Standing on the pier, Sam watched while Whitney moved out of the way and a fish darted past her. She was a bright student and caught on quickly. If she was allowed to join the guard like she wanted, she would have been one of the top people in the group by now. But all she was allowed to do was train. She had a new role to play, just like him, and being part of the guard wasn’t it. He was fine with the idea that she would never have to go on patrols. She would learn how to protect herself and not be put in danger when assigned protection duty in the waters around the island. Really, he could live with that, and it was even better that his father suggested it as Sam didn’t have to take the blame for holding her back, even if he agreed.
“See? I knew if you explained the trick to that one to her, she’d be fine,” Sam’s older brother, Nic, said as he watched beside Sam. He was the one officially training Whitney as Sam was busy with his father now.
“I didn’t tell her,” Sam replied as he watched her move out of the way of the second fish. Just yesterday it would have at least nicked her arm. She’d figured it out herself, and he wasn’t about to take credit for it.
Nic returned his gaze to the water also as they continued to watch. Ducking and dodging at just the right time came naturally for the new siren. It had only been a few months since she’d been turned, but she was perfect in the water, a complete natural. He had a feeling her background as a night human might have helped her change progress, but then again it could have just been because she was who she was. Nothing seemed to stop Whitney when she put her mind to it. Whitney had made it through all the obstacles and was already on her way to ding the bell.
“Man, that took you years to figure out, and she did it in one week. Are you sure you’re higher up than her?” Nic teased. “I think your mate has you beat.”
No one knew that Whitney was a stronger siren than Sam, or the king for that matter. They had kept it a secret, and he made sure she had complete control before she began working with Nic. No one was going to find out where she ranked now. Sam had a feeling his father suspected something after the fight on the island, but she’d played the part of a subordinate since they’d come back to the island and no one could prove otherwise.
Whitney had taken to being a siren like a natural even though she complained about not knowing how to do anything. All it took her was a little practice, and she could do anything Sam taught her. In the two months, they had been on the island full time, she had grown strong enough to be one of the top siren, and everyone knew it even without knowing the real truth of her power.
It was hard to get Whitney to say good-bye to her mainland life, but it was for the best. She still went back to check on her aunt and cousin twice a week, but she was now living on the island full time with Sam. Her family and friends didn’t know she was gone the rest of the time, and with Sam’s help, they didn’t even notice she was gone. She did agree it was better for them since they were all day humans. War was coming, and she needed to be with Sam, her mate. And now he was more set on staying on the island, and so was she. It was the one truly protected place for them, and they needed to stay protected. From all their intel, it looked like most of the mer were slowly siding with the Lara and Undines, and declaring war on the siren.
Whitney poked her head out of the water as the bell rang. She was through the course in record time. Heck, she had probably beat Sam’s best. It was like she was magic. She could move as graceful as any mer underwater, but there was power behind her not even the best could match. Sam had a feeling that some of her previous night human was leaking through. She had been a cat for many years, and now a siren. Sam didn’t need to worry about her safety. She was a force to be reckoned with.
Whitney waved and blew him a kiss.
‘3:28,’ she told him mentally. Their connection was permanent on the island and easier than ever. ‘Two more seconds, and I’ll beat your best.’
‘So who told you how to get past the fish at the middle part?’ Sam already knew the answer, but he had to ask anyway just in case of the very slim possibility someone had told her the trick.
‘No one, silly. I did what you said and thought more about it. It made sense that they couldn’t turn as quick as me and that if I got them going to the right with enough speed, I could fake them out,’ Whitney replied, ducking into the water and swimming back over to the pier where Sam waited with Nic.
“Are you going to run her through the land drills again tonight, or is she done?” Sam asked Nic. He wasn’t a big fan of any of his family, but now they all treated him differently. With the change in character, Sam now trusted them and had complete faith in Nic to train Whitney to use her siren skills while he was in the water and on land, since Sam hadn’t had time to show her yet.
“Again? I’d prefer to not get my butt handed to me by a girl one more time tonight. I’ve no idea where you found this one, Sam, but you’re one lucky guy.”
Nic patted the back of Sam’s shoulder as he reached down to pull Whitney from the ocean. It was strange to have his brothers be genuinely nice to him, and he still wasn’t used to it. It had been weeks now, and they were still treating him better than they had his whole life.
