My Immortal Playlist (The Siren Collection #1) (22 page)

“Shut UP!” I screamed at her. “Either I kill you or you do what I say. I don’t care what you choose, but you have to choose now.”

“What do you want?”

“I want you to choose your final form,” I said. I reached into my pocket, pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper and thrust it into her face. “And this, will be your final form.”

She looked over the lyrics quickly and then started laughing. “Never!”

“Henry, I –“
she began to say, when a broken shard of steel was suddenly thrust to her throat from the right. Henry was on the other end.

“Not another w
ord, witch,” he seethed, winking at me.

“What are you doing?” I asked in surprise. Like I shouldn’t have been happy he was on my side.

“She only controls me with orders,” he said. “No words. No control.”

“Choose your final form,” I said to Pamela, but she was stalling. I knew she was hoping for Leroy to notice her predicament and come save her, but from the blows I could hear
in the background, he was still busy with a certain vampire.

“No,” she spat at me and Henry gave me a sharp look. He then turned back to Pamela.

“Order Leroy to stay docile until you give him another order,” he told her. “And if you say one word that is different from what I just told you, you will die right here.”

“Leroy!” she sho
uted. “I command you not to attack until I give another order!”

“No matter how long it takes to give that order
,” Henry said.

“No matter how long that takes!” she shouted. I glanced back and the giant just stopped short
of a blow to Noah’s face. Still, Noah staggered as if he had been hit and fell to his knees, clutching his face like it was on fire. Henry gave me a stern look.

“You need to look away now.” I was taken aback by the order in his voice.

“Why?” I asked, but his face remained the same.

“You need to trust me. Look away.”

I didn’t question him any further, even if he was still somehow under Pamela’s control.

A second passed, and then I heard Pamela screaming i
n a way I never wished to hear again.

I was about to turn around when I heard Henry snap at me sharply. “Turn around!” I obeyed and he finished whatever ghastly work he had begun. “Now you can turn back,” he said
, and once I saw Pamela, I cupped my hands to my mouth.

He had taken her tongue.

And now she was on her knees in the grass, clutching her mouth and moaning. I felt a tug on my jeans and I glanced down to see Elliot.

“Can I get a lift?” he asked me
, and I bent down to pick him up without a second thought.

“You took her tongue,” I said to Henry in shock. He chuckled and wiped his mouth with his sleeve.

“Like I said. No more words. No more control. She’s a joke now.”

“Why did you keep her alive?” I asked, and he glanced back at me.

“You wanted her alive. I know you can still use her and learn more about your culture, translate some stuff. We can use her. Besides this way, there won’t be any warriors coming after us. Not even her big ox over there.”

We all looked towards her bodyguard
. Leroy was just standing there in the grass, glancing back at us with a lost look in his eyes. He knew we were the enemy, yet he had been forbidden to attack. What was he going to do now?

“Well, we survived,” Elliot said in my ear. “That’s what’s most important.”

“Are you okay, Noah?” I asked, speaking in my regular voice. I know he could hear me from where he sat. In the next second he was right in front of us, his face as smooth and handsome as always. “You don’t even look hurt,” I said to him.

“Doesn’t look it,” he said with tired eyes. “But I sure feel like it. Now I know why vampires sleep in coffins. Afte
r that fight, I feel like death.”

“You can go home if you want,” I said, hugging h
im. “We can finish things up here.”

“No,” he said adamantly. “I’m here until the end.”

“Okay,” I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Henry walked over to Pamela and stood by her, making sure she didn’t go anywhere. The Siren sat there quietly in the grass, holding her mouth and rocking herself.

“Anyone got asprin?” Lucas asked, stepping next to Noah. He was still clutching his abdomen tight, and he was hunched over when he walked, but at least there was smile on his face. I couldn’t help but smile back.

“I got some back at the house,” I said to him. I stooped down so I was eye level to him in his hunched over state and gave a tender kiss on the cheek. Elliot gagged in my ear from behind me.

“So what do we do with her?” Luc
as groaned. Noah took one of Lucas’ arms and placed it around his shoulders to help him stand and walk.

