Lullaby (7 page)

“I can cover for you,” Marcy said, poking her head out from behind a nearby bookshelf. “If you want to go have lunch, I’ve got it.”

Harper sighed. “Thanks, Marcy.”

Of course Marcy had to go and be helpful the one time Harper didn’t want her to be. She knew Marcy was making a concerted effort to be nice, since Harper was going through a rough patch with Gemma missing, but still. This was insane.

“You may not have time to run off with a ruggedly handsome guy like myself, but I know you still have to eat,” Daniel said. “And Marcy says that she has this under control. You have no reason to say no.”

“Okay,” Harper relented, because he was right. She couldn’t think up an excuse, no matter how hard she tried. “But it’s a little early for lunch.”

“We’ll have brunch, then,” Daniel said.

He stepped back from the desk and waited as she prepared to go. When they left, he held the door open for her, and she smiled politely but tried not to let her eyes meet his.

“So, have you heard from Gemma?” Daniel asked as they waited on the sidewalk for a break in traffic.

“No.” Harper shook her head. “Not yet.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Daniel said, and it sounded like he really meant it.

“Me, too,” Harper said, and they crossed the street.

“It’s a terrible situation,” he said. “But I think she’ll get through it and come home. She’s a good kid. She’s tough and can handle herself.”

They’d reached Pearl’s, and Harper grabbed the door so she could open it before he did.

“You always say that,” she told him.

“And I’m always right. You don’t give Gemma enough credit.”

“I think this time I actually gave her too much credit.” Harper slid into a booth in front of the window. “I never thought she’d get into any real trouble, and now she’s turned into some kind of mythological beast.”

“Mythological beast?” Daniel raised an eyebrow and leaned back in the seat across from her.

“Yeah.” Harper glanced around to make sure that no one was close enough to hear, but they were early for lunch, so the diner was pretty empty. “Sirens. Alex and I did some research, and that’s what we think they are.”

“Sirens?” Daniel asked. “The mermaids that sing?”

“Something like that.” Harper signaled him to be quiet because Pearl was approaching.

“How are you doing today?” Pearl asked.

“Good.” Daniel grinned broadly at her, and even Pearl had to feel the effects of it. When he smiled, it was a truly stunning thing. “How is my favorite waitress doing?”

“Better now that you’re here,” Pearl said, laughing a little at her own joke. “What can I get for you two today?”

Daniel looked to Harper, waiting for her to order first. Pearl’s didn’t have menus. She had a few specials written on a chalkboard hanging behind the counter, but with everything else, customers were just supposed to know what was served. It helped keep locals in and tourists out.

“Um, just a Cherry Coke and a cheeseburger,” Harper said.

“I’ll have the same,” Daniel said.

“Coming right up.” Pearl winked at them both before walking back to the counter.

“So.” Daniel leaned forward, resting his arms on the table. “You’re not ignoring Alex’s calls, then?”

“That’s different.” Harper shook her head and stared out the window at the traffic passing slowly by.

“How is it different?” Daniel asked.

She groaned and rubbed the back of her neck. “You know how it’s different.”

“No, I don’t. I can help you. I
want
to help you.”

“But…” She sighed. “It’s complicated with me and you.”

Daniel laughed a little. “No, it’s really not. You’ve made it perfectly clear what you’re open for right now. I get it. You don’t have time for anything more than friendship. But Harper, I’m not offering anything more than that.”

She bit her lip and tentatively looked up at him. Hearing him say that actually stung a bit, and she was surprised. All this time she’d been saying she didn’t want to get involved with him, and it hadn’t really occurred to her that he might not want to get involved with
her
.

“Your sister ran off with some weird-ass bird-monsters,” Daniel said. “Can you really afford to turn away somebody that wants to help you get her back? Especially someone that doesn’t think you’re insane for believing in weird-ass bird-monsters?”

“No,” Harper admitted, smirking a little at his description of the sirens.

“Good.” He smiled wider at that and relaxed more in the seat. “So, what’s your plan for finding Gemma?”

“I don’t have one.”

“That’s okay,” Daniel assured her. “We’ll come up with one.”

