Harper didn’t say anything to that. She didn’t know how to respond. Alex didn’t say anything for a while, either. He just lowered his eyes, his jaw clenching and unclenching as he thought.
“I was in love with her, and now I can’t stand the thought of her,” Alex said. “And I don’t know why. I don’t know what changed. You can’t just wake up one day hating the person you used to love. But I did.”
“People change,” Harper said in a lame attempt to support her sister’s siren-song-enforced lie.
She wasn’t sure if she agreed with what Gemma had done, but she couldn’t do anything about it now. Gemma had done what she thought she needed to in order to protect Alex, and Harper could understand that.
She just couldn’t imagine how painful and confusing it would be if she woke up tomorrow hating Daniel. Part of her wanted to believe that it wasn’t even possible. The way she cared about him couldn’t be changed by any siren song or spell.
But seeing the way this was obviously tearing Alex up, and knowing how much he’d loved Gemma, Harper had to believe that anything was possible. If a siren song could get Alex to loathe Gemma, it could probably do anything.
“It’s like part of me is missing.” Alex gestured to his chest. “Like something inside me has been erased. Whole chunks of me are just … gone.”
“What do you mean?” Harper narrowed her eyes.
Gemma had been very clear that her siren song was meant only to get him to stop loving her. She loved Alex and didn’t want to change anything about him. All she wanted was to keep him safe.
“Everything I used to care about, I just…” Alex shrugged helplessly. “I don’t anymore.”
“What about video games?” Harper asked. “Or storm chasing? Or your comic books?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I don’t hate them, but I have no urge to do anything with them. I just … I stopped caring. It’s like everything I loved disappeared.” He swallowed hard. “It’s like I’m incapable of loving anything anymore.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” Harper said, but her words lacked conviction. “You just went through a really bad breakup. It takes time for these things to heal, for hearts to mend.”
“I hope you’re right. I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this.”
Once they reached the cabin, Harper gave Alex a glass of water and set him up in front of the TV. Alex seemed to be doing all right, so Daniel suggested that Harper head home for the night.
“Are you sure?” Harper asked. She stood at the doorway, talking quietly with Daniel, and glanced over at where Alex sat on the couch. “I don’t want to make you take care of my friends.”
“Nah, it’s no problem.” Daniel shrugged it off. “Besides, I think he could use some male-bonding time.”
“Okay.” She relented, then smiled over at Alex. “I’ll see you later, Alex. Take care of yourself, okay?”
“I’ll try.” He forced a smile at her. “Thanks, Harper.”
“I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t fall asleep while I’m gone,” Daniel told him, then he walked outside with Harper.
“I won’t,” Alex replied.
In the moonlight, they started walking down from the cabin toward the boathouse. Daniel shook his head and let out a long whistle.
“What was that for?” Harper asked.
“Your sister really did a number on him,” Daniel said.
“Yeah, she did,” Harper agreed. “But Gemma had no idea what she was doing. She couldn’t know that it would screw Alex up so badly.”
“You can’t go messing around with people’s hearts,” Daniel said simply. “It never ends well, no matter how good your intentions might be.”
They reached the boathouse, and Daniel stopped. Harper walked a few more steps toward the dock, where Daniel’s boat was tied up, until she realized that he wasn’t with her. She turned around and looked back at him.
“What are you doing?” Harper asked.
“You can drive a little speedboat, can’t you?” Daniel asked.
“Yeah,” Harper said cautiously, walking over to where Daniel stood. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“Well, I was thinking, why don’t you take Bernie’s boat?” Daniel suggested. “It’s technically yours anyway, since Bernie left it to you. And I don’t really need two boats.”
“What would I do with Bernie’s boat?” Harper asked.
“You could come and go as you please.” He shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant. “You could come see me whenever you wanted.”
“So … this is kinda like giving me the key to your place,” she said.
“I think your dad already has a key to my place,” Daniel reminded her. “He is my landlord.”
“You know what I mean,” Harper said. “This is like a step. A bigger commitment.”
“Yeah.” He smiled down at her. “But I’m ready for it.”
Harper glanced back at his house, where Alex was waiting. He’d turned into a total mess after getting involved with the sirens, and it was only a matter of time before something horrible happened to Daniel.
Not to mention the fact that their date had turned out the same way they always seemed to anymore. They’d hardly spent any time together since they’d been dating, and with Harper leaving for school soon, they probably wouldn’t have that much time left.
Those were all the reasons that Harper knew she should say no, that she should turn Daniel down and end things before they got any more complicated.
But somehow she found herself smiling up at him and saying, “Okay. I’m ready, too.”
Right now, standing with him in the moonlight, she just couldn’t give him up. Not yet.
TWENTY
Achelous
With the stacks of books spread out around her room, Gemma had to fight the urge to scream. Her frustration only seemed to be feeding her hunger. Last night at play rehearsal, she’d hardly been able to contain herself around Aiden, but she’d managed to avoid killing him or making out with him, so she counted that as a win.
It made her feel a little guilty, since it was right in front of Kirby, too, and Gemma had just ended things with him. But that was really the least of her problems.
