by Kaye Draper
"We've got to figure out where that thing is before I lose my mind,” Grey muttered. “The toilet was possessed."
Luca snorted a laugh. "They're just anxious for you to work your magic. We'll go out and check the antique shops tomorrow—anywhere the thing might be on display. She’ll want to be able to look at it as often as possible, so we should be able to find it."
They were almost to their street when Luca pulled Grey down a side street. His long, gloved fingers twined with Grey’s and Grey pulled his scarf up around his face to hide his pleasure. No matter how messed up things were, it always gave him a little thrill to be able to hold Luca’s hand in public. Dumb, but he couldn’t help it.
Fat, puffy snowflakes were starting to fall as Luca led Grey toward the cozy park at the end of the street. After seeing everyone complain about the weather on social media, Grey would never say it out loud, but he thought the snow was beautiful. There was a sort of hushed restfulness that arose when the world was blanketed with white. Too bad it was supposed to be approaching spring right about now. It should be warming up, not getting colder. Luca sat on a park bench and pulled Grey onto his lap, wrapping his long arms around Grey and gathering him in against his warmth.
Grey glanced around the park, self-conscious. “Luca! People will see.”
Luca chuckled softly and the sound rumbled in his chest. “So?”
Grey tried to squirm away, but Luca held him firm. “Aren’t you embarrassed to have a guy sitting on your lap?”
Luca nuzzled the hair away from his ear and settled him more intimately. “There are plenty of gay men on this island, Grey. It’s hardly going to shock anyone.”
Grey felt a hot blush stain his cheeks, and a fire started somewhat lower as Luca’s breath tickled his neck. “Well…yeah but…you’re not. Gay, I mean.” He was having trouble focusing.
Luca sighed. “Do you still need a definition for everything? I love you. Does it matter what you want to call that?”
Luca jostled Grey on his knees and Grey obligingly relaxed back into his embrace. Luca’s deep voice reverberated through him. “Now shut up. You’re ruining the romance.”
Grey snorted with laughter, but he stopped talking and just enjoyed the moment. Luca was right. It was romantic here. Everything was blanketed in white. Huge, fluffy snowflakes fell over the park and the little stream that wended its way through the area. A couple of ducks paddled around the edge of the half-frozen stream, snow clinging to their sleek feathers like winter finery.
It all felt too perfect. Grey knew it couldn't last. He wondered what his cold-hearted mother was up to right now and how much longer before her selfish need for revenge ruined them all.
Chapter 59
When he stopped by the trailer to grab some things a few hours later, Grey entered the kitchen to find his father standing there, staring intently at a piece of staff paper. He traced a finger over the messy black blots of the music notes, as if trying to decipher what they meant.
Grey sighed. Now was as good a time as any, he supposed. “Did mom ever teach you to read music?”
His father started at the sound of Grey’s voice, having been completely lost in his contemplation of the rumpled page. “No. I…I never asked. I was content to let her sing for me.”
Grey picked up the sheet of music and tucked it back into the folder where he kept current projects. He regarded his father with a flash of irritation. Selfish man. “Did you know what she was?”
“Yes. But not at first.”
Grey raised his eyebrows at his father’s easy response. He had expected denial, anger…shouting.
“Not until the end,” Rick said softly. “All that time, and she never told me. How could she keep a secret like that?” He lifted his eyes to meet Grey’s gaze and a twisted smile lifted one corner of his mouth. “I should have known—maybe I did know on some deeper level. I adored her and I would have died for her—cast myself onto the rocks willingly if she had asked, just like some befuddled sailor from one of the old stories.”
Rick sighed. “That’s how much I loved her—so much that it consumed me. So much it was sick. Unhealthy.” He gestured toward Grey, as if willing him to understand. “I always felt unworthy in her presence, like she was a goddess, and I was a worm. Not fit for her. I could never climb up to the heights where she was. Her pedestal was too high. I tried so hard, Grey, but there was always this distance.” He let out a dry, bitter laugh. “That's not love. Not really.”