EIGHT

Ungrateful

Gemma woke up while it was still dark out, and she barely made it to the bathroom in time. She leaned over the porcelain bowl, retching up what little contents she had in her stomach. It was Friday, and the last time she’d eaten anything had been days ago.

Once she’d finished throwing up, Gemma leaned back against the tiles of the bathroom wall and tried to catch her breath. Her mind swirled, dizzy and aching from the watersong.

Her skin felt too tight. Sweat clung to her flesh, drying sticky and making it feel as if she were shrink-wrapped.

A shower seemed like the best solution. It wouldn’t completely erase the way she felt, but it might ease her sickness a bit.

Outside, the sky was starting to lighten, and dim blue light spilled in through the bathroom window. Gemma decided to leave the light off, preferring the semidarkness. That would probably upset her migraine the least.

When she turned on the faucet, she kept it cool, even though she still had the chills. The cold sweat left her shivering. But she thought a cold shower might clear her head.

Standing under the spray, she found it hard not to sing. She hadn’t sung since she’d accidentally called to Alex back at her house in Capri, and she’d nearly hurt him. Even worse, it had left him more susceptible to the other sirens.

So though the lyrics played on her tongue until she had to bite her lip to keep them from escaping, Gemma didn’t sing. She was too afraid of accidentally luring another guy into this mess.

If Sawyer weren’t living here with them, she might have been tempted to try a soft lullaby or humming to herself. But it was bad enough that Penn and Lexi had him wrapped around their fingers. Gemma didn’t want to control him, too.

At least the shower was helping. Her body craved water the way plants craved sunlight. The tap water wasn’t exactly right, partially because of all the chemicals used to treat it, but mostly because it wasn’t salt water from the ocean.

Normally, when her skin got wet, she’d feel this fluttering sensation in her legs as they tried to transform into a tail. It wouldn’t work, not fully, because only the ocean induced the transition.

This time, she felt nothing. It was as if her body didn’t even have the strength to attempt to change. But her headache had abated, and that was all she really hoped for.

Gemma moved on to washing her hair, and she caught herself humming despite her attempts not to. The sound of the running water would probably drown it out, though, so she decided to go with it.

As she was washing her hair, something tangled in her fingers. She pulled her hand out to inspect it in the ever-brightening morning light. It was a whole clump of her own hair, and Gemma yelped in shock.

She reached up and pulled at her hair. Without her even really trying, another chunk of hair came out.

While she’d never considered herself particularly vain, the sight of her hair falling out was a terrible shock. It wasn’t about the way she would look so much as that she associated hair loss with people dying, like cancer patients.

The shower curtain flew open, and Gemma hurried to cover herself with her arms so she wasn’t standing there so exposed.

Penn stood on the other side of the tub, glaring at Gemma in the way only Penn could glare. It was like her black eyes sliced right through Gemma.

Beyond that evil death gaze, Penn looked stunning, for the first thing in the morning. She wore a black silk nightie that stopped at the middle of her thighs, and her glossy black hair hung down her back.

“Penn!” Gemma shouted.

“Your fucking hair is falling out,” Penn said, her tone going past annoyed to full-on bitchy.

“Yeah.” Gemma swallowed back her fear and tried to cling to her indignation. “I’m also naked. So it’d be great if you could close the curtain and give me some privacy.”

“You need to eat something,” Penn said, ignoring her.

“I’m not gonna eat anything right now,” Gemma said. “I’m in the shower.”

She wanted to reach out and grab the curtain so she could pull it shut herself, but that would mean leaving herself out in the open. As it was, one arm was barely covering her chest while the other attempted to hide her nether regions.

“You are no good to me dead, Gemma,” Penn warned her. “If you don’t eat something, you will die. And then I will be royally pissed. Do you know what happens when I get pissed, Gemma?”

Gemma sighed. “No.”

“I get even.” Penn leaned in toward her and lowered her voice. “That means I’ll go after that stupid boy you like and your ugly sister.”

Gemma lowered her eyes. The cold water was still dripping down her body, and it took all her strength to keep from shivering.

All she wanted to do was protect Harper and Alex. That was why she’d left, why she’d agreed to any of this. But there were still some lines she wouldn’t cross. Even if it meant risking the people she cared about most, Gemma wasn’t sure that she could do it.

“I won’t kill anyone,” Gemma said finally.