Lexi had told her that they were about to kill and replace Gemma soon, and the only clue she had to go on was the one that Lexi had let slip: Once you knew who her dad was, it was, like, obvious.
Since she’d heard that, Gemma had spent all her time searching mythology books and the Internet for everything she could find about Penn’s father, Achelous. Over the past couple months, Gemma had thought she’d already learned everything on him she could, and as it turned out, she probably had.
The books described an older man with a hearty gray beard and an occasional horned form. Not much was said about him, other than that he fathered the sirens. Supposedly, Hercules defeated him over the love of a woman, but Gemma wasn’t sure if that led to Achelous’s demise or not.
Still, she hadn’t been able to come up with anything. That was why she’d gone to play rehearsal last night. Her brain had begun turning to mush, a serious migraine gnawed her constantly, and her hunger was getting worse. She needed a break from the search to clear her head.
Of course, as soon as she’d gotten home, she dove right back into it. And yet, here she was—no closer to finding the scroll than she had been the day before.
She paced her room, figuring out what to do. The front door slammed downstairs, and she heard Harper and Marcy talking.
“Crap,” Gemma whispered under her breath.
They’d made plans to brainstorm tonight after Harper and Marcy got done with work, and it had slipped Gemma’s mind until now. It wasn’t like she could blow them off, not without alerting Harper to how grave the situation might be.
She hadn’t told Harper what Lexi had said about the scroll. It was all part of her plan to keep Harper completely out of the loop about everything from here on. There would be no need t
o worry Harper or freak her out. Not if neither of them could do anything to prevent her death.
If Gemma couldn’t survive this, she didn’t want Harper to lose her and the life she’d worked so hard for. If Gemma couldn’t be with Harper anymore, she at least wanted to know that Harper would have a future without her.
She had to hang out with Harper and Marcy so Harper would feel like she was doing something and wouldn’t realize that Gemma was keeping things from her. Gemma had to pretend everything was okay.
“Gemma?” Harper called from downstairs. “Are you home?”
“Yeah, I’m just up in my room!”
She hurriedly closed all the books and put them away. Harper knew she was looking at them, but Gemma didn’t want to let on how frantic the search had become.
“No, Marcy, I don’t think that Friday the thirteenth should count as a national holiday,” Harper was saying. The steps creaked under her feet as she climbed up them.
Marcy scoffed. “But Easter is a holiday.”
“Easter happens once a year at roughly the same time,” Harper said. She reached the landing and rolled her eyes at Gemma, showing what she thought of Marcy’s latest theory. “And people actually celebrate it.”
“I celebrate Friday the thirteenth!” Marcy countered.
Harper had brought up a couple cans of Cherry Coke from the fridge, and she went into her bedroom across the hall from Gemma’s. Marcy followed suit, munching on a Rice Krispies treat left over from a batch Harper had made earlier in the week.
“Okay, fine, write your congressman about it, then,” Harper said, setting the cans of soda on her desk.
“I will,” Marcy said through a mouthful of food and flopped back on Harper’s bed.
Gemma walked over to her sister’s room, which was bigger than hers and had more places to sit. Harper had her bed, the chair for her desk, and a worn-out padded rocker that Nathalie had used when the girls were babies.
“So, how was work?” Gemma asked, sitting down in the old rocking chair by the window.
“Great,” Harper replied absently. “I grabbed you a can of Cherry Coke, in case you wanted one.”
“Sure, I’ll take it,” she said, and Harper walked over to hand it to her.
“Work was not great,” Marcy said. “It was totally lame. We had to work on a holiday.”
“It’s still not a holiday,” Harper said. She sat down at her desk and shook her head. “At least not until you write to congress.”
“Sounds like you’ve had a fun day.” Gemma smirked and took a sip of her pop. “But I don’t…” She’d been looking out Harper’s bedroom window, and she trailed off as she spotted Alex pulling into his driveway. He usually worked until after four, the same as her dad.
When he got out of the car, he was wearing ripped jeans and a T-shirt, not his usual work overalls. He walked to the house with a labored gait, and he looked like hell.
“Have you talked to Alex lately?” Gemma asked, her eyes still glued to Alex’s house, even though he’d already disappeared inside.
“What?” Harper asked. “Why?”
“He’s just getting home,” Gemma said. “And he doesn’t look so great.”
“Yeah, um…” Harper sighed. “I think he crashed at Daniel’s last night.”
“Why?” Gemma finally pulled her eyes away from the house and faced her sister. “Are they hanging out or something?”
“Well. Kinda.” Harper lowered her eyes. “No, not really. Alex … We ran into him last night, and he was getting thrown out of a bar.”
“Alex?” Marcy asked with genuine surprise. “Geeky next-door Alex?”
Gemma shook her head. “Alex doesn’t drink.”
“He was last night,” Harper said.
“Well, did you talk to him?” Gemma asked. “What did he say? Is he okay?”
“Not really, Gemma,” Harper admitted. “I was thinking about not telling you, but … whatever you did to protect him, it’s really messing him up. He knows he’s supposed to love you, and he says it’s like a part of him is missing.”
