by Kaye Draper
Luca stopped at the foot of the dais and extended a deep bow with an overdone hand flourish. “You wished to see me, oh Great and Powerful Bitchtress of the Depths?”
She stood and took three graceful steps down, standing two steps above him to compensate for his height. Then she struck him, with her fingers curved inward. Her dagger-sharp nails raked his face, leaving a stinging sensation behind. He felt a small, warm trickle of blood on his cheek but refused to wipe it off.
“So this is my insurance plan?” She turned her disdainful blue eyes on her lackey, who was making a show of not snickering at Luca.
One of the lesser sirens that lounged beside the dais shrugged. “I don’t see what’s so special about this male that the half-blood would give up such an important item to get him back.”
The Queen Bitch circled Luca slowly. Luca studied the ceiling, wondering if they had installed the glass there first, or if it had been built from the ground up like a human dwelling. When she finally finished her perusal, he met her eyes, lifting a dark brow in challenge.
She snorted. “Overly fond of his pretty face, I’m sure,” she said dismissively. She lifted a hand to shoo the guards out of the room. “Leave us.”
Luca waited for the fireworks to start, and he wasn’t disappointed. “Come sit by my chair, slave,” she demanded.
He just stared at her, bored look firmly in place.
She narrowed her eyes, staring daggers at him. He let himself smile as he felt her power reach for him, only to slither off his aura without taking hold. “I’ve felt stronger,” he said with a shrug.
She retreated back to her dais, affecting to look unbothered by his lack of response to her compulsion. Luca went back to counting the little sea horses carved into the pillars that held up the glass dome above them. They could keep him here as long as they wanted. Grey would never be stupid enough to trade the island's kleidí for him. Besides, the sirens could only hold Luca for so long before Pontus noticed he was missing. Then they were screwed.
“Your relationship goes against nature on so many levels.” Luca's attention swung back to the terrible beauty on the dais. She tapped a finger on the arm of her gaudy chair, then her eyes widened. “She doesn’t know what you are, does she?” She smiled, her teeth sharper than they should be if she were human. “She doesn’t know.” She laughed, long and hard at that. “Oh I can’t wait to see the look of betrayal on her face when she finds out. Do save me a front row seat.”
Luca tried to keep his breathing even. He went back to counting seahorses. The curse was broken. The man he loved was gone forever. He would finally get to hold the woman of his dreams. If he could even get close enough to try. Fifty-seven, fifty-eight. Don’t think about it. Don’t show weakness. It was going to be a very long night. Fifty-nine….
Chapter 80
Grey shoved the muscle-bound meathead out of her way and dashed down the corridor. Fear and anger had her breathing in little gasps. Her muscles burned with pent up tension. Someone was going to get their ass kicked today.
Well…more someones.
She padded into the main hall, her bedraggled red hair a sea-soaked tangle. Her dress was ruined, torn in spots, and one strap had long ago given up the battle to hang limp and frayed from under her armpit. The fabric was soaking wet and it clung to her, stretching and sagging as she moved, revealing the entire side of one boob here and there. She marched to the dais in the center of the room and glared up at the gloriously beautiful monster who stood there, feeling as if she’d just climbed out of a dirty hole.
“Where’s Luca?” Grey flinched. She still couldn’t get used to the melodious sound of her own voice.
The siren raised an eyebrow and held out a palm. “The kleidí?”
Grey put a hand over the gem, where it hung heavy between her breasts. God, she’d really filled out in the four-year time lapse since The Change. It was weird. “Luca. Where is he? If you’ve done anything to him—touched one single hair on his head….”
Cameron had insisted they talk to Pontus, but Grey couldn’t wait. She had charged home and grabbed the gem, knowing that was all they wanted. She wouldn’t let them turn Luca into one of their slack-jawed slaves. Once she managed to figure out the whole travel thing, she had taken delight in trashing the entryway and destroying the watery guards who tried to escort her in. Everyone thought Grey had an anger problem as a guy. Ha. It was a thousand times worse right now. It wouldn’t take much to justify punching this bitch in the tit just for fun.
The siren gestured impudently. “The kleidí first.”
