Where?
In the—
She fell silent.
Paige? Are you okay?
Nothing.
I moved faster, sprinting through town. As Betty’s came into view, I grabbed my phone from my purse and tried Simon again. He didn’t answer, so I left another voice mail saying I was at the restaurant with Paige and asking him to please hurry and meet us there.
I charged up the porch steps and lunged at the front door. It didn’t give. I gripped the knob tighter and tried again.
The door was locked. In the middle of the day, when the restaurant should be serving lunch. Betty’s was open 365 days of the year and didn’t close for any reason. Paige liked to say that if a blizzard shut down the rest of the town, you could always snowshoe to the pier and know you’d find a hot bowl of chowder waiting for you. This storm, though bad, wasn’t worse than that … so what was going on?
And then I saw it. A handwritten sign, taped to the other side of the door’s small window.
Betty’s is closed today for a private party. Please come back tomorrow!
Paige hadn’t mentioned anything about a private party. But I could hear the music from here. And as I moved down the porch and peered into the dining room windows, I saw what appeared to be some sort of celebration. I recognized many of the fishermen who’d become recent regulars. They milled about, talking and laughing with several girls I didn’t recognize. Nobody sat at the tables and ate; they mingled like they were at a cocktail party. Maybe that was because no one served them—in a quick scan of the room, I didn’t spot a single employee.
Paige, I tried again, hurtling down the porch steps. I’m here. Where are you?
Nothing. I bolted around the side of the building and headed for the kitchen door. I wasn’t surprised to find it locked, too, and was relieved to see the room empty when I peered into the adjacent window. I glanced around to make sure I wasn’t being followed, then unlocked the door with the key Paige had given me when I’d started hostessing.
I checked the basement next. No one was there so I went back upstairs and tried the pantry, the utility closet, the freezer. All were empty. I was hiding behind stacks of dishes, trying to figure out how to infiltrate the dining room without anyone noticing, when something thumped overhead. It was followed by a light scraping that started to my left and traveled to my right.
A knife lay on the counter next to me. It rested by a half-sliced tomato, like whoever had been prepping had been interrupted. I grabbed it and headed for the stairs.
I heard voices as I climbed. Paige’s soft moaning seemed to grow louder, and I soon realized that was because I now heard it both inside and outside my head.
At the top of the stairwell, I tightened my hold on the knife handle and stepped onto the employee break deck.
I didn’t have a plan, but if I had, it wouldn’t have mattered. The second my eyes registered the scene before me, I was too stunned to move.
Like the dining room downstairs, the deck was decorated for a party. Paper globe lanterns were strung from the ceiling and bobbed in the wind. Candles, their flames protected by clear glass domes, were scattered across the tables, floor, and railings. In the center of the table my friends and I had sat at countless times, a large silver bucket held ice and three bottles of champagne. Glass flutes surrounded the bucket.
Paige sat in a plastic chair in the far corner of the deck, her wrists tied with rope and her mouth taped shut. Her head lolled to one side, like she was too tired to hold it upright. Jaime, the cute, young fisherman we’d manipulated a few days ago, stood next to her. Simon and Caleb, also bound and gagged, huddled together on the floor in the opposite corner. When Simon saw me, his entire body jerked, like it automatically wanted to run to protect me; I managed to shake my head so he stayed put. I didn’t want him to alert their captor, whose back was to me.
Paige, are—
“Vanessa!”
Paige’s head lifted. I stepped back.
Natalie turned around.
“So nice of you to join us.” She slid off the guy’s lap she’d been sitting in and hurried across the deck. She wore a soft red sundress with a skirt so long, it trailed behind her. “Care for some bubbly?”
I didn’t answer as she reached me, pulled me into a hug, and kissed my cheek.
“Poor thing. You’re soaked!” She started to pull back—and stopped when her eyes met mine. A second later, her lips turned up. “And you’ve had some morning, haven’t you?”
She let out a small squeal and practically skipped back to the table. I glanced at Simon, who looked at me. His eyebrows were lowered as his gaze traveled slowly from my feet to my face. Caleb watched me curiously. Across the deck, Paige, now alert, did the same thing.
“How do you feel?” Natalie asked. She popped a strawberry in her mouth with one hand and poured a glass of champagne with the other.
Somehow, I found my voice. “Fine.”
She glided back toward me. “That’s all?”
I started to say yes, and then realized it wasn’t true. I’d kayaked. Swam. Been attacked and freed myself. Dragged a hundred and eighty pounds up the beach. Absorbed a ton of fresh rainwater. Sprinted a mile. Between my recent physical exertion and the accompanying emotional stress, I shouldn’t be here. I should be back at the beach, passed out, perhaps left for dead.
But I wasn’t. Because Colin was.
I felt stronger, healthier, than I ever had. And I knew this was why. The effects of my unthinkable actions were likely apparent in my appearance, which was why my friends examined me like they wanted to make sure it wasn’t someone else standing before them.
I tried to channel this superhuman energy now.
“What’s going on, Natalie?” I asked calmly.
She shrugged, grinned. “What does it look like?”
“Kidnapping?”
“And here I was going for bohemian chic,” she said, with a pout.
