Sam stood beside his father, who sat patiently waiting on his throne. His mother had whisked Whitney away since she had been standing in front of everyone wearing only a sheet. Sam was thankful, as he didn’t want anyone to see more of her than he had, but he was a bit disappointed he couldn’t go with her. His father sat beside him, silently watching the crowd that chit-chatted as they waited. Time seemed to tick by slower than humanly possible as he stood there in silence.
Sam was happy that his plan worked. Whitney would be joining the clan since he survived the trial by fire, and it hadn’t been as bad as he imagined it would be. Getting red hot coals dropped on your fin wasn’t a pleasant experience by far, but with his bond with Whitney already in place, they healed almost instantly. He wouldn’t have been able to survive it without her.
Using their bond to heal him as a sign of divine intervention, Sam had to admit that there was something that had made it all possible. It was a great coincidence he had fed from Whitney so close to her feeding from him, allowing them to be able to bond. More importantly, they were harboring enough feelings toward each other secretly for the bond to actually work. Night human bonds were based on love, whether you knew it or not. Luckily they both felt it, and it worked perfectly. The outcome would have been completely different if it had not worked.
Sam hadn’t set out to make a night human, but he couldn’t complain about the results. There had been no one on the island—or in the merworld, for that matter—he was willing to bond to before Whitney. I’m lucky I’ll never have to say that out loud to the siren, he thought. He had his mate now, and there was nothing that could be done about it. Well, technically his father could still change his mind about allowing her to be part of the clan. He was king, after all, and could do whatever he wanted.
Glancing down, Sam found his father still sitting stoically, watching the crowd. The self-proclaimed perfect king was a patient man. Normally, Sam could match his father’s patience, but something about Whitney made that hard to do. He felt exposed with her away from him where he couldn’t protect her. Yes, she was part of the clan now, but that meant very little to a lot of them. The siren only protected those in the clan when faced with outsiders. Otherwise, they were ruthless.
Whitney returned to the room, entering behind Sam’s mother. As the queen stepped aside, Sam’s breath caught in his throat. Whitney stood shyly beside the queen, almost like she wanted to disappear. Sam couldn’t take his eyes off her. She was dressed simply, but it was the sparkle beneath her skin that kept Sam’s eyes on her. He had only seen it before when she transformed into a siren, but now with his dad really accepting her into the clan, her siren lines were visible in her human form as well. Sam knew there was nothing more to worry about—she was part of the clan; the marks were proof.
Standing to go around the throne, Sam was stopped in his tracks when his father stood and made it impossible for him to go over to Whitney.
“You better not make me regret this decision,” Sam’s father whispered in his ear. He wasn’t threatening him, but stating a fact.
Not replying, Sam waited for his father to move. That was so like the king. When Sam was finally feeling relief that she had been allowed to join, he was reminded that it didn’t make a difference. The siren were still the siren, and his father was still king. As long as they lived like they did, Whitney was never going to be safe with them. Some might accept her, but many would not, and she would always have a target on her. So much for being one big, happy family.
The king moved forward, and Sam was free to go to Whitney’s side. Sam hurried over to his new mate; he didn’t need to be asked twice. His father began talking, and he tuned the old man out. It wasn’t like he hadn’t heard the same speech a hundred times already. Reaching forward, Sam took Whitney’s hands in his. He tried to tone down his worry of everything. Her eyes were questioning what she felt from him already. He would keep her safe. That was his job. After all, he was her mate, and the whole clan would have to at least respect that, or they would find him their worst enemy. Sam had brought her into the siren world, and he was never going to let her go now.
The party was in full swing, and Whitney was having a blast meeting all the new people. Mostly they seemed to welcome her. A few even seemed to be in awe. One little girl in particular told Whitney that her fin was her favorite color, and she wanted to know the secret of how to get one like that. Sam was an expert in leading her around to the groups that would welcome her, and avoiding ones like Amber and her disgruntled family.
Whitney ignored the death stares from Amber’s camp. She’d spent years with people giving her those same hateful looks growing up. It was nothing new and nothing she could change. Besides, Whitney hadn’t asked to be a siren. Sam had done that, and he wasn’t getting a single “I want to kill you with my eyes” look from them.
“When will we get to the part where you show me around the island, so we get some alone time?” Whitney asked.
