by Kaye Draper
Grey raised her eyebrows at the too-beautiful, oddly ashen-skinned blonde-haired woman. “Oh fuck my life.”
The siren queen, Charmion, tapped her blood red manicure on the table and gave Grey an unimpressed look. “I would think you would have more respect for royalty, half-breed.”
Grey took in the woman’s sly grin and slitted eyes. She looked even more creepy in her current glittery top and jeans than she had in the flowing toga-like dresses she and her people wore under the sea. “What do you want?”
Queenie let out a slow sigh, as if she was forcing herself to ignore Grey’s abominable manners and the slights against her amazingness. “I come bearing a proposition from the pod, one you should be honored to accept.”
Grey took a big drink of her fruity cocktail, wishing there was more alcohol. “Oh, this ought to be just great,” she muttered. And it wasn’t lost on her that the siren only deigned to come to her now, after she’d already sent her elemental goons to attack them back at the townhouse.
The siren’s eyes slid over Grey’s body, raking over her plump curves and bright hair. “Your current form is more suited to our race,” she said in a tone that reminded Grey just how much her and the others seemed to loathe men as anything other than servants or toys. “Though...I’m sure your other form has it’s uses.” Those cold eyes drilled into Grey, full of meaning.
Grey swallowed. She wasn’t talking in the past tense. Which meant.... “You know.”
The siren let out a laugh that danced in the air like a drug, meant to lure and compel, and Grey thanked all the gods and anyone else who was listening that she was immune to that bullshit. “Did you think you could hide it from us? There is nowhere in all the oceans you could hide from our spies.”
Grey closed her eyes in a long, frustrated blink. Damn it. When she was with Luca, the night she first realized she could swap genders...they had made love at the water’s edge. Who knew what kind of creature had watched, had carried everything back to the sirens?
“So you know I can grow a dick,” Grey said in a flat voice, finally opening her eyes. “So what?”
The queen trailed a finger along the rim of her own drink, looking down as she spoke. “There has never been a male siren in all of existence. You are the first.” She slanted a look up at Grey. “Generally, males are worthless. But it has come to my attention what an asset your unique ability could be.” She grinned, like a pleased predator with prey in sight. “Sirens are a proud race, with deep roots. But there are no males of our kind. Our species relies on human males for reproduction. It dilutes our bloodlines and weakens our powers. We are fading right alongside the arrogant gods who created us.” She tilted her head. “But you could change that. Imagine how our power would grow with your stronger blood. We could be great once more.”
Grey blinked at her in shock. “You want me to...what? Go make a bunch of babies with the other siren? Is that what you’re asking me here?”
The siren shrugged, as if asking to use Grey like some sort of siren stud service was perfectly normal.
Grey shook her head. “Absolutely not. Hard pass, lady.” She shuddered. Ick.
The siren sighed and rolled her eyes heavenward, as if praying for patience—if sirens prayed to anyone other than themselves. They seemed a bit too egotistical to believe in a higher power. “We would of course offer you an exchange. Arianna has hinted that you may need magical assistance with the destruction of a certain item.” Her eyes lit on the kleidí and she smiled. “Of course we would be willing to trade our skills for your own.” She gave Grey a sympathetic look that she knew was bullshit. “It would get the gods to stop hounding your steps, if the stone was gone once and for all.”
Grey rolled her eyes. The sirens just didn’t want the gods getting hold of the kleidí. As for the rest? “Yeah, thanks but no thanks, fishy. I think I’ll take my chances with the gods. And my dick isn’t for loan. I’m certainly not sticking it in one of you creepy fuckers.”
Apparently, the woman’s tolerance for Grey’s disrespect had reached its limit. She stood, slapping her long, clawed hands on the table as she leaned in to hiss at Grey. “Ungrateful brat. You will not allow the gods to take possession of the power you unwittingly stumbled into. And you are far too weak to wield it. Do your duty to your people and take the chance to be rid of the kleidí before it gets you killed. I will not ask so nicely a second time.”
