Siren's Serenade (The Wiccan Haus) (12 page)

Swimming full speed toward the war happening just below the surface, Kaleb pushed through the commotion only to have the water go immediately calm as if nothing had happened. Turning, he scanned the water but saw nothing—no shark, no tiger, and no mermaids. He looked to the beach and shook his head, trying to block out the cries of despair coming from Dana. Kaleb was vaguely aware of Sage and Sarka coming down the path at full speed.

And then all was quiet. Moments later, Rekkus surfaced next to him, gasping for air. Kaleb wrapped an arm around Rekkus, who was bleeding but conscious.

“Don’t fight me.” Kaleb pulled Rekkus back against his chest.

“Can’t—”

What seemed to take an eternity to reach the shore was made worse by the fact that neither of the mermaids had surfaced. Cemil and Cyrus grabbed Rekkus, who did no more than take a few steps before collapsing at his mate’s feet, blood pouring out of his leg from the shark’s bite. Dana fell to her knees, hysterical. But Rekkus just placed a hand on her belly and pulled her head down. “You. Haven’t. Seen. Smothering. Yet.”

A relieved laugh came from Dana, who broke down in a sea of tears all over again.

Kaleb turned to scan the water just in time to see Serena crest and spin in the air before diving back into the water. Kaleb stood at the water’s edge as she approached. As she switched from swimming to walking, her fins disappeared and her legs split, a dress covering her as though the ocean had created it.

She was so beautiful.

“Are you okay?”

“Me? I wasn’t the one luring sharks away one by one.” He grated out before pulling her into his embrace. “I’m okay now.”

“Dana?”

“Seems fine, but will never have a minute’s peace again.”

Kaleb put his arm around Serena and led her over to where Rekkus and Dana sat still on the beach, covered in blankets, Rekkus’s head in Dana’s lap. Sage was wrapping his leg the best she could with him still lying down, and she packed the wound with herbs.

“So when were you planning to announce the happy news?” Sage demanded, a hint of actual anger in her voice.

“God, if
he
was smothering me, why would I tell the whole island? I could barely breathe as it was,” Dana said, but there was no conviction to her words, not any more. And Kaleb understood. She had felt safe here, and now she wasn’t. Although she had mated with a Were-tiger, she had never grasped that her life was in danger because of who she was with. “I am so sorry, Rekkus.”

“Shhhh, give me a few hours I will be good as new.” Rekkus looked up at Kaleb and Serena. He motioned for them to come forward.

“Thank you, both of you. I owe you my life. And more important, I owe my mate’s life and our unborn cubs to you too.”

“It’s what I do,” Serena said, too choked up to say anything else, but her eyes were on Kaleb. He could see she was on the edge of a breaking point and held her closer. “My sisters have taken the sharks far away. They will deal out the justice so you won’t have to.”

Rekkus nodded, but he was already falling into a healing sleep. Within a few seconds his shift happened, leaving the large tiger in the human’s place.

“Damn, ain’t no moving him now,” Cyrus cursed as he started to gather wood. “We need to build a fire to keep him warm.”

“We’ll need to create the circle too. I need everyone not picking up sticks to grab as many stones as possible,” Sarka ordered as she placed a few rocks around the couple. Serena grabbed a few and handed them to Cemil who smiled and placed them where they needed to be. For the next few minutes, all hands worked together until a ring of stones surrounded the tiger and his lady.

Sarka held the last of the stones in her hands. “Cyrus, in.”

“What?”

“Get your ass in the circle.”

“Excuse me?”

Sage stepped forward. “We’re weak without Rekkus, and someone is likely to know that. You’ll be safe within the protection of the stones.”

“And Rekkus won’t truly enter the healing sleep if he’s worried about you,” Cemil added, nudging Cyrus forward.

Once Cyrus entered the circle, Sarka placed the last rock and began chanting.

“What if I have to pee, damn it?”

