Tidal

by Amanda Hocking

“What are you doing home?” Gemma countered, trying to hold off answering the question until she figured out what she wanted to say. “Shouldn’t you be at play rehearsal?”

  “When I saw you weren’t there, I knew you were up to something. ” Thea sat down on a chair in the living room and leaned back, putting her feet up on the coffee table across from her. “So I left early to find out what it was. ”

  “How did you know I would be here?” Gemma asked.

  Thea shrugged. “I didn’t know. I just had a hunch. And with Penn and Lexi out of town for the evening, I thought I’d better follow up on it. ”

  “Where are Penn and Lexi?” Gemma asked.

  “Gone. ” Thea rested her green eyes squarely on Gemma. “So, are you going to tell me what exactly you’re looking for?”

  Gemma debated on how to answer before finally deciding to go with the truth. “The scroll,” she said as she descended the steps.

  “The scroll?” Thea arched an eyebrow but appeared otherwise unfazed. “You say that as if I should know which one you’re referring to. ”

  “The one with the curse written on it. ” Gemma sat down across from Thea and tried to play it as cool as Thea was. “It has everything the curse entails, what the rules are, maybe even how to break it. ”

  The side of Thea’s mouth curled up in an amused smirk. “I can assure you that it has no way to break the curse on it. Although I can see why you’d find some of the other information interesting, particularly how to kill a siren. ”

  “So…” Gemma licked her lips. “You do know what I’m talking about. ”

  “Of course I do. ” Thea laughed. “Did you really expect I wouldn’t?”

  “No, I guess not,” Gemma admitted. “But I thought you might lie about it. ”

  “I have no reason to lie. If you already know, what’s the point?” Thea tilted her head. “Though I am curious. How did you find out about it?”

  “I have my sources,” Gemma replied quickly.

  Thea may have been Gemma’s closest friend at this point, but that didn’t change the fact that she was still a siren. She wasn’t about to give up Lydia or Marcy’s name, in case Penn or even Thea decided to retaliate later on.

  “Well, whoever your sources may be, if they told you the scroll is the key to breaking the curse, they’ve misled you,” Thea said.

  “Maybe,” Gemma said. “But why don’t you let me see for myself?”

  Thea laughed, throwing her head back as she did. “Oh, Gemma, please. ”

  “What?” Gemma asked. “Why is that so funny?”

  “Your arrogance. ” Thea subdued her laughter but smiled broadly. “You presume that you can solve a puzzle that we’ve spent hundreds of years analyzing. Do you really think me and my sisters are that stupid?”

  “No, of course not,” Gemma said in a hurried apology. “Penn may be many things, but stupid isn’t one of them. ”

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  “Then what do you think you’ll see that we haven’t already seen?” Thea asked.

  “I don’t know. Maybe nothing,” Gemma admitted. “But I have to try. My only other option is giving up, and I won’t do that. Not until I’ve exhausted every avenue, and until I see this scroll for myself, I still have one more path to explore. ”

  Thea shook her head. “That’s not the only option. You can embrace this life. There are parts of being a siren that are truly wonderful. ”

  “Don’t try to sell me on it, Thea,” Gemma cut her off. “I just want to know where the scroll is. ”

  “Why do you think I would tell you?” Thea asked.

  “You told me you would. You said you’d do whatever you could to help me. ”

  “If it didn’t end up with me or my sisters dead,” Thea corrected her.

  “You think that if I find the scroll, it will kill you?” Gemma asked.

  “Not exactly. ” Thea stood up and started walking over to the kitchen. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “No, I’m fine. ” Gemma turned in her chair to watch Thea. “What do you mean, ‘not exactly’?”

  “I don’t know how much you really know about the scroll. ” Thea opened the wine fridge located in the kitchen island. She debated a few seconds before pulling out a bottle. “It’s supposed to be indestructible. ”

  “I had heard that,” Gemma said.

  “And it is, as far as I know. ” Thea pulled out a corkscrew, then shut some of the drawers that Gemma had left open. “At various times over the centuries, other mortals have tried to destroy our scroll. Even Aggie went through a phase where she tried to burn it. ”

  “But it didn’t work?” Gemma asked.

  “Nope. ” Thea uncorked the wine and pulled out a glass. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like a glass?”