Grey laughed. “My people? Oh, fuck no. You asshats have never been, and never will be my people. ”
Luca and the others approached from behind the siren bitch. “Everything okay, Grey?” the water sprite said with a lift of her brow and a nasty curl of her lip to show just how much she loathed the sirens. She planted her hands on her punk-style little plaid skirt, her entire posture just daring the siren to start something so she could finish it.
Grey nodded. “Yep, everything’s fine. This weirdo was just leaving.” She wrapped her hand around the kleidí, and a little bit of purple glow pulsed around her—small enough to be mistaken for the pulse of the club lights, but strong enough for the siren to get the hint.
The queen bitch stood and glared coldly at Grey and her bandmates. “You may wish to make wiser choices in the future, cross-breed.” Then she turned and sauntered out of the club, trailing a bunch of love-sick idiots in her wake as she flowed through the club leaking irritated magic.
“What the hell was that all about?” Mat said, sliding into the booth.
Steff gave him a haunted look, his eyes flicking toward where the siren had disappeared. “She was one of them. ”
Mat’s eyes narrowed and he reached out to grasp Steff’s hand and tug him down into the booth, looking murderous. His hazel eyes met Grey’s. “She’s really gone?”
Grey took inventory, feeling along the tendrils of her own power, not feeling any of the sharp, anxious jealousy that always flared up when another siren was hunting in her territory. “I think so.”
He nodded and slid a long arm around Steff’s shoulders, earning an eye roll from Steff. “Good,” the broody bassist huffed, as if he could do anything to protect Steff from a full-blooded siren.
Grey glanced up at Luca. “I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but I can’t wait for this damned tour to be over so we can just go home.” She didn’t feel comfortable here on the mainland. She yearned to get her feet back on the soil of her island. Her home territory.
Luca sighed. “Don’t worry. A couple more weeks and it will be over.”
Grey nodded and sipped her drink, but she couldn’t shake the sinking feeling that returning home would only be the beginning of the shitstorm.
Chapter 32
The final performance in the tour was a success. Grey let herself embrace the moment and slip into her power, drawing energy and excitement from the crowd of enthusiastic fans. Then she spent the night in the arms of her bandmates, exploring every possible way to express their love.
They planned to return to the island via ferry. Grey stood on the dock, inhaling a deep lungful of sea-scented air as the sun sank toward the horizon. She wrapped a hand around the kleidí as it pulsed warmly against her skin, taking comfort in the knowledge that she wasn’t the only one who was eager to get back to their island home. She had arranged to visit Pontus again, to see if there was anything they could do to allow Levi more freedom—to maybe make it so he could swim in the ocean. Grey could feel the rising need inside the sea monster. She knew he was longing for the sea and for his other form. The sensation was an almost painful ache in her chest that made her want to dive overboard and feel the cool water on her skin.
“What are you thinking about so hard?” Luca said, coming to stand by her side as the boat left the harbor, the crisp sea air ruffling her silky black hair.
Grey brushed a soft kiss across Luca’s cheek. “Just happy to be going home,” she said, looking out at the horizon once more. “It’s weird how much I miss the place.”
Luca wrapped an arm around Grey’s waist and pull
ed her into a side hug. “Not weird at all. It’s your territory—your home. The non-human part of you probably thinks of it as a kind of sanctuary.”
It was so comforting to know that Luca understood—at least some of it. Grey’s possessive tendencies were getting stronger all the time, and she was pretty sure Luca didn’t feel those urges so strongly, her water sprite nature being more flexible and prone to flitting from one thing to another. But the easy acceptance of Grey’s quirks was comforting.
The others joined them on the deck to watch the brilliant orange sunset as they sailed toward home. Grey sighed in contentment, basking in the happy energy of the people around her—drawing joy from her...harem. Yeah, it was weird, but she had never felt more content in her life.
They were almost home when the storm struck.
The suddenness and ferocity of the gray sky and rising waves wasn’t natural, even for the sometimes-volatile ocean. Grey could taste the magic in the air, along with a rising sense of anger. She recognized the feeling of intrusion and the flare of jealousy that came when she was in the presence of other sirens.
