Bluedawn (A Watermagic Novel, #2) (13 page)

Besides the crimson around his lips, his face
was pale and blood drawn. He didn’t look at me. “I was right behind
you, Hailey, when you jumped. I felt it before it happened.” His
gaze was focused in the distance.

We must have sat there for ten minutes in
silence.

“I betrayed you,” I finally said as I put my
hand on my bony neck and looked down at my black skirt. Now that I
was a siren, I always wore backless tops of one sort or another so
that my transformations wouldn’t destroy my clothes.

Dylan shifted back into human form now. The
sounds of his wings folding into his back reminded me of Evan’s
bones breaking at Wren’s hand. I shuddered at the thought. The pit
of my stomach ached.

Dylan let his legs dangle beside mine off the
limb of the tree. His chest was bare, his shirt torn off by the
expansion of his wings. But his loose fitted pants remained intact.
“I’m the one who betrayed you,” he said. His voice was flat without
inflection.

“How?” I managed to choke out of my dry
throat.

“When I introduced you to my friends on the
beach in Carlsbad.” I could feel the heat of his body beside
mine.

I still didn’t look up, but just gazed at my
hands in my lap. “Why did you do that?” I wiped the moisture at the
edge of my nostrils with the back of my finger.

“Wren ordered me to bring you to her.” There
were still no inflections in his voice. It just sounded
distant.

I looked up at him, my eyebrows scrunched
together. “I didn’t even know her. Why would she want me?” Anger
started to boil inside of me now.

He shook his head, his eyes widening the
slightest bit. “That’s what I have been wondering.”

“I felt like someone was watching me at my
campsite. I heard whispers coming from the woods.” I turned away,
thinking. My pulse was racing now. I wanted to figure this out.
“There were stone blue feathers.” My voice quickened. “And the wolf
dog had dropped a chunk of flesh with the same color plumes…”

“That was Gia,” he interrupted as he placed
his hand on top of mine. His voice was more animated. “The wolf bit
off a chunk of her thigh in the woods just behind your motorhome. I
think she might have been coming to get you because I sent you
away. When I saw her watching you from the forest, I coaxed her to
the ocean.”

“Why?” I asked in bewilderment.

He shook his head slightly side to side. “The
ocean water heals the fresh wounds of sirens.” His nostrils flared
at the memory.

I tried to contain the rage inside of me. I
didn’t want Dylan to see me out of control. My mind raced with so
many thoughts. I felt so mixed up. “Was that what you were doing
when I saw you coming out of the water with her at the beach that
night?”

His cheeks flushed. “Maybe.”

That only made me more curious, but I didn’t
want him to know how much I cared. Instead, I redirected my mind
and thought back to the sounds I heard in the darkness as I stepped
out of the motorhome that night for the second time. I recalled how
Spike had scared me to death. “The wolf must have saved me from
Gia,” I said suddenly, looking at him.

He didn’t respond, but seemed to be making
connections in his mind himself.

And then, I remembered how before that I
heard some sort of animal walking around on the roof of the
motorhome while I was taking a shower. The creature’s body sounded
much heavier than a squirrel which I had originally concluded it
was. Now I realized that must have been one of the sirens.

My voice was distant as I spoke now. “I
wonder why they wanted me.” I started to chew at my fingernails.
“It is so much more pleasurable to feed on a human male.” Female
sirens usually only eat girls when they are in the way, but they
don’t seek them out specifically.

“They were set on you,” he murmured. “But
once I realized who you were, the pretty girl who slipped in the
street years before, I couldn’t let them have you.” His jaw
clenched. “I hate them.”

My eyes lit up. “You remembered me from that
rainy night?”

His face flushed. “Yes.” That was all he
said.

We sat there quietly for some time. I
listened to the wind blowing through the trees, rattling the
leaves. In the distance I heard the low hum of traffic and faint
noises of the city.

But then Dylan started to sing lightly. His
beautiful voice resonated through my very essence. It was a sweet
song about loss, war, and the hope of redemption.

“Thank you for saving me,” I finally said as
his song waned.

He looked embarrassed. “Come, we have to get
back to our flock.” He took my hand into his and held it up to his
lips.

