by Kristin Cast
Again, Melody averted her eyes to the floor.
“Just do what you came here to do.” Desperation rested in Harmony’s voice.
“Okay,” Melody whispered.
Harmony’s shadow floated closer, until it mixed with her own. “I wouldn’t tell you to do something you weren’t capable of. It’s in your nature. It’s part of who you are.” She lowered her voice, and Melody had to strain to hear her. “This will bring you more joy than you think you have now. You’ll see.”
Laughter like barking seals invaded the room. “To Mel. This past month has been pure magic. I hope it never ends. Human men are such imbeciles.” Rhapsody continued to chortle as she pinched the note between her fingers and tore it down the middle.
“Wait, you can’t…” Melody’s words faded as bits of paper drifted to the floor.
“You like him?” Rhapsody’s damp black bangs cut across her forehead, shielding her bushy eyebrows with every questioning glance.
Melody nodded.
Rhapsody rested her hands on her hips. “He doesn’t want you. Not the real you. He’s only interested in the pieces he can invade.”
Melody remained silent as Rhapsody repeated lines from the same speech she’d given countless times. But Dean wanted her. And not in the way guys wanted girls in the thoughtless college movies she’d watched with her sisters. She knew he wanted her in a sweet, slow-motion, all-consuming, Nicholas- Sparks-movie sort of way. At least, she was pretty sure that was how he wanted her.
“And you’re naïve if you think anything different.” Rhapsody’s famous final line snapped Melody back to attention.
“I know it might be hard to hear after how nice he’s been, but it’s true,” Harmony said.
“So, today you will go out on the tour boat, find a human, and make him yours. Do it, or I’ll make your boy toy mine.” Rhapsody snatched up her coat and threw open the door. “Have fun.”
Harmony offered an apologetic smile as she followed Rhapsody into the hall.
Melody bent down, collected the torn bits of Dean’s note, and placed them in her pocket. Defeated, she walked on autopilot to her bedroom closet. “Okay. I can do this.” She breathed and began pawing through her uniforms for the tiny outfit she had to wear while on boat duty. “It’s just one person. One life. A life for the possibility of a new life. It’s not that big of a deal.” Her throat tightened with the lie. She sighed, held the sailor outfit in front of her, and turned to the full-length mirror resting in the corner. She still looked like herself, but she’d changed during the journey between realms. So much so that she wondered if the part of her capable of taking life still existed. Through the tension in her jaw, she forced a wide, fake, Siren Tours smile.
Chapter Twelve
“This isn’t me. It’s not right. I can’t do it.” Melody sank down behind the main bar of the packed cruise ship.
“Can’t do what?” Aria asked, unloading a sleeve of plastic cups and stacking them behind the bar.
“This.” Melody gestured toward the mass of tourists. “Choose a man, and, you know.”
Aria nodded. “Oh, yeah. I know exactly how you’re feeling.”
“You do?”
“Definitely. My first trip up here, I was scared to death. I mean, completely terrified.”
“You were? Oh, Aria, that makes me feel so much better. I was starting to think there was something really wrong with me.”
“No, not at all.” She waved dismissively. “We all feel that way. I mean, human men seem so macho, so intimidating. But once you realize they’re just sacks of dough begging to be shaped into whatever you want, they completely lose all their power.”
Confusion pinched Melody’s brow. “That’s not really what’s bothering me.”
Aria continued, unfazed. “I’m already on my fourth trip up. Haven’t gotten pregnant yet.” She sank down next to Melody and whispered, “Just between us, I hope I never do. The sun. The men. The delicious way their bones crunch between your teeth.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, shivering slightly. “I’d miss it.”
Melody didn’t hide her disgust. “That’s disturbing.”
“You’re funnier than I thought you’d be.” Aria laughed and batted Melody’s arm before standing. “You seem really nice, which can make this whole thing that much harder. And I’m guessing it didn’t work out with that guy you brought on board a few weeks ago?” She didn’t wait for an answer. “Too bad. He was cute. And fit. The muscular ones always taste better. Anyway,” she paused and popped an almond in her mouth, “how about I help you out?”
