Elegy w-4 Read online

  “Would you have killed her? If she hadn’t been about to eat me?”

  “Not then, no. But soon, probably. Maybe not.” She shook her head. “It doesn’t matter. I made a choice.”

  “And what choice was that?” Daniel asked.

  “That I wanted you, and I would do anything to have you.” She smiled. “She was in our way.”

  “Our way?”

  “Yeah.” She laughed a little. “Our way to be together.”

  She leaned down, her hands still on his chest, and pressed her lips to his. His heart raced in his chest, and he didn’t try to slow it. Penn might mistake his unease and agitation for excitement, and that would be better.

  He tried not to think of Harper, and he had to restrain himself to keep from pushing Penn off. Nothing she did felt bad, but everything about it was wrong. All her touches, her kisses, they were all pleasure mixed with equal parts revulsion, and if he thought of Harper, it would be impossible for him to handle.

  They’d kissed before, but Penn had always been more aggressive—like she thought she’d be able to devour him. This time, though, she showed the same gentleness and control that she had a few moments ago.

  There was something almost tender about it, but he felt heat burning there, too. Even when Penn tried to use restraint, she couldn’t completely hold back who she was. The way her body pressed against him through the thin, wet fabric, and even the way her tongue encircled his—she was a creature made almost entirely of desire.

  She sat back up, a light smile playing on her full lips. Her black hair cascaded forward, shielding her face from him. Daniel reached up, brushing her hair back and tucking it behind her ears. For a moment, he let his hand linger there, and she leaned into it, pressing her cheek against the palm of his hand.

  He searched her eyes, scanning them for any of the warmth or tenderness he’d felt in her kisses. In a strange way, he almost wanted to find it. Somehow, it would make him feel better if there was some humanity to her, if she had some heart left.

  Her irises were nearly black, only one shade lighter than her pupils, and he stared into them. But no matter how deeply he looked into Penn’s eyes, he could see only an empty darkness. She was cold and hollow inside.

  “You’re going to kill me, aren’t you?” Daniel asked, and took his hand away from her face, letting it fall back to the ground.

  “Do you want me to answer that honestly?” Penn asked. The hint of a smile had fallen away from her face, but, otherwise, her expression was the same.

  He nodded.

  “Probably, yes,” she told him without remorse. “But not for a while.”

  “Will it hurt?” Daniel asked, keeping his expression and voice as calm and even as hers.

  “Depends on whether you piss me off or not. But I have ways of making it painless.”

  She was still staring down at him, and he couldn’t handle her gaze anymore. More accurately, he couldn’t handle this game she was playing with him. If she wanted him, and it would keep the people he loved safe, then he’d rather just hurry up and give himself to her.

  He sat up and put his hand on the small of her back, pushing her closer to him, then he kissed her. He moved more aggressively than she had been just now, but it still didn’t match her ferociousness in some of their earlier encounters.

  “What are you doing?” Penn asked, pulling away from him almost as soon as he’d started kissing her.

  “I thought this was what you wanted,” Daniel said, bewildered by her resistance.

  She shook her head. “I told you that I didn’t come here for that.”

  “What’s wrong with now? We can just get it over with.”

  “Just get it over with?” Penn laughed and pushed his hand off her back. “How romantic.” She got up and climbed off him while he just stared up in total confusion.

  “Wow. It’s like the Twilight Zone out here. Are you seriously turning down sex?” he asked.

  “No, but I want the mood to be right. It’s been so long since I’ve really had to chase someone down, and when I have you, I want to savor you.”

  “So…” He scratched his head, then got to his feet. “If you didn’t come out today for the whole sex thing, then why are you here?”

  “Daniel, I knew your hearing was messed up, but I didn’t know your listening skills were so bad. I already told you. I came out to see if you’ve healed enough to perform.”

  “I hurt my arm and my ribs, and I have a couple scratches. I think I’ll be okay.”

  She bit her lip. “You only say that because you don’t know what I have in store for you.”

