Bluedawn (A Watermagic Novel, #2) (14 page)

I tried to look across the water, to the
shore to see if the other sirens were coming. Maybe one of them
would offer some help. But I couldn’t see them anywhere.

“Come on, Dylan. Wake up,” I said holding his
cheek up to mine. He didn’t respond. But then I had an idea. It was
risky, but it occurred to me that maybe he had to be entirely
immersed. I didn’t want his lungs to fill with water and cause him
to drown. My mind reeled. If I didn’t do something, he would surely
die. I decided to risk it.

I took a deep breath remembering how Dylan
said I could sustain myself for nearly twenty minutes underwater if
need be. Though Dylan had the same capabilities, I feared that if
he wasn’t actively holding his breath, his lungs may fill with
water and drown him. But there was no time and I had to do
something.

With that decision, I pulled him down deep
into the ocean. My vision was very clear even in the darkness. I
could see that his body hadn’t healed at all and he was still
unconscious.

Suddenly, I heard this voice in my head. I
have no idea where it came from. “Clothes off,” it sounded like the
voice said.

I minded at once. Immediately, with no time
for embarrassment or modesty, I unzipped his pants. I pulled them
off and his underwear too. To my shock, his wounds started to
change at once. His head moved. It appeared as if he was gaining
consciousness.

With my left arm, I held to his garments,
while with my right arm I pulled him upwards to the surface. His
body started to twitch like it was convulsing.

I got very scared and pushed his head up out
of the ocean. He looked like he was choking on the water. I hit him
hard on the back a few times. With that, a stream of water shot out
of his lungs and then mouth.

He started coughing. I kept hitting his back,
even harder now. More water came out and then he started smiling.
It looked like he was maybe even laughing. “Okay, okay, Rocky
Balboa, enough!” He was making fun of me for hitting him so hard,
comparing me to a boxer.

“You’re okay?” I asked in a rush. My heart
was pounding so hard I thought it might just pop out of my
chest.

A crooked grin lifted on his gorgeous face.
“Couldn’t be better.” He held his arm out of the water. The gash
was healing nicely. It had sutured together naturally and was a
pink line now. I ducked under the water to examine the slash on his
chest and it was also in good order just as the other.

Startling us, Blake’s head and shoulders
lifted out of the ocean right before us. He was holding the trash
bags with the body parts inside. “Hi guys,” he said cheerily. “You
okay, buddy?” he asked Dylan.

“Yeah, I’m great now, thanks to Hailey’s left
hook.” He pulled me closer to him which surprised me.

“Why didn’t you tell me I had to take off all
his clothes in order for the healing process to work?” I asked
Blake in an irritated tone.

“Oops!” he blushed. “I forgot.” His voice had
a naïve tone to it.

I rolled my eyes wondering what kind of moron
he was.

Blake lifted the bags up a little as if to
readjust them in his grasp. “I’m glad you’re better, bro.”

“Thanks,” Dylan said in an unreadable
voice.

“I have to bury this stuff before Wren gets
mad.” He seemed a little nervous. “Tammy was cute,” he said
hesitantly to Dylan. “Didn’t you think so?”

Dylan’s eyes cast down. “Yeah, she was
pretty.”

“See you soon,” Blake said before ducking
back under the water.

“We should wait in the limo with the others,”
Dylan lifted his chin in the direction of the parking lot.

My throat tightened. “I’m so sorry about how
I attacked you at the suite.” How does someone apologize for doing
something so horrendous?

He took my hand as I was treading water. “It
wasn’t your fault. You were trying not to give in to your hunger
and I was pushing you to violate your core beliefs. The stakes were
too high at that moment, but I’m glad you ate.”

Nausea came over me, but when I looked at
Dylan, it appeared as if he was studying me.

“You seem much stronger and healthier now.”
He touched my cheek. “You have a warm glow now.”

I shook my head and closed my eyes in
disgust.

He squeezed my hand in the water. “You can’t
fight this, Hailey.”

Tingling sensations rushed through my body
when he said my name. That just made me feel more guilty. I should
be mourning the loss of lives, not overridden with desire for a
boy. “We better get back to shore,” I said, trying not to show how
depressed I was feeling now. The truth was that I felt a hell of a
lot stronger. The strength felt amazing. But now that I had tasted
human flesh, I wanted more. And I wanted it badly.

