by Ella Miles
I open the door and find Langston standing in the doorway.
“What would you like for breakfast?”
I frown at him as I tuck the robe tighter around my body.
“Breakfast. Are you an eggs and toast kind of girl? Pancakes? Oatmeal?”
I continue to stare at him. I don’t understand this man.
“Siren?” He waves his hand in front of my face.
“Sorry, um…oatmeal.”
He nods. “I’ll fix it. Do you want to eat upstairs or in your room?”
I want to eat here with Zeke, but something tells me I need to spend as much time as I can with Langston Bishop before we get to Spain. We need intel to decide on a plan. Do I continue to go with him? Or do I let Zeke kill him?
“I’ll come up,” I say.
His eyes dilate in slight surprise, but then he’s gone.
“You should have eaten here,” Zeke says from behind me.
“I need to figure out why he did what he did to me. Why I’m here. Is he still working with Julian? Is he more evil than good? Something happened, and I’m the only one he might talk to.”
Zeke cracks his knuckles. “He’d talk to me.”
“Yea, and then you might kill a man you shouldn’t.”
“There is no excuse for what he did to you.” He tucks a loose strand behind my ear.
“There is more to Langston Bishop than you realize. I just have to figure him out.”
I kiss him tenderly. “I’ll be back. And I’ll make sure to sneak you some food.”
“Don’t worry about the food. I’ll sneak some. Just make sure Langston keeps his shirt on.”
“What fun is that?” I tease.
Zeke frowns. “Not funny.”
“I might just have to shoot him again to see those rippling abs.”
Then I disappear out the door, preventing Zeke from saying anything back without chancing that Langston will hear him. I assumed wrong.
Zeke follows me out. He catches my hand before I make it to the stairs and then pulls me back to him.
Zeke, I mouth, motioning my head upstairs. Langston could come down any second, and I’d ruin all the trust I’ve built with him so far.
Zeke presses his lips hard to my mouth, capturing me and reminding me who I belong to. Like that is even a question.
I belong to Zeke. I always have. I always will.
I promise, I mouth to Zeke when we finally break the kiss. I run up the stairs knowing Zeke will be protecting me nearby while I figure out what is going on with Langston.
I spot Langston putting a bowl of oatmeal and an orange juice at a table, and my nerves catch up to me. What am I doing with this monster? A man who has hurt me? A man who threatened my life?
However, he didn’t rape me when he could have.
He tried to stop Julian.
And he’s been nice ever since I’ve been on this boat.
“Anything else you need?” he asks like he’s about to leave.
I walk over to my table and sit down. “Are you not going to join me?”
“Do you want me to join you?”
“No, but then again, I would prefer not to be your captive in the first place. But since we are both here, I think it’s best we make the most of this and talk to each other.”
He sits down in front of me, and I’m surprised that he also has oatmeal in his bowl.
“Is oatmeal what you usually eat?” I ask, staring at him.
“No.”
“Then why are you eating it?”
“Because that’s what you wanted, and I didn’t want to cook two things.”
I smile.
I can see why Langston Bishop and Zeke used to be friends. There are a lot of similarities between them. But what changed? What happened that threw him down this path so far diverged from Zeke’s own path?
“Tell me a story about you and Zeke,” I say before I take a bite of my oatmeal like we are two friends reminiscing about the good ole days.
“No.” He shoves a bite into his mouth.
“Why not? How much longer do we have until we get to Spain? Another week at least? Why not make the most of it?”
Langston Bishop puts his spoon down. “You aren’t asking to pass the time.”
My heart stills. He knows Zeke is here. I grip my spoon tighter; maybe I could somehow use it as a weapon if I needed to.
He stands up. “You’re asking because you think I’m a good person, and you think you will be able to manipulate me by talking.”
I stand up too. “I think there is more than the evil I saw when you first bought me. There is more to you. The old you is still there.”
He looks at me gravely. “I’m not a good person, Siren. I never was. Stop trying to find that part of me.”
I step in front of him, so he will have to physically move me if he wants to leave the kitchen. It’s probably not a smart move, but in order to figure out what his motives are, I need to push him to his limits.
“Are you going to kill me?” I ask.
He doesn’t answer. “Move, Siren. I don’t want to play games with you.”
I smile thinly. “You’re a good person, Langston Bishop.”
“Why do you say that?”
I move out of his way. “Because you aren’t going to kill me.”
“I never answered you when you asked that.”
“Exactly. If I had asked Julian Reed that he would have answered yes immediately. You clearly have no plan of killing me.”
Langston Bishop leans toward me, giving me his most menacing snarl. “Maybe I’m just not as obvious as Julian Reed.”
I step aside, and then he leaves me standing in the kitchen.
I cross my arms and huff in frustration.
A few seconds later, Zeke appears. He grabs Langston’s uneaten bowl of oatmeal and scarfs it down.
“What do you think?” I ask Zeke.
“I think you should stop this whole thing and let me go take him out.”
