Lullaby (23 page)

“And you can pull it off. Not many other girls could wear a rat’s nest, but on you it works.”

“Too bad it hurts like heck.” Gemma flipped her visor back up and started pulling at the tangles and knots, trying to undo them. “I have to take this out before I get a migraine.”

“So when we get back to Capri, you just want to go home?” Alex asked.

“Dad said I’m supposed to,” Gemma said. “But he didn’t tell me what time I had to be home. So maybe we could go out to the cliff?”

Alex grinned. “Sounds good to me.”

In another age, the cliff might have been called “Makeout Point” or something silly like that. It had a wonderful view of Anthemusa Bay, and it was rather secluded, surrounded by cypress trees and loblolly pines.

Alex pulled up the gravel path that wound through the trees and parked as close to the edge of the cliff as he could. Gemma had finally gotten her hair free of the mess her mom had put it in, and she got out of the car, letting the wind blow through her hair.

“It’s a beautiful day,” Alex said, getting out of the car after her.

“It sure is.” Gemma walked to the edge of the cliff and sat down, letting her legs dangle over it. “Come on.” She patted the dirt next to her. “Sit by me.”

When he sat down, he moved more carefully than Gemma and eyed the waves crashing against the face of the cliff warily. He slipped off his shoes before dangling his legs over the edge. Once he was settled, he took Gemma’s hand, holding it gently in his.

From this vantage point, they could see the entire bay. Closest to them were the docks where her father worked, large barges pushed up to the pier. Farther out, there were rows and rows of personal boats, some of them huge yachts and some boats even smaller than Daniel’s.

The public beach was full of people. It was a gorgeous day, and a holiday weekend, so it was packed. Red, white, and blue decorations were hung up anywhere there was room along the beach.

Where the soft sand along the coast started giving way to sharp rocks, the crowds disappeared. The rocks led up to a cypress forest, the same forest where Alex and Harper had found the bodies a few weeks ago. A thick belt of trees wound all the way to the cove, which sat almost directly across from the cliff where Gemma and Alex were.

Then, a few miles away from the cove, sitting by itself in the ocean, was Bernie’s Island.

“My dad’s renting out the island to Daniel,” Gemma said.

“Really?” Alex said. “That’s cool. Right?”

Gemma nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” She paused. “I guess Daniel is Harper’s boyfriend now.”

“Wow,” Alex said.

“I know, right?” She smiled. “I think they’re cute together, but I kinda never thought Harper would ever date. You know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I do,” Alex agreed.

“But I’m glad she is,” Gemma said. “It makes me feel better about all of this. Now I know that no matter what happens, she won’t be alone.”

“Gemma.” Alex squeezed her hand. “Don’t talk like that. We’ll find a way to keep you safe.”

“But what if we can’t?” Gemma turned to face him, pulling one knee up to her chest. “Or … what if we shouldn’t?”

“What do you mean?” Alex asked. His dark eyes were full of concern and confusion, and Gemma didn’t know how to answer him.

Seeing the trees where Alex and Harper had found Luke and the other boys reminded her of how horrible Alex had looked afterward. And Gemma didn’t need any reminders about how she’d killed Jason. She was waking up from nightmares about it every night.

She’d been trying so hard to pretend that everything was fine, to forget the horrible things she’d done, the creature she’d become, and just enjoy the moment she was in. With the full moon approaching in a matter of weeks, there was a very real chance that Gemma might not live to see it.

Sitting here with Alex, Gemma found it hard to swallow back her current thoughts. They needed to find a way to kill the sirens, definitely, but only if the sirens came for her. And maybe they never would. Maybe they would just replace her instead, letting her die alone and away from them.

Either the sirens would come for her and they would probably all die in the fight, or she would die before they did. With options like that, Gemma had begun to accept her own death, which was feeling more and more inevitable. She was attempting to make peace with it, and wanted to relish what time she had left with the people she loved.

“Gemma?” Alex put his hand on her knee and leaned toward her. “What’s wrong? What are you thinking?”

There was no way she could look into his eyes. She couldn’t tell him what was really bothering her—that she was a murderer, and the best-case scenario was that she would be dead soon.

Gemma lowered her eyes. “There’s something I should tell you.”

“You can tell me anything,” Alex said.