Tingles rushed through my body. The way he
cared for me confused the hell out of me. Some of his actions
seemed so romantic, yet he never kissed me on the lips and he never
confessed an interest in me in that way. I almost wondered if he
only loved me in a platonic manner, like the way a brother loves
his sister.

My heart ached. I needed Dylan to desire me.
I felt so alone and my feelings for him were the only thing that
made any sense. Everything else seemed horrible and dirty, but my
attachment to him felt pure.

***

When we got back to the suite, the television
was off now, but the stereo was playing “Boys Don’t Cry,” by The
Cure. The triplets and the slaves were rolling up the human bones
and unsavory body parts in the plastic they had laid out over the
furniture and marble flooring. They were nearly finished when we
walked in the door.

“Where the hell were you?” Wren demanded as
she looked up from the floor where she was in a squat position
tucking in the sides of the plastic to make the package of bloody
discard as small as possible.

“It doesn’t matter where we were,” I retorted
defiantly. “We’re back and ready to help.”

“Fine then,” Wren snapped. “Bag this up, put
it in the suitcase, and load it in the car.”

“We’re gone, baby,” Travis laughed. He was
flossing his teeth in the wall mirror.

Gia, Lyra, and Blake were playing Monopoly on
the coffee table. Blake kept telling stupid jokes that made Gia and
Lyra roll their eyes and laugh. He was in a good mood.

I caught my reflection in another one of the
wall mirrors as I walked into the kitchen to get a hefty, oversized
trash bag Travis had picked up from the hardware store. My body
looked much too skinny. My shoulder blades were bony and my arms
looked like sticks. I touched my thighs and stared at myself in the
full length mirror. I still had a little flesh on my legs, but
appeared more like one of those emaciated supermodels that only
looked good in certain positions.

It was still hard for me to look at myself.
My hair was beautiful now like my mother’s, but more of a sunny
brown than blond like hers. It was long with lovely waves that
naturally fell over my shoulders and breasts. My eyes had changed
to a remarkable bright blue color that looked like the sky on a
clear sunny day. And my face had a more roundish quality with
dimples in my ample cheeks and my lips were heart shaped like that
of a doll’s. As a kid, I always thought life would be better if I
looked so lovely, but I was wrong. Aside from Dylan, my life was a
nightmare.

I grabbed the bag from the drawer and walked
over to Dylan who was taping up the plastic to keep its contents
from spilling out. Wren was painting her nails in the recliner
chair as she sang along with the music. I held the bag open as
Dylan slid the body parts inside. We tied it up, pushing the air
out. I followed him into the bedroom as he carried it.

To my dismay, I was surprised to see the
squirrel faced girl’s and the cutesy girl’s heads and carcasses on
the bed. My body tightened at the scent of the blood in such close
proximity. I screamed.

Wren and Travis laughed from the other room.
“Surprise!” Wren called out. “We left you some treats.”

Uncontrollably my body started to change. My
wings rumbled beneath the skin on my back and broke through the
flesh. Feathers sprouted through the skin on my legs causing such
erotic tingling sensations. I looked at Dylan in horror.

He was unchanged. Apparently he had already
taken his fill earlier and didn’t need to feed. But the hunger
inside of me was overwhelming me now.

“Please, just eat,” Dylan said. “They are
already dead. I need you alive.”

I wanted to kill him. Talons broke through my
fingers and toes. My fury was outrageous. Before I knew it, I was
attacking Dylan, scratching through his flesh.

CHAPTER THREE

You know what charm is: a
way of getting the answer yes without having asked any clear
question.
–Albert Camus

I released Dylan and ran out of the room,
down the short hall and into the bathroom where I fell to my knees,
cowering in the dark corner. My body was shaking uncontrollably.
And the wailing came. I couldn’t stop sobbing as much as I tried.
My feelings twisted inside of me.

I forced myself to stop, holding my breath
for minutes at a time. I bit down hard on my tongue. The blood
gushed.

“Stupid bitch,” Gia was yelling from the
bedroom. Apparently, she was angry that I had mutilated her slave
boy.

“We have to get him to the ocean,” Lyra
said.

