Tidal (36 page)

FORTY-ONE

Revelations

“It really wasn’t that bad,” Daniel insisted for the hundredth time, playing down his injury.

“You keep saying that, but it doesn’t make me believe you any more,” Harper said.

He leaned against the counter in her kitchen, his arm held out in front of him while Harper cleaned up his bite marks from Lexi. The cut above his eyebrow was already taken care of, covered with a couple Band-Aids.

Harper had almost reached Capri when Gemma called to let her know that everything was okay, but she’d been scant on details. Harper had arrived home just as Marcy was dropping off Gemma and Daniel, so she’d seen exactly the state they’d made it back in.

While Gemma had appeared fine, her dress was covered in blood in the back, and the fabric was torn up around her shoulders. Daniel lacked Gemma’s healing powers, so he looked like hell.

They’d both given Harper an abbreviated story about what had happened with the sirens, and she knew they were trying to downplay how perilous things had gotten. When they’d finished, Gemma went upstairs to shower off the blood and dirt and change into dry clothes.

Daniel didn’t have anything to change into at her house, so he settled for letting Harper dress his wounds. When she poured alcohol over the holes in his arms, he winced.

“Sorry, but I have to clean it out,” Harper said. “You have no idea where Lexi’s mouth has been.”

“I know. The alcohol just stung a little.”

“Most of these holes go straight through.” She tilted his arm to get a better look. “You really should go to the doctor.”

“I’ll be okay.”

She gave him a stern look. “Daniel.”

He tried to match her seriousness but smirked a little. “Harper.”

She rolled her eyes and went back to washing off his arm with an alcohol-soaked paper towel. “You’re covered in drying mud, and your clothes are wet. You really should shower and get into something dry.”

He watched her cleaning his arm, grimacing when she poked at a hole. “Are you going back to school tonight?”

“No. After tonight, I don’t know if I’m ever going back.”

“Harper.” He pulled his arm back from her so she’d look up at him. “The one thing we proved tonight is that we can handle things without you.”

“Look at you, Daniel!” She gestured to his bloody, ripped-up shirt. “You’re all torn up, and you almost died!”

“But I didn’t,” he said reasonably. “I’m fine, Gemma’s fine. We survived.”

Harper scoffed. “Barely.”

“Things will be calmer for a while.”

“How do you figure?” she asked skeptically.

“With Lexi dead, I think things will be quiet.”

“You’re sure she’s dead?” Harper asked.

“Lexi? Yeah.” He nodded. “She’s dead.”

“Why did she do it? Why did Penn kill Lexi to save you?” Harper stared at him, studying his response.

Daniel lowered his eyes. “I don’t know.”

“Is there something you’re not telling me?” Harper asked, and she had the strange feeling she’d had before, that Daniel was pulling away and keeping something from her.

He seemed to hesitate before answering, “No.”

“Daniel.” She stepped closer to him and put her hand gently on his chest, the fabric of his shirt damp against her skin. “If there’s something going on, I should know about it. Whatever it is, you can tell me. We’re in this together.”

“I know.” He smiled at her, but there was something in his eyes, something dark he was trying to mask. “And I’d tell you.”

“Good,” Harper said, not knowing how else to push the issue. If he insisted that nothing else was wrong, she had to trust him. She cared about him, and he’d never given her any reason to doubt him. “I do love you.”

He leaned in, kissing her gently on the mouth, and then smiled at her. “I know.”

The front door banged open, and she heard Brian’s heavy work boots thud on the floor as he took them off. She glanced over at the microwave to see that it was after four, meaning that he was home from work for the day.

“Oh, shit. My dad’s here,” Harper said, realizing that she had no idea how to explain the situation to him.

She had pulled away from Daniel by the time her father was standing in the kitchen doorway. His hair and coveralls were wet from the storm, and he did not look happy to see them.

“Hey, Dad,” Harper said as cheerfully as she could.

“Hello, Mr. Fisher,” Daniel said. He’d straightened up and tried to look presentable.

“What’s going on here? Was there an accident?” Brian asked, eyeing Daniel.

“Uh, yeah. Kinda,” Harper said. “Daniel’s just having some troubles.”

“What are you doing home?” Brian turned his attention to her. “Shouldn’t you be at school?”

“Yeah, I just…” She rubbed the back of her neck. “Daniel called and let me know about the accident, so I thought I’d come and … help.”

“Accident?” Brian stepped farther into the kitchen so he could get a better look at Daniel. “What kind of accident leaves holes in your arms?”

“It’s kind of a long story, Mr. Fisher,” Daniel said.

Brian crossed his arms over his chest. “You’re getting stitched up in my kitchen. It seems like you have time.”

“That’s fair.” Daniel floundered for a second, then turned to Harper. “Um, Harper, do you want to explain to your dad what happened? You’re so much more eloquent than I am.”

She smiled thinly at him, then started with, “Well, Daniel was … he was out on his island and…”

“You know that I know this is clearly bullshit, right?” Brian asked. “You’re not even trying to cover it up.”

“Dad, some things are…” She sighed. “I don’t need to tell you everything.”

“When you’re in my house, you do,” Brian countered.