She came back toward me and held out the champagne glass. When I didn’t take it, her eyes fell to my hands.
“Oh. You won’t be needing that.”
Before I could react, she grabbed my arm and twisted it so that I dropped the knife. The guy whose lap she’d been sitting in jumped up, ran over, and snatched it from the floor.
“Thank you, dear,” she said.
As they kissed, I realized I’d seen him before. On the beach. The day Natalie had broken down and I’d comforted her.
“That’s your ex-fiancé,” I said, as he returned to the table.
“Actually, he’s my husband. Going on what? Five years?” She looked to him for confirmation, and he nodded. “I made up all that drama because girls love to bond over shared heartache, and that’s what I wanted you and me to do. But if all goes well, you and Simon will be as happy as Will and I are. Forever.”
A door slammed. Heavy footsteps thudded up the stairs. I stepped aside, prepared to see police officers charging … but it was the fisherman. The one with the orange truck.
“Sam?” Natalie asked, when he cleared the landing. “What are …?” She frowned, then cringed and sipped the champagne she’d poured for me. “So it was Colin, not you. That wasn’t in the script, but, oh well.”
I was about to ask what script, when Sam lunged toward me. He was soaking wet, his eyes unfocused but aimed at mine. Before I could get out of the way, a short, high-pitched sound that resembled a ringing bell pierced the air, temporarily silencing the wind, rain, and thunder. For a split second, I saw white and my mind was completely clear.
When the deck came back into view, Sam was sitting next to Natalie’s husband, his expression blank as he stared straight ahead. Natalie stood before me, smiling.
“You’re a …”
She raised her eyebrows, cupped her hand to one ear.
“What’s that?”
I tried again. “You’re … a siren.”
“Of course I am.” She looked at me like I was being silly.
“But my
head … it’s been fine.” Despite how terrible I’d felt the past few weeks, I hadn’t experienced the sorts of migraines that had previously indicated a siren’s presence.
“Do you really think I’d give myself away so easily?” She glanced at Paige. “Though I must admit, I’m surprised your good friend—your best friend—didn’t tell you.”
My eyes locked on Paige’s.
I’m so sorry, Vanessa. I didn’t—
“Quiet!” Natalie shouted.
As Paige winced and fell silent, I tried to put the pieces together.
“You took the pictures,” I said. “And sent the e-mails.”
“Wrong.” Natalie took another sip. “And wrong.”
She waited for me to take another guess. When I didn’t, she flitted across the deck and leaned against the railing.
“I’ve waited a very long time for you,” she said. “Although I didn’t know I was waiting for you specifically … but after last summer, there was no question you were the one.”
I swallowed. “The one?”
“To join me,” she said, her silver-blue eyes glittering, “in leading the next generation.”
CHAPTER 26
A LIGHTNING BOLT TORE THROUGH THE SKY. Thunder roared. Everyone but Natalie and me jumped.
“Listen,” she said casually, waving her glass around, “I’m not knocking centuries of hard work. The ladies who came before us did well enough with what they had. We wouldn’t be here otherwise. But their focus was narrow, their scope limited. Their primary concern was, and for the most part remains, survival.” Her mouth lifted in a slow smile. “But we’re capable of so much more than that.”
I yearned to look at Simon. I wanted him to focus on me, to ignore everything Natalie was saying. But I was afraid she’d mistake the gesture for something more and hurt him in response, so I kept my gaze level as she continued.
“Raina’s attempt last summer was impressive, if flawed. That said, she was the first one, at least that I know of, to use her powers to try to make a larger statement. It was a bold move, and if it had worked, I can only imagine what else she’d have accomplished.”
Now I wanted to look at Paige, but didn’t.
“I’d been monitoring the activity of the more powerful communities for years, and when word of Raina’s successes reached me—in northern California, by the way, not landlocked Vermont—I started paying closer attention. Then, when it became clear what—or who—had gotten in her way, I was hooked. So I decided to spend this summer on the East Coast.” She grinned. “Great lobster, by the way.”
“I don’t understand,” I said. “What does that have to do with the e-mails? The pictures? The girls?”
“You were reluctant. You didn’t want the gift you’d been given. I had to get your attention and make you see how valuable it is, how special you really are. It was the only way you might join me.”
“But if last summer didn’t convince me, why would all this?” I asked.
“Because this summer’s victims were young women—not men. And up until a few minutes ago, you thought their attacker was male, yes? And deserved to be punished accordingly?”
“So you did it?” I asked. “You killed the girls? To try to get me to see something I never will?”
Natalie frowned. “You’ll have to learn not to leap to such conclusions if we’re going to have a successful partnership.”
“We’re not going to—”
The note sounded again. I saw white. My thoughts vanished.
“I didn’t kill anyone,” Natalie said, when the light faded. “Not this time. I didn’t have to.”
She was still by the railing and motioned for me to join her. As I did, I thought of the police. Where were they?
“All I did,” Natalie said, when I reached her, lowering her voice, “was orchestrate.”
She looked over the railing, to the beach. I did, too, and saw all of the guests from downstairs trickling toward the harbor. The female guests, I now knew, weren’t ordinary women.
