Sea Struck (Lupine Bay Book 3)

by Maribel Fox

  Ava sighs, shaking her head. “Whatever. They’re not my subjects. It’s just kind of my territory.”

  “Is there much difference?” I ask.

  Rue snorts.

  “You know the guys said we need to be more circumspect,” Ava says to her.

  Rue rolls her eyes. “The guys are paranoid.”

  “With good reason… You remember what happened with—”

  “The guys?” I ask, words sloshing around in my head, brain too slow to keep up with it all.

  “My guys,” Ava says. “Micah, Seamus, Raj, Kush—”

  “The Queen’s Court,” Rue says, affecting an aristocratic-sounding voice. “More than that if you know what I mean,” she adds with an eyebrow waggle that makes Ava’s face turn crimson.

  “Uh… I don’t.”

  Rue snorts. “You never thought it was weird there are four gorgeous guys milling about this place all with eyes only for our lovely hostess?”

  “I…” Truth be told, I was too preoccupied with my own life to notice. “Wait… You’re… With all four?”

  Ava’s blush gets deeper, and she’s looking at the bar very intently.

  “How does that even… Man, I don’t think I could ever handle more than one man at once,” I say, shaking my head, the whole room spinning when I do.

  Hell, I can’t even handle the one.

  “Don’t sell yourself short,” Rue teases.

  Ava laughs nervously. “Yeah… I felt the same way a year ago and look where I am now.”

  “And they’re all… what? Faerie worker bees?”

  Rue laughs hard, Ava snorts too. I have no idea what’s so funny.

  “Not exactly,” Ava says, clearing her throat. “Seamus is the only other Fae. Micah and Kush are — were — angels. Raj is a devil. His sister’s a demon… well, demon-dragon.”

  “Um… Excuse me, dragons?”

  “Oh yeah, a whole harem of ‘em,” Rue says, nodding sagely. “Lili — Raj’s sister — is kind of a queen in her own right. She’s got five men — all dragons.”

  “Except Dmitry,” Ava says. “He’s a werewolf,” she explains.

  If I thought my head was reeling before, it’s in a spin cycle now.

  “A siren is hardly the strangest we’ve got around here,” Ava says, and I think it’s supposed to be reassuring. It is, kind of, but it’s also unsettling.

  There’s this whole other world I know nothing about, and it seems like I’m the only one that doesn’t.

  “Is the whole town…?”

  “Mostly human,” the Faerie Queen answers. “We’re trying to keep the existence of magic under wraps, but it’s a pretty constant struggle.”

  “Hotspot,” Rue supplies.

  “Yeah,” Ava agrees.

  I shake my head, leaning forward on the bar. How did I not know? I grew up in this town. Spent my whole childhood here, and somehow never discovered the existence of magic?

  Maybe I didn’t want to see it.

  “It’s a lot to take in, I know,” Ava says, patting me on the back.

  Rue pushes a glass of water in front of me, and it’s the sweetest, best drink I’ve had in my whole life.

  “I didn’t say I believe any of it.”

  Ava smiles. “That’s fair. I was in denial for a while when I found out, but you can’t help what you are, all you can control is how you deal with it.”

  I grunt. That doesn’t really make me feel any better. Being a siren is weird and uncomfortable, mostly because I don’t know what it means, but that’s only part of what’s got me so down.

  I can’t stop thinking about Miles keeping all this from me all these years. He knew, and he said nothing. I’d started to think maybe we were on the same side again like old times, but no. Nothing’s changed except now I feel more betrayed.

  “Why is everything so hard?” I mutter, slumping forward, head too heavy to keep supporting.

  “What’s hard?” Rue asks.

  “Everything,” I repeat.

  “Miles?” she asks.

  I freeze.

  “What?”

  She grins. “Thought so. He stepped in that night your ex was causing trouble for you and I saw the look in his eyes. That wasn’t just being a good guy, that was staking a claim.”

  My face warms and I turn my focus down to my nearly empty glass, slurping the last bits of life-giving water.