Waves crashed over the small ferry, too much for the shallow-water vessel to handle. Grey and the others clung to any available surface to avoid be swept overboard. Terror rose up inside Grey. She and Luca could breathe under water. But Steffen, Matheus, and Ethan were susceptible to things like drowning.
Ethan and Mat clung to the doorframe by the captain’s cabin, as Grey, Luca, and Steff tried to make their way there, grabbing any handhold they could. Rain lashed down, pelting them in sideways sheets that combined with the waves and sea spray made Grey feel dizzy and disoriented, like she couldn’t tell which way was up or down.
The captain and the couple of crew that manned the ferry had gotten their life vests on and struggled to get the members of Lucifer to do the same. Levi’s power swelled around Grey, and he materialized, his galaxy eyes glowing and his entire body wreathed in purple-white power. “I’ll go below and keep the ship from capsizing,” he said grimly as he braced his body against Grey’s, pinning her to the side of the cabin so she didn’t get swept away.
She gripped his upper arms, terror riding her hard—for herself, for Lucifer and the crew—and for Levi if he was seen by the other humans. He lifted a blue hand, the silver markings on the back flaring with light and heat. “I will protect us, master.” Then he smirked and strode to the railing, pitching himself overboard with one final, fierce look.
Grey gripped the railing, squinting to see through the rain, wind, waves, and misty air. A slick, dark flash of an undulating, serpentine from flashed at her between lightning strikes and she sucked in a breath. Levi was huge , coiling round and round the ship, bolstering it up and keeping it afloat. Luca herded the others inside the cabin, then turned to shout at Grey. “Come inside. He’ll be fine!”
Grey stepped closer, clinging to the rail even as a bolt of lightning struck the tall radio antenna on the top of the boat. It momentarily blinded her and made all the hair on her body stand on end. Hiding wasn’t going to fix this. This wasn’t a natural storm.
“Go inside,” she shouted, blinking afterimages from her eyes. “I need to see what they want.”
Luca narrowed her furious blue eyes. “Grey—”
But Grey cut her off, going up on her tiptoes to press a biting kiss to her wide mouth. “No. You’ll be fine. But what about the others? I can feel the bitches out there. I’m pretty sure they aren’t here to try to drown me. Please, Luca. Go inside and protect the others.”
Her heart clenched at the thought of her guys being swept out to sea or struck by lightning. “You have magic. And you can keep them alive.” Luca could not only breathe under water and hurl energy bombs, but she was also a strong, fast swimmer. Grey had no doubt she could drag the others to safety, if it came to that.
Luca’s eyes swirled with magic and strong emotion. “Don’t do anything stupid,” she snapped. “Pontus will feel this disturbance in his element. He’ll be here soon.”
But Grey wasn’t sure about that. The god was getting weak in his old age and he tried not to interfere with humans or sirens, if he could help it.
She turned away from Luca and the cabin and made her way to the railing, slipping and sliding along the slick deck. Gripping the metal rail, she tossed her head back and let out a bellow, her voice bolstered by her siren magic, laced with fury and compulsion. “Show yourself!”
A wave swamped the side of the boat, nearly capsizing it. When the water receded, one of the sirens’ male servants stood there, flanked by a pair of mindless water elementals. “The siren’s pod requests your surrender,” he said calmly. “Come peacefully and with your monster in tow, and they will spare the lives of your harem.”
Grey gritted her teeth against her rage. “Oh, fuck you. ”
The man shrugged. The waves rose up, lightning flashed, and Grey saw the swirling vortex approaching their little boat. A fucking funnel—a waterspout big enough to devour the ferry. Levi could keep the boat afloat, but could he stop the physical destruction at the same time?
Grey sucked in a deep breath. She’d delt with the siren assholes before and they were no big deal. She could handle them again—they were just hot air. “Call if off,” she demanded, her grip on the railing white knuckled as the water funnel drew near, churning through the sea. “Safety for my harem first, then I’ll come with you.”