Grey guts hurt. But he snorted. “So you found someone else instead.”
His father’s eyes flashed. “It wasn't as if I planned it. But...I found someone who made me feel human again.” He finally seemed to snap out of the distant memories. “Stay away from her, Grace. Stay away from all their kind, those monsters! They’ll destroy you. They’ll ruin you and not bat an eyelash. Look what she’s done to her own daughter. To all those innocent women out there….”
Grey shook his head. “You can’t say you’re completely blameless.”
“You don’t understand,” his father said, a quiet hysteria rising in his voice. “You don’t know what it’s like to feel yourself losing control. To know you’re completely out of your mind, but there’s nothing you can do about it!” He laughed, short and bitter. “I didn't mean to betray her. I was just looking for some sort of comfort. An escape from that madness. Some sign that I was still in control of my own body and mind.” He flung an arm out toward the sea, invisible behind rows of trailers and a screen of trees. “Those things are monsters!”
Grey studied his father. Maybe it was the first time Grey had ever really seen him. His fingers twitched and his eyes darted, like an addict in a corny movie coming down off his favorite drug.
“I am one of those monsters,” Grey reminded him. And everything his dad had just said made all his fears about Luca and the others come screaming to the surface. He was a monster who twisted hearts without even trying.
His father's eye twitched. “No. You’re one of us now. You can't ever be one of them the way you are now—that’s why she left you here.”
Grey shook his head. “No. She left me here because she just didn’t care.”
Grey hadn’t been abandoned out of any sort of malice, but because the concept of motherhood—of family—seemed to be something completely foreign to his mom. As pathetic Rick sounded right now, Grey couldn't help feeling a twinge of pity for Arianna. What would it be like to be surrounded by a bunch of raving loons out of their heads over you, but never really know true, honest love?
Grey was afraid he was going to find out one day, that maybe he was already well on his way there. And that scared him more than anything else ever could. No fucking way was he going to let that happen to the people he loved. They needed to get their asses in gear finding a way out of this mess.
And he needed to tell the people he loved the truth.
Chapter 60
“Sirens?” Ethan frowned up at Grey with a look of confusion that his fans would have found adorable.
Grey sighed. After his conversation with his father and with all the guilt he felt at his own deceptions, he had decided to tell the truth once and for all. Which led to this impromptu gathering at the townhouse. “Yes. It sounds crazy, I know.”
Grey glanced at Mat to see how he was taking it. One brown eyebrow was lifted, and he looked like he wanted to laugh. He didn’t believe a word Grey had said.
Luca flopped down in the plush recliner across from the other guys. Grey stayed on his feet. Easier to pace that way.
“Don’t you get it? That’s why you guys came onto me! I’m part monster.”
“The Change was a curse…and it’s all because some woman with mystical powers got mad?” Ethan was trying really hard.
“Yep, this whole mess is because my dad cheated on my mom." Wow. Put like that it just sounded--
“Stupid.” Matheus finally joined the conversation. “That is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. Are you guys on drugs?�
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Luca snorted and Grey gave him a warning look. “It’s not funny!” Grey threw his arms up in the air. “Morphs have suffered all these years—had their lives ruined—just because my parents had relationship issues.” Grey was about to wear a hole in the living room floor with his pacing, but he couldn’t help it. “Even… even their own daughter.”
He watched Matheus as he waited for his admission to sink in. Ethan still looked confused. Matheus was caught between seriousness and laughter. “Did you hear me?” Grey demanded.
Ethan nodded, giving him a commiserating look. “Oh, yeah. Terrible parenting. I think we both understand what that feels like, dude. I’m sorry.”
Mat laughed at Grey’s expression. “We always knew you were a morph, if that’s what you’re worried about. I told you I knew…that day in the studio.” And there went his eyes, sliding sideways to avoid looking at Grey as they both remembered just what Matheus had tried to get Grey to do.
