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Diana stared down at her, her green eyes tired, but there was a new anger that flickered behind them. But Gemma refused to look away or let go of her, not until she got an answer.
“One of the other girls, Aglaope, she came sniffing around. It must’ve been … five years back,” Diana said finally, apparently seeing that Gemma wouldn’t leave without something. “She never found me, but she got close enough when I heard that she’d been looking.
“I’d always liked her,” she went on. “She was kind and loving, but in order for Thea to be punished, Aglaope had to be punished even worse. It pained me to hurt her like that, but her anguish was a means to an end, and oh, how she’d anguished under Penn’s cruel rule for thousands of years.
“But when she came looking for me, looking for a way out, I ignored her. I liked her, pitied her, and she’d been tortured plenty, but her cries went unheeded. And if I wouldn’t help her, what makes you think I would help someone as insignificant as you?”
THIRTY-FOUR
Renunciation
All Gemma could think about was getting out to the water. Their flight home had been delayed for hours. It was well after five in the morning by the time they got home, and she had barely made it. Her migraine had gotten so bad, she’d thrown up twice on the way back.
When they got back to Capri, instead of taking them home, she had Marcy drop her off at the bay. If she didn’t get into the water soon, Gemma was certain she would die. She felt even worse than when she’d been at Sawyer’s beach house and refused to eat, and her hair was falling out in clumps.
Fortunately, it was still dark out, but the sky was beginning to lighten. To be safe, she steered clear of the beaches, which would be filling up with tourists much too soon. Instead, she went down to the rocky shore along the cypress trees, where the bay began to curve toward the cove.
The jagged edges of the rocks jabbed through the thin bottoms of her flip-flops, but Gemma barely noticed. The watersong blotted out everything else. Stripping off her shorts, panties, and shirt, she stepped out into the water wearing only her bra.
As soon as the saltwater hit her skin, splashing over her feet and ankles as she waded out into the depths of the bay, sweet relief rushed over her. The pain that had been so agonizing drifted away as her skin began to flutter, her flesh shifting into the smooth, iridescent scales of a fish.
She dove out into the waves, swimming as fast as she could, pushing herself away from the land and deeper into the water, which had finally, mercifully, stopped calling for her.
It was then, with her body feeling fresh and rejuvenated and without the song clogging up her thoughts, that Gemma was able to feel the full ramifications of her visit with Diana and how truly defeated she was.
All the way back from Charleston, as a barely conscious Gemma had struggled not to throw up or sob, she’d heard Harper rambling on excitedly about all the things this could mean. They could kill Penn, and that would set Gemma free.
Or they could figure out what to do with the ink. Harper was certain there must be a way to erase it or something, even though both she and Gemma had tried exposing it to every liquid imaginable without any success. Even through her sick haze, Gemma suspected that Harper was fooling herself. But her sister seemed so excited and happy, Gemma couldn’t bear to take it away.
While Gemma had been curled up on the hard chairs of the airport, Lydia had been sitting next to her, typing on her tablet. Harper and Marcy had gone to get something to eat, but Gemma felt too nauseated to eat anything.
“Dammit,” Lydia muttered. “I think she was lying. ”
Gemma turned a bit so she could look up at her. “Who was lying?”
“Diana. ”
“What do you mean?” Gemma pushed herself up so she was sitting even though that made the room spin and tip to the side.
“I’ve been messaging my friend, Kipling Pine. He’s the professor at Sundham that Harper talked to about the scroll,” Lydia explained. “He’s visiting a friend of his who’s a linguistics expert, and he’s superknowledgeable about dead languages. ”
“And that means Diana is lying?” Gemma asked.
“Okay, before I tell you that, I need to explain how we translate the scroll. ” Lydia turned in her seat to face her fully. “We think it’s ancient Cypriot, but it seems to be a more informal type and takes some liberties, and we need to try to translate that back into English, and that’s if we can even get it into Cypriot in the first place. ”
“You already told me some of this when I showed you the scroll the first time,” Gemma reminded her.
