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There’s a shuffle and a growl. It’s answered with a snarl. “Guys! Not now! Rook, let Terrance have her.”
Before they can move me, the pain reaches an all-new intensity that I can’t even begin to describe. Pressure starts to build in my chest, my head. I feel something dripping from my nose and ears, and then, with a pop, the tension shatters. It hurts so badly a bloodcurdling scream rips from my lungs.
Several gasps ring out in the otherwise silent room.
“Shit.”
“Well, damn.”
“Didn’t see that one coming.”
“It can’t be.”
I have no idea what they’re talking about, and I don’t care. With the pressure gone, the pain has dulled to a tolerable level. I welcome the blackness when it overtakes me.
I wake to the soundof hushed voices. “How’s our little seductress doing? Any change?”
“Her fever broke, and she has some color back. I don’t think she’ll sleep much longer.”
“I’m awake,” I say. My throat is so parched it comes out in a croak, and I start coughing.
“Here, sweetheart.”
Cool fingers comb back my sweat-crusted hair. I open my eyes to see Parker sitting beside my bed, holding out a glass of water. Terrance is sitting in a chair on the other side of the bed, glaring, arms folded across his chest as if he’s been playing watchdog the entire time I was out. I’m sure he has. He swallows when I meet his eyes, and his face softens. “You scared the shit out of us, Trouble.”
He clears his throat when he chokes up, and then glares at me as if it’s my fault he can’t completely hide his emotions. My heart melts at the sight. “Sorry, T-man. Won’t do it again. Promise.”
“Damn right, you won’t.”
I grin at my surly troll, then cast my eyes around the room. It’s one I recognize. I’m in the guest room at Rook’s house, and the sun is shining brightly through the sheer curtains. Nick is standing at the foot of the bed, grinning like the devil. “Good to see you’re not dead, spitfire.”
Parker holds out the glass of water again, and as I sit up to take it, I gasp. My arms don’t look right. My skin looks pearlescent. It’s shimmering. “What the hell?”
“Relax, Nora,” Parker says, placing the glass in my hand. “Everything’s going to be okay.”
I accept the water from Parker and gulp it down. Once I find my voice, I frown at Nick. “What’s going on? What’s wrong with me? Why do I look like this?”
“Nothing’s wrong with you,” Parker murmurs. “You’re absolutely stunning like this.”
Panic begins to claw its way up my throat. “But whatisthis?”
“It’s you,” Nick says. “Your true self. The werewolf saliva burned through your glamour.”
I jump out of the bed and head for the bathroom. I gasp at the face staring back at me in the mirror. It’s me, but it’s somehow more. If I was pretty before, now I’m striking. It’s as if my features were blurry, and they’ve suddenly been sharpened into focus. My skin is that shimmering pearlescent color all over, and there are bright blue, purple, and teal swirls around my eyes, as if my face has been beautifully decorated with paint. Natural makeup. My hair is also fuller, with more body, and it’s streaked with pink, purple, and teal streaks. It looks windswept and wild but still controlled, like you’d see on a model in a magazine. I hardly recognize myself.
My arms feel smooth and a little cool, and the subtle swirls of color shimmer as I shift them in the light. It’s beautiful in a way, but it’s not human, and it’s freaking me out. I turn to the men all gathered in the hallway outside of the bathroom. I’m scared to ask, but at the same time, I’ve wanted to know the answer to this question my whole life. “What am I?”
Terrance pushes Parker and Nick out of the way and smiles proudly. “You’re one of my kind. You’re fey.”
“More specifically, a siren,” Nick adds.
“A siren.” I look at myself in the mirror again, and I can totally see it. I’m beautiful now in an ethereal way. I remind myself of a mermaid.
I shake my head in disbelief. I’m a siren. Trying to wrap my head around the idea, I think over everything I know about sirens. They were mythical creatures that lived in the ocean and lured sailors to their deaths.
“Am I dangerous?” I frown at my friends, worried that I might have some crazy affect on them. I would hate myself if I ever hurt them. “To you guys, I mean?”
When none of them answers right away, panic rears its ugly head again.“What?”I demand.