  “When you say stuff like that, you think you’re being flirtatious, but you’re really not,” Daniel said as he smoothed out his shirt and brushed off pine needles and leaves. “Given that I know what you’re capable of, that comes across as more of a threat than innuendo.”

  She laughed. “Since you handled that roll in the grass just fine and seem to be doing so well, I think you’re just about ready for our date. So we should reschedule in…” Penn cocked her head, as if thinking. “One week from today?”

  “A week? But that’s my…” He sighed as it dawned on him. “Birthday. You knew that. That’s why you picked it.”

  “I want to give you the best birthday present ever. And what could be better than a night with me?”

  “Oh, I’m sure I could think of a couple things,” he muttered.

  “Now, Daniel, you shouldn’t say things like that. You wouldn’t want to hurt my feelings, would you? Because if you did, then I might get angry, and I might have to take out some of my rage on your girlfriend and her sister.” She smiled at him as she spoke. “I might even have to kill them.”

  “I’m just keeping it interesting, Penn,” Daniel replied coolly, instead of throwing her to the ground and telling her that if she ever touched Harper, he’d kill her. “I know it’s the thrill of the chase that gets you off, so I can’t make it too easy for you.”

  “That’s why I like you. You know exactly what I want.”

  She leaned into him and kissed him on the mouth. She put one hand on the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair and holding him to her. Then he felt her teeth sinking into his lip. He was about to push her off when she let go and stepped back.

  “Eight o’clock on Wednesday night,” Penn said as she backed away from him. “You and me.”

  “I won’t forget,” he promised her.

  Penn laughed, then turned and ran down to the end of the dock. She dove off and went into the water with hardly a splash.

  He could taste the blood from his lip, and he wiped it away with the back of his hand. His heart pounded in his chest, and he felt like throwing up. Every encounter he had with Penn left him feeling like he needed to shower.

  He was ashamed to admit that a small part of him liked it, which made him crave the shower all the more. As much as he detested Penn, she sparked something in his anatomy that he couldn’t completely control.

  Penn had left his clothes wet and dirty from throwing him on the ground, and he’d have to change before he went down to the theater. He really did want to shower now, but he wasn’t sure he’d have enough time to, so he pulled out his phone to check the clock.

  That’s when he saw he had two missed texts from Harper. In all the commotion with Penn, he hadn’t noticed his phone vibrating.

  But I want to do something special for you, Harper had texted when Penn interrupted.

  Daniel? Are you still there? That was her newest text, the one that came when he didn’t respond.

  Daniel stared down at the phone, unsure of what to say, and feeling worse than he’d ever felt before. While he’d been kissing Penn, Harper had been texting him, completely oblivious to the fact that Daniel was cheating on her.

  He knew he’d do whatever it took to protect Harper, but he didn’t want to betray her like this. She deserved more from him.

  But he knew that if he told Harper about his pac
t to sleep with Penn, she’d try to talk him out of it. She might even succeed. And it wouldn’t be worth it. Saving their relationship would be meaningless if it meant sacrificing Harper and Gemma’s lives.

  I have to go to class. I’ll talk to you later. Love you. Harper texted him as he stared down at his phone, trying to decide not only what to reply to her but also what he should do about the whole situation with Penn.

  In some strange way, that text seemed to solidify his decision. Harper loved him, she trusted him, and she needed him now more than ever. He had to protect her the only way he knew how to, even if it meant that he’d lose her forever.

  Sorry. I love you, too, Daniel replied, and hoped that she truly understood how much.

  FIVE

  Mistaken

  “When will Penn be back?” Liv asked for the thousandth time since Penn had left earlier that afternoon.

  Thea sighed loudly and flipped a page in her script. Her back was against the arm of the couch, so she could rest the book on her legs. A flyaway hair had come loose from her messy bun, and she smoothed it back and tried to ignore Liv.

  “Thea?” Liv said when she didn’t respond.