Grey sighed impatiently. She pulled the chain from around her neck and whipped it toward the woman with more force than needed, hoping it hit her right between the eyes. The stupid stone didn’t matter. If they didn’t give Luca back, Grey would get him back, even without the damned fancy jewelry.
The lithe creature snatched the gem out of the air with the smack of smooth stone against flesh. And screamed. She held a smoking hand to her chest as the gem clattered to the floor and rolled against the laws of physics, right back to Grey.
“No!” The other woman hissed, her cheeks a vivid red. “How did an ignorant half-breed like you activate the kleidí?”
Grey stooped and picked up the gem, slipping the necklace back over her head. It felt cool and comfortable in against her skin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, fish face,” she said impatiently. “If anything, I deactivated it. I broke the curse. It’s just a stupid rock.”
The other pod members had been lounging on their seats in a sort of languid apathy the last time Grey was here. Now they shifted in their seats around the dais, leaning in, and Grey could sense their tension. One of them finally spoke up. “How did you take the kleidí from Arianna?”
Grey waved her hand, impatiently. “We argued. We had a minor pissing contest. She gave it to me. Who cares?”
There was an intake of breath from the crowd of supermodel wannabes. The queen glared daggers at Grey. “She gave it to you?”
Grey shrugged. “Sort of. Motherly love and all that. Where’s Luca?”
The siren on the dais snarled at Grey. “You have no idea what you’ve done. Stupid mortal cow! You’ve taken control of a magic you can’t even hope to understand.” Her expression went feral. She drew in a deep breath through her nose as if to calm her ire. “Fine, so be it. The darkness has a new keeper. We’ll take the stone easily when the power kills you.”
A bad feeling prickled in the back of Grey’s mind, but she didn’t have time to worry about their yammering. She needed to see Luca. Now. “Yeah, blah, blah, whatever. Stop yammering and get Luca in here. Right now.”
The siren smiled, a chilling expression that left a cold spot in Grey’s chest. “Why of course. Our little insurance policy isn’t necessary anymore, since you’ve fouled the kleidí.” She gestured to the guards, that snide smile still in place. “Go get her little friend, will you?”
A few seconds later a group of harried looking guards came in. They had encircled their prisoner, but judging from the bruises and scratches a few of them sported, it wasn’t an easy job. One of them grunted and stepped aside, clearly having received a kick someplace soft. Good for you, Luca.
Grey took a few steps forward and froze, staring silently into Luca’s eyes. Her heart stopped.
They were Luca's eyes, the dark, stormy blue of the ocean, set above high cheekbones. The same perfect white skin, the same silky, raven hair. But…Luca was gone.
In his place stood a very tall, willowy young woman. She was strikingly beautiful, with long limbs, broad shoulders, and small, perky breasts that were barely concealed by her toga-like dress. Her narrow waist was cinched with the turquoise silk that Grey had seen marking the palace pets. Grey could do nothing but stand there with her mouth hanging open. Luca was…a woman?
Her long, sooty lashes lowered, hiding those intense eyes from view as she looked down at her feet. “Grey...I’m so sorry.” Her voice was a rich alto, the
cadence familiar, but the sound completely foreign.
“You…you were a morph this whole time?” Grey didn’t know what to feel. She was too shocked to be angry, but she knew the anger was coming.
Luca looked up again, startlingly familiar and frighteningly alien at the same time. “I know. I should have told you…I wanted to a million times but….” She wrung her hands, the mannerism feminine, but the facial expression all Luca. “Grey, you were so into guys, how was I supposed to tell you. Especially when I….” She shook her head, unable to continue.
Grey rubbed her temple. “You had a girlfriend…Christine. I fucking saw her on your doorstep this morning!”
Luca smiled sadly, her cheeks flushing a delicate, petal pink. “I did. That’s the problem, don’t you see?”
And suddenly Grey did see, very clearly. “You’re a lesbian.”
Luca gave her a wry smile that tugged at Grey’s heart strings. “And you were a man...even worse, you told me you weren’t attracted to women.... You were so adamant that a person couldn’t change that.” The feminine version of Luca looked so much like the original, probably because of her twin genes. It made Grey's chest ache.