“It’s Alexandra’s call,” Henry replied. I looked over at Pamela. She was no longer rocking now. She was glaring at me, with a hatred in her eyes that I knew I could never forget. She was going to kill me the first chance she got. There was no doubt.

But it didn’t have to turn out that way. I was realizing more and more – that there were alternatives to suffering, and loneliness and worry. There were always options. And I was tired of choosing the ones that brought forth fear and grudges and death.

So
I walked over to Pamela and stood above her. She kept her murderous gaze, but I ignored it. I dropped down to my knees in the grass, so that I was only a few inches away from her, and then, to everyone’s surprise…

I hugged her.

I hugged her tight, and I wept for her and whispered in her ear how sorry I was for what happened. I half-expected her to try choking me out one last time, but she didn’t. She didn’t embrace me back, but she did remain still, and I made sure I held her a long, long time.

When it was over, I stood back to my feet, and I helped her to hers. I kept her hand in mine and she kept scowling at me, but I ignored it. Noah, Lucas, Henry and Elliot all met us with a sea of puzzled fac
es, but I simply smiled and said:

“She’s my sister.”

It was a strange sight to behold, and if someone had told me even a month ago that I would be living with a diverse group of supernatural monsters, I would have laughed in their face and then cried
privately in a corner about how I had no real friends. But here we were, back at the house, laughing and staying up all night without a care in the world.

I offered Pamela a place in my home, with Henry volunteering to be her watch and more importantly, my bodyguard
–you know…in case she ever decided to murder me in my sleep.

I couldn’t kill her.

I had done enough of that in my life, and to be honest, I really didn’t want to remove the sole link to my people either. There was no telling what knowledge I could gain from her and how strong I could become as a Siren over time. I knew she wouldn’t help me for a while. We had still hurt her…but I was hopeful. Her hate for men ran deep, but perhaps living with a few would change her mind, especially with such upstanding gentlemen as my boys.

“You’re d
isgusting,” Elliot said, as Henry let out an echoing burp across the kitchen. Pamela rolled her eyes and leaned her head into one hand. She was squished between Henry and the cold wall and had been trying to mouth stuff at us all evening. No one knew what she was trying to say, but she refused to use a pen and paper. Her loss. Guess she just had to stay there with us at the table until she asked to be excused.

“So you’re still enchanted to Pam, aren’t you?” Lucas asked Henry. Henry burped again and leaned his head on her shoulder. She took the
palm of her hand and shoved his head away.

“Yep,” Henry replied happily. “She’s as beautiful to me as a sunset on the beach.”

“You two will make a happy couple,” Lucas laughed. “Isn’t that right, Pam?”

“Leave her alone,” I said, punching his arm. “She’s been through enough.”

“Hmph,” he said as Pamela looked down at the table.

“Also,” I said. “No more calling her Pam. She hates that nickname.”

“It’s true,” Leroy said with a heavy nod. Given that he was three times the size of any of us, he was placed at the head of the table. He was huge, and hungry all the time, but he seemed like a nice guy. Without Pamela barking out the orders, he was free to speak and act on his own. He wasn’t so scary when he wasn’t being controlled.

“You hungry
again?” Noah asked Leroy and the giant shook his head.

“Thanks for hunting with me by the way,” he said, his massive arms causing the table to creak when he shifted his weight.

“No problem. I know you can’t…um, attack anything so that makes it kind of hard.”

“I’ll figure out a way around it,” he sighed, turning to me.
“You really don’t mind taking care of her?” I shook my head.

“She’s welcome here. But w
hat are you going to do? You know you can stay here if you like. It’s already a freak show.”

“I think I’m g
oing to see about the other warriors she has under her spell. Give them the news that she’s not going to be ordering them around anymore. Find a place in the mountains. Someplace secluded where we won’t hurt anyone.”

“What about your hunger?”

“I have to figure that out. But I promise that I’ll be mindful.”

“Ok
ay,” I said, unsure of what his words meant exactly.

“I’ll come help you,” Noah offered, and my head swiveled at him. He caught the motion and laughed. “As long as A
lex doesn’t mind, that is. I would love to travel a bit, maybe show you guys what’s taboo.”

