Page 70 of Siren’s Secret

“Why Mrs.?” Wave blurted out the random question that had been bugging her. She had never heard even a whisper of a Mr. Riverson and if Mrs. Riverson had been her father’s—no, don’t finish that thought!

“Oh, I was married to a human long before I met Gileas,” Mrs. Riverson replied easily, like that wasn’t any big news. Wave coughed and Mrs. Riverson gave her a smile. “My Reggie died of old age, but I kept his name out of respect. He was a good man.”

“Mrs. Riverson—”

“Call me Marin.”

“I—Marin, right. Um…”

Mrs. Riverson slid a cup of coffee to her and sat down with her own cup. She cradled her hands around it and smiled wistfully. “Why don’t I start from the beginning?”

The moon was rising early and peeking between the clouds. Wave glanced up and sighed for the millionth time after the bomb Mrs. Riverson had dropped on her. Lovers. Her father had been… she wasn’t sure if cheating was the right word, and if it was, who was the cheated party? Mrs. Riverson, her mother, both of them?

She tried to sort through her feelings but had no luck. It was a mess, and somehow, she wasn’t even surprised. Her parents had loved each other fiercely, but their love had always been volatile and filled with fights and hurts. It wasn’t hard to see how her father might have been pulled toward kind and calm Mrs. Riverson—who after hundreds of years was still more than half in love with her deceased human husband.

Wave kept walking under the moonlight, trying to let it soothe her, but something kept niggling at the back of her mind. No matter how much she poked at the feeling, she couldn’t figure out what bothered her so much.

She knew she should have called someone to come pick her up as per Ginny’s rules. Safety in numbers and all that, but she needed a moment alone to sort out her thoughts. Besides, there wasn’t anyone around, and she didn’t want to pull Jarred from the party.

The headache she had been trying to push down spiked and Wave rubbed her temples.

What a mess.

On top of her father’s affairs and her powers growing and lashing out, she had a mate. And a Claimed. Two bonds that she never thought she’d have.

Despite the evening she’d had, Wave couldn’t help but smile.

They knew what she was, and the world hadn’t ended. It still could, but neither of them had given her even an inkling that they wanted her for her siren powers alone.

Her mind tried to bring that up every chance it got, but the bonds thrumming deep against her siren shield counteracted the spiraling quickly. Wave wondered how it would feel if she dared to let them in deeper, all the way to her core. If she dared to bond fully, with her heart, mind, and soul. With no shields in between.

Their connection was real, the bonds were real, all of it… so terrifyingly real. But even though the magical link between them thrummed, it didn’t reach the deepest, truest part of her. They weren’t unbreakable siren bonds.

Wave slowed down and glanced over her shoulder before crossing the street and heading to the park. It was quite funny to call the small forest a park. It held a pond, small hills, ancient trees, and a small stream running out of a grotto that doubled as a portal to the Deep realm.

That was her destination. The sound of pure water running free always calmed her nerves. She kept walking while breathing in deep, trying to absorb the calm of the forest, but it didn’t feel calm. The air around her felt…agitated.

That was the only warning she got before a ball of fire slammed into her side. It burned, despite her three shields. If only she could figure out the way Marc shielded. She was too reliant on external shields in her protection. Wave gritted her teeth, breathed through the pain, and shook her hand to get the smoldering fabric to fall off.

Thanks to Ginny and Chrissy’s combined efforts, only the directly hit area was burning. The fire didn’t spread over the rest of her shirt. Her friends really were amazing. Another ball of fire emerged, but this time Wave was alert enough to pull up an external ice shield.

Water manipulation had always been her thing, but while she couldn’t grasp Marc’s method of shielding, she had picked up quite a number of tips from Irishen to strengthen her ice. The wall that the fire slammed into didn’t waver much and melted only a little.

Glowering Elena stepped into the view, and Wave sighed. Not that she had expected anyone else to be behind this.

“Splendid,” she said, trying to stay calm. “Someone finally bailed your rotten ass out?”

Elena wasn’t inclined to answer and instead hissed at her. She was still wearing the clothes they gave the prisoners, and her hair was a gnarly mess.

“You stole Irishen from me,” she spat out. “I’m going to burn you for that.”

“I did no such thing.” Wave almost rolled her eyes. “It was your sunny disposition that drove him away.”

“Don’t lie to me, you whore.”

“Just get the fuck away from me, Elena,” Wave said. She wasn’t scared, but she didn’t want to fight either. Elena wasn’t listening to reason and took a step closer, more fire engulfing her hands.

“Did you get Irishen to give you some protection charm? It won’t last long.” Another ball of fire slammed into her ice wall.