Julia cleared her throat but didn’t answer. The Soldier Union was not an angry mob.
She headed into the jungle, and Riley followed.
The hike went by fast, and Riley seemed to know every step perfectly. Her flowing dress wisped behind her as she hopped lightly from stone to stone until eventually they were back at the pond.
For the first time, Julia realized how beautiful the clearing was. Surrounded by green palms and white sand, it looked like an oasis.
Riley made a motion toward the pond, extending her arm. “Here you are.”
“Thanks.” Julia took a deep breath and climbed back into the pond. She cringed in anticipation, waiting for Lockham Lake’s cold water to receive her.
She took a breath underwater, swam to the surface of the lake, and scrambled out. Once on shore, Julia felt relieved to find the area empty.
Shivering, she willed herself to transform back into her werecat. She could feel herself blurring, changing, until she was covered in her thick, dry fur. She trotted toward the castle, ears perked up, listening for any signs of guards.
As she reached the castle wall, Julia braced herself for the treacherous journey back up to her dorm room. Luckily the window ledges were thick and wide giving her plenty of landing space.
She gave herself the confidence of knowing Terrence had done it before and jumped onto the first ledge.
Her claws grasped easily, and because her hands had fully healed in Sirenity, she felt no pain. Ready to lunge up another level, Julia sprang onto the next ledge. She went slowly in a diagonal pattern up ten ledges, until at last she’d made it to her room.
She slid the window open with her paw, grasping the edge with her claws. It was silent, and she pounced gracefully from the ledge into her shared room. As she hit the floor, she let go of her werecat and transformed back into human form.
Sierra didn’t move in her bed, and Julia tiptoed back to the window and closed it. She beamed with pride. She’d successfully left and returned without so much as waking one person.
Hair still wet, and absolutely exhausted, Julia pulled up the covers and fell asleep.
When the sun was shining brightly enough to irritate her, she finally got out of bed. She stretched and quickly glanced at Sierra’s bed. A bolt of shock raced through her as she realized it was empty. Julia checked her clock and let out a small gasp. She’d slept through her first two classes.
Furiously she rolled out of bed and threw together an ensemble that consisted of whatever clothing was closest. She braided her hair as she walked to Mr. Knightly’s class and tried to look alert when she entered the auditorium.
She’d been hoping to sneak in, but that proved to be impossible as every student in the auditorium gawked at her when she entered.
“Miss Levesque,” Mr. Knightly called. “You’re late.”
As if I don’t know that.
He motioned for her across the gym.
Tired, she dropped her bag and walked over to Mr.
Knightly. She had to tolerate everyone’s stares as they undoubtedly knew she’d be punished.
It seemed like whenever she did something wrong, Mr.
Knightly was the first one to call her out. Of course he’d seen her the second she’d come into the auditorium. Any other student could have snuck in unnoticed, but Julia would never be that lucky.
She hid her hands behind her back so that he wouldn’t notice her perfectly healed nails.
“I’m really sorry,” Julia said, approaching him.
Mr. Knightly watched as the rest of the students took turns shapeshifting and running laps. He held a timer watch and kept his eyes on the racing werecats.
“What was so important that it cut into my class time?”
Julia swallowed. “I stayed up all night doing homework.
This morning I accidentally overslept. I’m sorry,” she added again.
Finally Mr. Knightly turned to face her. “You overslept until your third class of the day? And Ms. Sierra decided not to wake you?”
“Well—” Julia paused. He was right. Why hadn’t Sierra woken her up? Surely she would’ve realized Julia would be late.Mr. Knightly sighed, looking irritated. “You’ll receive detention. Meet me next Monday after class to receive your assignment. That is all.”
Julia skulked away, feeling defeated.
For the rest of class, Mr. Knightly never gave her a turn to shapeshift, and she didn’t dare object. She sat on the bench watching, all the time wondering how fast of a time she could have recorded.