“I’m not sixteen, Dad.” Harper crossed her arms over her chest and tried to appear defiant. “And I don’t even technically live here anymore.”

“Technically, yeah, you do,” Brian said. “Harper, cut the crap. There has been something going on for a long time now. Not just this but with your sister and Alex. Something is happening, and it’s about damn time somebody tells me what’s really going on.”

“Dad…” Harper trailed off, trying to think of a way to explain this to her dad that didn’t sound totally insane.

“I’m a siren,” Gemma said, and Harper and Brian looked over to see her standing in the doorway.

Harper was aghast. “
Gemma!
”

“He knows something’s up, Harper.” She shrugged. “All this lying is getting dumb, and I’m sick of hiding things from you guys. So I’m laying it all out on the table.”

“You’re a siren?” Brian had turned around to face her. “The mermaid thing that sings?”

“There’s more to it than that, but yeah, that’s the gist of it,” Gemma said.

Brian stared at her, not saying anything. Harper watched him nervously as he furrowed his brow and narrowed his eyes at Gemma.

“Dad, she’s telling the truth.” Harper broke the silence, hoping to lend some credibility to her sister’s revelation.

“I would sing for you, but I don’t want to hurt you,” Gemma said. “I messed up Alex, and I don’t want to do that to anyone else again.”

“Bernie did always tell me to watch out for sirens,” Brian said finally.

“What?” Harper and Gemma said in unison.

“He said that eventually the sirens would come, and I had to be on the lookout for them.” Brian shook his head. “I just tossed it up to an eccentricity, but I guess I should’ve been paying more attention. Not that I ever would’ve suspected my own daughter.”

“Dad, what are you talking about?” Harper asked.

A knock at the front door interrupted their conversation, but Harper’s attention didn’t waver from her dad.

“I’ll get it,” Gemma said and left to answer the door.

Harper was about to press her dad for more information when she heard Gemma at the front door saying, “Thea. What are you doing here?”

As soon as she heard Thea’s name, Harper darted out of the kitchen. She wanted to push Gemma out of the way and tell Thea to get lost, but she stayed a few feet behind, waiting to see what Thea wanted before getting involved.

“I got your boyfriend’s car out for you,” Thea said. She was standing on the doorstep, and she motioned behind her to Alex’s mud-splattered Cougar parked in the driveway. “I figured it was the least I could do after the day you had.”

“Thanks,” Gemma said. “Is Penn really pissed off?”

“Not really. I think she was looking for an excuse to get rid of Lexi,” Thea said.

“So you just came to bring back the car?” Gemma asked, since Thea was still standing there in the pouring rain.

“No.” Thea reached into a large purse she had over her shoulder and pulled out a rolled-up beige tube. “I came to give you this.”

“Is this…” Gemma took it from her and stared down at the worn papyrus. “This is the scroll.” She gaped at it, then looked up at Thea. “Why would you give this to me?”

“You’ve been looking for it, haven’t you?” Thea asked wryly.

“Yeah, but…” Gemma sighed. “If I destroy this, you’ll die, too.”

“Yeah, probably,” Thea agreed bleakly. She looked away from Gemma and stared at the pouring rain. “I’ve watched Penn kill three of my sisters with her bare hands. Lexi I didn’t care for that much, but Gia and Aggie…” She trailed off and swallowed hard.

“Aggie wanted to destroy the scroll.” Thea turned back to meet Gemma’s eyes. “That’s why Penn killed her. Aggie thought we’d lived long enough, we had enough blood on our hands.” She paused. “I’m finally starting to realize she was right.”

“Thank you,” Gemma replied quietly.

“Yeah, well, I don’t know how to destroy it, and the damned thing never did me any good.” Thea gestured toward the scroll. “But maybe you’ll have more luck.” Then she turned, walking off into the rain, and leaving Gemma and Harper standing in the doorway.

Don’t miss the final book in the Watersong series!

Elegy

Coming Summer 2013

Also by Amanda Hocking

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Torn

Ascend

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“Hocking hits all the commercial high notes.… She knows how to keep readers turning the pages.”

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—Booklist

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LibraryThing

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is full of thrills, eerie suspense, and mystery … incredibly difficult to put down.”

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Books with Bite

“Entertaining and surprisingly dark. Amanda Hocking once again had me enjoying her writing and the world she created before my eyes.”

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Millie D’s Words

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That Bookish Girl

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Bewitched Bookworms

“A wonderfully adventurous and dynamic series, full of high intrigue, mythology, paranormal lore, romance, and suspense. I, for one, can’t wait to be swept away in the new world of the Watersong.”

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Fallen Angel Reviews

“Amanda Hocking once again delves into the fantasies of many young minds and the results are something new and different.”

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The Reading Cafe

“Amanda Hocking has such an easy and elegant way with her language—her stories just seem to flow well and her words dance. This is going to be another series that I’ll fall for. I absolutely cannot wait to see where she takes us with the next book.”

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Into the Hall of Books

“Great chemistry … plus a family history that just makes your heart ache, and you’ve definitely got a recipe for a fantastic new series. Get your hands on this now!”