“3:25,” Nic told Whitney, who was now standing next to Sam’s brother in a short, pale yellow dress that seemed to make her skin glow more than usual. Whitney appeared confused. “I didn’t say go quick enough,” Nic explained. “The clock ran three seconds before I gave you the signal. Therefore, your time is actually three seconds quicker.”
Grinning, Whitney hugged Nic.
Sam coughed to remind her that she was hugging another siren in front of him. Not that he would ever be really jealous of his brother. Whitney was more than his.
“Don’t get jealous, you big oaf,” she said, patting Sam’s chest. “Everyone knows I’m yours.”
That much was true, but it didn’t mean he liked to see her hug his brother. Friendly or not, it was still another man she had thrown her arms around.
“So, we are done for today,” Nic replied, picking up his dropped timer and making his way off the pier.
“No sparring?” Whitney asked after him as he walked away. She sounded disappointed.
“Not unless you want me as your opponent,” Sam replied, catching her in his arms and nuzzling into her neck. She melted into his touch, and that made him want to throw her over his shoulder and march home with her. Whitney laughed as he moved to do just that.
“Sam. I have a dress on,” she complained, pulling at the hem with her free hand.
He contemplated if it was worth setting her down or not. She also had underwear on, and he was sure it was quicker to just carry her back to their home. Whitney pounded on his back while she giggled. She wasn’t really protesting too much. He had seen her training in the past few months, and she easily could get down if she wanted to. Heck, she’d probably have him in a headlock by now if she were truly angry.
A cough behind him made him stop in his tracks. Sam didn’t need to turn around to know his mother was on the end of the pier.
“Samuel, is that any way for the future king to be treating the future queen?” she scolded him.
Sam set Whitney back down, and her cheeks flamed red. She was having just as much fun as he was, and it was rare now that they were allowed to have fun. It was like his mother knew when they were acting their age and appeared to tell them to behave. And since he took his father’s offer to be the heir to the siren throne, Sam had to listen to his mother. He thought being king would give him more power to do as he wished, when he wished, but in moments like these, he felt like he had less control over what he desired. Right now all he wanted to do was haul Whitney away and pretend like the mer world wasn’t on the brink of war against the siren, with odds that weren’t in their favor.
Whitney snuggled into Sam’s warm arms. Yes, the island was hot and getting hotter as summer approached, but there was something different about the warmth from Sam. It felt good to be roasting in his arms. Maybe because she had thrown the covers off during the night and was chilled from the breeze. Warm or not, it was still air blowing on her. Sam’s arms tightened around her as he continued to sleep. Whitney smiled. Even in his sleep, Sam was protecting her. That was just the way he was.
Slowly, she was getting used to life on the island. It had taken a bit of an adjustment when Sam told her she would have to move there, and she might not have talked to him—out loud or mentally—for a few days, but that was behind her now. She accepted that the island was where she was supposed to be. After all, she was a siren, and everything she needed to learn to survive was taught on the island. The siren that went to the shore as teens did it just as a way to learn about day humans. They had to know how to walk amongst day humans without being suspected of being a night human when going for food. Whitney didn’t need those lessons. She needed to learn what the siren kids were all taught before they left. Luckily, Sam’s mother was the one teaching her or she would have had to be in a classroom with a bunch of preteens.
“Need more sleep,” Sam told her. He knew she was awake. How he always knew was beyond Whitney.
“Actually, I feel great and might go for a walk.” Whitney sat up now that his arm around her loosened.
“Not without me, and I want to take a dip in the pool first.”
Whitney laughed. It was such a day human thing to want to wash up in the morning, but his reasons weren’t the same. Sam preferred to let his mer side out first thing in the morning because he claimed it gave him more control throughout the day. She wasn’t sure if she agreed, but she was still training every day and spent more than a few hours in the water, so it was never an issue for her. Sam didn’t get the chance to be in his night human form often at all now. His father had him working from morning until late at night. What they were doing was beyond her, but Whitney understood his need to swim.
“Fine,” she replied, like his dip in the pool was going to interrupt her unmade plans.
“Race you.” Sam bounded out of the bed as if he hadn’t just been completely asleep and was out the bedroom’s patio door before Whitney stood up.