The sirens really did like to party. From what she could tell it was getting close to sunrise, which would mean their party had been going on for almost five hours straight. You’d think with such a small population on a little island there wouldn’t be as much to talk about, but everyone was still going strong.
“As soon as I can get you away. It seems like my father doesn’t want that to happen yet,” Sam replied, keeping a tight hold around her waist so that she was hip to hip with him.
Sam nodded his head toward his father, and Whitney could make out the pathway behind him, which must have been the way out of the private beach they were all at. Smiling, the king nodded back to Sam like he knew that they wanted to leave, yet he still didn’t move from his spot in front of the exit.
“He can be difficult about these things,” Sam complained sourly. Now she saw that while he didn’t get along with his father, there was respect there.
“Can we sneak by him?” Whitney suggested.
Yes, meeting all the sirens was important, but she was exhausted and just wanted to be alone with Sam. There were so many questions she needed to ask and things she wanted to see. So far her trip to the siren island was via being kidnapped and tied to a chair all night. Not the best first impression of her new world. She had a feeling Sam would show her the better parts and not make her regret her decision to stay with him.
Sam grinned. “I like how you think.”
He slid his hand off her waist and took her hand in his. Weaving between the guests, Sam made it to the edge of the party and began leading them around the group of people who seemed content to stand around and talk all night long. They approached from behind, hoping Sam’s father, the king, would miss them as they snuck by.
“Leaving before sunrise?” the king asked, not turning around, but catching them anyway. “Ready to head back to land already?”
“I’m tired since I was basically kidnapped last night.” Whitney paused. She hadn’t thought about going back to the mainland, and it all came crashing back. “My aunt and cousin … they’ve probably called the police by now.” She was beginning to have a panic attack. One of the most important rules for sirens was that they had to keep being one a secret. There wasn’t going to be any secrets if her aunt thought something happened to her.
Aunt Marissa was more laid back than most adults, but she never went more than twenty-four hours without checking on her and her younger cousin at least once. She did it even if she wasn’t at home because she was a workaholic.
The king finally turned to them and smiled.
“It’s not a problem. Your aunt thinks you’re at your friend’s house all weekend. As long as you’re back by Monday morning, no one will know the difference.”
Sam nodded with his father’s assurance. He probably set it up himself. That instantly calmed Whitney down.
“Trudy is covering for you,” Sam added, which made her heartbeat slow down to completely normal, and her panic subsided.
Trudy was a close friend and helped her out often in the past year in making up excuses to not be home. Trudy, Tina, James, and Noah had been lifesavers since moving to the new town a year ago, and they were her only true friends. The best part of their friendship now that Whitney was part of the merworld, she was let in on the secret that all four of her close friends were all sirens. She hadn’t suspected a thing.
“Father, may we leave and get some rest before heading back to land?” Sam asked, bowing his head respectfully to the older man.
The king looked surprised; whether at the words or the actions, Whitney couldn’t tell.
Sam had made it clear that he disliked his father and most of the island siren, and Whitney was pretty sure that the king knew how much Sam disliked everything around him. But then again, how could Whitney blame Sam? The king basically abandoned Sam when he was barely a teen and left him to find his way home. While the rest of the siren came of age as late teens, Sam was forced to grow up at thirteen. To say things were tense between them was an understatement. So far Whitney had seen that Sam wasn’t one to offer up much respect toward the king when they were having a private conversation.
“Whitney will head back at sunset, but not you, Sam. The second half of your punishment for breaking siren law is that you are to remain on the island until I see fit.”
Sam’s face mirrored Whitney’s own shock. They’d been through enough already to just be together now. She had been kidnapped not even twenty-four hours ago and almost sentenced to death for Sam turning her into a night human. His perfect plan of offering to prove she was meant to be a siren through trial by fire saved them. She had been accepted. She was part of the siren clan now. Whitney had thought it was the end of their troubles.
They were supposed to get their happily ever after, but now she was to head back to land without him. That wasn’t what she wanted or thought she was going to get. Finding her mate was beyond anything she had expected, she grew up her whole life being told there would be no one for her. Great, she had him, but now she had to be without him. How in the world did that make sense? It wasn’t fair. Whitney gritted her teeth to keep from crying in front of the majestic man who was solemnly watching his son.
