Neither of us said anything for some time. His jaw seemed to drop slightly as he looked at me. I think he was trying to figure out if I was really his daughter or maybe he was just in shock.
“Hailes,” he finally breathed and his jaw really did drop now. He shook his head. “Is that you, sweetheart?” His voice cracked at the end of his question.
My eyes welled up. “Yeah, it’s me, Dad.” I tried to subdue my emotions, but my voice wavered.
“My baby,” he said as he pulled me into his arms. His arms wrapped around me securely.
By now, I couldn’t help it, my body was shuttering as I tried to hold back the tears. Being next to him like that, made me feel so warm and secure. Until now, I hadn’t processed the full extent of how messed up my life had become with the sirens.
My mom rushed over. “My God, Hailey,” she cried as she stole me from Dad. She took my face into her hands and looked at me. Tears were streaming down her beautiful face. She held my cheek against hers and then she pulled me into her arms hugging me. Her body was shuttering too, but she didn’t hold back the wails. “My sweet love,” she kept saying over and over. “My Hailey, my darling baby.”
Dad looked teary eyed as he wrapped his arms around both of us. He kissed me on my head. And then, I felt his hands stroking my hair. “We missed you so much.” His voice was laced with emotion.
When they released me, I saw my mother’s cousins were gathered around us. “Come, come,” Marine sang with a smile on her enchanting face. “We don’t want the whole neighborhood to see us.”
I took Dylan’s hand and we walked inside to the foyer. Dylan and I looked into each other’s eyes. Electricity shot through my insides. My body tingled at his gaze.
“I’m so happy to be home,” I whispered to him.
He ran his fingers down my cheek. “I’m glad too.”
In that rush of feeling, he kissed me lightly and I was reassured that this was a once in a lifetime love that I hoped would last forever, always. He took me into his arms. To my surprise, he kissed me hard on the lips and dipped me backwards like we were ballroom dancing.
I giggled like a school girl, remembering how Dad often did the same thing to Mom.
“Okay, love birds,” Mom and Dad said at once. “No public displays of affection please.” And Mom looked down at the diamond bracelet Dylan had given me and smiled knowingly.
“Welcome home,” everybody said in unison and we all laughed.
“Breakfast time,” Laurent called from the kitchen, winking at me as we approached. He was wearing an apron over his ruffled shirt and designer slacks.
Dad was plugging his nose at the odor of the meal wafting through the house. I noticed he was keeping a little distance between him and Mom’s cousins maybe for fear of seeming a little more delicious than the breakfast that smelled so bad to him. Funny enough, he didn’t seem appetizing to me all, just overwhelmingly cuddly and loveable.
We all walked over to the long dining table to see a huge skinned cow in a pool of blood on a grand silver platter with a gigantic black and white striped sea snake swimming in a glass bowl beside it. The table was set with Mom’s finest china.
“Forget about humans, Hailey,” Brigitte sang in a voice like water, liquid and alluring. “You’re eating with us now!”
Laurent’s cell phone rang. I looked over at him. As he glanced down at the phone, his blue eyes lit up, but his cheeks blushed. He mumbled under his breath, “It’s Grace,” A crooked grin lifted on his perfect bronze face.
“Don’t answer it,” Pascal and Marcel said at once, urgency in their lyrical voices.
“Give me that,” Marine gasped as she tried to grab the cell phone out of his hands.
But he held it over his head taunting her. Then he walked over beside the bar lining the kitchen and answered it with one hand on his hip. “Grace,” he sang her name in a way that would make anyone swoon.
Immediately, his demeanor changed. His face paled under the light of my mother’s sparkly chandeliers. He grasped the phone tighter and hurried to the kitchen digging through a drawer. Once he found a pen and scrap piece of paper, he said, “Okay, give it to me.” He scribbled something down, his mind troubled.
“Wait for me,” He demanded. His voice was edgy. As he closed his phone, he looked at us with intensity. His nostrils were flared and his jaw clenched. “I’ll catch up with you all later. Welcome home, Hailey.” He hit the table with his hand.
Before anyone could protest further, he was at the front door. I looked down the hall at him. But just as he was opening the door to leave, a drop dead gorgeous girl with fiery red hair who was even more beautiful than Gia, if that was even possible, threw her arms around him.
“It’s Sabine,” all the mers said at once, including my mother. In a rush, they jumped out of their seats and hurried to the door.
“Oh God, Laurent!” Sabine cried. “Your girlfriend’s father just killed Savanah!” She buried her head in his neck, her red long hair falling over his shoulders. “My sister’s dead and my school is going after him.”
Everyone appeared panicked. I looked at Dylan and squeezed his hand.
“I guess this adventure has only begun.” He smiled wryly at me, but his eyes looked disturbed. I noticed the vein in the side of his neck was raised.
He pulled me up out of my chair and pushed up against me. I felt his heart beating fast beside mine. “No matter what happens, Hailey, we are together in this.”
I felt dizzy with desire. “Just looking at you hurts more than anything else could,” I whispered.
And then, he brought his face close to mine. I could feel his sensual breath on my lips, his green eyes boring into me. I started going weak in the knees, but before I lost my balance, he kissed me like the world was on fire.
This fantasy isn’t over yet…
Bluesong (A Watermagic Novel, #3)
Bluedawn (A Watermagic Novel, #2) Page 16