  “I don’t know,” Thea replied, and made no attempt to mask the annoyance in her voice.

  “But I’m sooo bored,” Liv whined like a small child on the second day of summer vacation. “Can we go swimming, at least?”

  Thea slid lower on the couch, so she was lying on her back, and her knees would block Liv from her field of vision. “You can go swimming with Penn when she gets back.”

  “But you have no idea when she’ll be back?” Liv flicked the TV off and sat sideways on the couch, so she could face Thea fully. “Do you even know where she went?”

  “Nope,” she said, but that wasn’t entirely true. She had a good idea of where Penn had gone, but she didn’t know for certain.

  Penn was being unnecessarily shifty lately. An hour ago, she’d declared that she had to go somewhere and that Thea would have to stay behind with Liv. When Thea reminded her that she had a play rehearsal she needed to get to, Penn just told her that she’d done the play several times before and didn’t need the practice.

  And then Penn dove off the cliff behind their house, crashing into the waves and swimming off, leaving Thea alone with Liv.

  Liv sighed in frustration. “Is this why Gemma doesn’t live with you guys?”

  “Gemma prefers to live with her family.”

  Liv shook her head. “I don’t get that. And I thought I was supposed to be Gemma’s replacement. Why is she still here instead of Lexi?”

  “We already told you. Things changed. Penn’s priorities shifted. Gemma stayed, Lexi’s gone.”

  The breeze outside picked up, blowing salty air in through the broken windows on the back of the house. During the fight last week, Lexi had broken out several windows and damaged a lot of their furniture. New windows were coming in later this week, but for now, Thea taped plastic over them if it got too cold or rained, but today it was nice, and Thea enjoyed the fresh air.

  As for the broken furniture, Thea and Penn hadn’t replaced much of it yet, other than getting a new television. Everything else, they basically just fixed with duct tape and set it back in its place. The entertainment center was cracked, so the TV slanted to one side, and the stuffing was coming out from the cushions on the chairs.

  “Can’t we at least do something fun?” Liv asked.

  “No, we can’t. I’m already missing play rehearsal right now to babysit you. So you can watch TV or entertain yourself while I read my lines.”

  “Babysit?” Liv scoffed. “Why would you even say that? I don’t need a babysitter. I’m eighteen.”

  “I said it because it’s true.” Thea moved her knees to the side, so she could stare directly at Liv. “You need a babysitter.”

  Liv’s mouth dropped, and her eyes were pained. “That’s so mean.”

  “How is it mean?” Thea sat up and set her script aside. “You’ve only been a siren since Friday, and you’ve been nothing but trouble.

  “We went to all the trouble of getting campus housing to move you, so you’d room with Harper,” Thea went on. “As was our plan. Before you even became a siren, Penn told you that we wanted you to keep an eye on Harper. But instead of doing that, you attacked her, then went on a spree and killed three people, including a psych teacher. Penn and I had to drop everything to come clean up your mess.”

  “Oh, that’s no big deal.” Liv waved it off with a smile. “You guys can charm your way out of anything.”

  “No, it is a big deal,” Thea said, trying hard to emphasize her point. “I don’t want to spend all my time disposing of your bodies and washing up your blood. You can’t control yourself, Liv. End of story.”

  “I can control myself just fine. Right now, for example, I’m perfectly composed,” Liv said in her too-sweet voice with a perfect smile plastered on her face. She actually batted her eyes, which made Thea groan.

  “If you don’t like this, it’s your fault,” Thea said. “You said you wanted this. You asked to be a siren. And then we trusted you and left you on your own, and you went batshit and almost ruined everything for us.”

  Liv’s smile fell, and her eyes darkened. “I did not go batshit.”

  “You threw a huge tantrum because you didn’t like the way Harper talked to you. Penn asked you to do one simple thing.” Thea held up one finger to demonstrate. “One thing. She gave you the gift that you wanted, and in turn, she just wanted you to keep tabs on Harper and help find out what Gemma is up to. That’s it. And you couldn’t handle it.”