Grey shook her head. Luca had struggled with the thought of dating a man. And she had accepted Grey anyway, despite that. Suddenly all of Luca’s resistance to fighting The Change, his stubborn insistence that they just accept things the way they were—it all made so much more sense now.
“You should have told me,” Grey whispered.
The stranger regarded her with Luca’s deep blue eyes. “I know. I’m sorry. I was afraid to face you. I didn’t know what to do! I turned around last night to go back to your house, to tell you everything…but then they showed up.” She tossed her head angrily at the group of sirens.
Grey shook her head. But staring at Luca, the little fissure in her heart suddenly opened up. Tears welled up and she couldn’t stop them. “Oh, god,” she gasped.
Luca nodded sadly, as if reading her thoughts. Of course she had probably come to the same realization about Grey.
“He’s gone,” Grey whispered. She would never see Luca again. Never have his long arms around her or hear his deep, comforting voice in her ear.
“I’m here, Grey,” Luca pleaded, taking a half-step toward Grey before she halted. “Right here.”
Grey dashed the tears away with the back of her hand and snuffled loudly, keenly aware of their audience. “We don’t have time for this stupid crap. We’ve gotta get out of here.” Grey grabbed Luca’s hand, steeling herself against the soft feel of the long fingers in hers. Spinning, she marched out the door. “See ya around, fishes,” she called back at the sniggering sirens.
“Oh, don’t worry dear, I’m sure we’ll see you again very soon,” the queen called in a light, ringing voice. Grey’s hackles rose and she wished the whole damned palace would collapse.
Luca’s hand spasmed in her own, but Grey refused to let go until they were out of this place. “We’ll talk about it later,” she said, not looking at the other woman.
Luca panted as she jogged along beside Grey. “Your power,” she said in that foreign voice. “It hurts.”
Grey relented and let go, belatedly tamping down on her wildly fluctuating magic. It was even harder to control in this body, nearer to the surface, stronger. Luca slid to a halt and turned away. Grey opened her mouth to tell her to hurry up, but before she could speak, a ball of blue energy leapt into Luca’s outstretched hands.
The guards lining the corridors panicked and scattered as Luca let loose a blue fireball. “Sheep!” she shouted behind them.
Grey rolled her eyes and grabbed Luca’s arm. Apparently, Luca was stronger in her own body as well. “Come on,” Grey demanded.
Luca’s shining eyes met hers. “Sorry. I’ve been around you too much. Your anger management issues must have rubbed off.”
They stopped at the massive door with its wavery wall of water beyond. Grey worried her bottom lip. The escorts had brought her here before. She didn’t know the magic to protect herself and Luca.
Luca took her hand again and gave her a dazzling smile. “Don’t worry, just swim. You’re a siren.” Then she tugged Grey through the door and into chaos.
At first, the pressure was disorienting. But then Grey remembered to breathe and it got easier. They glided along under the water as if they were part of it. It felt more natural, Grey thought, now that she was in her true form. Her power was effortless now, easy.
If only everything in life could be the same way.
They swam for what seemed like ages before Luca did something that called one of those waterspout things to carry them the rest of the way. At last, when Grey’s muscles ached and her lungs felt like they would burst, they stumbled onto the beach and lay gasping in the sand.
Chapter 81
Grey made her way up the walk toward Luca and Cameron's house. She sat down on the concrete step next to Cameron, basking in the bright sunshine.
“Hey,” she said, hesitant.
He glanced at her and a grin spread over his face. “So this is what you look like when you’re not a gay guy, huh?”
Grey glared at him. “I told you I wasn’t gay.”
“Uh huh,” he said in mock disbelief.
Grey rolled her eyes. “So your mom came back,” she said, at a loss for what to say.
She and Luca had made it back to Pontus’ house in awkward silence after leaving the siren's pod. Grey thought they would hash it all out once they reached shelter and assured Pontus that his daughter was okay. However, upon arriving at the big house on the hill they had been greeted by a tall, willowy beauty who could only be Luca’s mother. She had clung to the new Luca, laughing and crying all at once while Pontus stood aside looking flustered and overjoyed.
