I entered my pin on the keypad and the wrought iron gates opened. I drove down the winding road, flanked by tall trees. After a curve, the gray stone manor appeared, imposing and strong as always.

My home.

I parked my car in the underground garage, hung my key on the hook board beside the door, and raced up the stairs to the kitchen.

“Douglas?” I called.

“In here,” he answered.

I found him in our small house library along with Aidan, Amber, Landon, Tessa, Caleb, and my cousin, Ash, all seated around an oval table and waiting for me. I had called Douglas and told him I had something unusual to tell them, something that could end up being a case. He told me he would call a meeting with whoever was in the manor.

I took a seat and stared at them. “Remember five years ago when I was running on the beach and found a siren drowning a teenager by accident?”

Everyone but Tessa nodded. Right, she hadn’t been here five years ago.

“Yes,” Douglas said.

“She’s back,” I said.

“What?” Aidan asked. “But my father and Douglas and Isaac talked to her mother about it.”

“I remember,” Landon said, nodding. “I went along and heard everything, though I was supposed to stay in the car.”

“Typical,” Ash said, snickering. My cousin could be an asshole sometimes.

Landon ignored him. “They told her mother everything, didn’t you, Douglas?”

“We did,” Douglas said. “We told her male nagas come to Willow Harbor every summer solstice, looking for human females. When they can cross our barricade, they enchant females, have sex with them, and impregnate them. We told her that was how sirens were born. And we told her Brooke was a siren, daughter of a naga who had been able to break through our barricade.” He shook his head. “At first, she didn’t believe there were such things as nagas and sirens or anything supernatural. And she didn’t believe she had been raped. I explained to her it wasn’t exactly rape. Since she had been enchanted, she had consented to it. The next day, all she remembered was having a one-night stand with a stranger and that was it. I can still see the recognition in her eyes, when she remembered it. She knew it was the truth. We offered her the potion from the witches to keep her daughter’s powers under control.”

“But she didn’t take that,” I said.

“No,” Douglas said with a sigh. “She was scared after finding out Willow Harbor was full of supernatural beings. She asked if there was another option, and we told her to leave Willow Harbor, to move as far away from any saltwater as she could. And that was what she did. Three days later, the two of them left Willow Harbor.”

“But why is she back?” Caleb asked.

“That was why I called this meeting,” I said. “Last week, she received a letter. From her father.”

“What?” Landon asked, his voice hard. “That’s impossible.”

I shook my head. “I thought so too, but the more I think about it, the more I see it isn’t. Don’t the nagas try to come back for their daughters after they activate their powers? What if this naga was smart enough that he didn’t have to go after her?”

“He’s making her come after him,” Douglas said. His face blanched. “Where is this girl now?”

“I wasn’t sure about bringing her here, so I left her with Delpha at the library.”

“Good, good. Delpha is good in a fight.”

“What do we do now?” Aidan asked.

“My first thought was to make a list of all the nagas we know in town,” I said.

“But they have their own families. They are the ‘good’ nagas.” Caleb made quotes with his fingers. Like every supernatural beings, nagas were either good or bad. The bad ones came to Willow Harbor during summer solstice to impregnate human females and fight against us. When the sirens were of age, they came to take them away. The good nagas were the ones who had given up that life. They had fallen in love and made a home and family in Willow Harbor. They had been spelled by a powerful witch to look like humans.

I nodded. “I know, but they could know other nagas from before they changed and moved to Willow Harbor.”

“That’s a start,” Douglas said. “Let’s make a list of all the nagas we know, and then we should select some each and asked them some questions. Nothing offensive, please. Don’t start a fight. Explain to them we’re trying to consider everything for now.”

“All right,” Landon said. “Let’s do that then.”

“You guys start with that,” I said. Now was the perfect opportunity for me to tell them about my dreams about Brooke, but for some reason, I didn’t want to. Not yet. “I’ll contact Anna and order a potion for Brooke. I felt her power this morning and I don’t want anyone else falling for her magic. The sooner she takes the potion, the better.”

“Agreed,” Douglas said. “After that, go check on the girl. One of us should have an eye on her at all times. Not only because of her powers, but if her father called her here, it’s because he plans on coming to her at some point. And when he does, we’ll catch him.”

I dipped my chin once. “Yes, sir.”

I walked out to the hallway and called Anna. I explained to her what we needed.

“I have to check, but I don’t think I have all the ingredients,” she said. “I can order them or check with the other witches, but even if we have it, the potion takes a few days to brew.”

“Shit,” I muttered. “Well, do whatever you can.”

“I might have something else to help in the meantime.”

“Like what?”

“A potion you can drink that will temporary lessen the effects of her powers on you.”

It wasn’t the perfect solution but … “That could work.”

“Give me an hour, then come pick it up.”

“Sounds good.”

I disconnected the call and went to help the others with the list of nagas until it was time to go to Anna’s and get the potion. Though, the entire time, my mind was on Brooke and how I wanted to go after her right now.