I handed Dylan his underwear and pants with a
peculiar expression on my face.

He chuckled as he took the clothing and
wiggled back into them. “You’re always catching me with my clothes
off—aren’t you?” He shook his head with a smirk on his face.

“I guess I’m the luckiest girl in the world.”
I winked and dove under the water hoping he would chase after
me.

He followed behind grabbing at my toes and
when we stepped onto the shore, I laughed. “I sure as hell am glad
you are alive.”

He scoffed as he ran his fingers through his
short dark hair. “Ditto,” he replied wryly.

I couldn’t help but marvel at all the fine
contours on his hot body. He was damn good looking. When I looked
across the dim beach, I saw Gia sitting on the hood of the limo
picking her fingernails with the tip of a dagger and staring at
him. The windows were down with lights on inside the vehicle.

Dylan scooped me up into his arms
playfully.

“What are you doing?” I laughed. “Put me
down.” Really, I wanted him to hold me in his arms like that
forever, but he didn’t need to know that.

He threw me over his back and jogged over to
the car where he set me down upon my feet on the asphalt.

“Oh, aren’t you the tough guy?” I teased.

“Better believe it,” he retorted back as he
peaked his head in the window.

“Hey, get in here,” Lyra laughed.

“He’s alive,” Travis called out in an overly
animated voice like he was delivering a line from a melodramatic
horror film.

“No thanks to you,” Dylan countered
sarcastically. He looked over at me and held his hand out as he
opened the door.

Gia slid off the hood stepping between Dylan
and me. “I’m going to check on Blake.” She took off all of her
clothes right there, turned to Dylan, and winked. With that, she
ran her tongue along the smooth side of the dagger, staring him in
the eyes cooly. As she turned to leave, she pushed the sharp tip of
the blade into my leg.

I screamed. “Oh my God!” It was just a
surface cut, but still.

She laughed, “Oops,” she called over her
shoulder as she ran down the beach and dove into the ocean.

“What happened?” Dylan asked in a rush.

I didn’t want to start anything. The stupid
bitch would get her payback in time. “Nothing,” I mumbled. “I must
have hurt myself in the ocean.”

He looked down at the cut on my thigh. “That
looks bad.” His fingers touched the skin around the injury.

“I just must have caught my skin on something
in the waves. It doesn’t hurt anymore,” I lied.

“Naked time for you,” he lifted his chin in
the direction of the water.

I scoffed. “It’s okay. I want to remember the
pain.”

His expression looked troubled. “I can help
you,” he said seriously.

“I’m fine—really,” I insisted as I climbed
into the limo.

Dylan followed behind. We sat down on grey
leather bucket seats. Wren, Lyra, and Travis were listening to
Arrow Smith while drinking blended lattés and eating chocolate
truffles. From what I’ve been told, sirens enjoy good food, but
they need human flesh to survive. The great thing is that no matter
how much sirens eat, they can’t get fat.

Wren was leaning back, polishing a diamond
necklace. “I made this for you,” she sang in her most beautiful
voice as she handed the multi-stone choker to me.

My eyes widened as I took it from her. “Why?”
I shook my head lightly as I examined the way the diamonds twinkled
in the light. It was a stunning work of art, the kind of piece you
would imagine on a Greek goddess. Many years ago the triplets
worked as jewelers, a trade they had learned from their father
before Demeter cast her spell on them turning them into sirens. The
style reflected the history and legendary appeal of that time.

Wren smiled sweetly at me as she ran her
fingers through her golden locks. “It’s a warm welcome to our
flock.” Her blue eyes shimmered in the light.

“Now that you have fed, you are officially
one of us,” Lyra added.

I looked down at the necklace not knowing
what to say. As much as I didn’t want to be, I was suspicious. It
wasn’t as if I had willingly joined. They stole my life from me.
More than anything, I wanted to get away from them and be with my
parents again. But even if I could run away, which I couldn’t, I
could never leave Dylan behind.

“And now the fun begins,” Wren giggled. “We
have plans for you today!”