  “He… We’ve been friends since we were kids,” I admit. I wasn’t intending on spilling everything to them, but I’ve never had ‘girl talk,’ maybe this is what it’s like. Maybe it’s what I need.

  “Just friends?” Ava asks, smirking right along with Rue.

  “Yeah. I always had a thing for him, but when we were teenagers, he just pushed me away. Suddenly stopped returning my calls, ignored me, just acted like I didn’t exist. I was angry at him for so long for that rejection, but now I know part of it was because he found out about all this, about his own bullshit magic and wanted to keep it a secret from me. I have no idea what’s real anymore. Where the secrets end, where the lies stop, and the truth starts. I don’t know if I’ll ever know.”

  “So wait… He found out about what he is… are you sure he knew about you?” Ava asks while Rue refills my water.

  “Do you know what he is?” she asks.

  “Kind of… Not really.”

  “Selkies are typically the victims in their stories,” Ava says. “They’re forced to fiercely guard their heart or risk being enslaved by their lover… It’s not nice.”

  “Do you think you would have believed him if he told you?” Rue challenges, both of them piling on.

  “I… I don’t know… Maybe. He shouldn’t have kept it from me.”

  Ava makes a face. “Seems like his worries about how you’d take it weren’t unfounded though, right?”

  I hate that she’s got a point.

  I want to stay mad at him. It seems easier than dealing with all these feelings and conflicting thoughts, but Miles doesn’t deserve for me to just take the easy way out.

  “And he was probably freaking out then as much as you are now,” Ava says. “Kind of seems to be a pattern.”

  My stomach twists, and I shove back the sick feeling, determined to hold my liquor.

  “Maybe I overreacted a little,” I admit, insides clenching at the thought of apologizing to him. He didn’t deserve for me to lash out at him like I did. If anyone deserved it, it’s Dad. He’s the one that deliberately kept secrets from me my whole life.

  Apologizing to Miles doesn’t really answer the question of what I’m going to do about this siren thing. I don’t know enough about it, but is there any way to reliably research it?

  Ignoring it entirely seems like the best course of action. I’ve gone through life this long without knowing about it or doing anything about it. And if my powers — or whatever they are — are connected to the ocean like I have to assume, can’t I just stay away from the sea?

  Seems easy enough.

  Is it, though?

  Despite the ingrained fear I have, there’s a connection I feel with the ocean. A longing to be near it, a feeling I’ve always had and never really understood.

  Now I have an explanation for it. Can I just ignore it?

  “’Ow’s it goin’ gals?” Seamus asks, appearing rather suddenly behind Ava. I didn’t notice him walking up, but now he’s got an arm around her, placing a kiss on her temple sweetly.

  “Any luck?” she asks.

  He shakes his head. “Naw, whoever it is knows enough to lay low tonight.”

  It’s clearly not the answer Ava wants, but instead of dwelling on it, she turns toward me.

  “Callie here’s a siren… That’s Fae, right?”

  “Aye,” Seamus says, answering before I have the chance to be horrified that Ava’s just saying something like that like it won’t make her seem insane.

  “Knew ye were somethin’,” he says with a nod. “No better place for ya than this town.”

&nb
sp; “So I’ve heard,” I mutter.

  “It’s true,” he insists. “World’s full of folks lookin’ to hunt down Fae. Some lookin’ to kill, some to keep, some to use you… Not here. We’re just here to help. S’long as you’re not causin’ trouble,” he adds, almost an afterthought.

  Ava nudges him with her elbow.

  “I ‘magine you’ve been suppressing your powers long enough at this point they’re ready to burst. Won’t be pretty when it finally does. Probably best to be ‘round yer own kind.”

  “All these people supposedly wanting to control or capture me, how do I know you lot aren’t the same? You’re run by a queen, not exactly democratic.”

  Seamus chuckles, green eyes lighting up as he slaps my shoulder warmly.