Grey shook his head and stared at them, flabbergasted. Ethan just nodded. “Oh…yeah, Mat was saying you were probably a morph almost from the day we met you. I didn’t believe him. But when you told me the other day…it wasn’t really that big of a surprise, not really.”
Grey turned to Luca. “They already knew.”
Luca shrugged. “I wasn’t sure, but…they’re not complete idiots, you know.”
Grey squirmed, not knowing what to say. Apparently, none of the secrets he was working so hard to protect were actually secrets at all. But that wasn’t even the important part.
“You don’t seem to get it. I’m a monster. I….” Grey glanced at Luca, and the guitarist just gave him a fond, patient look. Grey tore his gaze away and focused on his other bandmates, his cheeks flaming. “I told Luca. About…kissing you guys.”
Matheus arched a brow at Ethan as they looked at each other in surprise. “You too?” the bassist said with a sultry smirk. “You little deviant. I always knew you weren’t as straight as you like to pretend.”
Grey stomped his foot. “Seriously? You guys, focus. I think I put some kind of siren whammy on you!”
Luca crossed his arms over his chest and arched a dark brow at the others. “Grey thinks you couldn’t possibly be into him if it wasn’t for his evil siren ways.”
Ethan licked his lips, forcing himself to bring his downcast gaze up to meet Luca’s eyes. He squared his shoulders, obviously fighting his people-pleaser instincts, the ones that probably told him to cower and shrink away from conflict. “I’m sorry, Luca. But—” He looked at Grey, his bright blue eyes full of determination. “I don’t think that’s why I love you, Grey. It doesn’t change anything, okay?”
Mat snorted and stood, going to Grey and gripping the point of Grey’s chin in one big hand. “Hey.”
Grey stopped his pacing and glared up at the taller guy, but didn’t say anything, afraid Matheus was about to lose his temper. But another part of him hoped for something else. What would happen if Matheus kissed him in front of the other guys? What if he repeated his request from the other day? What would Grey say? How would he beat back the desperate yearning that wanted to claim, own, take? His heart thundered in his chest as Mat’s hazel eye met his, Mat’s warm touch burning his skin. “I don’t give a flying fuck who your mother is, Grey. Frankly, I don’t care if you used some kind of kinky magic on me or not. I still want you to fuck my brains out one of these days.”
Grey made a choked sound, somewhere between and moan and a panicked scream. Luca just laughed. “Grey. I already talked to them. They know I’m not going to go all alpha male on their asses for wanting you. Okay? Breathe.”
Matheus winked, his fingers slipping from Grey’s chin as a sly smirk crossed his features. Then he slunk back over to sit on the couch. Like this was all perfectly normal.
Grey’s head hurt. So did his damned dick. And his siren side? It was painting all sorts of interesting pictures in his mind.
Luca, ever practical, brought them back on track. “You’ve seen her,” he said ignoring Grey’s discomfort. “The siren.” He tapped the back of his wrist. “She doesn’t have the tourist bracelet.”
Ethan and Mat exchanged a look. “The blond,” Ethan said immediately.
Matheus looked up at Grey, speculating. “The one with the amazing body?” He arched a brow. “You don’t by any chance look like your mom when you’re a girl, do you?”
Grey crossed the room and punched him in the arm. Hard. “Ass.”
Matheus rubbed his arm. “Ow. Okay, so say this is all true and there’s magic and sex monsters. What do you want us to do about it?”
Grey finally sagged down on the arm of Luca’s chair. “I don’t know. I just thought someone should know besides the two of us. And…I was tired of keeping everything bottled up inside. Tired of all the secrets and…weirdness.”
Luca rubbed Grey’s back with one big hand. Grey allowed it. After all, apparently this whole weird dynamic wasn’t as broken as Grey had feared. Maybe Luca did know what he was doing, after all.
“We have some things to do,” Grey said slowly, dragging himself upright and forcing his shoulders back. “We’re going to try to fix this. If we miss practice, or, you know, go missing or something…well, at least someone knows what happened to us.” Grey laughed nervously.