I looked at Dylan, but his expression was
unreadable. At that, I couldn’t help but wonder what in the world
they had in mind for me. Mostly, I just hoped it didn’t have
anything to do with murder.

CHAPTER FOUR

Death makes angels of us all
& gives us wings where we had shoulders smooth as raven's
claws
–JIM
MORRISON, 
An American
Prayer

Wren pulled up into the driveway of the
Prestige Inn—and prestigious it was. The beachfront luxury hotel
was a tall white Victorian style structure with waterfalls,
circular stairways, and high turrets set in a garden of tropical
trees, flowers and shrubs.

As we got out of the limo, Wren, Lyra, and
Gia began to sing in melody as they walked past a waterfall.
Diamond pendants and tiny silver bells hanging from their girdles
made the most elusive sounds. Their voices seemed instrumental in
quality, light and wispy like flutes, harps, and lyres sounding
faintly through the wind. I couldn’t make out the lyrics, but the
way the valet parkers stared like their heads were whirling, caused
my heart to fall.

With a coquettish look in her eyes, Wren
tossed one valet the keys while the other swallowed hard as he
unloaded our suitcases out of the trunk. The men seemed a mix of
emotions. While they appeared embarrassed by their overwhelming
feelings, their curiosity seemed to override.

The taller man who held the keys kept asking
Lyra questions, “How old are you? You can’t be more than sixteen.
Your mother must be beautiful—is she married? Maybe you are older
than you look. Can I take you out?” He reached out to touch the
perfumed cluster of pearl ornaments in her silky black hair.

Lyra touched his lips without a hint of
shyness, not the typical manners of usual teenage girls who visited
the hotel with their parents.

Though he was quite masculine, even kind of
rugged, he giggled almost like a girl he was so surprised. “I’m
rich,” he said suddenly which I knew was a lie considering he was
probably only in his mid-twenties, yet already exhibited rough
workman hands and deep crevices around his eyes likely from years
of squinting in the sun at outdoor labor jobs.

“Meet me at the pool tonight,” Lyra sang.
“And show me what you got.” She touched her lips to her finger and
then pressed it against his cheek.

I bit the side of my cheek so hard it started
to bleed into my mouth. I tuned out on the rest of their
conversation as my attention was pulled to Wren. To keep my
bitterness in check, I stuffed my balled fists into the pockets of
my jacket.

“Let me see your ring,” Wren said in a
whispery voice to the shortest valet parker who was lifting the
suitcases out of the trunk.

His eyes glazed as he sat down the luggage
and twisted at his wedding ring until it came off his thick
fingers. “So many memories,” he chuckled. For a moment, he stared
at the diamond set in the gold band which I later learned had an
engraving in the inside that said, Emanuel and Louisa forever.

Wren ran her lovely hands down the front of
her silky blouse that was unbuttoned just enough to show the upper
edges of her corset. “Give it to me,” she commanded in a
flirtatious tone that sounded more mischievous than
threatening.

The short man handed her his wedding band,
placing it lightly on the palm of her hand. I noticed his lips
trembling lightly.

Her long fingernails closed around it as she
dropped it into her purse. “Thank you my dear.”

The man nodded, seemingly off balance, as he
touched his chest just above his heart. He coughed. I could only
imagine what he was feeling.

I wanted to tear open Wren’s throat, but when
I moved forward the slightest bit, Dylan placed his hand above my
chest and pushed me back lightly. It wasn’t smart to make a scene.
I needed to learn more about the sirens before I did anything
stupid. But even with that decision, anger was burning inside of
me.

Wren signaled us onward. Dylan, Blake,
Travis, and I followed behind as the triplets strutted like
supermodels on a catwalk into the stunning main lobby with lots of
sparkly lights, high ceilings, and celestial art on the walls.

“Take care of it, Travis.” Wren waved the boy
to the front desk as she sat down on a sofa of gold and plush
fabric. Gia and Lyra joined her while Dylan, Blake, and I sat down
across from them on couches of similar types.

The girls were laughing quietly about how
stupid the valet parkers were. Blake and Dylan put their ear buds
in their ears and were listening to their IPhones. I tried to read
from my new e-reader Lyra gave me, but my attention kept drifting
over to the sisters.