“I controlled them all,” she said softly, happily, like we were two friends sharing secrets. “I had young sirens from both coasts send the e-mails so they couldn’t be tracked to anyone here. A select group joined me and was put in charge of the camera you found, which was purposefully loaded with pictures significant to last summer’s events and left for you to find. You recognized those clues as I hoped you would, and were instantly suspicious of the crazed siren stalkers.”
“What about the people I overheard at the lake house?” I asked.
“Happy accident. Colin was sent an anonymous tip about the truth behind last summer because I knew you’d be in contact with him and hoped he could serve as distraction while I worked with the other men. That his friends were around and excited was a pleasant coincidence.”
“And the other men were the fishermen?” I guessed.
“Indeed. Colin’s involvement was to have been minimal, but the fishermen, under the spells of talented though slightly inexperienced young sirens, were more aggressive than I liked. They knew you were the ultimate target and couldn’t resist teasing you when the opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately, one gentleman took it too far in the restaurant basement, and I had to increase Colin’s participation to curb your suspicion. It was too soon for you to put it all together. I needed more time.”
“That’s why you had him deliver Raina’s necklace.”
“Exactly. Those security cameras were a brilliant addition, I must say.”
I watched the men and sirens below. Despite the elements hammering them from all angles, they talked and laughed like they were having a great time.
“So the goal,” I said, “was to show me how evil men could be by making them kill innocent women? So that I’d find our ability to stop them more noble?”
“That was part of it. The other part was to get you to do what you did this morning. Paige, who turned out to be quite helpful in rallying the troops, even if she didn’t know why, was the ultimate game piece. I assumed, correctly, that you’d do anything to save her. The chain of events wasn’t quite what I planned, but no matter.” She paused. “The end result was the same.”
“What do you mean?”
“I knew you’d follow Colin, which gave me time to secure Paige without you around. But I needed you back here to fight valiantly on Paige’s behalf, so I sent Sam to get you. I assumed when Jaime went after your best friend, that he’d be the one you eventually … you know.” She peered past me to Simon, then looked at me and leaned closer. “Don’t worry. He’ll get used to the idea eventually. They all do.”
I forced my mind past this last part and glanced over my shoulder. Sam still sat at the table, soaking wet. The deck was covered, and unlike the Jeep, whose top had been down while I drove, the truck had a cab.
“He was in the water?” I asked quietly. “With Colin and me?”
Natalie followed my gaze. “Considering the seaweed in his hair, I’d say so. A few minutes ago, when I saw how striking you were and knew what you must’ve done, I thought he was the one you’d done it to. That’s why I was surprised when he showed up. But again, these are details—and small ones at that.”
I turned back toward the harbor, gripping the railing so tight, small, jagged splinters pierced my palms.
Colin hadn’t murdered anyone. He hadn’t tried to strangle me in the ocean. Sam had. Which meant a completely innocent person had been killed … by me.
I was a monster. Just like the rest of them.
“You have to admit,” Natalie whispered, “it feels amazing, doesn’t it? The rush? The charge of life? And it never has to end. Just think of the possibilities!”
“Natalie,” I said evenly, hoping to buy more time for the police, “what exactly do you want me to do?”
“Join me.” Her voice was excited. “Help me find and train young, talented sirens who can then train others.”
“To kill?”
She shrugged. “On occasion. That g
oes with the territory. But together we can expand the territory—geographically and ideologically. Ours can be the first siren community to cross state lines and control more members of the opposite sex than any group has before. We don’t have to kill them all … we can simply mess with them, make them do our bidding, whatever that may be. Men have had the upper hand for centuries, and it’s time they were put in their place.”
I wanted to ask another question to keep her talking, but I was too stunned by what she suggested to form the words. For better or worse, she continued anyway.
“This isn’t simply a request, Vanessa. It’s an offer. An opportunity. If you agree, you’ll become stronger and more powerful in ways you can’t even imagine now—and your friends will live. I chose you because of your impressive lineage and abilities, but Paige can join us. You and Simon can be together. You’ll have the life you thought was lost upon your transformation last summer, only better.”
“And if I don’t accept?” I asked.
She laughed. When she realized I wasn’t joking, her expression turned serious. “Then you’re not as smart as I thought.
And …”
Her head turned slowly toward the scene below us.
The party had moved closer to the water. And the group had grown.
“Simon.” My heart stopped. Still bound and gagged, he struggled to break free of Sam’s grip as Sam dragged him across the beach. Natalie’s husband followed behind with Caleb, and Jaime with Paige. They’d moved them while Natalie and I talked.
“This can be easy or not,” she said pleasantly. “The choice is yours. The party, which is in honor of you, will go on either way.”
With that, she put down her empty champagne glass, placed both palms on the railing, and launched herself off the deck. Her red skirt billowed around her as she fell to the ground, where she landed feetfirst with a soft thud. She strolled toward the men and sirens, who continued to talk and laugh even as they entered the water.
The sirens were luring the men into the harbor. They were going to do what Raina couldn’t last summer. And if I didn’t play along, they were going to take Simon, Caleb, and Paige with them.
Dark Water: A Siren Novel Page 26