Laughing, Whitney rose and followed him in time to see his blue fin burst out of nowhere as soon as his hands hit the water from his high dive into the pool behind his house. Part of getting used to the island was accepting the incredible place where she was now living. It was a tropical paradise, and practically every house had a pool. Sam’s was right outside his bedroom for moments just like the one they were having.
Stepping over to the edge of the pool, Whitney peered down into the blue-looking water. Sam had the interior of his pool painted a deep blue, and beyond his sun-kissed skin, it was hard to make out the rest of him in the water as his tail matched perfectly.
‘The water’s great. Aren’t you coming in?’ Sam asked mentally.
Sure, she was going to go in, but it was still fun to just stare at him. Even now, after finally getting over the newness of being a mer, Whitney still found Sam enjoyable to stare at. And the best part of all was that he was hers forever. She was pretty sure she was never going to get used to that.
With a graceful step, Whitney plunged into the cool pool water, instantly letting out her night human side. It was wonderful that they didn’t have to worry about heated pools in the winter time. Their night human side would keep them warm no matter what, and really the water wasn’t too cold because the island was never cold.
Whitney didn’t get a minute to look around as Sam came over and wrapped her in his arms. It was the perfect life. Whitney wished it could always stay like this. He grinned at her as he obviously read her mind. Coming back to the surface with their arms still wrapped around each other, Whitney sighed as she caught sight of someone standing just inside the bedroom. Perfect life was going to have to wait, and so was the stroll through town.
“Your father requests your presence.” The young mer’s voice squeaked as he spoke. Dean was barely old enough to be done with his studies and working on the island. Whitney knew the teen was the favorite to send on running errands for the king because he was the fastest of all the young men working for him, but that didn’t make the boy any more confident. He always looked at Sam like he was waiting for him to strike him down for doing something wrong.
“Tell my father I need at least ten more minutes to soak, unless he wants to deal with my siren side not being happy.” Sam pulled Whitney back into the water with him.
‘He’s not going to be happy,’ Whitney told Sam silently.
‘He’s going to have to wait. I haven’t been in the water since yesterday morning. The old man has me doing too much, and if he wants me to continue, he’s going to have to back off, stop waking me up, and ordering me to his side when I should have time with my mate.’
Whitney loved his reasoning, but the king didn’t like to be kept waiting. Pushing her way back up to the surface, she found Dean still standing there.
“He asked me to make sure you come with Sam,” Dean added.
Whitney nodded as she pulled herself up to sit on the edge of the pool, her pink tail flicking in the water at Sam. Dean stared at her unique scales before realizing she was watching him. His face flamed red, and he hurried out of Sam’s house, back the way he came.
“Why do they all still act like I’m odd?” Whitney asked Sam as he swam over to her.
“Because you are odd. That’s what I like best about you.” Sam reached up to pull her back into the water.
“Not a chance. I’m going to get a shower in while you soak. I’m not showing up for a second time this week looking like a drowned rat because you won’t let me leave the pool with enough time to get a shower in.” Whitney pulled back her legs and stood up.
“Only the second time?” Sam raised an eyebrow. It would be more like the fourth time, but Whitney wasn’t counting the other two. At least then the king hadn’t summoned her, so she could have stayed back to shower and chose not to.
Whitney hurried away before Sam could use his charm to get her back in the water. It wasn’t like she wanted to be away from him. The bond made it nearly impossible to drag themselves apart, but she was getting stronger at it. They had to, after all. Sam had a job to do, and she needed to train. It was nice Sam liked to protect her, but Whitney was more than set on protecting herself.
Lathering up the soap and cleaning her hair, Whitney continued to think of how different everything in her life was. The one thing that wasn’t different was Sam. He seemed unhappier than Whitney was at being on the island. She could tell he wasn’t just missing the long swims in the water that his father kept him from, but he was also missing the shore. She thought it was the singing at his concerts and large crowds that threw themselves at him at first, but she knew now it wasn’t his singing career he missed. He missed just being a normal person. On the island, they were anything but normal with Sam as the heir to the throne, and Whitney, his prized pink-tailed mate. Normal did sound a bit tempting her though, and Whitney was ready to get a break from this new life. But that break wouldn’t come until they dealt with the growing dissent in the merworld around them.
