Tidal (2 page)

“We’ll find a way to fight this,” Harper said for the millionth time that summer.

She’d cut her off, but Gemma was glad she didn’t let her finish her thought. Gemma had been about to say that she might have to give up her life, but she hadn’t really talked to Harper about it yet.

The sirens were running out of patience, and although they hadn’t specifically told Gemma, she suspected that they were looking for a replacement for her. It was only a matter of time before they found one and then got rid of Gemma.

“I don’t know who I am anymore,” Gemma finally said, barely holding back the tears in her eyes. “I gave up everything I loved. So I need you to let me figure it out, okay?”

Harper let out a long breath. “Okay. But please be careful.”

“I always am,” Gemma lied and turned around to hurry up the stairs so she wouldn’t have to talk anymore.

Once she was safely in her room, she put her hand over her mouth and let herself cry softly.

The past month, while Gemma had been sinking deeper into her depression, Harper thought it was mostly over Alex, and that was partially true. Giving up her dreams of being an Olympic swimmer, coming to terms with the fact that she was a murderer, and letting go of all the plans and hopes for her entire life was the rest of it.

Over and over again, Gemma had been asking herself,
What would you do if you only had a matter of weeks to live?
Because weeks sounded right to her. She didn’t think the sirens would tolerate her or Capri for much longer than that.

The problem was that Gemma still hadn’t been able to come up with an answer. What she really wanted to do—spend time with her parents, Harper, and Alex, on the beach, swimming all day and night—was impossible.

Now she had to come up with a second choice. So far the only thing she had was kissing Kirby and pretending like everything was going to be okay.

TWO

Obsession

The wind blowing off the bay helped cool his bare skin against the heat of the sun as he pulled into the harbor. Daniel eased
The Dirty Gull
into the dock. Once it was stopped, he hopped off the boat to tie it up.

He’d barely made it through the knot when he heard the splash of water behind him, and he sighed deeply. He didn’t even have to look over his shoulder to see it was her. By now he could almost feel her watching him.

Daniel may not have fallen under the sirens’ spell the way other guys did, but he wasn’t completely oblivious to their charms. Penn had a presence about her, one that defied all sensibilities. The air seemed to change when she grew closer, with a new electricity churning through it.

As he’d been coming over to the mainland from Bernie’s Island, he thought he’d seen Penn trailing him. He couldn’t be certain of it, but almost every time he was out on the water, he thought he saw her shadow just below the surface of the water—the dark outline of her fish form as she swam alongside the boat.

Sometimes he could chalk it up to seeing things, but when Penn appeared on the dock like this, it only confirmed his suspicions. She was stalking him.

“Nice day for a swim?” Daniel asked.

He glanced back just long enough to ascertain that Penn wasn’t wearing a bottom to go with her bikini top and quickly looked away.

“You’re going to get arrested if you don’t cover up,” he told her as he stood up.

Penn snickered. “I doubt that. I’ve never been arrested for anything.”

From the corner of his eye, he saw her pull out the tiny bottom. She’d had it rolled up in a little ball and carried it in her bikini top.

Daniel climbed back onto his boat. A T-shirt was lying out on the deck, and he pulled it on over his head. Penn clicked her tongue in disappointment, and he went belowdeck to grab his shoes and socks, the small door swinging shut behind him.

Since he’d moved onto Bernie’s Island, his former living quarters were much more sparse, but that made it harder for him to find his shoes. In transit, they’d moved about, and now they actually had room to slide underneath the bed.

Once he grabbed them, he turned to hurry back onto the deck. He didn’t trust Penn to wait outside without getting into something.

When he pushed open the small door leading back up to the top, he almost ran right into her. She stood at the top of the stairs, her long black hair dripping wet down her tanned skin, and her dark eyes sparkling at him.

“Aren’t you going to offer me a towel?” Penn asked, her voice like velvet.

“Why are you on my boat?” Daniel asked. “I don’t recall inviting you on.”

“I’m not a vampire,” Penn said with a subtle edge to her words. “I don’t need an invitation.”

“I don’t have any towels on board anymore,” Daniel said, answering her question.