After her last class, which she’d fallen asleep in several times, Julia met up with Sierra.
“Hey,” Sierra said quietly.
“Uh, hi.” Julia couldn’t hide how upset she felt.
Sierra raised an eyebrow. “Care to explain anything?”
“I was about to ask you the same thing.” She waited, but Sierra only looked at her confused. “Why didn’t you wake me up this morning? I was late, and now I have detention.”
She folded her arms. “Why did you sleep in so late, Julia?”
Her response sounded edgy.
“I—” Julia wanted to make up something about staying up late doing homework, but she realized Sierra knew the truth.
“Please,” Sierra began, “tell me. I’m really curious to know why I woke up at 3:00 a.m. last night to find your bed empty.”
She looked hurt.
“I’m sorry.” Julia paused for a moment. “I can’t imagine how scared you were.”
“Yeah, I was terrified,” she said. “Worst of all, I had to sit there and contemplate whether to turn you in.”
Julia dropped her jaw. If Sierra had informed a teacher or a guard, Julia could have been expelled.
“Why is that so surprising?” Sierra asked in response to Julia’s shocked face. “I didn’t know what had happened to you. I figured you’d probably snuck back to the sirens. But I didn’t know if you needed help or if you were being held against your will. If something terrible had happened to you and I didn’t tell anyone, it would be on my shoulders.” Sierra was breathing heavily, and her checks were flushed.
“Sierra,” Julia said, “I’m really sorry. I knew I’d be safe—”
She looked away from her. “You couldn’t possibly know that. Remember when we all trusted Azure?”
“Yeah, I do,” Julia responded. “He was evil. These sirens are not.”
“How do you know? How do you know what their intentions are?”
“Because I’m one of them. Do you think I’m evil?” She had never been so angry at Sierra before. How could she say something like that?
Sierra didn’t respond. Instead she turned away from Julia and left the hallway.
Going in the opposite direction, Julia marched away too, furious at and confused with her best friend.
Everyone seemed to be blinded by prejudice. Sirens weren’t evil. Julia had been to Sirenity twice and returned home safely both times. Loretta had been kind, welcoming, and helpful to Julia.
As a water nymph, Sierra should have felt some empa-thy toward water creatures. It hurt to hear her spiteful words.
When Julia first told Sierra about her siren side, she had been excited. How could she have changed her mind so easily?
During the next couple of days, Julia wasn’t surprised when things felt strange between her and Sierra. They didn’t talk in their room, they avoided each other in class, and they didn’t acknowledge each other in the hallways.
As Julia served detention for Mr. Knightly on Monday, a new wave of anger hit her. Mr. Knightly made Julia repaint all the desks that had been clawed at during his object lesson.
She added layers of cement-like paint to restore each desk.
The brown paint gave Julia a headache because of its overwhelming scent, but she worked endlessly on each desk until she found her own. Scratched and damaged more than any other, it required extra coats of paint. Each layer made her realize how much effort she’d put into destroying it.
Once she finished the last desk, she returned to Mr.
Knightly’s classroom.
“I’m done,” she replied, setting down the empty paint cans by his desk.
“Thank you,” he answered. “Before you go, I have a question.”
She nodded.
“How did your nails heal so quickly?”
He looked at her hands intently, and a suspicious look crossed his face.
Julia’s heart beat quickly, but she tried to look calm so he wouldn’t know she had broken any rules.
“It was the purple liquid you put on my hands.” She looked at them as if surprised. “Isn’t that normal?”
Mr. Knightly shook his head. “That must have been a more powerful batch. Maybe you’re just a fast healer.”
She stuck her hands in her pockets. “Yes, maybe.”
“Hmm.” He believed her. “Well, that’s great.”
“So can I go now?”
“Of course,” Mr. Knightly answered before picking up a stack of marked essays.
She left the classroom and went to eat dinner. Because they deliberately avoided eating meals together, she assumed Sierra had already eaten. Gabe, however, passed Julia as she entered the dining hall and stopped to greet her.