“I know, and I…” She swallowed hard, and she accidentally looked up at him. That’s what did it. As soon as she looked in his eyes, she lost all her nerve, and she blurted out, “I kissed someone else.”

“What?” Alex’s face twisted in confusion, and his eyes flashed darkly, so Gemma hurried to explain. She didn’t know why she thought confessing that she’d kissed Sawyer would be the way to go. Clearly she’d panicked.

“It was an accident. No, I mean…” She closed her eyes and shook her head. “It wasn’t an accident. I didn’t like him, though. I didn’t want to kiss him. It was … a siren compulsion thing. But almost as soon as I kissed him, I stopped. I didn’t want to hurt you. And I’ll never do it again.”

“It was a siren thing?” Alex asked.

“Yeah,” Gemma said sheepishly. “That sounds like a cop-out. But for, like, five seconds, I wasn’t in control of my body. This weird … urge took over me, and I kissed this guy. But then I took back control of myself, and that was it. It meant nothing. I never would’ve done it if I wasn’t a siren. But I thought I should tell you. And I’ll understand if you hate me.”

“Hate you?” Alex actually laughed at that. “Gemma, I could never hate you.”

“Oh, I’m sure you could.” She forced a smile at him and was surprised to find tears brimming in her eyes. “There are things I could do that would make anyone hate me.”

“No, Gemma, listen to me.” He moved to face her completely, so he had to kneel in front of her, and he took both her hands in his. “There’s nothing you can ever do that would make me stop caring about you.”

“Alex, you don’t know…” She trailed off, because if she kept talking, she would cry, and she didn’t want to cry.

“I have known you for years,” Alex said. “You’ve always been kind, considerate, smart, determined, and stubborn. You have a good heart, and you’d never let anybody change you. That’s part of why I fell in love with you.”

“What if I can’t stop it, though?” Gemma asked, wiping at her eyes. “What if the sirens are making me evil, and I can’t control it?”

“
You
can,” Alex insisted. “You’re too strong and too stubborn. You can fight this. We will beat them. Together. I promise you that, Gemma.”

“You really think so?”

He nodded. “Yes, of course I do.”

“And you’ve really fallen in love with me?” Gemma asked, and Alex smiled at that.

“You think I would’ve spent a week searching for you if I didn’t?” he asked.

She laughed a little. “No, I don’t suppose you would.”

“I love you, Gemma,” he said softly.

“I love you, too.”

She leaned forward, kissing him fully on the mouth, and wondered how much longer she’d be able to do that.

TWENTY-SEVEN

Logic

Harper hadn’t wanted to go to work, but as Gemma pointed out, it would probably be good if she still had a job when this was all over. Just because her sister was a siren didn’t mean that Harper’s car insurance payment wasn’t due or that she didn’t need to save up money for college.

She’d gotten scholarships for school, but it didn’t cover everything. Besides that, she didn’t have a job lined up yet for when she left. Not that she was even sure she was still leaving. If she didn’t go, she’d lose her scholarship, but it wasn’t like she could just abandon Gemma with all this supernatural danger going on.

Harper winced when she thought about leaving for school. She hoped everything with Gemma would be solved by then. But now Harper would have to leave behind Daniel, who was apparently her boyfriend now.

Even if the new title made her smile, it would only make it harder to leave him behind. Maybe she should’ve corrected him before he left after supper last night. They were obviously dating, but the “boyfriend” label might be too heavy of a commitment.

“Okay, what the hell is going on with you?” Marcy asked, snapping Harper out of her thoughts. “You look like you’re having a stroke over there. You wince, and then smile, then scowl. Are you schizophrenic?”

“No.” Harper shot her a look. “I just have a lot on my mind.”

“You didn’t need to come in today,” Marcy said. “I usually handle Saturdays by myself, and thanks to it being the Fourth of July tomorrow, the library isn’t its usual happening self.”

Marcy gestured to the empty expanse of the library. Harper had been there for nearly two hours and had yet to see a single patron.

“Thanks, but I need the hours,” Harper said. “You can go if you want, though.”

“I know. But then I’d have to be out there.” Marcy shuddered as she pointed to the front window of the library.

The big glass pane that served as the storefront was partially blocked thanks to a massive poster explaining all the festivities going on over the weekend. But around that, Harper could see all the people walking by. Even Pearl’s across the street looked packed.

