I wake to the sound of hushed voices. “How’s our little seductress doing? Any change?”
“Her fever broke, and she has some color back. I don’t think she’ll sleep much longer.”
“I’m awake,” I say. My throat is so parched it comes out in a croak, and I start coughing.
“Here, sweetheart.”
Cool fingers comb back my sweat-crusted hair. I open my eyes to see Parker sitting beside my bed, holding out a glass of water. Terrance is sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed, glaring, arms folded across his chest as if he’s been playing watchdog the entire time I was out. I’m sure he has. He swallows when I meet his eyes, and his face softens. “You scared the shit out of us, Trouble.”
He clears his throat when he chokes up, and then glares at me as if it’s my fault he can’t completely hide his emotions. My heart melts at the sight. “Sorry, T-man. Won’t do it again. Promise.”
“Damn right, you won’t.”
I grin at my surly troll, then cast my eyes around the room. It’s one I recognize. I’m in the guest room at Rook’s house, and the sun is shining brightly through the sheer curtains. Nick is standing at the foot of the bed, grinning like the devil. “Good to see you’re not dead, spitfire.”
Parker holds out the glass of water again, and as I sit up to take it, I gasp. My arms don’t look right. My skin looks pearlescent. It’s shimmering. “What the hell?”
“Relax, Nora,” Parker says, placing the glass in my hand. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I accept the water from Parker and gulp it down. Once I find my voice, I frown at Nick. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with me? Why do I look like this?”
“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Parker murmurs. “You’re absolutely stunning like this.”
Panic begins to claw its way up my throat. “But what is this?”
“It’s you,” Nick says. “Your true self. The werewolf saliva burned through your glamour.”
I jump out of the bed and head for the bathroom. I gasp at the face staring back at me in the mirror. It’s me, but it’s somehow more. If I was pretty before, now I’m striking. It’s as if my features were blurry, and they’ve suddenly been sharpened into focus. My skin is that shimmering pearlescent color all over, and there are bright blue, purple, and teal swirls around my eyes, as if my face has been beautifully decorated with paint. Natural makeup. My hair is also fuller, with more body, and it’s streaked with pink, purple, and teal streaks. It looks windswept and wild but still controlled, like you’d see on a model in a magazine. I hardly recognize myself.
My arms feel smooth and a little cool, and the subtle swirls of color shimmer as I shift them in the light. It’s beautiful in a way, but it’s not human, and it’s freaking me out. I turn to the men all gathered in the hallway outside of the bathroom. I’m scared to ask, but at the same time, I’ve wanted to know the answer to this question my whole life. “What am I?”
Terrance pushes Parker and Nick out of the way and smiles proudly. “You’re one of my kind. You’re fey.”
“More specifically, a siren,” Nick adds.
“A siren.” I look at myself in the mirror again, and I can totally see it. I’m beautiful now in an ethereal way. I remind myself of a mermaid.
I shake my head in disbelief. I’m a siren. Trying to wrap my head around the idea, I think over everything I know about sirens. They were mythical creatures that lived in the ocean and lured sailors to their deaths.
“Am I dangerous?” I frown at my friends, worried that I might have some crazy affect on them. I would hate myself if I ever hurt them. “To you guys, I mean?”
When none of them answers right away, panic rears its ugly head again. “What?” I demand.
Parker takes my hand and gently tugs me out of the bathroom. “Let’s take this out into the living room. We’ll wake up Oliver. He always calms you down.”
“Oliver’s here? He’s sleeping? What’s wrong with him? Was he hurt?”
I push my way past everyone, without waiting for answers. Oliver is passed out on Rook’s couch, wearing the suit he put on for the mating ceremony. It’s wrinkled all to hell, and he looks pale with dark circles under his eyes. “What’s wrong with him?” I demand in a whisper, not wanting to wake him.
“Nothing,” Nick says. “He’s fine. He’s just tired.”
“He refused to leave your side for two days straight. We finally convinced him to crash out here when he fell out of that damn chair by your bed.”
Sweet Oliver. That sounds just like him. I comb my fingers through his soft waves. The poor man is so exhausted he doesn’t stir. “I’ve really been out for two days?”
Nick nods. “Closer to three now.”