He wore his reading glasses and carried an apple in his hand. “Hey, there you are. Long time, no see.”
Julia pursed her lips. “I know. I guess my schedule’s just been different from yours.”
Gabe took a loud bite of his apple. “Is everything okay with Sierra? I wanted to ask you a couple of days ago, but this is the first time I’ve seen you.”
If Sierra hadn’t told Gabe about their argument, she wouldn’t either. “I don’t know. Why?”
He shrugged. “She just seems a little … tense.”
Julia raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should try letting her answer the questions in class more often. You guys are so competitive.”
“I don’t care who answers first,” he said. “I’m just always right. No one else has a chance.” He smirked.
“I’m sure you are, Gabe.” Julia laughed. “Well, I’ll see you around.”
She waved good-bye but saw his eyes narrow in on her hands. She turned away from him quickly, hoping she wouldn’t be questioned again about her mysteriously healed hands.
Finally, the night of the seventh day came. Julia could go back to Sirenity and get her answer. She didn’t necessarily worry about sneaking out, but she did worry about Sierra catching her.
If she did what she had the previous week, Sierra would find out. Recently she’d been waking up in the middle of the night, obviously checking on Julia.
Tonight, however, Julia had to go back to Sirenity; she had to know her fate.
Even though she felt guilty about it, Julia couldn’t help but wonder about hypnotizing Sierra. Loretta hadn’t mentioned it before, but Julia knew that, as a siren, she must have the ability.
Lancer had always told Julia to be careful about sirens because of their hypnotizing abilities. When Loretta summoned Julia in a dream, she had hypnotized her. She thought back to the night when she had her siren dream. Riley appeared and locked eyes with her, telling her what to do.
Julia had been transfixed and watched as her eyes changed color and became darker. After that, she had easily followed Riley through the castle and out to the lake.
Could Julia hypnotize Sierra into not telling on her?
Alone in their room, Julia sat down in the front of the vanity mirror. She looked at her eyes’ reflection, concentrating. Over and over she tried to make them change color and darken as Riley’s eyes had before, but she had little success.
She opened her eyes wide, but the color didn’t change in any way. Finally she pretended to hypnotize herself. “I order you to blink,” she said jokingly. As she started to laugh for talking to herself, her eyes flashed dark and then changed back again.
Julia gasped and nearly fell off the vanity chair. She looked at herself again. “I order you to listen to me.” The brown in her eyes disappeared and turned to blackness.
She smiled, shocked that she could do it. She wanted to try again, but she heard Sierra’s footsteps outside of their room. As the door handle moved, Julia made up her mind.
She would try to hypnotize Sierra.
Sierra walked into the room and glanced at Julia.
“Hey.” She threw down her book bag and headed toward the vanity. Glancing at her reflection in the mirror, she took out her pink stud earrings and put them away in her jewelry box.
Julia turned away from her and took a deep breath.
She needed to act quickly; otherwise, Sierra would become suspicious.
She flipped around and walked to Sierra just as she stood up from the vanity. Julia grabbed her forearms and looked her in the eyes.
Sierra froze, and Julia felt nervous. If she failed, Sierra would undoubtedly know her plan and turn her in.
“What are you doing?” Sierra asked, knitting her eyebrows together.
“Listen to me.” Julia opened her eyes wide. “You will go to sleep right away. Do you understand?”
“I don’t know what you’re thinking, but you’re acting crazy, Julia,” she said, offended.
Julia didn’t break eye contact. “Do what I say.”
Sierra pulled her arm out of Julia’s grip and raised her eyebrows. “What is going on?”
She let go and took a step away from Sierra. “I’m so sorry,”
she said. Her embarrassment overwhelmed her. Julia turned from Sierra and sat down on her bed. “I can explain, but I know you won’t be happy.” She felt she needed to come clean now. Her only shot of going to Sirenity without getting caught was through Sierra’s sympathy. Maybe she could just get her to understand.