“You can’t even attract anyone to kill. You look like zombie Barbie right now.” Penn gestured to Gemma, who was looking pale and ill, with hair still tangled in her fingers. “You need to swim.”

“I don’t want to—” Gemma began, but Penn cut her off.

“That wasn’t a suggestion.” Penn smirked at her. “That was a command, Gemma, and as I recall, you promised to follow all my commands.”

Before Gemma could agree or disagree, Penn grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the tub. She tripped over the lip and fell to the floor, but that gave her a chance to pick up the spaghetti-strapped nightgown she’d slept in. Penn let go of her long enough for Gemma to slide it over her head, then she was pulling on her arm again.

“This has gone on long enough,” Penn said as she dragged Gemma out of the bathroom.

Gemma glanced down the hall and saw that everyone had come out to see what the commotion was about. Lexi and Thea stood in front of a bedroom door. Sawyer looked like he’d just stumbled out of a room, his hair disheveled from sleep.

“Do you need help, Penn?” Sawyer asked as Penn led Gemma down the stairs.

“Not now, Sawyer!” Penn snapped.

His entire face fell. “Sorry, babe.”

“The problem is that I’ve been too kind,” Penn said, returning to her rant at Gemma. “I’ve let you into our fold. I’ve given you the greatest gift you could ever ask for, and you throw it all back in my face.”

Gemma stumbled a few times, her wet feet slipping on the marble floor, but Penn never slowed down. If she didn’t hurry up, Penn was liable to rip her arm out of its socket.

When they made it outside, it got harder for Gemma to keep her footing. The back door opened right onto the beach, and the sand made it nearly impossible for her to stand.

Penn must’ve tired of dragging her along, because she yanked Gemma’s arm so hard Gemma stumbled to the ground. Gemma sat up but didn’t get to her feet.

“What is wrong with you?” Penn shouted, glowering over her.

“I didn’t ask for this!” Gemma shot back, trying to match Penn’s glare.

“Neither did I!” Penn growled. “But I made the best of it! Why can’t you?”

“How have you made the best of it?” Gemma asked. “What have you done that’s so great?”

“Don’t you dare question my choices!” Penn shook her head. “You have no right! And you know what? It doesn’t matter what you think or what you want or if you’re happy.”

“Why don’t you just let me go?” Gemma asked.

“You are a siren and I can’t let you go!” Penn shouted. “The sirens have to stay together. If one of us leaves for more than a week or so, we all die. You have to stay with us. As you agreed. If you want to be miserable, that’s fine by me. But you will not die. We had an agreement, and you will do what I say!”

As much as Gemma hated to admit it, she knew Penn was right. So she let out a deep breath and looked up at her. “Fine. What do you want me to do?”

“For starters, get in that ocean and swim before all your hair falls out and your skin starts to slide off.” Penn pointed to the water lapping on the beach.

Gemma wasn’t sure if Penn was exaggerating, or if the next step in her deterioration really would be her skin falling off. But she didn’t want to find out, and she definitely knew it wasn’t in her best interest to push Penn right now.

She got up and walked out into the ocean, giving in to the song that had been haunting her for days. The waves knocked her down, and she fell into them.

When her legs didn’t turn, she began to panic. The familiar flutter of the transformation didn’t come. The waves started pulling her out to sea. She tried to swim and fight it, but she was too weak. The water was taking over, pulling her under, and if she didn’t transform soon, she would drown.

And then, when Gemma was beginning to think it was too late, it finally happened. It wasn’t as smooth or as pleasurable as it normally was. Her legs thrashed for a while before they became a tail.

She breathed in deeply, grateful to be able to again, and then she swam off.

For a moment, all her cares evaporated. Her skin felt alive, tingling with the magic of the water. Even her scalp began to prickle, and Gemma realized that her hair was growing back. All of her aches and pains were washed away.

As she swam, darting around in the ocean like a dolphin at play, Gemma considered running away. Or swimming away, as it were.

She could leave this all behind, Penn and the sirens and the issues with feeding. Thea had told her of Aggie’s plan to die that way, to just swim out to sea and let themselves starve. Gemma could do that. The other sirens would eventually die without Gemma, and this would all be over for everyone.