  “No. I make a point of not drinking anything from a siren,” Gemma said wryly, and Thea smiled.

  “That’s probably a good rule. ” Thea poured herself a large glass of wine and took a long drink before continuing on. “We’re not the only cursed creature in the world, as I’m sure you can imagine. And almost all of them have tried to break their curse by destroying their scrolls. ”

  “None of them have succeeded?” Gemma asked.

  “Depends on your definition of ‘succeed. ’” Thea walked back to the living room. “But very, very few have managed to destroy it. ”

  “So you’re saying it is possible?” Gemma asked.

  Thea sat down across from her again, crossing her legs and setting the glass on the coffee table. “Have you ever heard of a minotaur?”

  “I think so. It’s like half man, half bull, right?” Gemma asked.

  “Sort of,” Thea said. “The original minotaur was Asterion. I never met him, but I’ve heard that he was an incredibly gorgeous young man, and Pasiphaë fell in love with him. She was already married to King Minos, despite being a rather powerful goddess in her own right.

  “The king found out about his wife’s adultery and threatened to behead her lover, so Asterion broke off the affair. Pasiphaë became enraged and cursed him to have the head of a bull,” Thea explained.

  “Why the head of a bull?” Gemma asked.

  “I’m not sure exactly, but I was told it matched his other … appendages,” Thea said carefully, and Gemma wrinkled her nose. “Pasiphaë went on to have many other lovers, and if they tried to end the affair, she cursed them to the minotaur form and locked them away in a labyrinth so that they could never escape. ”

  “That sounds terrible,” Gemma said. “But what does that have to do with your scroll?”

  “It was terrible, and I’m getting to my point,” Thea said. “Eventually Pasiphaë died, and someone set the minotaurs free. But it was a terrible way to live. I met one once, and they truly were hideous creatures. Monstrous bulls with gigantic horns and angry eyes. Not only that, they were all a little insane from living in that maze for so long.

  “Naturally, they didn’t want to go on that way,” Thea went on. “Pasiphaë had made them immortal, but Asterion was determined to get out of it. He came up with a way to destroy his scroll.

  “If I recall correctly, he had to eat the scroll when the sun was shining above him. ” Thea tilted her head as she thought. “I don’t remember the details exactly, but I know it was odd and very precise. ”

  “Isn’t it the same way to destroy your scroll?” Gemma asked.

  “No, each scroll has its own set of rules for destroying it, and they are never told to the bearer of the scroll,” Thea said. “Meaning, we were never told how to destroy ours. I don’t even know for sure who was told, and even if I did, they would probably be long dead by now. ”

  “How did Asterion find out?” Gemma asked.

  “One of the muses told him. ” Thea waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter. That’s not the point of the story. ”

  “Then what is?” Gemma asked.

  “Pasiphaë had tur
ned Asterion and all those other men into minotaurs centuries before he destroyed the curse, long after their natural mortal lives would’ve ended,” Thea explained. “So the second the scroll was destroyed, they all turned into dust. ”

  “Why?” Gemma asked.

  “When the scroll is destroyed, it’s as if the curse never even happened,” Thea said. “And if the curse had never happened, they would’ve been dead and decomposed for many years. So that’s what became of them. ”

  Gemma realized that this only confirmed what Lydia had told them earlier, and let out a long sigh. “And that’s what would happen to you and Penn and Lexi if anyone destroyed the scroll. ”

  “Exactly. ” Thea picked up her glass and leaned back in her chair. “So, as much as I’d like to help you, I can’t help you with this. I won’t do anything that leads to my sisters’ deaths, or mine. ”

  Gemma stayed where she was for a few minutes, letting this all sink in. Even if she found the scroll, it didn’t mean she’d be able to figure out how to destroy it. She’d still need to find someone who knew how, and if she did that, it would turn all the sirens to dust.

  “Thanks for your help,” Gemma told Thea and got up. “Sorry I messed up your house. ”

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  “It’s fine. I’ll make Lexi clean it when she gets back. ” Thea smiled at her, but Gemma couldn’t muster up a return smile. She lowered her eyes and was walking to the door when Thea spoke again. “It’s not here, Gemma. ”

  “What?” Gemma turned back to her.

  “The scroll. I won’t tell you where it is, but I can tell you that it’s not here,” Thea said, sounding almost irritated to be admitting it to Gemma.