Melody stood. “You’d do that?”
“Of course. Us Sirens have to stick together if we’re ever going to get out of Tartarus and make this our home.” She placed a knife and two limes on a cutting board, and slid it to the open counter space in front of Melody. “Cut these. I’ll help you look, and even make contact, but staring out at them like a hungry tiger isn’t cool.”
Melody did as she was told, although looking around the room while using a knife was a bit complicated and dangerous.
“There, in the blue hat.” Aria leaned over. “You see him?”
Melody scanned the room until her eyes settled on the man. He was short and stocky, with the swollen chest of a bullfrog. “Yeah. Now what?”
“We get his attention. Laugh and hop up and down like you’re really excited. The jumping really gets ’em.” She stuck out her chest. “And as he looks over, make eye contact and smile.”
Melody smiled in preparation.
“But more of a sexy smile. Not one you’d give if someone was about to take your picture.”
Melody tried again.
“Don’t worry. We’ll work on it.”
Melody caught Blue Hat’s eye and smiled coyly, but instantly dropped the cute girl act the second she saw the little boy clutching his fingertips. “He’s a dad,” she muttered to Aria.
“So? They’re all someone’s dad or brother or son or whatever.” She rolled her eyes before pointing out another potential victim. “How about Green Mohawk? I bet that’d be a wild ride.”
Melody looked up in time to see Green Mohawk gently kiss the cheek of a thin young woman with long purple hair. “Looks like that’s his girlfriend.”
Aria put her hands on her hips and cocked her head to the side. “Do you want my help or not?”
“Yes, of course I do.” Melody let out a defeated sigh. “Rhapsody came to my room this morning. She’s mad that this is taking me so long,” she said, purposefully leaving out the rest of the convoluted tale.
“Whoa. Rhapsody’s here?” Aria chewed her bottom lip. “You have to get this done, Melody.”
Melody poked at the lime slices with the tip of the knife. “I know.”
“I don’t think you do.” Aria looked around the room, fear igniting her dark eyes. “Rhapsody will make sure you’re left here. She’s done it before over a lot less.”
“Left here? She can’t do that. It’s not like you need a key to pass through the portal.”
“But do you know how to find it?” Aria asked.
Melody searched her thoughts. She remembered Tartarus, hot pain searing her lungs, that voice, then the surface, the sun. And Dean. She shook her head.
“Exactly. You need a Caretaker, a Siren like Harmony, to find it. Left here without one, you’ll age, dry up, and die in a matter of weeks. But I’ve also heard other things.” She lowered her voice to a barely audible whisper. “Rhapsody has killed some of our sisters herself. She’s dangerous.”
Laughter roared from a group of celebrating tourists. “We shouldn’t be talking about this.” She collected a few empty cups and cleared her throat. “Now, the next guy I choose will be the one. That’s why they say third one’s the charm.”
Aria went back to searching the room, but Melody felt caged by the new information. Rhapsody had already threatened Dean. Would she kill them both if Melody didn’t do as she’d instructed her?
“There we go. And he h
as red hair, too. You would have the cutest ginger baby.” Aria cheered. “Check him out. He’s at your two o’clock.”
Melody glanced at the digital clock hanging above the tour information booth.
“Not literally two o’clock,” Aria grunted. “Over there.” She pointed to the port-side exit. Leaning against the doorway was the redhead. He fidgeted with his wedding band, twisting it each time his head tilted back with shoulder-shaking laughter.
“But he’s married.”
Aria shrugged. “That doesn’t matter. And I have a feeling about this one. Now, laugh.”
She jabbed her fingers into Melody’s side.
“Ouch!” She yipped and rubbed at her ribs. “What was that for?”
Aria grimaced. “I was tickling you. But it got his attention. Give him a sultry smile and a little wave.”
Her gaze found his, and she offered a sexy smile. Well, her lips curled somewhere between a sneer and a grin, but whatever it was, it worked. He patted his friend on the back, and sauntered to the bar.
