry for dear life, and I looked over to see Beth watching with tears shimmering in her eyes. “I always wondered why they were so angry,” Beth said. “But not being able to have children, that would anger anyone. I can't imagine the heartbreak they must have been going through.”
I gave Beth's hand a squeeze and let go. It felt like there was more there than I was comfortable asking about in front of strangers. Because I didn't know how to respond, I lifted Henry's hands and untied them before I threw my arms around him. “Henry, you are so done with gambling.”
Before I could stop myself, I glanced over my shoulder and saw the siren queen watching us. I had honored my end of the bargain. Would she?
22
Daniel
I stared at the flowing water in shock for several seconds before walking closer to the path that led to the beach. This waterfall had been dry for as long as I could remember. Now it flowed with life, the frothy churn of water covering it until it made it out to the ocean.
Moving closer to the edge, I looked down the path to see the base of the waterfall where the sirens, some in human form, some in their fins, danced and cheered as the water continued to splash over them and fill the little pooling area that had existed there since before I was born. Or at least it had until the waters dried up.
Before I could get too distracted by the mystery of the newly flowing waterfall, I glanced around. I had come here to save Henry after all, and with water flowing, did that mean I was too late?
The thought made the bear within me angry, and a low growl exploded from my lips. I’d spent nearly every minute since learning Henry was with the sirens talking to the siren liaisons and trying to arrange a meeting before the ceremony. I’d also gone back to talk to the vampires and the wolf shifters to try to find any connection between the sirens and Henry that I could. All I found was that Henry had really pissed them all off, but no one knew when he could’ve come in contact with a siren. Tonight, when I realized I was running out of time, I’d finally hung up on the jerk siren liaison and drove here as fast as I could.
I’d known this wasn’t the first time the sirens had one of these ceremonies, even though I didn’t have any proof. But this was the first time the waters were flowing in longer than I could remember. So had killing Henry been the thing to finally fix what was wrong here when other blood sacrifices hadn’t worked? I didn’t know, but magic and curses had always confused me.
My gut churned as the thought crossed my mind. I inched closer to the edge of the cliff, not seeing Henry’s dark head of hair. I frowned, then looked straight under me. Then, thanks to the full moon, I saw Emma standing with her friends and Henry. Their hair was all much darker than the sirens. Even Beth’s blonde hair looked dark in comparison.
“What in the hell,” I whispered and rushed over to the path down to the beach.
Emma and company met me about halfway up. “Well, that’s that,” Emma said, a cheeky grin tugging at her lips. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes glittered in the moonlight. She looked enchanting, and I couldn't help but wonder if it had something to do with getting Henry back. Was this what happiness looked like on her? If so, she wore it well. I might even go so far as to say better than most people.
“What are you?” I blurted, amazement taking my verbal filter away. I cleared my throat and tried again, keeping myself more composed the second time. “What did you do?” This erased any doubt in my mind that Emma had become something supernatural, because there was no way her friends had enough magic to do something like this. But what she was, I wasn’t exactly sure. But I'd figure it out. That was kind of my thing, after all.
“Emma fixed it all,” Deva said as she walked past me with that all-knowing smile she occasionally got on her face. She patted me on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. It's all going to work itself out.” Sometimes I couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a little seer mixed in with Deva's witchy heritage. She always seemed to see more and know more than most people. It could be quite unnerving, or at least it would have been if I wasn't used to it already.
“Your gambling problem?” I asked, looking over at Henry as he went to walk past me without saying anything.
He shrugged as though he hadn't almost just died at the hands of sirens. Or that he hadn't almost cost his sister and her friends their lives as well. I wasn't sure how close it had come, but judging by the relief and sudden exhaustion on the women's faces, it was closer than I would have liked.
“But you’re all okay?”
Emma gave a tired smile. “Yeah, we are. Thanks for coming, though.”
I couldn’t help but shake my head. “Usually I’m not just a few minutes behind the real problem-solvers.”
She laughed. “I wouldn’t call us that.”
“No, but you do make a pretty great team if you can get the wolf cubs in order, face vampires, and save someone from a blood debt to the sirens.”
Emma looked so damn proud as she glanced at her friends. “I guess you’re right.”
It was strange how amazed she seemed. Didn’t she know, powers or not, she had always been the kind of person who could