  “Why are you telling me this?” Gemma asked. “And how do I know that I can trust you?”

  “You can’t. ” Thea shrugged. “I’m telling you because…” She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know why I am. I just know that you don’t have much time left before Penn replaces you, and … I don’t want you wasting your time looking for something you’ll never find. ”

  FIFTEEN

  Proxy

  “Oh, my gawd, everything about this town is horrible,” Lexi groaned as she flipped through the radio stations in Penn’s convertible. “Why did you have to get a stupid classic car? We could’ve had satellite radio. ”

  “You know me,” Penn said. “I love the classics. ”

  They were far enough out of Capri that the radio stations decided to just give up and turn into full-on static. Lexi flicked the radio off, then leaned back in her seat, sulking.

  “At least we’re getting out for the day,” Penn said. “That ought to make you happy. ”

  “No, it only makes me sadder because I get to be reminded of how awesome the rest of the world is compared to that stupid little crap fish town,” Lexi ranted. She crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead at the highway in front of them.

  “Fish town?” Penn asked. “What does that even mean?”

  “It means it sucks, and you know it. ” She turned to Penn, imploring her. “When we first got there, you said we’d only be there a few days. We were just supposed to look real quick and get out. Then we were supposed to go to Buenos Aires—”

  “If we didn’t find anything,” Penn amended.

  “Right, but we totally didn’t find anything,” Lexi said, then corrected herself. “Well, we didn’t find what we were looking for. So we should move on. ”

  “Lexi, I’m trying here,” Penn said, trying hard to keep her tone even. “We’re going to meet Gemma’s possible replacement right now. I don’t know what else you expect me to do. ”

  “I know, but why do we have to wait at all?” Lexi whined. “Why can’t you just kill Gemma and go grab this new girl?”

  “Because I don’t want to get stuck with another Gemma again,” Penn explained as if she were talking to a small child. “I want to make sure that Liv is a perfect fit for us. ”

  “I thought you already decided that she was,” Lexi said. “I mean, that was the point of you going off by yourself to search the area for replacements. You were supposed to have already decided she was perfect. ”

  “She seems perfect, but I want all of us to approve of her. ”

  “So if I like her, we can turn her tonight?” Lexi asked.

  “No, Thea still needs to meet her,” Penn said.

  “Ugh. ” Lexi groaned and leaned back in the seat. “Thea will never approve. She’s so dumb. ”

  “You’re upset, and I understand that, but you really need to watch your tone. ” Penn glared over at her.

  “Why don’t we just kill Gemma tonight?” Lexi asked. “It was just a full moon the other day, so we have almost a month to find a replacement. ”

  “No, that’s what happened with Aggie,” Penn said. “And the only reason I killed Aggie when I did was because she was going to kill us if I didn’t. I had no choice, and I’m not doing it again. ”

  “But if we just killed Gemma, we could get out of this town, and I’m sure outside of Capri there are, like, a million girls way better than her,” Lexi whined.

  “Lexi, we will kill Gemma,” Penn assured her. “Soon. Very soon. Just not until I’m certain about the replacement. ”

  “When we kill her, can I eat her heart?” Lexi asked.

  “No. ”

  “I never get to eat anybody’s heart,” Lexi pouted. “Every time we’ve killed a siren or another immortal, you get to eat their heart, and it makes you all extra hot and feel extra good. It’s not fair. I never get to do anything. ”

  “Yep. I get it, Lexi,” Penn snapped. “I know how you feel. Now you’re starting to get on my nerves. ”

  Lexi tried to be quiet, but it only lasted about a minute before she turned to Penn. “Can I eat Daniel’s heart, at least?”

  Penn nearly slammed on the brakes but managed to just ask, “What?”

  “Well, you were saying that you think he might be related to that Bastian guy or whatever,” Lexi said. “The immortal you dated before I was a siren. If Daniel is related to him, then he probably has a better heart. ”

  “No, you cannot eat Daniel’s heart,” Penn replied icily.

  “Why not?” Lexi asked. “Yeah, he’s cute, but who cares? You get to eat Gemma’s heart, can’t you just leave me your scraps?”