“I would like that
, brother,” Leroy said, patting Noah on the back.

“Of course you can go,” I said to him with a chuckle. I pulled back a strand of my hair. “You’re a free man. You can do what you want.”

“Thanks, Alex,” he said with a smile. “Guess I better go pack my bags so it’s not so chaotic in the morning.” He got up from his chair and headed out. Elliot glanced down at his watch.

“Oh, my. It’
s 7 in the morning already,” he said.

“I’m going to go help Noah,” Leroy said. “We’ll probably head out within the hour. Didn’t know
the hour was so far gone.” Henry turned to Pamela.

“You want to head to bed?”
he asked her. Pamela nodded, and he pulled out her chair for her. She rose to her feet and he offered her his arm. She gave him a wary look.

“Hey, I’m still yours,” he laughed, an
d I’ll admit that I felt a needlelike pang in my heart when I heard that. Pamela didn’t smile or attempt to say anything. She simply nodded, and Henry began leading her out the kitchen. Lucas whistled.

“I’m surprised Henry’s being so nice,” he said. “After all that woman has done to me, I couldn’t do it.”

“That’s exactly why he can do it,” Elliot replied. “He wasn’t even under her control for a full day. He has few negative thoughts to fall upon while you have years. Now that she is in a condition of suffering and confusion, she has need for him and he recognizes that. It must be horrifying for her, to be in such a powerful position, and then to have that taken away so abruptly. I don’t know how being in this house will affect her.”

“Hopefully it will be a positive experience,” I said.

“That is up to her to decide.”

“It’s going to be weird staying here with her around,” Lucas said. “Did you really have to have her stay with us
? She has a perfectly good home of her own.”

“I don’t want her alone,” I said. “
And besides, if she stayed at her house, one of us would have to stay there too, watching her like a prisoner.”

“She’s a prisoner now.”

“But only because she tried to kill us today. As she shows more and more that she can be trusted, she will be. Think about it. I actually killed half the people in this house, and it worked out okay.”

“Debatable,” Elliot said
, shaking his head.

“That reminds me
,” Lucas said, “Elliot, I have something for you.” He reached under the table and produced a large cardboard box, “Yesterday I took a little trip by the hardware store. Got some materials. Noah was able to whip these into shape in no time with a little instruction. Here, open it.”

Lucas slid the box across the table
, and Elliot opened the flaps with bored eyes. But once he saw what was inside, his eyes went wide like he just had a stroke.

“Hope you like them, roomie,” Lucas laughed
, as Elliot reached into the box further, and lifted the gift for us to behold – a pair of wooden legs. They were a little crude, unpolished and basically round slabs of wood with makeshift feet at the end, but Elliot fell in love with it immediately. It was all over his face. He brushed his hand across the surfaces and smiled. He took a leg carefully in his hands, and then slammed it into his flesh, causing it to make a disgusting, sucking sound on impact.

We winced as Elliot fit it
into place.

“You know there are hooks and buckles to secure that,” Lucas groaned, covering his mouth. Elliot chuckled and slammed the other leg in. I bowed my head towards the table and covered my ears. Elliot rummaged through the box and found the hooks and buckles. He worked
on them as we talked.

“It’s sort of like your harness,” I said, my ears still covered.

“It will fall off sometimes,” Lucas replied. “I’m sure of it. But we’ll be working on better models.”

“Thank you,” Elliot said, smiling at both of us. “If I could spare the liquid, I would cry.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a whole new height to explore the world from. It has been far too long.”

Elliot pushed his chair back from the table and then slowly, but surely, wobbled onto his new legs. He cackled and stumbled around like he was on stilts for the
first time, but he enjoyed himself. Walking out of the kitchen, he called out to Noah to take a look at him, and Lucas and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“And then there were two,” he said to me, taking my hand from under the table.

“My favorite number,” I said, leaning on his shoulder. “Be honest. You think all of this could work? This crazy house? A life together?”

“I have no clue,” he laughed. “But considering we survived a Siren, a zombie vampire, gang members and the wrath of Theresa within a week, I would say our odds are looking better.”

“Or we’re due for real trouble.”

