The island was a marvel, a jewel, a paradise for her and her sexier-than-life-itself vampire lover.

After stepping from the boardwalk, Naia sprinted for the beach, feeling the sand in her toes and the surf on her legs for the very first time. It pushed against her shins, racing for shore, and pulled on her calves as it receded. Like a lung taking liquid breaths. Amazing!

For the next few minutes, Cortez watched patiently as she delighted in the waves, a little smile playing on his lips, but he didn’t join her, content to let her frolic and splash and dive and play with each marvelous wave. There were no words for the sensation of the frothy bubbles on her skin, the sand in her toes, and the warm, salty sea, like a living beast forever restless, always toiling.

When she finally did return to him, she was high from her experience. She ticked off a list of objectives. “First things first, it’s imperative that we make a sand castle.” She and Cole had always dreamed of doing so. Being so close to the ocean, yet never seeing it, had worn on them. “We need to go surfing. And snorkel! Do you have diving equipment? Oh, I want to fish!”

Cortez’s lips turned up in a half-grin. “Plenty of time for all that.”

Oh really? He must plan to stay here more than a day or two.

While he showed her the bungalow, a small, cozy one-room hut with a canopy bed, the yacht’s crew unloaded their luggage. Then together they all hiked inland to a larger, more modern home, filled with all the amenities you could ever want. The kitchen was a masterpiece of innovation, the living room was one step down from a movie theatre, the bathrooms were ripped straight from a spa, and the bedroom, well, that was the only thing that seemed to have been downplayed. The master offered a bed, a dresser, some closet space and not much else. Their things were already being put away by the crew.

While he continued the tour, she couldn’t help but contemplate the weird looks she continued to receive from the crew. Why did all his employees look at her like they would a six-headed moose?

When Cortez took her out back to show her a large heated pool, she asked, “Why do all of your employees look at me so funny? Like I have an extra nose or something.” Like a freak, she didn’t add.

“They wonder about you,” he admitted. “That’s all.”

“What do you mean?” She needed more than that. Were they suspicious? Was her undercover act even more transparent than she’d initially suspected?

“I brought you here to get away from all that. We won’t have any distractions here.”

No distractions? He could focus all his attention on the undercover agent. She was playing a dangerous game with two vampires, a pair of homicidal twins, and her brother’s life. A little unwanted attention from some of Cortez’s acquaintances was just icing on a very unappetizing cake.

Thinking of her brother made her want to check on him. “Do you mind if I make a call?”

“Not at all. I’ll go inside and double check our stocks.”

When he was gone, she retrieved her phone from her purse and selected Cole’s number.

There was a few seconds of fumbling, then Cole came on the line. “I’ll never get used to this thing. Everyone is laughing at me now because I had it on vibrate and your call made me jump like a chick that just spotted a mouse.”

Naia laughed. “So you’re at work?”

“Yeah, I was called in a bit early. Tiffany and one of the bouncers didn’t show up, so Boomer’s scrambling to fill spots. Too bad you’re not here. You might have landed your first all-night gig.” Tiffany was one of The Pit’s main dancers, performing several times a night.

“Is she sick?”

“Not sure. Anyway, how are you?”

Excitement rolled out of her. “Cole, I’m on a freaking private island. I repeat, a private island.”

Cole went silent for a moment. “I don’t like you being alone with this guy.”

“I know. But he’s really nice, I promise.” She lowered her voice. “And this could be our ticket to getting the twins off your back.” She wouldn’t dare explain more. “You just have to trust me.”

“This whole situation sucks. I don’t want this for you.”

“It’s not like this is a hardship, Cole.”

“Ugh! Say no more!”

She laughed. “Get back to work, you lazy ass.”

“When will you be home?”

“I’m not sure. A few days, I think.”

“Hm. I have the apartment all to myself,” he mused.

Oh the trouble he was plotting. “No ragers. And no hookers.”

Snort. “A good sister would let me invite hookers over for a rager whenever I wanted.”

“I guess I’m a terrible sister, then.”

“The worst. If you want to stop me, I guess you’ll just have to come home then, won’t you?”

She laughed. “Just stay safe, Cole.”

“You too,” he said solemnly. “You too.”

Hanging up, she gazed out over the sea. The sun was low in the sky, hinting at setting behind the horizon. The day had gone so quickly. Sparkles danced on the ocean as saltwater perfumed the air. Clouds were sparse, suggesting a clear night ahead, and the yacht was...being untied from the dock!?

Its engines roared to life, deckhands, like little ants from this distance, swiftly undoing the last of the ropes before hopping back onto the boat.

“What are they doing?” She watched in horror as the yacht drifted out toward the ocean. “What are you doing!” she yelled, her tone slightly shrill, but she was too far up the hill for them to hear. She didn’t need an answer anyway. They were leaving!

Rushing inside, she hollered for Cortez.

After a frantic moment, he burst into the room, looking tense and ready to hurt whatever it was that offended her. “What’s wrong?”

“The boat. They’re leaving us.” We’ll be stranded! the siren in her screeched in horror.

He heaved out a breath, his shoulders relaxing. “Yes. I told them to go.”

She stilled, her mind scrambling for calm. “Oh. Oh.....okay. Um. Why?”

“So we could be alone.”

“Alone?” A siren. Alone. On an island. Wasn’t that every siren’s nightmare?

As if sensing her unease, he assured her, “I can call them back whenever I like.”

Relief sang through her. She tried not to let her sigh sound too mitigated.

“You didn’t change your mind, did you?”

She cocked her head. “Change my mind?”

“About me feeding from you.”

“Oh.” Heat skated into her cheeks. He thought her distress was from the prospect of giving him her blood. She was nervous about it, sure, but now that she’d decided to go through with it, she was oddly eager. Couldn’t stop imagining it.

He didn’t know her fear stemmed from something more primitive. Something she didn’t even fully understand. To a true siren, isolation was akin to torture. Being a half-blood, with no humans to draw energy from, given enough time, she could die.

But that was an extreme scenario. Very unlikely. Surely he wouldn’t keep her here for any disastrous length of time, and a couple days alone with Cortez was all too tempting. In fact, it sounded like a dream.

One she definitely planned to experience.