  “I like this lass’s style,” he says, giving my shoulder a squeeze. “Asks the right questions, she does. To answer — ye can’t. There’s no knowin’, you just have to make a judgment. So long as you’re in town, you’re under our protection. Believe it or not, that means something.”

  I believe he believes it by the way he says it.

  “My fiancé was murdered,” I say. “Know anything about that? Where was your protection?”

  Seamus’ expression grows more serious, playful smirk turning dark.

  “Aye, we’re doin’ a thorough investigation into that. Nothin’s a hundred percent, doll, life’s not safe. But you leave this town, you’re gonna have the Seelie and Unseelie courts tryin’ ta recruit you, Heaven tryin’ ta kill you, Hell tryin’ ta…” He pauses, looking to Ava and Rue for help. “Use you for experiments?”

  “I think that’s just the dragons,” Ava offers.

  “We sure ‘bout that?” he asks.

  All I can do is stare, mouth agape, head reeling. It was supposed to be silly fun, playing along with this before going back to real life tomorrow. I wanted to think I could ignore everything Dad and Miles said, flee inland, and go back to my normal life — sirens, faeries, and dragons be damned.

  But this is new…

  Now he’s saying I might be hunted down?

  No one’s ever bothered me before, but that was before the cat was out of the bag. I’m not stupid enough to think something like this can stay a secret. Especially not in a town this small. If there are others in this so-called magical community, they’re going to know about me.

  “I think I need to sleep on this,” I mutter, my head throbbing already. I don’t know if any of this will sound as convincing to sober-Callie. I hope not. I hope it sounds as ridiculous as it should in the light of day, but I’m not so sure.

  “Understandable,” Seamus says with a sage nod. “Now that yer up to speed we need to discuss the bay. Whenever you’re ready. Tomorrow morning?”

  It feels like I’m being bombarded, so all I can do is give him a mute thumbs up, the weight of everything pushing me down even as I try to pull myself upright from the barstool.

  I wobble and hold onto the bar for support. I don’t even want to think about what he could want to talk to me about.

  …Do they know about my rocks?

  I can’t think about it. All I’m thinking about is being hunted down by angels and demons, not a clue how to save myself.

  And Miles… is he hunted too? There are too many questions, piles and piles of them, and no answers in sight.

  “You need help?” Ava asks as I start off, staggering. I snort.

  That’s an understatement.

  I shake my head, not trusting my voice to stay away from hysteria.

  I know better than to drink when I’m upset. It only ever makes things worse. It makes me emotional. Weepy and useless.

  At least it makes it easier to fall asleep. After a day like today, I can use all the help I can get.

  23

  Henri

  Being transported to unknown dimensions is nothing new for me, but this place is unlike any I’ve ever seen.

  At first glance, I seem to be in the lush green countryside of a hilly land dotted with woods and shrouded in a thin fog. Only I’m not any such place. When I try to touch the foliage it simply fades into nothingness. I can’t touch it — unsurprising since it’s been centuries since I’ve handled anything other than the stones — but the disappearing trick is strange.

  Beyond that, there are treasures scattered about the land. None too well hidden, all of varying age and value.

  I don’t know where I am, but it’s worse than any place I’ve been yet. There’s no signs of life in this place other than the illusory trees. No creatures, no people. Not even a breeze.

  There’s no way for me to communicate with anyone from here, so I do the only thing I can: I wander.

  At least walking here I manage to stay above ground. It’s a small consolation.

  How long I wander is a mystery. There’s no sense of time here. No shifting light to indicate day or night. Just the same, constant, slightly hazy blue gray.

  I find jewelry, weapons, instruments, all kinds of trinkets and treasures that suggest a lifetime — or a dozen lifetimes — of collecting.

  Of course, I can’t properly admire any of it, being unable to touch or handle any of it.

  Until I can.

  In the fake marsh, under a fading tree, I find a strange-looking weapon that seems to beckon me toward it. Where everything else I found was by happenstance, with this weapon, I feel compelled to turn toward it. It seems there is a compass in my head, leading me directly to it. It being a hand cannon unlike any I’m familiar with.