Grey had walked home, refusing Pontus’ offer of a ride. She had given in to Luca’s sad-eyed offer of clothes and a pair of shoes, grudgingly agreeing that she couldn’t walk that far barefoot and in a tattered sundress. The walk from Pontus’ house to the trailer had been the longest hour of her life.
Cameron sighed. “Turns out she was never morphed. Dad used magic to protect her and sent her to the mainland. But he couldn’t help Luca. She was too far away when it happened.”
Grey shook her head. “But why hide that?”
He shrugged, but his eyes were pinched with guilt. “Because she was bound to stand out if she stayed. There would be questions. Things they couldn't explain." He sighed. "And I was so insistent that I didn’t want to know anything about them—about gods, and curses, and magic.”
He didn’t seem pissed, so Grey asked. “And? I take it you’ve changed your mind?”
The jock shrugged again and looked out toward the sea. “I want to be mad that they didn’t just force the issue and tell me I was half freak,” he smiled to soften his words, “but I get why they didn’t. They were just trying to respect my wishes, let me be normal.”
Grey shook her head. “You’ve been around your brother…uh, sister too long. You sound as accepting and calm as she is.”
He ignored her slip up. “I’m trying.”
Luca came through the screen door and stopped at the sight of them. Grey was struck again by her ephemeral…nymph-like beauty. She smiled, but Grey didn’t miss the slight narrowing of her deep blue eyes.
Cameron glanced between them and stood. He ruffled Luca's silky hair in passing, muttering something about it being too hot out here in the sun. Luca batted him away, but there was the hint of a smile playing about the corner of her lips. Grey was glad to see their closeness. At least the twins were back on more comfortable terms.
Luca sank down beside Grey and laced her arms around her long legs. She was all lean grace, clad in a skin-tight band t-shirt and jeans with a wide, studded belt that accentuated her tiny waist. Grey felt round and clumsy by comparison, but she let anger push out any self-consciousness. “Stop acting like a possessive jerk,” she said flatly.
Luca looked
at her in surprise. “I’m not possessive,” she said calmly. “I’m jealous. There's a difference.”
Grey raised her eyebrows at that, and Luca gestured at the clear, sapphire blue sky in frustration. “I'm jealous that he can just sit here and flirt with you so easily when we can’t even begin to have a normal conversation.” She rubbed her forehead as if trying to ease a sudden ache there.
“You think we were out here flirting?” Grey tried to keep the defensiveness out of her voice, but it was there.
Luca sighed. “I keep thinking that you two make a better pair now. Same with Mat and Ethan. When they see you, they’re going to lose their damned minds. You have more in common--”
Grey snorted. “What could I possibly have in common with that meathead in there or the band that I didn’t before?”
Luca studied her short nails. “Besides complimentary genitalia?”
Heat rose up in Grey’s cheeks. “Is that what you think of me? That all I care about is dick?”
Luca’s cool blue gaze met hers. “Well, isn’t it?”
Grey pressed the heels of her hands into her eye sockets. She couldn’t argue with Luca. In essence, genitalia, or lack thereof, was exactly the problem here. “You are so….” She threw her hands up in frustration. “What happened to the calm, collected Luca? The one who had that killer intuition about things all the time? Cause let me tell you, you’re completely striking out this time.”
Luca ran a hand through her midnight hair, clearly agitated. “I don’t know!” She turned round blue eyes on Grey. “I think it’s the hormones.”
Grey stared at her for a beat. Then they both started laughing. It began as a nervous titter and grew to a full-blown laughing fit as they both let go of some of their tension.
Finally, Grey wiped the tears of laughter from her eyes and looked at Luca again. “Look. If...when I say I love you, I want to mean it,” she said earnestly. “I’m just…I’m really confused right now.” Surely, Luca could understand that. He had struggled with the same thing not so long ago. Grey looked down at her hands, still startled by their feminine shape. “I have to get used to being myself again. And I have to convince myself that you haven’t changed, that I know you. I’m sure once that happens….”