“Father,” Sam tried to complain. The feelings running through Whitney were mirrored in him. In fact, Whitney wasn’t sure if the turmoil of sadness and anger all balled into one was from him, herself, or them combined since the bond was it strongest when they were touching as they were now, holding hands. “They need me there on land. I have a job to do.”
Sam wasn’t keeping his anger hidden as he talked; it grew behind his eyes. He was just as happy to have Whitney as she was to have him, and he didn’t want to be without her for any reason.
‘He can’t do this,’ Sam told her silently. ‘Newly mated couples are supposed to spend at least the first year never far apart. The bond makes it hard to go without the other person. It can be physically painful to keep the newly bonded apart too long.’ Sam was calmly explaining it to her as he was seething at his father.
The king shrugged. “I can send someone else in your place for now while you stay here and try to remember our laws, since you seem to have a hard time following them.”
“But—” Sam complained more. His head was raised, and the defiant attitude he held toward his dad was back. The respect was quickly gone.
Moving closer, the king stared at Sam harshly. As much as the older man was calm externally, Whitney got the sense that he was better at hiding his emotions than Sam was. Sam was playing with fire, and if he wasn’t careful, the old king might react more than they wanted.
‘Don’t think I didn’t know what game you were playing with that trial. I know perfectly well how the gods helped you. Don’t make me regret going along with it so you would actually take a mate. Now, you’ll do as I say and that’s the end of it.’ The king’s voice drifted silently into Sam’s head, and Whitney heard his words through the bond.
Whitney felt the power of the king resonate through his words. He wasn’t threatening them outright, but it was close enough. A man who had no problems putting hot coals on his son to torture him wasn’t a man you wanted to mess with.
Power was flowing freely around them, and Whitney felt it. She shivered when the king turned back to the guests and walked away without waiting for a response. More than a few eyes were watching the exchange, but they all quickly looked away when the king left. The king was in charge, and she got that part. Sam’s face was set in stone, hiding the anger beneath. He didn’t like the order any more than Whitney. Just the thought of being apart made her sick to her stomach. She still had hundreds of questions to ask him, and now she was going back without him. Nope, that wasn’t the ending she had been hoping for, and it surely wasn’t happily ever after like she wanted.
The dark sky began to turn brilliant colors by the time Whitney had walked back with Sam to his house. Upon joining the community as an adult, each of the siren were given their own home. Sam had been living on his own since he was thirteen. They had enough time to climb up onto the roof and see the sparkling rays of the sunrise as they hit the water. While it was strange to hear the water sing, especially the first time, it was magical to hear the song change with the sunlight dancing across the surface. Whitney had been to a couple live musical shows with her mother before she died, and it quickly reminded her of that with all the movement and music. Her mother would have loved to be a siren. Whitney felt a twinge of sadness as thoughts of her mother drifted into her mind. Though it had only been a little over a year since her parents had died, it was feeling more like a lifetime ago.
“Tell me about her,” Sam said from beside her. They were both laying back on the incline of the roof with a perfect view of the ocean. “I can feel the love you have for your family. It was never like that for me. I just wonder what it’s like.”
Turning slightly, Whitney smiled at him. The faint lines of his siren form were visible on his skin. She had so many questions for him she wanted to talk about instead, but she knew from the bond that he was truly interested in hearing about her mother.
“You know, when I had her, I would have never admitted how much I loved her. We used to fight over everything—clothing, hair, boys. Everything.” Whitney watched as sunshine glinted off the water and skipped across the surface like a trained dancer. “Now I’d give anything to have her back nagging me about it all. It sucks that there are no second chances in life.”
Reaching over, Sam touched her face. “I dunno if I would say that. Look at you. You’re a night human again. Seems like a second chance to me,” Sam said, expertly changing the subject as her heart grew heavier. He was protecting her again, this time from her own feelings.
Whitney smiled at him and his effort. “I’m not exactly sure I’d call being a night human again a second chance. Especially with a clan that half hates me while the other half seems to not care.”
Sam pretended to pout. They both knew that was more than had liked her before she changed.
“If you didn’t become a night human again, how would you get a second chance at having a mate like me?”
