by John Everson
He had never been a man of violence, but stabbing her through had felt right at the time, and when he thought of Josh and Sarah, his eyes filled with angry tears at what she’d stolen from him.
Yet, despite all that, his body responded at the very thought of her…he’d done nothing but dream of her these past few nights.
When he remembered the nights beneath the moon, his hips moving with hers, he couldn’t refute the love he’d felt for the strange woman who’d approached him every night clad only in her own skin. For the woman who had sung to him in tones that only a deaf-mute could ignore. Who had made him feel like a real man when she’d dragged him down to the beach and ultimately beneath the salty blanket of the waves. A man after a decade of hibernation.
He thought of her lips on his, and of Josh at twelve, skipping stones across the bay, and of him and Sarah in San Francisco, rediscovering what had made them them after so long. He thought of these three disparate things and desperately wanted them all back.
“Just this one last time,” he whispered.
The ocean replied with a rush and a slow roar.
A tear slid down his cheek as he looked out at the edge of Gull’s Point and remembered the time that he had first met Ligeia there, embarrassed at her nakedness, or so it seemed, when she dove back beneath the waves.
“Come back to me,” he wished.
From somewhere beyond the point, at the place where the black sky met the darkest shadow of rock, a sound began to keen. A sound that spoke of wanting and need and desperation and hunger and desire. Maybe it was the answer to his song. Or the answer to his wish.
It sank and swam and rose and died. And resurrected again with a ray of unquenchable hope. Forever was now.
Evan began to walk toward the sound, oblivious to the water at his calves.
On the edge of the point, something vaguely human twisted toward the bay, and dove with a flash of silver scales and naked cream into the whitecaps nearby.
Abruptly, the sound of ethereal music stopped, but Evan did not.
“I’m coming,” he said to the dark. “One last time.”
And despite the fear that had driven him and defined him through all of his life, moments later, his head dipped beneath the waves and his eyes opened wide beneath the sea as he swam without fear to meet his destiny.
His lust.
His bittersweet, deadly love.
His Siren.
Acknowledgments
Memory, inspiration and imagination. Those are the three keys of a novel, and Siren was inspired by memories of mesmerizing music and my many visits to various beachfronts along the coast of California. The words formed far from the coast however, during my weekly writing nights in 2009 at Rizzo’s in Naperville, IL. Thanks to Erika and the rest of the gang there for always keeping my glass at least half full! Thanks also to Cocteau Twins, whose otherwordly, ethereal music provided the perfect backdrop for many hours of this novel’s writing when I worked at home.
There are far more people to acknowledge for their support than I possibly can here, but thanks to my family, Geri and Shaun, for allowing me to don my “fiction” hat and disappear for hours and days into my other world. Thanks to Don D’Auria and everyone at Leisure for indulging my dark dreams. Thanks also to Roy Robbins, Dave Barnett, Shane Ryan Staley and Mateusz Bandurski for putting together beautiful limited editions and translated versions of my work.
Thanks to my first readers, Rhonda Wilson, Paul Legerski, Martel Sardina and Bill Gagliani, for fixing so many of my fact and grammar gaffes; to Lon Czarnecki and John Borowski for porting my visions to the web and film; and P. S. Gifford, Bill Breedlove, Dave Benton, Erik Smith, Peter D. Schwotzer, Nate Kenyon, Edward Lee, Jonathan Maberry, Bryan Smith, Kresby, WIL Keiper, Brian Yount, Paul Mannering, Sheila Halterman, Deb Kuhn, Peg Phillips, the Mallecs and the Rentfros for encouragement and support and for always being there.
Other Leisure books by John Everson:
THE 13TH
SACRIFICE
COVENANT
Critics Praise John Everson!
SIREN
“Siren is a richly lyrical and melancholic meditation on loss and desperate yearning. It is also a superbly effective exercise in soul-ripping terror. Modern horror doesn’t get much better than this.”
—Bryan Smith, author of The Killing Kind
“A thoroughly engaging tale, Siren weaves through two centuries of history to turn a relatively obscure mythological creature into a highly sensual modern antagonist. Everson’s excellent prose and vivid storytelling riff on the depths of obsession and sexual addiction. Oh, and did I mention sex? Lots of it.”
—Brinke Stevens, horror movie actress
“Tautly sensual, obsessively dangerous, this Siren will get under your skin…with her teeth.”
—Christa Campbell, actress
“John Everson has crafted a twisted fable of lust and obsession—with a very salty finish.”
—Amber Benson, author of Death’s Daughter
“Fresh storylines, memorable lifelike characters, horrifying creatures and enough frights to keep you up late into the evening…this is a deep heart-tearing journey into every parent’s worst nightmare…Siren should be at the top of your must-read list.”
—Peter Schwotzer, Famous Monsters of Filmland
THE 13TH
“With perhaps his most intense offering yet, Stoker Award-winning author John Everson has carved out yet another twisted tale of lust-spiced, bloody mayhem.”
—Shroud Magazine
“Those who dare to venture past the first page should not be surprised to find hardcore horror within…The 13th is not for the faint of heart.”
—Dark Scribe Magazine
“The The 13th, [Everson] again pushes the envelope. John Everson has guts, and clearly likes to explore and tamper with boundaries. He is a good enough writer that he can get away with murder; as well as multitudes of morbid mayhem.”
—Hellnotes
SACRIFICE
“Sacrifice is not for the timid or weak of heart, it is a full frontal assault on your senses. It is a dark, brutal, bloody and terribly frightening book. I highly recommend.”
—Famous Monsters of Filmland
“Everson is in full form. The action is quick, brutal, and visceral. In many ways, Sacrifice is like that ‘slasher flick’ we know we shouldn’t enjoy but do anyway.”
—Shroud Magazine
“John Everson manages in Sacrifice to dispense buckets of blood, provide edgy perversity, and walk the tenuous tightrope of horror and sex without falling: It’s rather an amazing feat.”
—Hellnotes
“John Everson is bringing a whole new nightmare to the world of horror.”
—The Horror Review
COVENANT
“I’ve waited four long years to read Covenant and it was well worth it. Everson has taken a classic genre plot and given it his own spin. This is how horror is done right.”
—The Horror Fiction Review
“You might even begin to wonder with writing this good, if Everson agreed to his own covenant in order to create this devilishly dark and terrifying tale.”
—Pagan Pulse Magazine
“Equal parts dark mystery and supernatural horror, Covenant is a white-knuckle reading experience that will keep you guessing and gasping.”
—Creature Feature
Copyright
A LEISURE BOOK®
August 2010
Published by
Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc.
200 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
Copyright © 2010 by John Everson
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E-ISBN: 978-1-4285-0899-6
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