  “I could handle it,” Liv insisted. “I just didn’t think it was fair.”

  “Well, life isn’t fair.” Thea shrugged. “Get used to it.”

  “I don’t know how you can give me all this power and expect me to do nothing with it. I can change form, and I can control men with my voice.”

  Liv had been getting louder as she spoke, and by the time she stood, she was practically shouting at Thea. Her eyes had changed from their usual dark brown to golden-eagle eyes, and Thea could see the beginnings of her fangs protruding from her mouth.

  “I can kill at my discretion,” Liv said, her voice booming through the living room. All of its sugariness had dissolved. “I decide the fate of everyone I come in contact with. I’m practically a god, and you want me to sit on the couch while you read?”

  Thea said nothing for a minute, almost in shock at the maniacal glint in Liv’s eyes, before finally whispering, “Penn made a terrible mistake with you.”

  With that, Liv dove at her. Thea leaned back, her head resting on the arm of the couch, and Liv hovered over her. She was still mostly human, aside from the many jagged rows of teeth in her mouth. Her face was mere inches above Thea’s, and her eyes were filled with contempt.

  “No, you’re the one who made a mistake,” Liv said, her voice mutated by the monster inside her, making her sound demonic. “I am not some little parakeet you can keep in a cage.”

  “Neither am I,” Thea growled.

  Her hand was around Liv’s throat in a second, her fingers elongating and tightening around Liv’s windpipe—not enough to kill her but enough that Liv could feel her power and strength.

  “You think you’re so powerful, little girl?” Thea asked, and leaned even closer to Liv as her eyes widened in surprise. “I’ve had this power a lot longer than you, and I actually know how to use it. I will not hesitate to rip off your head and spit down your throat if you do not calm the hell down.”

  The back door slammed shut, and Liv instantly retracted her teeth, and her eyes changed back to normal. Thea didn’t let go of her throat, though, so Liv remained hovering over her, even after Thea heard Penn’s wet footsteps on the floor as she walked into the living room.

  “What is going on here?” Penn asked, and Thea finally let go of Liv, allowing her to sit back down on the couch. “I leave for a few hours, and come home to this? I thought I
told you girls to play nice.”

  “We were playing nice,” Liv said sunnily. “Thea and I were just getting to know each other.”

  “Yeah, we were having a real heart-to-heart,” Thea muttered, and sat up straighter on the couch.

  Penn stood to the side of the living room, eyeing the two of them, and said, “It looks like it.”

  “You’re all wet,” Liv said. “Were you out swimming?”

  “I was out taking care of something,” Penn replied, and sat down in a chair, seemingly not caring that her dress was soaking wet and would dampen the furniture.

  “Oh, I was wondering if we could go swimming. Thea said I had to wait until you got back,” Liv said.

  “Maybe later.” Penn smiled briefly at her, then turned her attention to Thea.

  “Because I’ve been sitting inside all afternoon without anything to do—” Liv began, but Penn held up her hand to cut her off.

  “Have you talked to Gemma today?” Penn asked Thea, completely ignoring Liv.

  Thea picked up her script from where she’d set it aside on an end table and pretended to be immersed in it. “She texted me to ask why I wasn’t at rehearsal.”

  “Do you know if she’s still searching for the scroll?” Penn asked as she combed her fingers through her long hair.

  Thea kept her eyes fixed on the page and her face as expressionless as possible when she said, “She hasn’t said anything lately.”

  “What scroll?” Liv asked.

  Penn glared at her. “The scroll you were supposed to be watching out for. Remember? Back when the plan was for you to stay with Harper and make sure she didn’t figure out how to kill us all. You were supposed to find out what she knew about the scroll, but instead, you threw a fit, and now you’re here.”

  “Oh.” Liv paused. “That scroll.”

  “Yes, that one,” Penn said, and rolled her eyes.

  “But … you guys still have it, right?” Liv asked.