Whitney shook her head. That was a second chance. Over a year ago she had met a seer who told her she would find her mate in someone she had already met. After leaving home and moving in with her aunt, Whitney kind of believed her chance at finding true love was over. Mates were something special to the night human world. It wasn’t a day human thing, and she was certainly a day human now. As Sam laid there next to her, she realized she was wrong about getting a mate. She didn’t need the bond to reassure her. He was her mate and perfect for her.
“So this whole siren thing. Do we ever sleep?” she asked. She didn’t feel any of the exhaustion she should have after being up for a full day’s worth of excitement. And she hadn’t really gotten a good night’s sleep the night before when she had been kidnapped.
Sam grinned. “That I would say is one perk. We typically only need a few hours of sleep. And being a mer means we don’t have to worry about sunlight, either.”
Many of the night human clans would die from sun exposure. Whitney’s old clan wasn’t sensitive to sunlight, and she hadn’t even thought about it when she had been turned into a siren. That would have stunk because even though she wasn’t into the tanning thing, she was into sitting on the beach.
“So what else do I need to know? Like, why can I see the siren markings on you now?”
Sam reached forward and brushed his finger over her shoulder. “Like these?”
Looking down, she saw her own markings were also visible. “Yes, like these.” She stared at them in awe. Being a night human should have come with a manual. There were so many questions swirling in her head, and she was bound to forget more than half of them.
“Your lines are visible to everyone who joins the clan. Now you can tell on sight who’s a friendly merperson to you.”
That, too, was helpful to know.
“Okay, let me rephrase that,” Sam amended. “Those lines tell you who’s loyal to my father. The siren aren’t the kindest of species, even to each other. So friendly is the wrong word. The lines tell you who belongs to my father and who he keeps track of. They might or might not be friendly to you, but they will be siren.”
Whitney nodded, not quite sure what to make of the honest answer. “Possibly friendly, possibly not. Right. So clear now.”
Sam laughed, and Whitney didn’t have the heart to tell him she was only half serious. She really was going to need time to adjust to all of it. She had a whole lifetime of knowledge to learn, and it already seemed a bit daunting.
“Let’s head back inside,” Sam suggested as the sun now hung above the ocean in the sky.
Whitney followed him back down the ladder to the front door. When he opened the handle without a lock, Whitney had to assume the island was relatively safe if you didn’t need to lock doors. Sam led the way into the living room and past the kitchen where she had been held prisoner. It was kind of ironic if you thought about it, that she had been held prisoner in his house of all places. Through the doorway at the end of the hallway, Whitney could immediately tell why you didn’t need a lock on the front door with the open windows and an open double door that led onto a patio in the back, which was surrounded by flowers. In the center of the patio was a basin almost as big as a hot tub.
“How about we talk while in water?” Sam suggested, leading her over to the tub. “I know you just had a good soaking while everything was going on, but I’m more than a little parched. It almost feels like my fin might peel off me.”
Whitney’s mouth dropped open. He was making jokes already about what he went through. She couldn’t believe it. His father had dropped burning hot coals on Sam’s fin only hours ago, making layers and layers peel away, and Sam was joking. He really was. Sam laughed at her reaction.
“Come on.” Scooping her into his arms, he marched the last few feet over to the water to dump her before she had a chance to react. He paused with her just above the water.
“Samuel, you better not,” Whitney tried to scold using his full name.
Sam’s grin seemed to grow wider at her attempt at authority. “Normally I’d say hold your breath, but since I know you don’t need to …” Sam dropped her before saying anything further.
Whitney kept her fin away, refusing to transform, and stood in the water with the dress his mother had given her now soaked.
“I figured it would be nice to just let your fin out, but I really like that look.”
Whitney glanced down and realized in shock that the pale pink dress was as good as wearing white in water. It was completely see-through. Sliding into the water, she let her body transform into her mer form with her bright pink tail. There was plenty of room in the tub to sit and stretch out fully in her night human form.
“Thanks a lot,” Whitney was sarcastic, but not the least bit mad at him. Part of being with Sam was the fighting, and she loved every minute of it. From his grin, she could tell he did, too.
“Now that we can rehydrate,” Sam told her, sliding into the water beside her and turning into his siren form a lot more gracefully than her dump in the water, “we can get back to the questions. I know your head is swimming with them.”