“I’m okay.” I heard Dylan mumble. He didn’t
sound alright.

“There’s no ocean in Vegas,” Wren
snapped.

My heart fell. What had I done?

“Clean up this mess,” Wren ordered Blake and
Travis.

I heard a lot of rustling around in the
bedroom.

“We have to move fast,” Gia said. “I told you
it was a stupid idea to go somewhere without a beach.”

“Just shut up,” Wren yelled. “Load everything
in the limo and keep the slave wrapped up so he doesn’t bleed all
over everything. We can make it to Santa Monica Beach in just over
three hours if we speed.”

“I’ll get the limo started,” Lyra called out
as I heard her rushing through the suite. There was the jingling of
keys and then the door slammed shut.

“Blake, you carry Dylan,” Wren called over.
“If anyone says anything to you in the lobby, tell them he’s
drunk.”

“Where are you going?” Gia called
sternly.

“Gotta check on Hailey.” Dylan’s voice
slurred.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Gia snapped. It
sounded like she pulled him back. He tumbled to the floor.

I ran into the room. “Don’t hurt him,” I
choked out through my fanged mouth. Though Travis was rolling up
the bodies in the plastic, the smell of blood was still in the
room. My legs tensed and I felt like I was going to spring onto the
wrapped carcasses and tear them open.

“Here,” Gia said, her fiery red hair falling
in her face. She ran over and tore through the plastic. At once,
she threw one of the girl’s legs at me.

It hit me in the chest. My eyes glazed over.
All I saw was red. And I started devouring the flesh. When I
realized what I was doing, my face fell in terror.

I looked at Dylan. Tears were in his eyes. He
dragged himself over to me and took me into his arms. He was
kissing me all over my face. Stroking my hair. His lips were on
mine. I could feel his warm, sweet breath. We were crying mouth to
mouth as I shifted back into my human form.

“Oh, please,” Gia growled. Her body was
trembling. “Let’s get out of here.” She stuffed the bodies in a
bag.

Blake came over to Dylan and me. “I’ll take
good care of him,” he said awkwardly.

I didn’t want to let him go, but I knew we
had to move fast. Blake carried Dylan out of the suite. I quickly
cleaned up the blood on the floor. Travis and Gia put the trash
bags of carcasses in suitcases. Wren went around the suite
inspecting everything to make sure the place was in good order.

With all that, we sauntered out of the room
as casually as possible. Travis was telling jokes and we all
pretended to laugh like it was just any ordinary night in
Vegas.

***

I held Dylan in my arms as I rushed into the
ocean. Dawn was just breaking and the sky was that bluish grey
color of nearly morning. The rest of the sirens were getting out
the bags of body parts from the trunk. They were going to bury them
at the bottom of the sea in some dark place no one could ever
find.

Dylan had lost a lot of blood. There was a
gash down his chest and his right arm. He was groggy, but still
conscious. “You’re going to make it Dylan—you are,” I said. “Just
hold on.”

I held onto him as I swam out deeper. “Why
isn’t anything happening?” I asked him.

He didn’t seem that coherent. His mouth
moved, but I couldn’t hear what he was saying.

At once, I moved out further. There was blood
in the water. I feared we might attract sharks. His cuts were open.
They looked worse. “I don’t understand,” I kept saying. “The ocean
water is supposed to heal you.” None of the other sirens told me
what to do to save Dylan. Maybe they thought I would just know.

But it seemed more like they were just
concerned with hiding the body parts and keeping Dylan’s blood off
the seats. They didn’t want his suspicious looking injuries to draw
attention to us in any way. That was why bringing him to a hospital
was out of the question. Doctors would want to know what kind of
animal tore him open. Aside from that I didn’t think the sirens
cared about him at all.

Gia might have cared, but I suspected she was
intensely jealous now after witnessing our kiss at the suite. I
feared that if she couldn’t have Dylan for herself, she would
rather he died. But really I didn’t know what she thought because
more than anything she just confused me.

I was desperate now. His wounds were in worse
shape. Though I could feel his heart beating, his eyes had closed.
Now he lay limply in my arms as I treaded in the ocean trying to
keep his head up.