Whitney headed out of the bathroom and back into the bedroom to dress for the day. Sam was still out in the pool soaking. He really needed it, too. He had been growing crankier as the days went by and his time in the water was being cut down to minutes each day. Slipping on a summer dress and flip-flops, she was relieved to have time to dry her hair.
As the warm wind of the blow-dryer blew on her head, Whitney closed her eyes and just listened to the world around her. The sound of the dryer was white noise and did nothing to cover up her night human sense of hearing. Her new senses had developed more as she had been on the island. Now her sight was perfect—she could actually see farther than she knew was possible—and her hearing was even better. She liked to practice picking out certain people on the island and seeing if she could hear them.
It didn’t take much to hone in on the king. His voice always boomed when he was excited or agitated, and while she still didn’t have a connection to him, she could tell when he was mad or happy. Something made her mind wander to where he was.
“And the second section?” he asked, his voice not yet yelling, but there was anger behind it.
“Closed off. Two of the patrols were attacked, and only four siren made it back. This time it was the Caesg,” someone reported to him.
Whitney didn’t have every voice on the island down, so she was unsure who it was.
“The Caesg have joined the rebellion now, too?” The king seemed shocked. “First the Lara and Mavkas—I expected that much. Neither one has been happy for centuries. The Undine was a surprise. But the Rusalka, Melusine, and now the Caesg?”
“Father, we knew this was coming. It was one of the predictions we’ve been working on,” a softer voice replied. That had to be Ken. He didn’t speak loudly.
Whitney couldn’t be completely certain, but he was always the quiet one of Sam’s older brothers. While he didn’t say much, when he did he made it count. Actually, Whitney saw Ken as the smart brother of the group. He liked to think before acting, which was very out of character for Sam’s family.
“Listening in on someone?” Sam asked as he wrapped his arms around Whitney’s waist.
She snapped back to the bedroom and shut off the blow-dryer. Her hair was already dry, but she was so interested to know what was going on she hadn’t stopped.
“Seems the Caesg have now joined in on blockading the island,” Whitney explained. She didn’t need to keep anything from Sam. He would be told anyway, and if he really wanted to know, he could always go into her mind.
Sam shrugged as he pulled a shirt on. Whitney was only a little disappointed. The blue lines that shimmered up his torso were hidden from view. He might not have needed his singing career, but she was more than sure there were dozens of girls that longed to see him like this. One more perk of being on the island.
“I expected no less,” he replied, not shocked.
Sam was more of an “expect the worst and plan accordingly” type of guy. The old king might have been that way at one time, but now he had a more rose-colored view of the mer world. Sam claimed that came from being on top too long and never leaving the island, but Whitney wasn’t sure. His father seemed as sharp as ever, and she had a feeling it had more to do with his son, Tim—Sam’s evil older brother—joining the rebellion.
“Apparently, they’ve blocked off sector two,” Whitney explained further. She wasn’t completely sure on all the details of protection, but she felt there couldn’t be much more left to close off. “So how long before they’ve completely closed off the island?”
Sam paused as he was slipping into his shoes.
“Not long. If I suspect right, they probably already have the Lobesta moving in to block the last.” Reaching down, Sam pulled his shoes on before standing and offering his hand to her. Whitney accepted. They didn’t go much of anywhere these days without touching each other.
“Why the Lobesta, and not the Merrow or Selkie?”
They began their walk across the island. Sam had purposely picked a house as far away from his father as possible, but now he had to hike across town every day to get to his new job. Whitney found it funnily ironic, but Sam didn’t quite see the humor in it.
“The Selkie will stay out of it until they have no choice.”
“But they helped us not even months ago,” Whitney interjected.
“Because they owed me a favor. They repaid it, and now they will stay away. Their leader doesn’t want to be involved in too much as they like to stay isolated up at the north. In fact, I would be surprised if they even care about what’s going on. They like their ice water and hate the tropics, so I don’t see them coming back soon.”
“And the Merrow?”
Sam nodded to someone who bowed to them as they passed. “The Merrow won’t join either side. I’m sure of that. If needed, they will go inland and live in lakes and rivers to avoid it. They don’t fight. They didn’t in the night human wars, and I know they won’t now. Everyone pictures night humans as evil, blood-sucking monsters, but some are nothing like that. The Merrow are nothing like that.”
