“I’m not being hasty!” Penn shouted.
“Wait,” Gemma said. “You guys were wrong.”
“Seriously?” Penn raised an eyebrow. “This is how you plan to plead for your life? Telling me I’m the one that’s wrong?”
“No, I’m saying that you were wrong about something, so you might be wrong about other things,” Gemma said. “There might be a way to break the curse.”
“Do you know what that is?” Thea asked.
“No, but…” She took a deep breath. “Alex loves me.”
“Boys lie, you’re an idiot, blah blah blah,” Penn said, waving her hand.
“No, he’s really in love with me! Ask him!” Gemma motioned to Alex, and he took out his earplugs. “Alex, tell them how you feel about me.”
“That I love you?” Alex asked, confused.
Penn rolled her eyes. “Oh, my god. Just for that, I’m going to kill you both. I was only going to kill you, Gemma, but because you wasted my time, I’m taking him out, too.”
“No, Penn, wait!” Thea held up her hand to silence Penn.
“What now?” Penn groaned.
“Alex,” Thea said, and walked over to him.
“Don’t hurt him,” Gemma said, making her voice as firm as she could.
“I’m not going to hurt him,” Thea told Gemma, but her eyes were on him. She stared at him directly in his eyes, then sang, “Alex, tell me the truth. Do you love her?”
His pupils dilated and mouth slacked, and for a second Alex didn’t say anything. Gemma waited with bated breath until finally he spoke.
“Yes,” he said, his voice sounding dreamy. “I’m in love with Gemma.”
“That doesn’t prove anything,” Lexi said.
“Yes, it does!” Gemma insisted. “He loves me, and you said that wasn’t possible.”
Thea swallowed hard and lowered her eyes. Her expression had become pained, but Gemma couldn’t read it exactly.
“Thea, this doesn’t change anything,” Penn said, trying too hard to sound calm and reassuring.
“This changes everything,” Thea said, then turned back to face Penn. “We’ve believed something for thousands of years, and it’s not true. What else are we wrong about?”
“Maybe it’s a fluke.” Penn shrugged. “But we can figure it out later. I still think we should kill Gemma. She’s more trouble than she’s worth.”
“No, I don’t think so.” Thea shook her head. “We should keep her alive.”
“She’ll just keep running away!” Penn gestured to Alex. “Her being in love is all the more reason that we should kill them!”
“Then we stay,” Thea said.
“What?” Lexi asked, appalled. “We can’t stay here. This town sucks.”
“Just for a while,” Thea said. “Until we figure out what’s going on.”
Penn sighed and seemed to think it over.
“We can’t!” Lexi insisted. “We wouldn’t be able to feed whenever we wanted. We’d have to use discretion so the humans wouldn’t chase us out of town with pitchforks and torches. That means we might have to go, like, weeks without eating.”
“That’s true,” Penn agreed. “But there’s something really weird going on with the boys in this town.”
“What do you mean?” Thea asked.
Penn just shook her head in response. “Fine. We’ll stay. And Gemma can live. For now.”
Lexi groaned loudly, and Gemma tried not to let out a sigh of relief.
“But you will do as I say.” Penn stepped around Thea and walked right up to Gemma. “None of this running off shit or doing what you want. I’ll let you stay here, live with that hideous sister of yours, and run around with this idiot boy. But if you disobey me, if you act out against me or the other sirens, I will not hesitate to kill you all. Do you understand me?”
“I do.” Gemma nodded.
“Do you?” Penn asked. “Because I don’t think you do. We made a similar deal before, and you broke it. In fact, I should be tearing out lover boy’s heart right now just to punish you.”
“Penn, please, I’ll do what you say,” Gemma insisted in a hurried breath. “I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”
“I know you won’t do it again,” Penn said. “Because I’ve given you more chances than I’ve given anyone else. And you screw up one more time, one more time, and I will destroy everyone you care about. I’ll kill everyone in this entire bullshit town if I have to.”
Gemma swallowed hard. “I understand.”
“Gemma!” Harper shouted as she raced down the embankment toward the docks. “Gemma!”
“I really don’t want to deal with them again,” Penn said, and turned back to Lexi and Thea. “Let’s get out of here.”
“Gladly,” Lexi said, and dove into the water.
“Wait,” Gemma said, stopping Penn before she followed Lexi. “What do you want me to do?”
“Go home, play house with your little friends,” Penn said. “I’ll find somewhere to live, and when I want you, I’ll come get you.”