He went up the stairs, and since she hadn’t moved, he pushed past her. Her skin felt hot through his T-shirt, and as he brushed up against her, he heard her inhale deeply. That wasn’t what creeped him out, though—it was the strange growling sound.

There was something inhuman about it, and it had a prehistoric quality to it. It was a small noise, one that Penn had seemed to make unconsciously, but it was enough to make his skin crawl.

“I still can’t decide what I’m going to do with you,” Penn admitted with a sigh. “One minute, I can’t wait to devour you, and the next, I’d much rather sleep with you.”

“Why do you want to do anything with me?” Daniel asked. He sat down on the seat at the edge of his boat and pulled on his shoes.

“I don’t know,” she said, and that seemed to upset her.

Daniel looked up at her, squinting in the bright sunlight, and she leaned back against the bench across from him. Her legs were stretched out long before her, and she tilted her head back, letting her hair hang over the edge of the boat.

“Are you familiar with Orpheus?” Penn asked.

“No.” He’d finished putting on his shoes and leaned back. “Am I supposed to be?”

“He’s a very popular figure in Greek history,” Penn said. “He’s renowned for musical ability and poetry.”

“Sorry, I don’t read that much poetry,” Daniel replied.

“Neither do I.” She shrugged. “I never read much of his, anyway. But when I was with him, he’d all but stopped writing and he’d given up his music and went by the name Bastian. The ‘mythology’ says that he died after the death of his wife, but the truth is that he only changed his name and gave up his old life.”

“So he’s like you, then?” Daniel asked. “Immortal or whatever?”

Penn nodded. “He is. But unlike sirens, who gained their immortality through a curse, he got his from being blessed. The gods were so pleased with him and his music that they granted him eternal life.”

“Why are you asking me about this guy?” Daniel asked. “What does he have to do with me?”

“Nothing, probably.” Penn crossed and uncrossed her legs. “We were very close for a while, Bastian and I. He was one of a handful of immortals who was immune to siren song. All the gods and goddesses were unaffected by it, but many of the other immortals—humans who gained eternal life from either a curse or blessing—still succumbed to it.

“But not Bastian.” She stared off, something wistful flitting across her expression, but she quickly erased it. “Anyway. I thought maybe you were a relation of his.”

“I’m fairly certain that nobody’s immortal in my family tree.” He stood up. “Listen, Penn, it’s been great, but I really have to get to work. I have—”

Before he could finish his sentence, she was upon him. She pushed him down so hard, his back slammed painfully into the bar. Then she leapt on him, straddling him. She squeezed her thighs tightly against his sides so he couldn’t move.

One of her hands was pressed against his chest, the razor-sharp fingernails poking through his shirt and digging into his flesh. The other was on his neck, but this one was almost caressing him, her touch soft and gentle.

With her face hovering right above his, her lips nearly touching his, her black eyes stared right into him. She leaned in closer, pressing her chest against his, so his shirt would be left damp.

“I could eat your heart right now,” Penn told him in a provocative whisper, and she stroked his cheek gently, her fingers running along his stubble.

“You could,” Daniel agreed, meeting her gaze evenly. “But you’re not.”

“I will, though.” She studied him for a moment. “Eventually.”

“But not today?” Daniel asked.

“No. Not today.”

“Then I need to get to work.” He put his hands on her waist, and when she didn’t react with clawing or yelling, he lifted her up and set her on the seat next to him.

Penn pouted. “Work is so drab.”

Daniel shrugged. “It pays the bills.”

He’d moved away from Penn to the edge of the boat and was about to step off when he felt Penn’s hand clamp onto his wrist. She moved supernaturally fast, and it was hard for him to get used to that.

“Don’t go,” Penn said, and it was the pleading in her words that made him pause. She knelt on the bench next to him with a strange desperation in her eyes. Hurriedly, she blinked any emotion away, trying to recover with an uneasy smile that was probably meant to be flirtatious.

“I have to,” he insisted.

“I can pay you more,” she said, her tone almost comically breezy.

For all her attempts at trying to seem nonchalant, her grip on his wrist had only tightened. It’d gotten rather painful, but Daniel refrained from pulling it free. He didn’t want her to know that she was hurting him.