Whitney nodded. She still had much to learn about all the different clans. They had been going over how to tell them apart, which she did think was the most important thing to know, but she didn’t know the specifics—like the Merrow loving peace. She never had heard of a kind night human race before. Night humans were supposed to be the monsters of kid’s nightmares coming to life, and pretty much every night human she had ever met could be scary if provoked.
Walking across town went quicker than Whitney wanted it to. She had been planning to take a stroll, but the king’s plans had canceled that. As they neared, she felt dread in the bottom of her stomach. She didn’t know what it was from, but she knew there was something going on. It wasn’t until she moved to the island that she started to get feelings about things. She could tell when something good was about to happen, but more often than not these days, she could tell when things were getting worse. It was getting worse. She didn’t need to go into the house and see the expression on the king’s face. She already knew. Something more had gone wrong during their walk over. Whitney looked to Sam. He could feel what she was feeling, too. He had no explanation as to why she could predict things like she could now, but she was always right.
The siren king turned to Sam and Whitney as they entered. Spaced around his room were Sam’s older brothers, Nic, Ken, Lee, Ace, and Ian. All of them except for the missing brother Tim were there. No one smiled as they entered, and the feelings of dread were confirmed.
“What’s the problem now?” Sam asked, looking at his father and cutting to the chase.
“They finished their blockade. We’re cut off from the rest of the world.” The king stared at Sam like there was a silent message passing between them. Whitney tapped into Sam’s mind to eavesdrop, as she knew they were doing it to keep her out of the loop. The king had yet to figure out that she could listen in to his son’s head, so she made sure to put on a blank face so that no one would notice.
‘And there are seven siren still on land, including the green friend of your mate, Trudy. We don’t have a way to protect them, and we can’t get them back on the island. They don’t stand a chance of surviving.’
Whitney didn’t have to keep her new knowledge to herself; Sam immediately turned to his brothers.
“How could you leave anyone on land? We knew this was going to happen eventually. Everyone should have been called back weeks ago,” he complained as he turned and scowled at each of them like they were personally responsible.
“We didn’t know,” Ken said quietly. “This was only one of the possible outcomes we thought might happen, but we didn’t know how soon.”
Sam turned his glare to Ken, and his brother immediately cast his gaze down. Ken wasn’t just quiet; he also avoided fighting, especially with Sam.
“Sam, even you didn’t think it would happen this quick,” Whitney scolded him. Ken wasn’t the one he should be taking his anger out on. It should have been reserved for the king, who refused to call all the siren home. He was the only one responsible for the seven still on land.
Sam seemed to agree with Whitney’s thoughts as he turned his anger to his father. “What are we going to do?”
The king shrugged like it wasn’t much of a problem. “We wait it out like we planned. We’re fine here for years.”
Whitney gave Sam a questioning look. How in the world were they fine? They were night humans that needed day human blood to live, and the siren required more than most. Sam gave Whitney a “we’ll talk about it later” look that told her everything. There must be humans on the island that she didn’t know about. With the population of siren, they must have had a lot of humans. She returned his look with her best, “you better believe we’ll talk about it” expression. She was too pissed to attempt to find out more mentally.
“And the trapped siren?” Whitney asked, not giving away that she knew Trudy was there. “What can we do to get them home?”
“They know how to fend for themselves. They will be fine also,” the king replied like it didn’t really matter. She had a feeling there were no blues, just greens on land, and to him they were disposable.
“And what happens if any of the other mer go on land to hunt them? Will they be fine then?”
Suddenly the men around the room appeared shocked, like that hadn’t crossed their minds. The king understood the circumstances, but no one else seemed to. Whitney rolled her eyes. It wasn’t just the king who had been on the island too much. It seemed like his sons weren’t in touch with reality, either.
Whitney was in shock that the men were clueless. “Don’t you guys get that the other mer want to get rid of the siren? They aren’t just sitting around the island for sport. They want you dead. Why can’t you see that?”