  I know I’ll be able to touch it before I reach for it. I don’t know how I know, but I do, which has me holding non-existent breath in my long-gone lungs.

  There’s a crackle of energy between the two of us, like the gun is responding to me, the blue needle-like spikes protruding from the barrel glowing, shimmering with light from within.

  I can almost hear it calling out to me. Henri, take me. Hold me, Henri. It’s been so long, please.

  Perhaps I’ve finally lost my last thread of sanity.

  Regardless, I can’t resist.

  Why should I?

  It’s warm to the touch and I groan.

  It’s the first warmth I’ve felt in centuries.

  “Oooh, that’s nice. Pull my trigger, won’t you?” the gun asks.

  “Merde!” I drop it, practically flinging it away without a thought.

  What in the…? I’ve seen a lot of weird shit in my life, but a talking gun is new. Strange even for me.

  But what if it is not a gun? What if it is a person like me, trapped in some in-between existence?

  I steady myself before approaching again. Slowly, I bend and reach for the gun.

  “What’d you do that for?” it pouts, the nasally voice of a woman scorned.

  “I… mon dieu. I was startled,” I explain, feeling utterly ridiculous talking to the thing.

  “Will you fire me? It’s been ages since I’ve been fired.”

  “What… What are you?”

  “AP-763, also known as an Astral Pulse Cannon — top of the line, cutting edge, you’re in for a treat. Fire me! Do you have enemies? I’m brilliant with enemies. Oh, please pull my trigger?”

  The first thing I can hold in centuries, and it’s a bloodthirsty gun.

  How’d I get so lucky?

  “Why do you talk?”

  The gun makes a noise that sounds like a snort of laughter, though I have no idea where it’s coming from.

  “How should I know? I’ve never had anyone hear me before. Why can you?”

  It’s an answer that leaves me feeling more uneasy. The only item in this whole place I can touch, and it’s also sentient? What are the odds?

  What are the odds that it’s my imagination, giving me something to cope with in this empty place of illusions?

  “I don’t know,” I finally answer, the warmth in my hand too real to be my imagination. I can’t believe that it’s fake.

  It’s the first connection I’ve had to anything since the crash. The
first time I’ve felt like I have any substance.

  I don’t want to give that up just yet, even if the circumstances are a little strange.

  “Are you going to shoot me? Please, please, please? Do you like explosions? I make brilliant explosions.”

  “I am not sure there is anything here to shoot,” I say, turning the weapon over in my hand, the heft of it surprising. It’s strange to feel weight on my arm again, to feel my fingers curl around the grip.

  “Only one way to find out,” she says gleefully.

  Not knowing what kind of pocket dimension we’re in makes me a little wary about shooting the weapon — especially not knowing what it’ll do — but the gun is eager enough and I’m bored.

  Maybe I can shoot my way out of here.

  “Why are you so eager?” I ask, taking aim at a distant tree I know isn’t there.

  “It’s been so long since I’ve been touched. Held. Handled at all. Do you know what it’s like to exist for centuries, all alone, no one to care for you, to use you to destroy their foes? It’s no kind of existence at all.”

  I pull the trigger, the gun’s whoop of glee drowned out by the eruption from the barrel.

  A bolt of blue energy shoots off toward the tree, shattering into glittering bits when the tree disappears.

  Interesting.

  I’m not sure the shot affected the tree at all, but the tree reacted to it. Which suggests the gun’s not in my head.

  I think.

  It’s not my strong suit.

  “Again, again, please?” the gun asks, and my hand starts to tickle with vibration coming through the grip.

  Is she excited?

  It’s better than being bored, and it’s better than being alone. I take aim at a different fake tree and fire.

  24

  Callie

  I wake up with an elephant on my head. At least that’s what it feels like.

  “Ugh,” I groan at myself, burying my head in the pillow. How much did I drink last night?

  What was I thinking?

  I wasn’t. That was the whole point. I wanted to stop thinking about everything, but then Ava and Rue had to show up talking nonsense about dragons and faeries…