“Aria! He’s coming over here. What do I do? What do I do?” She turned to face Aria, her hand clutching the knife.
“First, put this down.” Aria peeled back her fingers and removed the knife. “Waving that thing around makes you look like a killer.” She snorted. “Ironic, isn’t it?”
Melody frowned.
“Anyway, just be yourself. You’re gorgeous. Plus, a lot of men want a wide-eyed, confused woman,” she said, fluffing the ends of Melody’s copper hair.
“What?”
“Exactly. And tell him there’s a party downtown at that Walgreens warehouse on Bay Street, and you’ll meet him there around ten. It’s completely abandoned, so some of the girls and I use it for our hookups. No cameras, no cops, lots of privacy. And he’ll do whatever you ask, so you can make him be as gentle or as rough as you like. Have fun.” She winked and grabbed a tray of fresh drinks before flitting away and into the crowd.
Have fun? They kept tossing that out there like having sex with, then killing someone was a party.
“Hi.”
He was here. It really had begun, and she couldn’t run away or change her mind. It had to be him, and it had to be tonight. This is for Dean. It’s all to protect Dean.
“Hi.” She smiled, and this time just the thought of Dean made it a genuine Melody smile, not a “sexy,” twisted mess of a thing.
“You have a beautiful smile.”
When Dean told her she was beautiful her cheeks flamed and her heart skipped. Hearing the compliment now only made her queasy. “Thank you.”
“I couldn’t help but notice it from all the way over there.” He pointed across his chest. The thin gold band had vanished from his finger, leaving a pale, hairy outline in its place. “I also couldn’t help but notice the way you were looking at me.”
Melody squinted at his finger, “Wait, aren’t you…” She let the words trail off. It didn’t matter. Nothing about him mattered if she wanted to stay alive and protect Dean.
“Aren’t I what?” He licked his lips as he spoke to the Siren Tours logo stretched across her chest.
For a moment, Dean slipped from her mind along with the empathy she held for the human race. This guy was a creep. The exact kind of man Rhapsody spent so much of her time preaching about. Melody wouldn’t sleep with him. She’d save that for someone who deserved her. But no one had to know that part. Aria had ravaged countless men, and still wasn’t pregnant.
She’d end him like Rhapsody wanted, but she wouldn’t give herself to him. She’d never give herself to anyone like him.
Melody cleared her throat in an attempt to draw his attention to her eyes and away from her breasts. Her face wrinkled in disgust, although it didn’t matter—he still hadn’t looked up.
“Aren’t you tired of doing all of this touristy stuff?” she continued.
“You have something else in mind, sweetheart?”
“There’s a party on Bay Street. At the Walgreens warehouse. I can meet you there around ten,” she recited.
Finally, eye contact. She readied herself to have to attempt to command him, but she hadn’t tried to use her Siren powers since meeting Dean, so her chances of success were pretty slim.
“I had other plans tonight, but I can get out of them and meet you instead.” His gaze rolled up and down her torso. “You going to wear that?”
Melody rolled her shoulders forward, trying to make her chest appear smaller. “I’m not sure.”
“You should. It fits you perfectly. Really brings out the color of your eyes.”
She looked down at the white-and-blue uniform. “My eyes are green.”
“And beautiful.”
Melody felt sick and small and powerless. She opened her mouth to call off the rendezvous, but was cut off by the PA system. Aria’s smooth voice calmly instructed passengers on how to disembark as soon as the boat was finished docking.
“Hate to cut this short, but it sounds like I need to get in line. I’ll see you tonight.” He fired two finger guns at her and quickly returned to his comrades.
Melody waited until he had stepped off the boat to drop her head into her hands.
“So, you meeting him?” Aria emptied a tray of trash into the garbage can.
“He thinks I am, but I really don’t want to.”
“If you don’t go tonight, I’ll have to tell Rhapsody. I don’t want her finding out from someone else and thinking I had anything to do with the mistakes you’re making. We’re going back to Tartarus in a couple weeks, and I won’t be left behind. Get it together, Melody. The hard part is over. You should be excited.” Aria snatched a damp bar towel and stomped away.