Whitney glanced at the king, but he seemed baffled. His one and only plan was to wait it out, and when the mer clans got bored, they would head back. He really didn’t understand that the other mer wanted the siren gone. No matter how many times Sam or Whitney explained, the king thought the clans were just having a little rebellion to get something more from him and would be done soon. He compared them to spoiled children who needed a time out. She turned to each brother, and again got confused expressions. Finally, Nic spoke.
“They can want all they like, but they can’t defeat us. That’s why the siren have ruled so long. We’re the strongest. Even a handful of green siren are stronger than the few fighters they may send after them.” Nic didn’t seem too worried for the greens, but she could see that he was listening to her words.
“And your older brothers. Were they undefeatable, too?” Whitney knew she was pushing it. They all held a fierce loyalty to their dead brothers.
Sam stepped in front of her as Ace growled.
“What Whitney is saying is that the siren are not infallible. We know it, but don’t ever admit it. If Tim has gone to their side, we have to assume he’s hatching a plan with them to kill us at least. He won’t want any of the royal family left alive. She’s right. The siren on land aren’t safe, and neither are we here unless we figure out how we plan to fight back.”
Sam was always much more elegant with his words, and Whitney was sure glad to have him for that. His brothers seemed to now be listening and considering that it might be possible the others would attack. Even if the king wasn’t ready to believe the mer clans meant business, if his sons did, then that was a start.
“But we can sing,” the shortest of the brothers—Ian, the one closest in age to Sam—replied, as he was still confused.
“And what if they wear earplugs? Does your song go through that?” Whitney demanded.
Ian shrugged like he didn’t know the answer.
“Or how about if they damage their hearing? I wouldn’t put it past them to even remove their own eardrums if it meant getting rid of you guys,” she continued, pushing. The men in the room needed to wake up. Whitney had seen night human wars between clans before. They hadn’t.
Now the men all gaped at her in horror. It must have never occurred to them that someone would damage themselves so badly, but it would make them able to get past the singing. The siren had always been on top. They couldn’t imagine a world where that wasn’t the way, but they were going to have to open their imaginations a little if everyone was going to make it out alive.
“So how are we going to help those siren on land? It might not seem like much, but when it comes down to hand-to-hand combat, where we will be severely outnumbered, I’d rather have those seven back with us fighting.”
And that was all it took to finally make it sink in. The brothers all turned to their father, whose face hadn’t changed one bit. He still needed to be convinced. Whitney glanced to Nic. He was currently running the guard around the island.
“Is there no way off the island at all?”
Nic didn’t look to his father before answering. “Not if you have a blue or green tail. They are attacking immediately and not asking questions. They don’t allow siren in or out, and they just closed off the last two sections we had been using.”
“So there might be more siren outside the blockade?” Any more help was going to be useful at this point.
“No. They’ve killed everyone that got through, and we got the bodies back.” Nic was somber about the situation, and Whitney could understand. He was technically responsible for the guard, and he let them patrol knowing what was coming.
“So we need to find a way off the island to get the siren on land, and then find a way back to the island.” Whitney was thinking out loud, but she didn’t need the guys to respond. She could see by their grim faces that they knew it was an impossible task. Then again, Whitney didn’t believe in impossible. Sitting down on one of the couches, she placed her fingers together as she thought. Through the bond, she felt Sam having a silent conversation with someone, probably the king, because whoever it was, they were making him upset.
“I might have one solution,” Ken said quietly.
Whitney peered up at the soft-spoken brother.
“No, he doesn’t,” Sam replied like that ended the conversation.
‘Sam, let him speak. We need to come up with ideas here, and no idea is too out there. Maybe it will lead to a better one.’ She didn’t need a reply to know Sam didn’t see it that way.
“What did you think we could do?” Whitney asked Ken, and all eyes were on him.
Glancing nervously at Sam, Ken shook his head of dark hair. All of the brothers had dark hair and looked like variations of each other. It was obvious that they all got their looks from their father and little from their various mothers.
“Speak, son. Sam doesn’t get to stop every plan, no matter how much he doesn’t like it. Whitney is right. We will need every fighting body we have if we want to win the coming war.” The king’s voice was gentle, as if he knew Ken was scared as it was to talk and any more yelling would make him shut down.
Ken kept his gaze on his father as he spoke. “They won’t let anyone through with a blue or green tail, but what about a pink tail?”