Still chanting, Sarka handing him a cup.

“Are you kidding me?” Cyrus, who had never lost his cool in the time Kaleb had been on the island, took two steps forward, hit the ring barrier, and fell on his ass. “So help me, Sarka, when you let me out of here…”

Kaleb had no wish to watch any more of the lunacy. Rekkus lay unconscious next to the bonfire, Dana curled next to him, petting him. Kaleb could see her shoulders shaking and knew she was crying tears she didn’t wish anyone to see. Cyrus circled the bonfire, looking for a flaw in the ring. All while cursing his sister. The rest of the siblings and a few more staff members had joined in the chanting, and Kaleb and Serena were no longer really needed.

Pulling Serena back toward the cabin, he needed to wrap his arms around her, feel her against him. Everything had changed in a matter of forty-eight hours. Serena, a mermaid he had believed to be a monster, had put her life at risk to help people who didn’t like them, all to save a woman who was in danger. That was not the act of a monster; that was the act of a hero.

She stopped. “You don’t hate me?”

“I love you.”

“But—”

Looking into her eyes, watching them swirl with life, he understood so much now; small pieces that had been missing suddenly fit into place. “There is no ‘but.’ It’s that simple.”

Sadness filled her, and Kaleb could almost feel it as it were his own. She looked toward the sea. “You threw the tear away.”

He sighed, pulling back a little. “I acted in anger. The world as I knew it had shifted on its axis, and I went a bit crazy. If I could find your tear, I would never take it off again.” He stepped away from her, looking over the bay where so much had happened and where he had thrown her gift in a fit of rage. A gift only now he could fully appreciate.

“Perhaps the tides haven’t taken it just yet. You threw it out here?” Serena put a finger in a motion for him to wait. She was only a few steps in when another mermaid emerged from the dark water and made her way toward them “Serafina? What is it?”

“We didn’t say farewell and I wanted to meet your man.” Serafina looked at her sister the same way Kaleb’s family looked at him. Warmth and protection, mixed with a good deal of compassion. Serafina smiled at him before turning back to her sister with expectation.

“Serafina, please meet Kaleb, the most honorable man I have ever met. Kaleb, this is my oldest sister, Serafina.”

Kaleb nodded, but maintained his distance. One of the things Cyrus had insisted on teaching him the night before had been the best ways to stay safe when a mermaid was in the area. Step one, always carry earplugs. Failed step one. Step two, never get near the water. Passed step two. And step three, never, ever, get involved in a fight between mermaids. That was just common sense—any man knew not to get in the middle of ladies fighting. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Serafina.”

Serafina looked him up and down and turned to her sister, looking perplexed. “Are you sure?”

“More sure than I have ever been in my existence. I’m finally living.”

Serafina smiled. The same smile Serena had, but without the sucker punch effect hers always hit him with. “Then I think he might have lost this.” Holding out the necklace with the sea glass, she put it in Serena’s hand. “Take care of her for us. She’s the special one.”

“I plan to.”

“Good.” Serafina nodded her head toward the bonfire on the beach. “I’m just going to let them know where we have taken the sharks. The alpha is dead; we made sure not to kill him within the barriers of the island as you asked. I will miss you, sister.”

Serena hugged her sister goodbye one more time before turning to hand Kaleb his necklace back. “I will ask Sarka to fix the clasp in the morning.”

“I should have trusted you and my gut. Instead, I let my ego and my anger overrule my instincts.”

She pulled his hand to her mouth, kissing his knuckles. “I don’t blame you for being angry. I would have been angry myself.”

“I was afraid you would never come back.”

“I was afraid you had left.”

Kissing her forehead, he pulled her into the cabin and closed the door. “I’m not leaving; they offered me a job and I took it.”

“Here? I don’t understand.”

He laughed “No, not here exactly. More all over the place. But I can make my home here if you want. I have family in Alaska, but now that I know better, I don’t think Alaska is a good fit for you. I understand the water may be a bit too cold.”