I return to the table and take another bite of my oatmeal. I’m not hungry, but I know the baby needs food.
“What do you really think about him?”
Zeke looks out the door where Langston left. “I think I never knew my best friend at all.” He doesn’t look at me when he continues. “But I think we need to find out his motivations. I think we need to convince him to fix you. I think we need answers.”
I kiss Zeke on the lips, knowing how hard it is for him to stand by and watch me try to manipulate his friend. It’s tearing him up inside to watch me put myself in danger when he could easily get rid of the threat, even if it meant we would have to face bigger threats down the road.
I take both of our bowls to the sink and rinse them out, rinsing down the evidence of Zeke’s presence.
“Where is he?” I ask Zeke.
He stares down at his phone that has the security feed on it. “The gym.”
I crack my neck. “I could use a workout.”
11
Zeke
Every time I let Siren go back with Langston, I feel sick. My stomach knots, my chest tightens, my heart races. I’m sweaty and clammy, anxiety rising in my throat. My body reacts to the danger with a full-blown anxiety attack.
Even though I can protect Siren, save her in a moment, I’m sick because I’m the reason she’s in this situation in the first place. If it wasn’t for me, she would be safe. She wouldn’t know who Langston is. She wouldn’t have been tortured by him.
This is all my fault. She shouldn’t be the one to fix the problem. I should. But Langston is talking to her. Slowly, and painfully. She can get him to talk without shedding any blood.
If I did this my way, Langston would be dead before he spoke a word.
Siren heads to the gym, where Langston is lifting weights in front of a mirror.
I stand outside the gym door. I caught the door at the last second to keep it from closing so I can listen through the door and watch on the screen as Siren enters the gym.
At first, she just walks over to Langston but doesn’t say anything. She picks up some dumbbells and starts lifting them next to Langston like he isn’t there.
Of course, they fall into sync, lifting the dumbbells up to their shoulders at the same time.
Jesus, I’m not going to survive this. I’m giving her until we get to Spain. That’s it. Then this ends.
Langston’s shirt comes off, and I almost come unglued. I want to break through the door, but I stop myself.
“Really? You can’t workout with a shirt on?” Siren asks, rolling her eyes at him.
“I didn’t ask you to join me. You were the one that followed me, remember?” Langston says.
“And you are the bastard who took her memories from her,” I say, quietly to myself.
She throws her dumbbells down on the floor in frustration. “I’m not the one holding me captive here.”
Langston watches her silently as she walks over to the boxing ring and starts putting on some gloves.
“What are you doing?”
“Punching you, so I don’t shoot you again.” Siren continues to strap the gloves onto her hands as Langston climbs into the ring.
“Punch away,” he says, holding his arms out like he is just going to stand there and let him hit her.
Siren grins slyly, and then she throws a punch. Langston steps out of her way. He’s the fastest of all of us. She’s fought Enzo and me, and we all fight differently. I use my brute strength. Enzo uses a combination of speed and strength. Langston uses his speed and brains. He outsmarts his competitor. She’s going to have to change her strategy if she wants to land a punch because he’s too quick to be hit.
“Good, I thought you were just going to stand there and let me punch you. If that was the case, I could have just as easily hit a punching bag,” Siren says.
Langston smirks. “You won’t hit me. Not without me blocking you.”
“I shot you, didn’t I?”
“Yea, that required zero skill. This requires a lot.”
She throws another punch. It’s slow on purpose to trick Langston into thinking she’s slower than she actually is.
I grin. I know how well they both fight, but my money is on my girl.
As much as it puts me on edge that she is fighting while pregnant, I’ve seen her do it before and be fine. For some reason, Langston isn’t fighting back, just dodging or blocking her punches.
“You’re going to have to do better than that,” Langston says.
Siren throws another punch, barely missing Langston’s nose. “You mean, like that?”
Langston shoots her a dubious look. “I look forward to the day when we can fight fair. You have me at a disadvantage since I won’t fight a pregnant woman.”
Siren swings again. “And why is that? Julian would have no problem fighting me in my condition.”
Langston’s feet dance as he moves out of the way once again with a frown on his face. His muscles tense, and for once, I’m glad his shirt is off. It gives more clues as to what he’s thinking.
“Come on, if you think this is so unfair, fight back,” Siren goads him.
I tense, not liking this. If she succeeds in getting him to fight back, I might not be able to move fast enough to stop him from making contact.
“You’re a good person, that’s why,” Siren says.
Langston grinds his teeth together. His muscles turn into a brick wall, and I think she’s going to be able to make an impact now.
But she swings, he dodges.
“Why am I here? Why me?” Siren pleads as she swings in rapid succession.
“Why do you work for Julian when you hate him? I remember the hate in your voice when you were together. I remember you pleading him not to rape me. You tried to save me. You did everything you could.”
More swings, more dodging.
“Why is that? You care about us? You care about your friends?”
Swing.
Dodge.
“What made you pretend to be someone you’re not? Was it a girl?”