The man’s expression didn’t change. “My orders are to bring you and the kleidí -bound monster or split the ship in half, then escort you back. Either way, you will come.”
Grey clutched the kleidí with one hand. “Fine! Call it off!”
Then she levered herself over the railing and leapt into the churning sea below. Come back, Levi, she thought through her link to the leviathan. We’ll just have to kick their asses from below instead.
The dark, hungry anticipation she felt through their link was colder than the storm-stirred water that rose up to swallow her, snuffing out even the light of the storm. With pleasure, master.
Chapter 33
One moment was churning madness with no sense of light or day, up or down. The next, Grey was wrapped tight in a circle of sleek, cool scales, her arms brushing silvery dragon’s beard, while her legs bumped up against tough, flexible fins. Levi, encircling her with his monster body and keeping her from harm.
The magical sea spout spit them out, ejecting them more-or-less gracefully into the arrival hall of the ostentatious underwater palace where the reclusive sirens lived. The water elementals just flowed into the space like, well, living water. The siren’s male servant was used to this sort of travel and landed on his feet, pausing to adjust his toga-style wrap thing. Grey stumbled, slipped, flailed her arms comically, and plucked a strand of seaweed off her face. Levi had disappeared almost immediately, flowing back into the stone at her neck.
“Fucking sirens,” she muttered darkly, leveling a murderous glare on the servant. “You can’t tell me there isn’t a better Godsdamned way to travel down here.”
He just shrugged. “It suits those who are well versed in the magic of the waters.”
Grey rolled her eyes. So, she didn’t spend most of her life submerged. So sue her.
The servant and the water elemental guards guided Grey down the hallway toward the big room where the queen and her cronies held court. As far as Grey knew, “queen” was really just a title she had bestowed upon herself. No one else recognized the sirens as queens of anything—except maybe being a pain in the ass to everyone they met. Even the gods didn’t want to deal with the arrogant bitches—and that was saying something, because the gods were every bit as stuck up as the sirens, from what Grey had seen.
They reached the throne room and Grey paused to wring water from the hem of her t-shirt, gleefully leaving splatters all over the decorative rugs and intricate tile. She even found another strand of seaweed in her cleavage and dropped it on the little raised dais where the queen bitch sat, glorying in the wet pl
op it made. “You wanted to chat?” Grey said, crossing her arms with a wet squelch and arching a brow.
The siren queen looked down her nose at Grey. “You were given a chance to come nicely. Since you refused, we were forced to take matters into our own hands.”
Grey scoffed. “Yeah, I bet Pontus will be real happy about all that storm shit. Aren’t the skies and the ocean technically under the control of the gods? I’m pretty sure you just rent space.”
That got her flashing eyes and a cruel, wicked tilt to the woman’s lush lips. “The gods do not own the waters. And besides, Poseidon owed us a favor.”
Grey sighed and bent to take off her shoes, not willing to stand here getting pruned while the sirens took their dear, sweet time getting around to whatever it was they were scheming now. She poured water out on the rug while she waited.
The siren’s flashing eyes said she was not weathering the disrespect very well. Grey gave not a single fuck at this point. She only wished she had some sand to add to the mix—that shit got everywhere, and it was a pain in the ass to get out of fancy carpet, or so she assumed. She had never owned fancy-schmancy decorative woven rugs herself.
“You will perform your duties to your people, then you will be allowed to leave.” She arched one thin brow at Grey. “The sooner, the better, for the sake of everyone involved.”
Grey shook her head. “Yeah, you seem to have missed the part where I said I’m not fucking any of you fishy bitches. Not a fan. And I really don’t want my dick to rot off.” She shuddered. “So, it’s still a no, but thanks for asking. I’ll just be going back topside now.”
She turned to leave, but was restrained by the elementals. Their watery hands hissed and steamed as they came into contact with Grey’s skin and Levi’s magic. “You will not be leaving until we are assured every siren in the council is with child. The sanctity of our race depends on it.”