Gemma didn’t say anything. She just turned and stared out the window again. Alex’s bedroom window was right across from Harper’s, but his shade was pulled. Gemma didn’t even get a glimpse at what he was doing.
“Maybe you should talk to him,” Harper suggested quietly.
“I can’t,” Gemma said.
“He’s really hurting, and I think maybe you should consider undoing it.”
“I can’t, Harper,” Gemma said, more firmly this time. “I don’t think it’s possible even if I wanted to, and I don’t want to. It’s dangerous for him to be involved with me.”
“I know how you feel,” Harper said. “But if he knows the risks, you have to let him make the choice.”
“Just let it go.” Gemma shook her head and looked down at her can of soda. “I can’t talk about this right now.”
“Have you guys come up with alternate plans yet?” Marcy asked, changing the subject. She sat up straighter on the bed, crossing her legs underneath her.
“What do you mean?” Harper turned back to face her.
“The way I see it, there’s three possibilities to this scenario.” Marcy held up three fingers, then ticked them down one by one as she listed the options. “One, Gemma finds the scroll. Two, the sirens have hidden the scroll so well that no one can find it. Three, they don’t have the scroll.”
“Gemma hasn’t even had a chance to really look for the scroll yet,” Harper said quickly. “We can’t rule that out.”
Marcy shook her head. “I’m not saying rule it out. I’m saying look into other avenues.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” Gemma agreed. “But Lydia seemed to think they’d have the scroll. It’s important to their existence.”
“But maybe they left it with somebody they trusted more than themselves,” Marcy suggested.
“Like who?” Harper asked.
“When I leased my apartment, the landlord didn’t trust just me, so I had to have someone else put their name on it.” Marcy waited a beat for it to hit Gemma and Harper. “My parents.”
“You think the sirens’ parents are still alive?” Harper asked.
“I don’t know.” Gemma shook her head, thinking back to what Lexi had said. “I don’t think they are.”
“Aren’t their parents immortal?” Marcy asked.
“Their dad was, but I don’t really know about their mom,” Harper said. “I was a little confused on that.”
“Who is their mom?” Marcy asked.
“Um, a muse,” Gemma said, thinking. “Or two muses, actually. Thea and Penn have different mothers. I’m pretty sure the muses are immortal, too. Just not goddesses. So I think that in their regular life, pre-siren, Thea and Penn were mortal.”
“But both their parents were immortal, right?” Marcy said. “Wouldn’t the kids of immortals also be immortal?”
“No, I think in order to be born immortal, both your parents have to be gods and goddesses,” Gemma said. “Like how Hercules was mortal. And the muses were granted their immortality by Zeus as a blessing, so they couldn’t pass it on.”
“But their dad was a god?” Marcy asked, and Gemma nodded. “He’s definitely got to be alive, then.”
“Well, not definitely, but probably,” Harper agreed.
“I really don’t think he is.” Gemma shook her head.
“Why not?” Harper asked. “I know some of the books implied that Hercules killed him, but they also said that the sirens were dead, so I wouldn’t really give that much credence.”
“I know, it’s just…” Gemma trailed off. When she’d told Lexi she’d met Penn’s dad, Lexi had laughed and said he was dead, but she didn’t want to explain that to Harper. “It’s just a feeling I have.
“And anyway, even if he is alive, Penn really hates him,” Gemma went on. “And she didn’t have anything nice to say about her mother. After I first became a siren, Thea actually called the
muses prostitutes.”
“So it’s unlikely that they would rely on them,” Harper said, finishing Gemma’s thought.
“And if they did, they’re probably more powerful than the sirens. Hence, the title ‘god,’” Gemma said. “And I highly doubt they’d want to help us kill their daughters.”
“You never know,” Marcy said.
The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes, thinking about what they’d been talking about. Gemma twisted the tab on her soda can and wondered if Marcy was barking up the right tree. She hadn’t had much of a chance to look for the scroll yet, but even if she had, it wouldn’t be bad to have a backup plan.
“You know who would want to destroy them?” Harper asked finally, and Gemma lifted her head to look at her. “Demeter.”
“The chick that made the curse?” Marcy asked.
“She’s not a chick,” Harper corrected her. “She’s a goddess, and she hates the sirens.”
“Why does she hate them again?” Marcy asked.
“Penn, Thea, and the two other original sirens were handmaidens for Demeter’s daughter, Persephone,” Gemma explained. “They were supposed to be watching her, but instead they were screwing around, swimming, singing, and flirting with men.”
“So the sirens were like guards?” Marcy asked.
“I guess.” Gemma shrugged. “I think they said that their dad got them the job. From what I understand, their mothers stayed with whoever they were ‘inspiring,’ so the sirens were pretty much homeless from a young age.”
“So they get a job watching Persephone, and they bail,” Marcy said, returning the story to its main point.
“Right,” Gemma said. “And then Persephone is kidnapped by Hades and taken down into the Underworld to be his bride.”
“But if what Lydia says is true, that these were just powerful humans and not deities, then Hades wouldn’t have been ruler of the Underworld,” Marcy said. “A human—even a powerful one—wouldn’t be in charge of the afterlife. So where did he take her?”
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