Luca nodded, then leveled a glare at his friends. "And if you see that woman, get the hell out of the vicinity. Got it?"
When Grey and Luca finally left the townhouse, to go pick up some takeout, Grey felt both lighter and heavier somehow. “Do you think they really believed us?” he asked, breaking the silent spell of the falling dusk.
Luca shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe we should hope not.”
Grey gave him a questioning look and Luca elaborated. “You never know what those two are going to do,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Especially for the guy they’re both trying to impress.”
When they crossed the street, a strip of beach could be seen between the buildings. Grey’s listless gaze fell on a gray mass that was rolled up onto the shore by the waves. His first panicked thought was that it was a body. But a wave rolled the thing again, and his brain made sense of what his eyes were seeing. He put a hand on Luca’s arm, drawing his attention to the left. “Is that…?”
Luca looked out at the beach, then sighed, his shoulders falling. “Yeah. A seal. That’s the third dead one I’ve seen this week. This is why the ocean creatures are so pissed. We need to work faster.”
Chapter 61
Grey tucked his hands into his jacket pockets and hunched his shoulders, withdrawing under his hood. He couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He had left George's office early enough to catch the last bit of wan sunlight the wintery day had to offer, but in the end, he hadn't enjoyed his walk, too intent on that creepy feeling of being stalked. Finally he couldn’t take it anymore. He spun and glared behind him. He half-expected to see his mother or another annoying sea denizen intent on driving him crazy. Instead, he found a tall, skinny guy with glasses toting a camera and a bag that probably held a tablet or a laptop. Grey frowned as the guy approached.
“Hello, Mr. Thorne.” The man extended a gloved hand.
Grey took his hand automatically, eyeing the camera that hung from his neck. “You’ve been following me.”
The guy grinned at Grey's bluntness and looked down like he was remorseful. It was clearly an act. Grey narrowed his eyes at the guy. “May I help you, Mr…?”
“Sims,” he said with a wink. “I work for--”
“Island news,” Grey finished for him. “You’re the slimy jackass who’s always looking for a scandal.”
Mr. Sims' eyes widened. “I had no idea you were so direct. I just assumed that Lucifer’s angelic looking singer’s tough guy act was all for show.”
Grey rocked up onto his toes, impatient. “Sorry to disappoint.” He saw the reporter’s eyes dart to the gate behind them. He was only here to see if Grey really came from a trailer park, maybe
to try and dig up some juicy gossip about the white trash stuff that just had to go on here. He was going to be disappointed. His dad’s poor neighbors mostly kept to themselves these days. And Grey was only stopping by to leave an envelope in the mail slot containing a check for his dad. They might not get on the best sometimes, but Grey was doing well for himself now, and he wanted to make sure Rick didn’t have to continue to scrape by the way he had these past few years. Not that he was going to tell Sims that. As far as the reporter was concerned, there was nothing to see here.
“Sorry, sir, but I’m just stopping to drop off some mail. Besides, I don’t do interviews without my manager and bandmates, which I’m sure George has probably told you every time you call him up to try to get at us," Grey said with a show of teeth that didn't qualify as a smile. George was all about the fame, but he was a ferocious guardian when it came to people of Sims’ ilk who were only there to stir things up without giving a single fuck how badly they hurt people.
Grey turned to leave, but the reporter hounded his steps. “Really? That’s too bad. You see, since your manager is so protective, I’ve had to drum up information the old-fashioned way. But…I’m having trouble finding any background information on you for my article about Lucifer. I thought you might help me fill in the gaps.”
Grey stopped but didn’t turn around.
“With the others it was easy, you see. I talked to relatives and classmates. Luca was the most difficult. But that’s just because he lived inland with his mother until just before The Change.” He shrugged. “It’s not hard to dig up info on people, even the most reserved ones.”
Grey could feel his blood pressure rising and his muscles tensing, ready for a fight.