“Trouble is all I’ve known,” he said, leaning over to kiss my forehead. A warmth came over me, and I nestled against his arm tighter. He was so cozy. “Trouble,” he said, “I can deal with.”

“I can’t promise that our life will be normal” I said. “Even if we manage to stay together…I still have this pesky Siren deadline thing to worry about. I don’t even know if there will ever be a time we could live on our own safely, have kids…I don’t know what immortality will bring us.”

“You’re not immortal yet.”

“Still, that’s a long time. I don’t know what we’ll have to go through. I just can’t believe you would want this. You’re in a human form. You could see the world and –“

“
– we’ve already talked about this,” he said, pulling me closer. “I don’t want any of that. I want to see what happens here, with you, and nothing else. You’re all I want, and all I could ever need. Everything else is just an afterthought. Whatever happens, I’m here for you.”

“Thank you,” I said, unsure of what else to say. I raised my head and my eyes met his. He brushed back my hair and caressed my cheek.

“I love you, Alexandra.” I smiled and tried not to blush. I know I was failing.

“I love you too,” I said, and then I kissed him so hard, he nearly fell off his chair. It wouldn’t be the first time.

A clearing of the throat interrupted us, and Noah and Leroy were standing in the entrance to the kitchen. A suitcase was in each of Noah’s hands. I ran over and hugged him and he put down the suitcases to pick me up and swing me around.

“I’m going to actually miss you,” I said as I hung
in the air, a foot over his head.

“I
could hypnotize you to come with me,” he winked. “You’ll enjoy yourself.”

“No
, thank you,” I laughed, and he put me down.

“For the record,” he said. “I’m going to miss you too.” He gave me one last hug, and then reached out to shake Lucas’ hand. “Take care of her,” Noah said to him. “She’s a handful.”

“I’m sure she’s not that bad,” Lucas laughed, but Noah just sighed and glanced back at Leroy.

“Well, I guess we’re off. I’ll be back to visit soon. Promise. I already said bye to the others.”

“Don’t be a stranger,” I said. He nodded, and then the door slammed open. A gust of wind flew in, but otherwise…there was no trace of Noah or Leroy. I shut the door and Lucas hugged me from behind.

“Let’s go upstairs,” he said into my ear, and I giggled – because it tickled. Lucas spun me around and studied me. “How are you feeling?” he asked, and I didn’t say anything.

I felt better than I had in a long time. I had some genuine friends, a link to my culture, and most of all, a man who loved me – and I didn’t even have to enchant him. He knew exactly who and what I was, and he accepted me. He wanted me. And what else could I ask for? What else could I possibly want?

So how was I feeling?

“Great,” I said to him with a smile escaping my lips. “I feel great, and free.”

“Good,” he said, and he kissed me again
. He let my body go and took my hand. We had just begun walking up the steps when a knock came from outside. I rolled my eyes and gave Lucas a smile.

“Noah probably forgot his TV guide or something,” I said, walking over to the door and opening it wide.

“Ms. Cain?” the police officer said to me. I stared at him in horror, and nodded slowly. “Can you come with us to the station? We have some questions for you concerning a recent physical assault on Theresa Goodman. There have been some charges filed against you.”

“One sec,” I said. I turned away from him and jumped into Lucas’s arms. I hugged him tight as he chuckled into my ear.

“You’re a handful, huh?” he laughed. I snickered and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Satisfied, I nearly skipped out of the house with both of my wrists stretched out before me. The police officer gave me a strange look as he grabbed my arm and escorted me to the squad car. His partner laughed to himself as Lucas waved from the doorstep.

I took a s
eat in the back, scooted over to the window facing out towards the house and blew Lucas a kiss. He laughed, shook his head, and went back inside.

Once my door was shut and both officers were in their seats, I took a deep sigh and stared out the window
longer, enjoying the sunlight jumping off the colors of the leaves, still holding onto the branches. Suddenly, the town of Casper didn’t appear so dull and boring. It was vibrant, and bubbly and full of life. I don’t know if it was the town that had changed, or me.

But something
had definitely changed.

I leaned
towards the two officers as they pulled out onto the street.