“You had a rough go of it,” Terrance says.
“Wake him up, and I’ll call Rook. He’ll want to be here for this discussion.”
I frown at Nick. What discussion? When Parker and Terrance nod solemnly, I start to get a really bad feeling. “What’s going on?”
I practically shout that question, and Oliver finally wakes up. His eyes pop open, and he bolts upright. “Nora!”
He throws his arms around me. He’s shaking as he squeezes me like his life depends on it. My worry melts away, and I hug him back. “I’m okay, Ollie.”
“You weren’t. We almost lost you. Again.”
I comb my fingers through his hair. “It’s a good thing I’m tough, then, huh?”
He pulls back and looks into my eyes. His whole face softens. “Strongest person I’ve ever met,” he says. “You sure you’re okay?”
I take a mental inventory and nod. “Actually, I feel really good. Stronger, healthier, energized…”
He nods. “Not surprising. Your glamour was suppressing your power. That can be hard on the body.”
Oliver sinks back into the couch, and I move with him, tucking my feet up under me and curling up next to him. Terrance grins at us, but Parker watches Oliver and me with a pained expression. I can’t stand the look on his face, so I hold my hand out to him and pat the couch on my other side.
Surprise washes over Parker. He glances at Oliver again and frowns. “Just come sit down,” I tell him.
Oliver stiffens but relaxes when I pat his leg. Parker reluctantly moves to my other side and sits beside me. I give his leg a pat, too. “Thank you both for watching over me.”
Each of them murmurs quiet responses that make me smile. I can’t help winding my arms through each of theirs. I lay my head on Oliver’s shoulder, but pull Parker close against my side. He resists at first, but quickly relaxes and lets out a quiet sigh.
My heart seems to swell having them both right here with me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, enjoying the sensation of being cared for, loved even. I let the air out of my lungs slowly and shudder, feeling better than I have in…well…ever, really.
When I open my eyes, Nick and Terrance are both watching me. Terrance’s look is contemplative, while Nick’s smirk is bigger than usual.
“What?” I ask, voice dry as the desert.
Nick opens his mouth to say something, but before whatever obnoxious retort he has can escape his lips, Rook comes bursting through the door, followed by his brother and Alpha Toth. Rook’s eyes wildly scan the room until they fall on me. He’s across the room in two strides and sits down on the coffee table in front of me. He places both hands lightly on my knees, and I realize for the first time that I’m wearing a pair of sweats and a T-shirt that I swim in.
“Are you okay?” he asks. His eyes aren’t glowing, but his voice is rough with emotion.
I give him a soft smile, touched by his concern though not surprised by it. “I’m fine. How are you?” I shift my gaze to Alpha Toth. “How is the pack? Did Axel try to attack? Was anyone hurt?”
Alpha Toth swallows loudly and clears his throat. “Things went exactly according to plan. Thanks to you, he never stood a chance. We had a few scrapes and bruises, but we didn’t lose a single loyal pack member.”
“More than half of Axel’s wolves turned on him and fought with us,” Rook adds. “The fight was over within minutes.”
“Axel and all of his wolves have been taken care of,” Alpha Toth says.
Taken care of. Does that mean what I think it means? “Axel’s dead, then?”
Alpha Toth nods. “He went after Rook first. Rook killed him in self-defense. All of the wolves who fought for Axel were killed, including about ten rogues that Axel hired.”
I nod. It’s strange that I’m not as upset about all the death as I should be. Perhaps I’m finally getting used to the underworld and its violence.
My heart skips a beat. I’ve learned enough about pack life in the last few weeks to know what it means that Rook killed the alpha of the Warterloo pack. “So, you’re going to be the new alpha for Waterloo?”
I’m proud of him, but a surprising ache throbs in my heart thinking that he’s going to move to Waterloo and become their alpha. He won’t have time to train me anymore. I’m going to miss him.
As if he can sense my sadness, Rook gives my knees a squeeze. “I didn’t accept,” he says softly. “I handed the position over to Evan. It’s his pack anyway. He loves those wolves and has been looking out for them, trying to shelter them from Axel as much as he could for a long time. He deserves the pack and will make a great alpha.”