  “No. ” Penn gripped the steering wheel tightly, and her words came out through her clenched teeth, which were slowly shifting into fangs. “He’s mine. ”

  “He’s yours?” Lexi scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous. I would expect this kind of sentimental bullshit from Aggie or maybe Thea. But never you. ”

  “Lexi!” Penn growled. “You are annoying! I’m gonna pull this car over if you don’t shut the hell up!”

  “No! I will not shut up!” Lexi shouted at her. “You are annoying me! You and your stupid crush on an idiot human! You’re being a total—”

  Penn jerked the car to the shoulder and slammed on the brakes. Lexi finally shut up and grabbed on to the door to brace herself. Without saying anything, Penn turned and attacked Lexi.

  She climbed on top of her, grabbing Lexi’s silky hair to keep her from pulling away, and she hit her in the face over and over again. Lexi squealed and clawed at Penn’s hand, but she never really fought back.

  When she’d finished, Penn sat back down in the driver’s seat. As she’d been hitting Lexi, her eyes had changed into a bird’s. But she began to calm herself, and her eyes returned to normal.

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  What really worked was licking the blood off her hands. Siren blood tasted sweeter and was far more powerful than mortal hearts. In a few minutes her voice would be more enchanting and she’d be even more radiant.

  Lexi sat up slowly, and out of the corner of her eye Penn could see that her face was smashed up. Within the hour, Lexi’s broken face would be back to its normal beauty. Until then, she’d be in pain,
and that made Penn smile.

  “Now, then,” Penn said as she pulled back out on the road. “I think we’ll both agree that I will kill who I want, when I want. ”

  “Yes,” Lexi mumbled, her words slurred because both of her lips were busted open.

  “Now clean yourself up,” Penn continued in the same cheerful, calm voice. “You want to make a good impression on the new girl, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Lexi repeated, probably afraid that if she didn’t say anything, Penn would attack her again. This was a fair guess, because Penn had tasted the siren blood, and she was eager to have more.

  By the time they reached Auburnton, Lexi had begun to heal, but she wasn’t completely cleaned. She wiped the dried blood from her face while Penn hummed along with the radio, when it finally found a station.

  “There she is,” Penn said as she pulled over on the side of the road beneath a maple tree.

  “Where?” Lexi asked, and Penn pointed to a girl sitting at an outside café across the street.

  Penn had told her they would meet her there, and the girl kept looking around, presumably checking for Penn. Her wavy blond hair was kept shoulder-length, and she chewed her lip as she waited. She couldn’t be more than eighteen, and there was something wide-eyed and innocent about her.

  “Shall we go meet her?” Penn asked, and without waiting for Lexi to answer, she got out of the car.

  “Wait. ” Lexi rushed around the car and caught up to Penn as she walked across the street. “Why her? Why do you like her?”

  “I chose Gemma because I thought she had siren traits—her beauty, her love of water, her strength—and I thought we could work with her stubbornness,” Penn said. “Gemma didn’t like us from the start, but I thought we could overcome that once she saw the gift we’d given her. ”

  They were still half a block down from the café, but the girl had spotted them. She stood up and waved her arm wildly in the air. Penn gave her a small polite wave back.

  “Now I realize my mistake,” Penn said, lowering her voice. “I realize that what will make a good siren is a good follower. This girl’s plain, but she’ll become beautiful. She can’t swim, but she’ll learn. But she’s the kind of girl that will do anything to fit in. ”

  Penn smiled at Lexi. “She’ll do whatever I say. ”

  The girl walked over to meet them at the edge of the café, nearly knocking over a table as she did, and her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

  “Sorry. ” The girl smiled widely at them both. “I wasn’t sure if this was the right café, and I’ve been so worried I’ve been waiting at the wrong one. I’ve been here for a half hour, but now you’re here, so I’m glad that it is the right one.

  “And now I’m rambling. Sorry,” the girl continued without taking a breath, and then she turned her attention to Lexi. “Oh, my gosh, you are so pretty! I can’t believe how beautiful you both are. Sorry. That’s probably weird for me to say, and I’m sure you get that all the time, but you really are just so pretty. ”

  “Thanks,” Lexi said, then leaned toward Penn and whispered, “I think you may have gone a little heavy on the siren song this time. She’s even more submissive than Sawyer was. ”

  “I haven’t even used the song on her,” Penn told her. “She’s just naturally this infatuated. ”