The sun was too high in the sky, which meant I was running late for my delivery. I shouldn’t have stayed with Eva so long, but I’d wanted to make sure she got her car taken care of before I left.

Still, I couldn’t afford to let anything distract me from getting this shipment to the island on time. I’d never been late before, and I didn’t want to find out what would happen if I was.

I’d seen Selena kill a man with a flick of her wrist. I wasn’t about to get on her bad side, if I could avoid it. I revved the boat’s engine and pushed it harder. I was far enough out now that no one from the docks could see me, so I opened it up and practically flew across the water toward the secret island just outside of Willow Harbor’s ocean borders.

There were certain unspoken rules about how things worked inside Willow Harbor, and part of that included the water surrounding it, as well. Everyone in town who was part of the supernatural world knew part of Willow Harbor’s magic and draw was that it was a safe place for people like us.

Most of the world didn’t understand magic and were terrified by shifters, witches, or vampires, but in Willow Harbor, all supernaturals lived together in relative peace. As long as everyone followed the rules. Most people cherished the haven that had been built here enough to honor those rules, but sometimes, rules had to be broken.

In my case, I had no choice in the matter.

Selena wasn’t going to risk being caught with illegal potions and spells inside Willow Harbor’s borders, so she got guys like me to do her dirty work.

I glanced at the clock on my phone. 11:58. Damn, I had two minutes to get outside the Willow Harbor ocean borders and to the secret island. I pushed the engine harder, wishing I had even just a little of my old magic to make it go faster.

A minute later, I felt the edge of the magical border as I passed through it and sighed in relief. The island wasn’t visible to most, but as long as whoever approached it was carrying one of Selena’s talismans, it would become visible as soon as you got close to it.

I reached in my pocket to feel for the seashell attached to my keys. It was right where it was supposed to be, and just like clockwork, the island appeared a moment later.

I pulled the boat onto the sand and jumped out. There didn’t appear to be anyone here waiting yet, but I knew from experience that looks could be deceiving. Sirens had a tricky ability to disappear or blend in when they didn’t want to be seen, and as far as sirens went, Selena was the most powerful one I’d ever met.

I got to work unloading the crates, which didn’t take long. Still, sweat formed on my neck and brow as I carried the last of the crates to the drop zone.

Just as I suspected, the moment the last crate was on the ground the air in front of me shimmered, and a beautiful woman with long, white-blond hair and crystal-clear blue eyes appeared out of nowhere.

“Cutting it a bit close today,” she said, stepping toward me and running a long red fingernail across the skin of my cheek. “Oh, but it’s so nice to watch you work, Nikolas.”

I tensed my jaw and held my tongue.

“Are you sure you won’t come home with me for a week or two?” she asked. “We could have so much fun together, you and me.”

I didn’t even validate that question with a response. She already knew the answer. I would sooner die than sleep with her. She could compel me to do it, but she never did. After she’d used the lure of her siren’s song to capture me, she’d never used it on me again.

She sighed. “You’ve always been such a difficult one to understand,” she said. “I have given you every opportunity to make something of yourself and move up in the organization, and yet, you refuse to entertain even the idea of something better.”

I literally had to bite my tongue to keep from replying. Selena didn’t respond well to sarcasm or what she called disrespect. I hated myself for every word I held back.

“You know, I’ve never once had an employee who worked for me as long as ten years without either moving up or, well, being killed,” she said. She walked around me, her dark red dress completely out of place on a deserted island, but she always came dressed up as if she were going to a dinner party. It was simply her way.

“Employee?” I asked, unable to hold it back the bitterness in my tone. As if I had taken this job willingly.

She ran her hand along my shoulder and laughed. “Semantics, dear,” she said. “It’s all in how you choose to see the situation you’re in. You can choose to see it as one of obligation, or you can simply adjust your attitude and see it as an opportunity.”

I grunted, my anger rising so fast and hot that I nearly said something I shouldn’t have.

“You are the most obstinate man in my collection, but to be honest, it has been fun toying with you,” she said. “Too bad things can’t continue on the way they are now.”

My eyes widened, and fear pooled in my gut.

“What do you mean?”

She shrugged and tossed her hair back. “Jennings didn’t tell you?” she asked. “I’ve decided to increase my shipments. Business under the sea is booming, and the demand for these potions has doubled in the past month. I can’t risk you making these smaller deliveries every other day. If the people of Willow Harbor found out about it, they’d lock you up and throw away the key. Then where would I be?”

“So, what does this mean for me?” I asked.

I didn’t like my life the way it was, but I liked the idea of change even less. Change meant risk, and I’d grown comfortable in my misery.

“It means you’re moving up in the world, like it or not,” she said. “Someday soon, you’ll no longer be a poor fisherman who works the docks all day and lives in a tiny apartment above the bar. I’m moving you to my castle just outside of town where you can help oversee the production of the potions, alongside Jennings, of course. I’ve arranged the purchase of a much bigger boat for your deliveries, which you’ll make once a week, right on schedule.”

She looked me up and down, a seductive look in her eyes.

“Finally, I can get you out of those jeans and work boots and into a nice, tailored suit,” she said. “I’ll have Jennings bring you up to the house in a couple of days to get fitted for some new clothes.”

My entire body had grown rigid as she spoke, but my brain was still playing catch up. Surely, she couldn’t be serious? I couldn’t be the guy in the suit, living in the big mansion, giving orders to everyone. That wasn’t me at all. That was guys like Jennings, and I hated guys like him with a vengeance.

And what would I tell everyone at the docks? That I’d simply decided to go live in a big castle, and I’d probably never see any of them again?

“What’s the problem?” Selena asked. “You don’t look happy about the new job assignment.”

“I thought you said you didn’t want to draw too much attention to the operation,” I said. “What’s it going to look like when a simple, poor fisherman suddenly moves into one of the nicest mansions in town and starts wearing suits and cruising the harbor in a million-dollar yacht? Don’t you think people are going to start asking questions?”

“So, come up with a story that answers them,” she said with a shrug.

“Like what?” I asked. “There’s nothing I can tell the guys at the docks that is going to make this seem any less suspicious. These guys are my friends. I’ve been working beside them nearly every day for ten years. They think they know me. I can’t just change my entire situation overnight and expect them to believe I got a new job out of the blue.”

“Nikolas, you know I don’t like it when people disappoint me,” she said, her cherry-red lips drawn down in a pout as she squeezed my arm and stood much closer than I wanted her to. “I want you working for me in the castle. It’s up to you to figure out a cover story that’s good enough to convince everyone in town there’s nothing suspicious going on.”

“At least let me wear the same clothes,” I said. “The guys might buy that I got a new job working for a rich lady in town, maybe captaining her boat or something, but they’re never going to accept one of their own in a three-piece suit.”

Her grip on my arm tightened, nearly cutting off my circulation. At the same time, an invisible force gripped my throat and squeezed. I dropped my jaw and struggled to draw a breath.

“I want what I want, Nikolas,” she said. “Don’t disappoint me. I would hate to have to kill you. We both know how much that would break your poor father’s heart.”

Selena released me, and I fell to my knees in the sand, gasping for air.

It had been years since she’d used her powers against me in that way, and I had forgotten just how quick and powerful she could be without even lifting a finger.

When I finally caught my breath and looked up, the air shimmered and Selena was gone.