I bite my lip, trying to hide my relief. It makes me feel selfish to want to keep Rook away from a position he was born for. “Is that what you really want?” I ask.
Rook lifts his hand to my face and tucks my hair behind my ear. “I think you know what I want,” he murmurs.
My face flames, and I look away, unable to meet his gaze. “Rook…”
“You’re not ready,” he says. “I know that. But I’m not willing to let you go, either. Not now that I know what I want. You might not have been turned, but my wolf has still claimed you. Whether you accept me or not, I am yours.” He clears his throat and sits back. “I’m leaving my pack and moving in with Wulf.”
My eyes snap back to him, and I gasp. “Rook! Why would you do that?”
He pins me with a determined stare. “To be closer to you.”
My heart stutters in my chest. “Rook, they’re your pack. You can’t give that up just to—”
“I shouldn’t really be in the pack, anyway,” he interrupts. “I have no place in the hierarchy if I’m not going to be alpha. I know it, Peter knows it, and the pack knows it. I’ll be fine in the city with my brother.”
I shake my head. “You weren’t before. You told me yourself that the last time you went to live with your brother, you missed your pack and needed to come home.”
“It’s different now,” he says quietly. I don’t ask what he means. It’s obvious in his stare.
I can’t believe he’s doing this. I’m both thrilled and terrified by it. I want him to be closer to me. I love his company, his friendship, and I know he’s good for me. My relationship with him has been healing me. I’ve come so far with my fear of physical touch since we started hanging out. Werewolves are so affectionate. He constantly touches me, and when we’re training, he has to touch me. And I allow it, because, deep down, I trust him. I need him. I just worry that he’s sacrificing too much, and that I won’t be able to give him everything he wants in return.
“It’ll be okay, Nora,” he promises. “You’re going to need me, anyway. With your glamour gone, you’re going to need all the protection you can get.”
His statement completely derails my train of thought. “What do you mean? Why?”
All the men in the room exchange serious looks. It’s Nick who decides to be the bearer of bad news. “Sirens…in history…have been…hunted.” My eyes bulge. Hunted? “They were hunted to extinction. Or so we thought. You may very well be the only one. Your mother was, no doubt, in hiding. Her death may not have been random, either.”
I gasp. Could my mother have been killed by rogue vampires because of what she was? Had they been hired to kill her? My chest burns at the thought. “Why?” I croak. “What’s so bad about being a siren?”
“You’re strong, Nora,” Terrance says. “Very powerful. One of the most powerful kind of fey there is.”
“Many fear your kind. Men, especially. They say there’s nothing more powerful than a siren’s song. You have the power to control minds. You can capture men with a single look.”
My blood turns to ice in my veins. That’s what happened before. When that sorcerer kidnapped me, and again when the rogue wolves attacked me, I had used my siren’s song on them to save myself. The wolves were terrified of what I was doing, and the one I’d captured in my thrall was so angry he tried to rip out my throat. Nick’s right. I’m dangerous.
“It makes so much sense,” I whisper. “The way men have always been attracted to me…”
“It’ll be worse now,” Parker says. “Your glamour was suppressing your gifts. Only a fraction of your power was escaping. Now you’re…”
He looks me over with admiration, and dread washes over me. “Oh, shit.” I look around at the group of men surrounding me, and my stomach churns. “I’ve done it to you guys, haven’t I? I’ve captured you or whatever.”
“You drew us to you, maybe,” Rook says. “But you’ve never taken our will. We’re here for you because we want to be.”
“We’re not hopelessly in love with you, either,” Nick says and grins. “Well, at least not all of us. Magic boy over there is a goner, but you haven’t ensnared me.”
Oliver blushes, and I glare at Nick on his behalf. Nick chuckles. “Don’t worry about us. We all have the power to leave if we want to.”
“But we won’t,” Parker insists. “You’ll learn to control your gift, and we’ll keep you safe while you do.”
I take a deep breath and try to accept what they’re saying. They don’t seem worried, but I have doubts. I don’t want to hurt them. I’m starting to love each of these men in their own ways. They’re my friends. My family, even. I don’t want them in my life because I’ve put them under some kind of spell. As I look at all the determined faces around the room, I gather up my own resolve. I will do whatever it takes to learn to control my curse.