She blushed. “Really? But I can’t stay
here
forever.”

“Actually, I think if you talk to the siblings they have something figured out.” Stifling a yawn, Kaleb turned off the lights in the front room. “But tonight, if it’s all the same to you, I would just like a hot shower and to go to sleep with my arms wrapped around you.”

“Just sleep?”

“God, do you Paras ever run out of energy?” It felt weird to say
Para,
but Kaleb figured it would get easier with time.

She laughed, kissing him softly on the lips. “Sleep sounds like a nice idea. I still can’t believe you don’t hate me.”

“I can’t believe you’re a deadly siren. I wish you’d told me the truth, but I suppose the bigger the secret, the harder it is to let someone know. And I can’t blame a whole race because of what one individual did, now can I?”

Placing a hand on his arm she looked into his eyes and, her voice full of passion, said, “I love so you much it hurts.”

“Perhaps tomorrow when I have some energy, I can love you so much it feels good.”

Pulling her into the shower, Kaleb kissed Serena with every bit of emotion he had and swore he would never let her go again.

Chapter Nine

S
ERENA
A
WOKE
L
ONG
B
EFORE
D
AWN
. Kaleb’s light snores filled the room as she took a last glance at him before leaving the cabin. The sun had yet to peek over the horizon, but there was much she needed to do. The beach was empty, although two security guards stood on either side of the door to Rekkus’s cabin. They acknowledged her with a slight nod but said nothing.

The island was peaceful in the hour just before dawn, before the humans woke. The vampires had all settled in for the day, and except for the sounds of the waves on the beach, everything was quiet. As she reached the top of the hill, Serena watched the sunrise reaching like fingers into the morning sky.

She was surprised to see Myron at the front desk so early. Myron smiled as she put on whatever name tag was in the drawer.
Tina
today. “Sage is in the office. She would like to talk to you.”

Serena had prepared for this. She took a deep breath and went in. Sage sat at the desk, yawning into the back of her hand. She smiled and waved Serena to sit as she leaned her head against the wall. “I can’t believe you’re up so early.”

“I don’t need a lot of sleep.”

“Well, I do. But I need to wait until Cemil wakes before I can take a nap.”

“Myron said you wanted to see me?”

“Yes, I was hoping Cyrus and Rekkus would be here to talk with you too. But I think they’re raiding the kitchen.”

“Rekkus is up?”

“And a sourer mood I have never seen. But I suppose it’s to be expected; his pregnant wife was nearly kidnapped by sharks. He’s limping, but I am sure will be right as rain by evening.” She yawned again. “Anyway, I hope you don’t think me too forward, but Kaleb has requested that his home base be here on the island. We don’t usually allow that, but for the two of you, we’ll make the exception. We would love to have you come on the staff here.”

“You want me to work here?”

“Yes. We thought you could assist with hydro-therapy. Yavonka still needs you—”

“And I need someone on security to deal with the underwater threats as well as help track that odd rip current off shore,” Rekkus said, limping into the office. “You’re the obvious choice.”

“I don’t understand. Aren’t you worried I might hurt someone?”

Sage shook her head. “The only person at risk of being hurt by you is Kaleb. And he seems willing to take the risk.”

“So?” Rekkus asked with a knowing smile.

She nodded. “When Kaleb isn’t on missions he can come back here?”

“Through the portal,” Sage acknowledged.

“Am I allowed to sing?”

“Don’t push your luck,” Rekkus said, but there was no bite to his words.

An hour later, Serena walked out of the office with an amazed sense of purpose to her life. Myron never looked up from her cards, but then Serena didn’t expect her to. She found Kaleb in the dining hall, devouring eggs, bacon, and sausage, with an empty plate beside his full one. She hadn’t thought about the fact that everyone had missed dinner the evening before, but this was one of those times where it just couldn’t be helped.