“It’s not so bad. You could watch the parade,” Harper teased. “Or I think there’s an ice-cream social this afternoon.”

“Gag me with a spoon,” Marcy muttered. “But that’s the kind of stuff you get a kick out of. You should be doing that. You and your sister should be eating ice cream socially.”

“I don’t actually know what an ice-cream social is,” Harper said. “And Gemma is grounded, so that’s a no.”

“You have other friends,” Marcy said. “Ask Alex or that Daniel fella.”

“Are you trying to get rid of me?” Harper asked.

“You are cutting into my nap time, yes,” Marcy said. “But I’m just saying that if you want to go out and have a good time, you should. You’ve been stressing too much lately, and it’d be good for you to have some fun.”

“Maybe.” Harper chewed her lip, debating whether or not to tell Marcy about Daniel, before deciding just to go for it. “Daniel did ask me to go with him to the fireworks tomorrow night.”

“Oooooo,” Marcy said. “Fireworks, eh? That sounds serious.”

“Marcy.” Harper groaned, but she was smiling and blushing.

“Oh, my god, look at you,” Marcy said. “It is serious. Are you and Mr. Tall Dark and Tattooed finally an item? Did you kiss each other with tongue?”

“
Marcy!
” Harper’s cheeks turned so red, she nearly matched Marcy’s sunburn. “It’s not … We haven’t kissed yet, but … You can’t ask me things like that. It’s weird when you say it.”

“Should I toss my hair and chew bubble gum?” Marcy asked. “Would that make you feel more comfortable?”

“I don’t know.” Harper waved her hands. “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about it at all.”

“Fine.” Marcy leaned back in her chair. “So are you going with him tomorrow?”

“I don’t know.” Harper shook her head. “I don’t think I should. With everything going on with Gemma, I don’t feel like I should leave her alone.”

“Do you want me to go babysit her tomorrow so you can have a night on the town?” Marcy offered.

“No. My dad will be home, and Alex will be next door.”

“So what’s the problem?” Marcy asked. “It sounds like she’s all set for babysitters.”

“She is, but…” Harper trailed off and fiddled with a pencil on the desk. “I just don’t know how to stop the sirens, and they’re coming for her.”

“Stab them through the heart and cut off their heads,” Marcy said. “I don’t know anything that can survive that.”

Harper thought about it for a minute, then shook her head. “They turn into freaky giant bird-monsters. Who the hell knows what they’re capable of?”

“Well, stab them through the heart, and you’ll find out.”

“That’s your advice?” Harper arched her eyebrow. “Stab them through the heart and see if it kills them?”

“No, my actual advice would be, stab them through the heart, run like hell, and
hope
it kills them,” Marcy corrected her.

“But what if it doesn’t kill them?”

“Then you have one really pissed-off freaky giant bird-monster after you,” Marcy said matter-of-factly.

“That’s not very comforting,” Harper replied.

“It wasn’t supposed to be. You want comforting, talk to your boyfriend or your dad or Gemma. You want the truth, talk to me.”

“What if they’re unstoppable?” Harper asked.

“For thousands of years, the
T. rex
thought it was unstoppable. Then a giant rock came, and boom!” Marcy snapped her fingers. “He’s not the king of the world anymore.”

“I don’t have a meteor, and if I did, that would kill more than just the sirens,” Harper said.

“My point is that nothing is unstoppable, and the
T. rex
wasn’t as great as he thought he was. I mean, what were those little arms for?” Marcy pulled her arms back into her sleeves, so her hands made short imitation
T. rex
arms, and she wiggled them back and forth. “What an idiot.”

“The dinosaurs weren’t as smart as they thought they were.” Harper leaned forward on the desk. “Maybe that’s it.”

“If he fell over, how did he get back up?” Marcy continued to wiggle her hands. “Those little arms weren’t doing anything.”

“Maybe we can’t kill them,” Harper said, ignoring Marcy’s dinosaur impersonation. “But maybe we can outsmart them.”

“How?” Marcy asked, and finally pushed her arms all the way out of her sleeves.

“I don’t know. But they’re still partially human.” She turned to face Marcy. “Maybe we can reason with them and work something out.”

“Hey, anything’s possible.” Marcy shrugged. “Except for a
T. rex
doing push-ups. That just isn’t happening.”