Before Harper and Daniel reached them on the dock, Penn and Thea dove into the water, disappearing in the waves. They swam out as far and as fast as they could, and Gemma knew they had to be careful to avoid being spotted by people who were in all the boats in the bay.
“So we’re just gonna stay here and let Gemma do what she wants?” Lexi asked Penn, once they’d gotten far enough away from the docks that they could speak. Thea was swimming on ahead of them, but Lexi had slowed to talk to Penn.
“No, of course not,” Penn said. “We find a replacement first, then we kill her. And we need to find out what the hell is going on with the boys in this town. There’s something strange about this place, and I want to find out what it is, so I can rub it in Demeter’s face.”
THIRTY-FOUR
Tomorrow
Gemma knew what she had to do. After everything that had happened tonight, she had no other option. While Gemma had told Harper what she planned to do, she couldn’t tell if Harper approved or not. In the end, it didn’t matter. Gemma had made up her mind.
Once the sirens had gone, Gemma had explained to Harper why the sirens had spared her and let her stay in Capri. That had actually been relatively easy compared to explaining to Brian what she’d been up to when they got back home. She lied and told her dad that she’d just snuck out to watch the fireworks with Alex, but that still left him pretty pissed off.
Brian stayed up really late that night, maybe because he was so angry, but the second Gemma was certain he was asleep, she snuck outside. She’d made sure to tell Harper what she was doing before she left, so Harper wouldn’t freak out when she saw Gemma’s bedroom empty.
As she crept across the yard and climbed up the trellis to Alex’s window, Gemma could almost feel Harper watching her from her bedroom window. That was the condition. Harper would let Gemma sneak out to talk to Alex without telling their dad as long as Harper could see her the entire time.
Crouching on the roof outside his darkened bedroom window, Gemma knocked sharply on the glass. After the night they’d had, he was probably sound asleep, and she wanted to be sure she woke him.
The light in the room flipped on, casting a glow through the curtains. She knocked on the glass again, and a few seconds later, Alex pushed back the curtains. As soon as he saw her, he hurried and opened the window.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asked. His hair was standing up all over from sleep, and he wore only his boxers, revealing his well-muscled chest. “Do you want to come in?”
“No, I can’t.” She shook her head and tried to fight back the tears that were already brimming in her eyes. “I just stopped by for a sec.”
“What’s wrong?” Alex leaned out the window and put his hand on her arm. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”
“No. I just … I needed to see you.”
“How come?”
“I love you,” she whispered, and before he could respond, she leaned f
orward and kissed him.
She wrapped her arms around him and held him tightly to her. When she finished kissing him, he kept hugging her, and she rested her head on his shoulder, sniffing back tears.
“Gemma, what’s going on?” Alex asked.
“Alex,” Gemma sang softly into his ear. “Alex. You will do as I say.” She took a deep breath, letting her song take effect on him. “You’re breaking up with me. You don’t want to go out with me anymore. You don’t want to be around me. You don’t care about my safety. You don’t…” She paused. “You don’t love me anymore.”
“Gemma?” He sounded confused. His arms had felt strong and firm around her, but they loosened now, letting her go.
“Do you understand me? Alex?” She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes. “Are you my boyfriend?”
His face scrunched up, and his dark eyes looked pained underneath the haze of the spell. Then finally he shook his head. “No. We broke up.”
“That’s right.” She nodded.
“What are you doing here?” Alex asked. “Why did you come over?”
“I didn’t.” She wiped her eyes. “This is all a dream, and when you wake up, you’ll only remember that you don’t want to be with me.”
Gemma couldn’t handle it anymore, so she turned and climbed down his roof. Alex was still standing at his open window, staring out at her, and she told him to shut it and go back to bed. Before she could see if he’d really done it, she raced back to her house and to her own room.
Convincing Alex that he didn’t love her anymore might not play out well with the sirens. Even though Thea had seen it and believed it was true, they might be pissed that they couldn’t experiment with him. And if Penn was pissed, she might take it out on him or Gemma or Harper.
But she didn’t know what else to do. They’d almost killed him tonight—again. And after seeing what Lexi had done to Sawyer, Gemma knew it was only a matter of time before the same fate befell Alex if he stayed involved with a siren. Especially considering what she’d done to Jason.
Penn might punish her or Alex over this, that was true. But if he didn’t break up with her and get away from her, then he would definitely end up dead.