“I should be excited, but I’m not like you,” Melody muttered as tears burned her eyes.
Chapter Thirteen
“Hello? Siren girl, you here?” The redhead’s words bounced around the empty warehouse. “Shit, there’s no way I’m being stood up by some wannabe sailor bitch.”
“I’m here.” Melody stepped out from the shadows. Dust floated listlessly in the shards of moonlight cutting through the black around her. She tugged at her uniform’s short skirt.
“Knew you’d come.” He laughed, a dry, hacking sound that grated against her ears. “So, where’s the party?”
“They must have changed locations. Funny how things like that happen.” Having no confidence in her ability to lie and flirt convincingly, Melody felt miniscule and stupid when she spoke.
He stepped closer, too close. His fingers traced up her arms like hungry spiders. “If you wanted to be alone with me, all you had to do was say the magic word.” He licked his lips, and they glistened in the silver light. “You do know the magic word, don’t you?” He filled the space in front of her. Every word blew back strands of her hair.
She shook her head, the motion so slight he might not have even noticed.
“Let me teach you.” He leaned in, the heat from his moist lips threatening to meet hers.
Every nerve in her body was alive and on fire. “Stop!” She pushed against his chest with foreign strength.
His ass smacked into the ground, tossing up a white sheet of debris. “What the fuck?!” He scampered backward. Glass crushed beneath his hands and he let out a sharp yelp. He held his fist against his chest and scurried to his feet.
She looked down at her arms. Sheets of emerald twinkled in the moonlight. “No,” she gasped, bringing her hands to her face. Newborn scales bristled under her touch. Her heart thundered with such ferocity, her fishlike skin shook.
“Wait!” She lunged forward, trying to catch him.
“Stay the fuck away from me!”
He hit her. Hard.
The slap knocked her to her knees and sent light swirling through her vision. Melody’s cheek ached and stung. He’d sliced her with something. The shard of glass protruding from his palm. Blood slid away from her wound, peppery and hot.
The redhead raced away, retracing his path through the empty
warehouse.
“Stop!” she cried, and scrambled to get her feet under her. The room spun as she stood, and she held out her arms to keep from falling.
He was near the exit, a thin sheet of plastic the only shield from the streets of San Francisco and the rest of the Mortal Realm.
“Stop!” she wailed again.
Gold appeared from the darkened corner of the building and flashed in front of the makeshift door.
There was a wet scream and the sound of liquid raining down on the floor. Then silence.
The shimmering specter lumbered forward, the man’s writhing body carving a blood-soaked streak in the dusty floor behind her.
Melody sucked in air. “Rhapsody.”
Rhapsody had made the shift to her true predatory self. Her jaw expanded, hanging low and heavy, too big to belong to her golden frame. Thin, needlelike fangs jutted out from her puckered, scaly mouth, while blood-soaked whiskers hung limply, vibrating with her breath. Her vocal cords constricted by her True Form, she emitted a series of clicks and high-pitched shrieks before shaking the man’s body from the long, daggerlike claws she used as skewers.
Red gushed from the bite in the man’s neck. It pooled around his head and shoulders as his body shuddered and he gasped impotently for air.
Melody dropped to the floor and frantically covered his neck with her hands. She had to stop the bleeding. Blood as warm as Ghirardelli’s hot chocolate pulsed against her palms. He tried to speak, but only burbled scarlet froth. His frightened, pleading eyes stared up at her.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered, unsure whether blood or tears were warming her cheeks.
Soon, too soon, the waves of blood stopped crashing against her hands, and his expression went slack. Glassy doll eyes stared up at her as the last bits of life seeped from his body.
“What are you?” Rhapsody was on her, jerking her head back by a fistful of her hair. Rhapsody’s face was human again, but just as frightening. Blood dripped off of her teeth to join the rivulets sliding down her chin.
“I’m different! I tried to tell you before!”
Melody’s neck was exposed, and Rhapsody’s ferocious gaze seemed trapped on her pulsing jugular.
