“We have to get Gemma now,” Harper said.
“I promise I won’t let her get hurt, but we can’t just run in there. They tore open a grown man. We can’t go in unarmed. ”
Harper wanted to disagree with him, but he was right. As much as she wanted to burst through the front door that second and grab Gemma, she knew what those girls were capable of. And if she went in unprepared, she would just end up getting Gemma, Daniel, Alex, and herself killed.
Off to the back of Bernie’s cabin was a large shed, and because he lived alone on an island, he never bothered to lock it. Daniel opened it, but it was pitch-dark inside without a light. He felt around for anything he could use as a weapon and nearly stabbed himself with a pitchfork.
He handed that to Harper but continued searching for something for himself. Then Gemma began to scream, and Harper couldn’t wait any longer. She bolted toward the front door of the cabin, and Daniel took off after her.
TWENTY-EIGHT
Pact
Penn stepped back from Gemma, and for one brief second Gemma felt some relief. Then Penn turned around, putting her back to Gemma. Her wings almost eclipsed Gemma’s view. Gemma was crouched on the floor, and she could see Alex lying across the room from her, completely unconscious.
“Leave him alone!” Gemma scrambled to her feet.
She charged at Penn, but Penn unfurled a wing. It swung back, smacking into Gemma with such force that she went flying and crashed into a wall. Seemingly without even trying, Penn had tossed her aside. She was too powerful for Gemma to fight, at least as a human.
Gemma tried to will herself to turn into the same bird monster as Penn was, but she couldn’t. No matter how hard she clenched her fists or strained herself, her form remained the same.
“You have to leave behind your mortal life,” Penn said, turning back to look at her. She tilted her head to the side, and her fangs didn’t completely come together when she spoke. They were too jagged to ever truly close.
“I’ll leave behind anything you want,” Gemma said. “Just don’t hurt him. ”
“This is what we do, though. This is part of being a siren. ” Using one of her long talons, Penn pointed to Alex. “And since you refuse to give him up, what better way to teach you how to be a siren than by eating him?”
“It’s really not so bad,” Lexi chimed in. She and Thea were standing off to the side of the room, still in their normal human shapes. “It sounds disgusting at first, but it’s really amazing once you start. ”
“It’s not about being gross. He’s a person,” Gemma said, trying to remain calm. “You can’t just kill him. ”
“Yeah, actually, we can,” Thea said drily. “We have to, in fact. ”
“I know, I know. ” Lexi made a sad face, like she was empathizing with Gemma about a bad haircut instead of how morally reprehensible murder was. “But people die all the time. They’re so fragile that we’re really doing them a favor. When we kill them, they don’t suffer. They welcome death. And Penn’s right. Most guys are assholes, and they’re asking for it anyway. ”
“Alex isn’t asking for it! He never hurt anybody!” Gemma fought back tears, but she was beginning to realize how futile it was to try reasoning with them. “Okay, you win!”
Penn exchanged a look with Thea, then looked curiously at Gemma.
“We’ve already won, Gemma,” Penn said.
“You’re right. ” Gemma stepped toward her, staring straight up into her reptilian eyes. “I don’t know how to kill myself. Or you. Not yet. But if you hurt him, if you lay one claw on his head, I will make it my life’s mission to destroy us all. ”
Penn narrowed her eyes and made a throaty growl.
“But if you leave him alone, I will go with you willingly,” Gemma promised. “I’ll do whatever you ask, whenever you ask, until the end of time. I will join you, and I will be your slave. Just please, leave him. ”
Penn seemed to consider this for a moment, then turned to Thea and Lexi.
“It would be nice to have a slave. ” Thea shrugged. “And we just ate, so I’m not that hungry. ”
Penn let out a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Very well. ”
“Holy shit!” Harper shouted, and Gemma turned to see her sister standing in the doorway of the cabin.
She had a pitchfork in her hand, as if meaning to stab anyone who stood between her and her sister, but she froze when she saw the monster standing there. Daniel was right behind her, and he stood there gaping until Penn turned toward them.
Penn opened her mouth, letting out a loud squawk, and that spurred Daniel into action. He grabbed the pitchfork from Harper and ran around her. Lexi rushed at him. Before she could tackle him, Daniel hit her in the stomach with the handle of the pitchfork, and she stumbled back.
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He charged at Penn, but she was lightning-fast. In the blink of eye, she’d grabbed the pitchfork, ripping it from his hands. With her other hand, she backhanded Daniel, leaving three nasty gashes on his cheek.
Daniel fell backward, and Penn lifted the pitchfork, looking as if she would impale him.
“Penn, don’t!” Gemma yelled. She ran in front of her, standing between Daniel and the pitchfork. “I’m going with you! Let’s just get out of here! Okay? You’ve already got everything you wanted from this town. Let’s just leave. ”
“Gemma, no!” Harper tried to run to her sister, but Thea elbowed her in the stomach as she approached. Harper collapsed to the floor, holding her belly and coughing.