Whitney tried to pull her concentration away from the swirling lines on his chest, which led down to the beautiful blue fin he had. It was mesmerizing as the sunlight that peeked through the open windows made it sparkle in places. She looked him up and down, her gaze going from his beautiful tail and up his well-defined chest before she landed on his smiling face.
“Um … what were you saying?” she asked when it finally hit her that he had said something and was waiting for an answer. She’d completely missed it.
“You said you have a lot of questions,” he prompted with merriment in his eyes.
Her cheeks heated as her thoughts were more on him than being a mer, and she momentarily couldn’t think of a single question even after he reminded her. Her reddened cheeks seemed to just make Sam happier as he laughed and slid closer to her. Whitney hid her face behind her hands and sunk beneath the surface of the water to hide the shades of red she was becoming. After a moment, Sam also slid down in the water, still keeping close to her.
‘I laugh because it’s great that I can affect you as much as you have been doing me for months and months,’ Sam told her mentally. The bond made it impossible for her to get away; she had planned for the water to block out all noise.
‘Affect you? Impossible.’ There wasn’t a single time she ever felt she had caught his eye in the past year. Even at swim lessons, he seemed more distracted with people stopping by or his phone.
Sam shrugged. ‘I faked all that. I was never distracted by anything but you.’
Scenes from the last year—which showed everything from Sam’s point of view—flashed before her eyes. She had never caught him watching her as she snuck peeks at him, but he had more than enough memories for her to be certain he had been watching her just as much, if not more than she had been watching him. It was weird to have his version of the last year float before her eyes. All those missed moments were strange to see from his point of view, but very cute, too. There was so much time they spent sneaking looks at each other, and now that would be gone. Reality was he wasn’t going back with her, and that was painful to think about.
‘I know, and I’m sorry.’ Sam pulled her hands from her face.
Whitney kept her eyes scrunched shut. He could feel her feelings across the bond, but that didn’t mean she could look him in the eyes right now. They’d been sort of friends for only a year, but the feelings inside of her were so strong. She didn’t want to admit how bad it felt to know she was leaving him behind on the island while she returned to the mainland alone.
‘Can I just stay here with you?’ She finally peeked at him. It was strange to be underwater and talking, but at the same time, it felt completely natural. His hair floated a little, and she watched it rather than his eyes as she already knew the answer he’d have to give.
‘You know I’d keep you here in a heartbeat if I could. But I’m sure you have to go back. It would be strange for you to leave or disappear right now. No one would suspect you of being a night human, but they might think you were killed by one. You going back keeps the sirens on the mainland safe, and as much as I want you with me, I want you on the mainland, too. That is your place, and I won’t let it be taken from you.’
Whitney knew he was right. She had to go home, and it was beyond unfair. The worst part was knowing Sam was being held on the island while he hated it there. However, from what she could see, she had no idea why he could hate it—it was a tropical paradise that was free of anyone they had to hide from.
‘A tropical paradise that’s filled with piranhas,’ Sam added.
Whitney knew from his words and the matching picture in his mind that he was referring to all the sirens on the island.
‘They can’t be that bad.’
‘Oh, they are much worse. I’d rather meet a school of real piranhas in a lake I couldn’t leave than be stuck with these people. They’ll be your best friend one minute, but then stab you in the back the first chance they get if it means it’ll help them climb the ladder of power. I can’t even count the number of people in my life that became my friend because of my title and not who I really am.’
With a shake of her head, Whitney pushed back up to break the surface of the water. They couldn’t really be that bad. Her siren friends were very nice, and she was happy now that they didn’t have to hide this part of their lives from her. Sam had to be exaggerating.
He reached back up and pulled her under the water to kiss her lips. Yes, he had to be exaggerating. Whitney was finding the siren not that bad, if you didn’t count Tim or Amber who both had tried to kill her. The rest of them didn’t seem anything more than curious about her. Oh yeah, and one siren, in particular, was very nice to be around.
Sam floated back as her silent thoughts were transferred to him. He grinned at her and didn’t say a word as he tugged her back to him. And he didn’t have to. Whitney had her siren mate now, and she could feel everything he felt, too. Her new world was strange and changing every moment. As scary as it could have been, it was also exciting, and she didn’t want this particular moment to end.
Tucking the comments about the siren away, along with her list of questions for Sam, she decided getting lost in his kiss was a better use of her time.