“What would you need me to do?” Daniel asked.

“I could think of something.” She winked at him.

He rolled his eyes and finally yanked his arm free. “I’ve told them I’d build the sets for the play, and I’m a man of my word. They’re expecting me.”

“A fence,” Penn said hastily as Daniel climbed off his boat. She stayed behind, leaning on the rail so she faced him. “You could build a fence around my house.”

“What do you need a fence for?” he asked, waiting on the dock to see if she had any good reason for it.

“What does it matter to you why I need a fence? I just need one.”

“I have my hands full already.” He turned away from her.

“Ten grand!” Penn called after him as he walked away. “I’ll pay you ten grand to build me a fence.”

Daniel laughed and shook his head. “I’ll see you around, Penn.”

“We’re not done yet, Daniel!” Penn shouted, but he just kept walking.

THREE

Alterations

“Stop that,” Marcy said as Harper began emptying the overnight drop box at the library.

“What?” Harper turned back to face her with a stack of worn Harry Potter novels weighing down her arms.

“Working,” Marcy replied tightly, and Harper rolled her eyes.

“Edie’s been back for weeks. You have to be used to it by now,” Harper said, but she let the door to the drop box slam shut, leaving a small pile of books behind.

Marcy was kneeling on her chair and leaning so far forward on the desk, she was practically lying on it. Her dark eyes stared out from behind her glasses with a manic intensity as she watched the front door of the library.

“I’ll never get used to it,” Marcy insisted.

“I don’t even understand what the big deal is.” Harper set the books down on the desk.

“
Move
,” Marcy hissed and waved her off, because Harper was apparently blocking her view of the front door.

“You know that’s all glass, right?” Harper asked, motioning to the door that sat in the middle of the large windowed library front. “You can see through all of that. You don’t need your eyes locked on the door like a laser beam.”

“
Pfft
,” Marcy scoffed.

Harper moved to the side anyway, since it was easier to get out of the way than try to use logic on Marcy. “She won’t be here for another ten minutes, so I don’t understand why you’re so freaked out already.”

“You don’t get it,” Marcy said, sounding gravely serious. “If I’m not busy the entire time she’s here, if I even spend
five
minutes sitting behind this desk, Edie will immediately launch into some story about her honeymoon, and she won’t stop talking about it.”

“Maybe she’s doing it on purpose,” Harper said. “You’ve worked here for, what? Like, five years? And in all that time combined, you’ve maybe given two honest days of work—until Edie got back from her honeymoon. Now you’re a busy little bee. Maybe she’s finally found a way to motivate you.”

Marcy shot her a look. “I need to watch for her, so the second she comes in I can haul ass and do anything that isn’t being around her,” she said. “I get that she had a really amazing time exploring the world or whatever, but … it’s, like, I don’t care. And I don’t know how she doesn’t get that.”

“Feigning human emotion has never been your strong suit,” Harper said and started scanning in the books.

“What are you doing?” Marcy asked.

“Checking these in, so you can run and put them away the second Edie gets in.”

“Awesome.” Marcy gave her a rare smile and looked over at her. “You kinda look like crap. Are you not sleeping again?”

“Thanks,” Harper said sarcastically.

“No, I just meant, did something happen last night?” Marcy asked.

“Nothing more than usual.” Harper let out a deep breath to blow her dark hair out of her face. She stopped scanning the books and turned to Marcy. “Gemma’s seeing some guy.”

“Some guy?” Marcy raised an eyebrow. “I thought she was still in love with Alex or whatever.”

Harper shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, she probably still loves him. That’s why I don’t know why she’s sneaking around with someone else. It just seems ridiculous.”

“Isn’t she still grounded?” Marcy asked.

“Today’s her first official day being ungrounded,” Harper said. “She’s been hooking up with this guy she met at play rehearsal, and then she stays out all night with him doing … I don’t even know what. So I was waiting up for her last night.”

“Well, if she’s grounded, why didn’t you just tell your dad about it?” Marcy asked. “He’d ground her again and make her quit play rehearsal.”