“She’s right,” Thea told Penn. “We’re just wasting time. The sun’s coming up, and the police are already scouring the bay for more bodies. We should just get out of here. ”
Lexi had gotten back up, and she kicked Daniel in the arm. “Jerk. ”
“Lexi, come on. ” Thea started backing out of the cabin, and Lexi gave Daniel one more disparaging look before she went after Thea. They didn’t move past the front porch, where they waited for Penn and Gemma to follow.
Penn rolled her eyes, then snapped the pitchfork in half with her hands. With her considerable strength, she threw both halves through a window, causing the glass to shatter and rain down on the floor.
With that, she started shifting back into her human form. Her wings first, folding into her back, then her legs and arms shortening, and finally her face, until she looked as stunningly gorgeous as she always did.
Harper and Daniel both watched, transfixed, as Penn changed her form. If they hadn’t seen it for themselves, they never would’ve believed it.
Penn cracked her neck and readjusted her bikini strap, but otherwise everything about her looked perfect.
“I spared your family and friends,” Penn told Gemma. “You owe me so huge. ”
“I know,” Gemma admitted.
“Let’s go. ” Penn grabbed Gemma’s arm, in case she decided to change her mind, and started walking toward the door.
“Gemma, don’t. ” Harper got up, still cradling her stomach, and looked plaintively at her sister. “You don’t have to go with them. We can fight them. ”
“Sorry, Harper. ” Gemma turned around so she could look at Harper and walked backward out of the cabin with Penn. “Take care of Alex for me, okay?”
Thea and Lexi sprinted ahead, running down the trail.
Harper stepped forward, saying her sister’s name, but Gemma just shook her head. She turned around, and she and Penn raced down the trail. Harper chased after them, but Gemma was too fast, much faster than she’d ever been before.
“Harper!” Daniel yelled, and he got up and ran after her, meaning to stop her from doing anything stupid.
By the time Harper reached the dock, Penn and Gemma were already at the end of it. Gemma glanced back, then dove into the bay.
The sun had begun to rise, bathing the water in pale pink light, and Harper could see Thea and Lexi swimming away. They’d already transformed, and their mermaid tails sp
lashed out of the water before they dove down.
Just as Harper made it to the end of the dock, she felt Daniel’s arms around her, preventing her from leaping into the water after her sister. Her arms were outstretched in front of her, as if she thought she could grasp Gemma with them.
“Gemma!” Harper shouted and tried to push Daniel off her, but he refused to let go.
Gemma surfaced just once, but she never looked back toward the dock. Harper just saw Gemma’s head, and then the iridescent scales of her tail shimmering in the sunlight before she submerged.
“Harper, stop. ” Daniel’s voice was firm in her ear. “She’s not coming back, and where she’s going you can’t go after her. ”
“Why not?” Harper demanded, but she stopped struggling. “Why can’t I go after her?”
“Because you can’t breathe underwater, and you don’t know what you’re fighting against. ”
The fight went out of her, and she went lax in his arms. Daniel lowered her down to the dock, and she knelt on the end of it, still staring out at the ocean. He knelt behind her, his arms still around her.
“What the hell were those things?” Harper asked.
“I have no idea. I’ve never seen anything like that. ”
“So I’m just supposed to let her go off with them, and do nothing?” Harper turned to look back at him, her face right next to his.
“No, you won’t do nothing. ” Daniel shook his head. “We’ll find out what those things are, figure out how to stop them, and then we’ll go get your sister back. ”
“But she’s with them now. What if they hurt her? What’s to stop them from killing her?”
“Harper,” Daniel said as gently as he could. “You saw her swim off with them. She looked like a mermaid. ” He paused. “She’s one of them. ”
“No, she’s not, Daniel. She’d never hurt anybody. She’s not like them!”
“I know that, but she can at least pass for one of them. And right now I think that’s a good thing. That’ll keep her alive. ”
Tears swam in Harper’s eyes, and she wiped at them roughly with the palm of her hand. She turned back toward the water.
“Hello?” Alex shouted from back in the cabin. “Gemma? Is anybody here?” He stumbled out the door.
“Are you okay?” Daniel asked Harper, looking at her seriously. “Will you be fine if I leave you alone for a second to check on Alex?”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. ” She nodded. When he got up, she turned back to him. “Hurry and get him on the boat. The sooner we leave, the sooner we can figure out how to destroy those bitches. ”
Daniel smiled wanly at her and nodded. He walked back up the trail to take care of Alex, but Harper stayed where she was, watching the water. She heard Daniel talking to Alex, checking to make sure he was okay, and Alex trying to make sense of what he remembered.
But Harper wasn’t really paying attention to any of that. She was focused on making a plan. She would get her sister back, if that was the last thing she ever did.
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