Besides, there were still plenty of puzzles for the sirens to obsess over. Harper had told Gemma that Daniel wouldn’t fall under their spell. Penn thought there was something strange going on in Capri in general. They didn’t need Alex in order to figure out what was happening.
Gemma had considered doing the same thing to Harper that she’d just done to Alex, convincing her that she didn’t care about Gemma anymore, and then Gemma could leave with the sirens.
But it would be better if the sirens stayed here. Penn had agreed to behave. They would slow down their feedings, so their staying in Capri would help save lives.
Not only that, but it sounded like Thea would be looking into the curse more. Since a human had fallen in love with Gemma, the sirens obviously had been misled about the curse’s terms. Maybe Thea could find a way to break the curse. Or, at the very least, free Gemma.
She had to stay here. She had to leave Harper, their dad, and Daniel in danger. For now.
But Gemma had been able to spare Alex. Even if that meant he’d never be able to love her again. She knew it was the right thing to do. She had to keep Alex safe—from the other sirens, and from herself.
The Watersong Series Continues with
Tidal
Coming Spring 2013
Also by Amanda Hocking
Switched
Torn
Ascend
Wake
Praise for Amanda Hocking
“Hocking hits all the commercial high notes.… She knows how to keep readers turning the pages.”
—New York Times Book Review
“[Wake] will please fans and likely win new ones … the well-structured story and strong characters carry readers.”
—Publishers Weekly
“There is no denying that Amanda Hocking knows how to tell a good story and keep readers coming back for more. More is exactly what they will be looking for once they’ve turned the last page.”
—Kirkus Reviews
“Filled with mysteries, realistic characters, and lots of action … Wake is the next great book. A worthwhile read.”
—RT Book Reviews
“Hocking’s novel effectively melds myth and contemporary teen life. High school, family, young love, and mythology all combine to create an easy-to-read paranormal suspense story that will have fans eagerly awaiting new installments.”
—Booklist
“Amanda Hocking has a gift for storytelling that will grip readers and keep them wanting more.… Entrancing.”
—LibraryThing
“Explosive and interesting … a nice, smooth story with a unique mythology and lovable characters. I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
—The Teen Bookworm
“Pure imaginative brilliance! Wake is full of thrills, eerie suspense, and mystery … incredibly difficult to put down.”
—The Book Faery
“Real and vibrant. A brand-new series that reawakens everything we love in underwater mythology, Wake by Amanda Hocking will certainly leave you with the desire to pick up more of her titles.”
—A Cupcake and a Latte
“An amazing story … ravishing yet explosive. I am enthralled with the amazing characters and fast-paced plotline. The thrill of the water, the history that propels the reader deeper … Wake is awesome!”
—Books with Bite
“Entertaining and surprisingly dark. Amanda Hocking once again had me enjoying her writing and the world she created before my eyes.”
—Millie D’s Words
“Amanda Hocking is like a breath of fresh air in the young adult paranormal market.”
—That Bookish Girl
“Amanda Hocking is an author whose storytelling skills keep getting better and better.”
—Bewitched Bookworms
“Amanda Hocking surpasses all expectations.”
—SmartBookWorms
“A wonderfully adventurous and dynamic series, full of high intrigue, mythology, paranormal lore, romance, and suspense. I can’t wait to be swept away in the new world of the Watersong.”
—Fallen Angel Reviews
“Amanda Hocking has such an easy and elegant way with her language—her stories just seem to flow well and her words dance. This is going to be another series that I’ll fall for.”
—Into the Hall of Books
“Great chemistry … plus a family history that just makes your heart ache and you’ve definitely got a recipe for a fantastic new series.”
—YA Books Central
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AMANDA HOCKING is the author of the New York Times bestselling Trylle trilogy and six additional self-published novels. She made international headlines by selling more than a million copies of her self-published books, primarily in e-book format. She lives in Minnesota, where she’s at work on the next book in the Watersong series.
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
LULLABY. Copyright © 2012 by Amanda Hocking. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.stmartins.com
Cover design by Lisa Marie Pompilio
Cover photographs: girl © Sven Schrader / Age Photo; feathers © Shutterstock; background © Lisa Marie Pompilio
ISBN 978-1-250-00565-6 (hardcover)
ISBN 9781429956512 (e-book)
First Edition: December 2012
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Lullaby (A Watersong Novel) Page 22