Swing, dodge; this one closer than all the rest. So close she actually brushed her glove against his cheek.
“Liesel? Is that the girl that broke your heart? Turned you evil?”
She struck a nerve, and this time when she punches, she hits him square in the jaw. She doesn’t let up. She keeps punching him in the face again and again. She suddenly kicks hard to his stomach, bringing him to his knees.
Langston never retaliates, no matter how angry he gets. He won’t hurt her, even though he’s hurt her before. What am I missing? What happened? What changed from before?
She kicks again, and this time, her ankle seems to twist as she kicks, and she grabs her stomach.
She moans loudly and falls to the floor. I start to run through the door, scared to death something happened. She’s in pain; maybe she lost the baby.
But as she falls, she looks into the corner of the room where the security camera is and winks. That wink is the only thing that keeps me back, reminding me this is a game to get Langston to tell us the truth.
Langston runs to her. “Are you okay? Is it the baby?”
“I don’t know; my stomach,” Siren cries dramatically, too dramatically. I know her well. Langston doesn’t. He buys the lie.
Langston sits over her, worry filling his eyes. “I’ll redirect us toward the nearest hospital, put out a mayday call, and see if there is a boat with a doctor nearby.”
Siren smiles at his reaction.
“What?” Langston practically yells his worry in her face.
“Why are you worried about me? Why are you trying to protect me?”
“You’re not really hurt. The baby’s fine?” He falls back on his heels.
“Yes, the baby’s fine. I’m fine. I played you to show you how much you care about me.”
Langston sits down next to her. He stares at the floor and then finally up at her.
“I protect you because you are the only one who knows the location of the box. Your memories hold the key to finding it,” Langston says.
Siren looks at him with confusion. “That’s not possible. Zeke put the box in the vault. And then Kai moved it. She is the only one who knows, not me.”
Langston is shaking his head, and my phone buzzes in my hand, and my view of the security cameras vanishes.
“It’s a fake,” he tells her.
My phone screen updates to show an incoming call—Kai.
Something tells me that I need to answer the phone. Kai wouldn’t be calling me otherwise.
“Hello,” I whisper as I step away from the door.
“We have a problem,” Kai says, not bothering with pleasantries.
“I think I know.”
“The box I hid isn’t the real one. I opened it to destroy it. There was nothing in it.”
I stare at the door, realizing there is so much I don’t know.
“We have to find it. If it gets into Julian’s hands—”
“He won’t get it.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Siren is the only person who knows where it is.”
12
Siren
My memories.
I’m the only one who knows where the box is.
None of this makes any sense.
I continue to stare at Langston Bishop, more confused than ever.
“Maybe we should make some tea or get you another Sprite; then I’ll explain everything,” he says.
“Tea would be nice.”
He stands and then holds out his hand to help me up.
“And put a shirt on.”
“Why? Am I too distracting?”
“No, but I’m married, and it’s weird to be around you without a shirt on.”
He pauses for a second; maybe I gave away that Zeke is here. Instead, Langston walks over to his shirt and puts it on. We walk back upstairs to the kitchen.
I try to force my brain to remember what Langston Bish
op thinks I know, but all it does is give me a headache while Langston makes two cups of tea.
“Don’t do that,” he says. He carries the cups outside, and we sit, looking out at the ocean. He hands me my cup, and I take it mindlessly.
“Don’t do what?”
“Force yourself to remember. It’s not good for you.”
I stare at him incredulously. My heart beats rapidly, realizing how much I might be connected to him.
“Tell me the truth,” I say.
“The box in the vault is fake.”
“It’s not in the vault anymore. Kai hid it.”
“Well, wherever it is, it’s fake.”
“How?”
“Your parents and Julian’s parents worked together.”
I gasp. “No, there is no way. My parents were missionaries. They were religious and not always kind to me, but they would have no reason to be involved in something like this.”
Langston sighs. “They wanted to rid the world of its evil with the viral cancer, and only use the cure on those they deemed worthy. Those who hadn’t sinned.”
I freeze, remembering their conversations. It sounds like them.
“Julian’s parents felt much the same. Julian’s mother worked with Lucy’s mother in a lab in Miami. She realized what Lucy’s mother had discovered, but it was too late to steal. Lucy had already given it to Zeke to hide. The vault was too hard to get into themselves, and the Black name was too strong. If they were caught, Black would kill them all.”
I process all of his words, realizing just how connected all our families are and have been this entire time.
“So they had me steal it,” I say. I can’t remember ever stealing it. I don’t remember breaking into the vault, but I’m sure that’s where I fit into this puzzle.
“Yes. No one would suspect a young twenty-something girl. One who could seduce and fight better than they could.”
“How did I steal it?”
“You’ve met Zeke and me before. You flirted with us both in a bar. Zeke took an instant attraction to you; it was like nothing I’d ever seen before. He was still in love with Lucy at the time, although that relationship was ending, but you—he couldn’t help but fall for you.”