“They aren’t going to let Whitney through, either. They attacked her on the beach. They know she’s my mate,” Sam answered in a tone that hinted the conversation was done. “She’s an even bigger prize than a blue or green siren.”
“But not all of the mer know about her yet,” Nic added as he began to think. “We had yet to announce your mating or that your mate is different. This might actually be the way to go. Whitney’s been training since she got here, and she’s as good as, or better than any of the senior guard members. If we can be sure she gets past the mer around the island, she would be the perfect one to get everyone back home.”
Sam glared at the same brother he was just being nice to the day before.
“It doesn’t matter if she was announced or not. Tim knows, and I’m sure he shared the details with them. Sam’s mate is a blond-haired, pink-tailed mer, but still a siren. Watch out and capture her if you can. She’s got a big target on her. We can’t send her out. If my loving her doesn’t matter to you guys, then how about since we’re linked, if she gets hurt or killed, so do I. Is it smart to send her out there?”
Sam was good at swaying people, but Whitney also wasn’t about to leave the idea of letting her friend Trudy and the other siren on land be murdered for just being siren. They were teens and completely innocent. She had a very soft spot for the innocent and knew they faced enough persecution for being born to the wrong night humans. They were already pursued by hunters for just being mer, but now they were being hunted by the mer for being siren. It wasn’t fair, and she was going to do anything to help them.
“So they will be looking for a blond-haired, pink-tailed siren, but what if they find a brunette, pink-tailed Oceanid instead?” Ken suggested, his plan still growing.
“Oceanids are extinct,” Sam replied.
Ken shrugged. “We suspect that, but what if one was in deep slumber and woken by all the mer world turmoil? We were each given our own part of the ocean to live in. Now all the mer are congregating in our part of the seas. What if an Oceanid came back to see what’s happening?”
Whitney had no idea what an Oceanid was, but she liked his train of thought. It sounded like a believable story. If she didn’t have blond hair, would they know it was her? There were very few mer, outside of the siren, she had ever seen. It was more than likely no one would recognize her, and any forewarning from Tim wouldn’t help if she wasn’t what they expected to find. Ken was hatching a very interesting plan.
“So tell me more about Oceanids,” she said to Ken.
“No,” Sam commanded, using his siren power and grabbing her arm to pull her out of the house.
Whitney would have protested but he was fuming mad, and it was best to let him get off his chest whatever he was thinking. She could always talk to Ken later.
Sam slipped his hand from her arm and into her hand and began walking. She kept pace with him and waited for him to speak. They walked back through town, and she didn’t worry about the meeting. Sam was still linked to his father, and they would find out everything.
When they finally got back to their house, Sam went all the way through and back to the water. She knew his short temper tantrum had nothing to do with needing a soak, but she sat down on the edge of the pool anyway. Slipping into the water as a siren, she waited for Sam to join her. He kicked off his shoes and jumped right in, surfacing just inches from where Whitney was. Floating with her head out of the water to feel the sun’s rays on her face, she drifted with her eyes closed, but knew he was quite close.
“I can’t let you do this. They might figure it out and know that it’s you. Then they would have you. I have no idea what Tim would do with you now that he can’t have you. I’d do anything to keep you safe. You know that. I’d give away the whole island just to have you. If you want to keep the mer safe, then stay here. Don’t put yourself out there.”
Whitney flipped around and found herself in his arms as his lips touched hers and they sunk down into the water.
‘I know what you mean, Sam. I’d do anything for you, too, but those siren deserve a chance. They will be killed easily if no one is there to warn and protect them. They’re just teens, and they are innocent. If I can go there and help, then I need to try. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if Trudy was killed and I could stop it. You know that.’
Sam pulled his face back and rested his forehead on hers. He was listening to her words.
‘If you do this, you will come back to me. There’s no world without you in it. You understand?’
Whitney didn’t smile as she had won the argument. She knew she had him at innocence, as he felt the same way about the mer. Whitney was getting herself into something, and even though she wasn’t sure if it was going to work, she had to try. She was right when she said she couldn’t live with herself if she didn’t try. Trudy was her friend, and Whitney did not believe in giving up on friends, especially when they needed you the most.
‘And you don’t go rushing off until we have every detail mapped out with at least three backup plans. Promise me.’
‘I promise.’