Julia looked at the ground. “Sierra, I have to be honest with you, and I know you won’t like it, but please, listen to me.”
She waited for Sierra’s response, but it never came.
“Are you that upset with me?” She looked up at Sierra, ready to tell her everything but did a double take instead.
Sierra stood completely still, eyes glazed over, staring straight forward.
“Sierra?” Julia jumped up next to her, but she didn’t move.
“Are you okay?”
She looked like a statue version of herself, and Julia’s heart beat wildly. Had she really hypnotized her?
“Sierra,” she said, “sit down on your bed.”
Obediently, Sierra took three steps back toward her bed and sat down.
“Oh my gosh,” Julia breathed. “It worked!” She couldn’t believe she picked up the skill so easily.
“Sierra, lay down.” Once again, Sierra did exactly as Julia said, and stiff as a board, lay on her bed.
Julia glanced at her clock. “Sierra, I want you to fall asleep and stay asleep until morning.” She took a step closer.
“Go to sleep now.”
Sierra snapped her eyes shut and her body became limp.
After two minutes, she started to snore lightly. Julia watched in disbelief. She had done it—she could fully hypnotize on will. Smiling, she flipped off the bedroom lights and opened her window, ready to shapeshift. She looked at Sierra’s sleeping form one last time before she changed into her werecat.
Before jumping through the window, she paused, bracing herself. One way or another, after tonight, her life would be changed forever.
CHAPTER EIGHT
Fate
The night became chilly as Julie lurched from ledge to ledge until her paws finally hit the ground.
She took a glance at the castle property and searched for anything out of the ordinary. The air was quiet, still, and crisp, and she trotted silently toward the lake.
Once she stood on the rocky shore, Julia changed back into human form. She steadied herself for the cold and put one foot in. Wincing, she began sloshing through the icy lake.
“Riley,” she whispered, “I’m ready to go back to Si
renity.”
She said it with gusto but felt uncomfortable raising her voice any louder.
A ripple formed in the water, and Julia felt a rush of relief.
Riley had been quick to answer.
Once again her body emerged from the moonlit water.
Riley materialized smoothly out of the lake, a smile adorning her face.
“You wish to come back to Sirenity?” Her melodic voice confirmed the request.
Julia nodded. “Yes.”
Riley glided through the water toward her and extended a hand. Julia received it, and together they sank into the water as they were transported.
Within a couple of seconds, the water became warmer.
Together they resurfaced in the same tropical climate, and Julia climbed out of the pond onto the warm, white sand.
She closed her eyes for a moment and let the sun beat down on her face. The humid air and sunshine felt comforting to Julia.
“We need to continue,” Riley said. “Perhaps you can have time to relax after you speak with Loretta.”
Julia sat up and brushed the white sand off of her pants.
“Yes,” she replied, “if everything goes well, I will.”
The path from the jungle to the bright beach became familiar to Julia. Now that she could keep up, Riley hurried the pace. She gracefully leapt from boulders and over streams, every once in a while looking behind her and smiling. Either Riley felt happy that Julia could keep up or they were becoming friends.
When they reached the beach, Julia noticed more sirens.
They sat in rows, and, once again, she couldn’t help but stare at the rainbow of hair color across the sand.
Happy, carefree, and beautiful, they were unaware of Julia.
“Come on.” Riley nudged Julia’s shoulder and ran to the water’s edge. Without hesitation, she dove into the aquamarine water.
Julia glanced at the colorful sirens one more time, wish-ing she could be as carefree. Instead a knot twisted in her stomach. She had to enter the water and learn her destiny.
She walked into the water and followed Riley down into its depths. She felt amazed by how easily she could breathe, swim, and eventually descend onto the ocean floor.
She came upon the white buildings and stopped swimming. Immediately gravity pulled her down and her feet sunk into the sand. The water felt still and calm, and her hair barely moved around her.
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