“I know, but I really need to reiterate. ” Her large eyes were gravely serious. “Even with me, Pine, and this other expert working on it, we will never have a one-hundred-percent-concrete translation. I mean, scholars still debate some of the translations in the Bible, and they’ve been working on that for hundreds of years. ”
“But you guys have translated some of the scroll, right?” Gemma asked. “That’s what this is about. ”
“They’ve come up with a partial cryptographic key—which is basically saying what symbol means what letter, and with that, they’re kind of guessing and going on intuition and their knowledge of Greek words to fill in the blanks. Pine’s finished a passage, and he just sent it to me, and…” Lydia sighed and looked back down at her tablet. “I’ll just read it to you. ”
“It starts with, ‘Four of them there must always be. ’ And then, we think the next four words are names, but the translation is a bit rough. So what we think it says is, ‘Peisinoe, Thelxiepia, Aglaope, and Ligea/Begin the curse but do not need to be at the end/One can replace one by any mortal who is…’”
Lydia frowned and shook her head before continuing. “Pine’s saying ‘granted’ here, but I’m not sure if that’s right. But ‘cursed’ doesn’t seem to fit either. But it ends with something about having ‘the power of the siren. ’”
“Let me see it. ” Gemma leaned over the tablet, and she had to squint to read, since her vision had blurred so badly.
Four of them there must always be
Peisinoe, Thelxiepia, Aglaope, and Ligea
Begin the curse but do not need to be at the end
One can replace one by any mortal
Granted with the power of the siren
Gemma read it three times, but the watersong blocked out rational thought, and she couldn’t seem to process it.
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“What does all that mean?” she asked, looking up at Lydia.
“That as long as there are four of them, it doesn’t matter who they are. Any of them can be replaced. ” Lydia shook her head sadly. “Even Penn. ”
“So why would Diana say that?” Gemma rubbed her forehead and slouched in the seat. “She said if I killed Penn, the curse would be broken. Why would she lie about that? We were about to leave anyway. ”
“Maybe she didn’t lie,” Lydia said.
“But with the scroll—”
“No, I mean Diana said, ‘If you tried to kill Penn, then you wouldn’t need to break the curse,’” Lydia recited carefully. “Maybe she just meant that if you tried to kill Penn, you’d lose. ”
“Diana knows I’m young, I probably appeared weak, and she rightfully assumed that if I was capable of killing Penn, I already would have. ” Gemma lay back down on the seats and squeezed her eyes shut. “So if I went up against Penn, she would kill me, and when I’m dead, I’m free of the curse. ”
“But that could be wrong,” Lydia said, trying to sound hopeful. “I mean, Pine’s still working on these translations. We’re not finished, and like I said, we could’ve misread them. ”
Now, as Gemma swam the cold depths of the ocean, the futility of it hit her hard. Diana/Demeter had been their last big hope, and she had been a bust. The big clue she’d given them had been nothing more than a taunt.
The joy of being in the water had given way to a
familiar desperation and an ever-growing hunger. Her practice transformations had the unfortunate side effect of making her hunger stronger, and the day away from Capri, battling the watersong, hadn’t helped either.
It was September now, and the autumnal equinox was only weeks away. Gemma would have to feed soon, or she really risked losing control, especially if she wanted to keep practicing her transformations.
She’d begun to suspect that part of the reason she’d been so crazed when she’d killed Jason Way was because she’d been starving. That’s why she had a better handle on the monster now, and probably why Liv seemed to have a better grasp of morphing. Liv ate constantly, so she was never really hungry, and that probably made her better at control when she shifted in and out of the monster.
As Gemma was swimming, plunging down in the darkness at the bottom of the ocean floor, frightening the fish and crabs lingering at the bottom, she felt something following her. A shadow stayed behind her, and Gemma sped up. The last thing she needed was to get in a fight with a shark this morning.
But no matter how fast she went, the dark shape in the water stayed behind her. Gemma had swum out past the bay, but now she circled back, heading toward land. She didn’t glance back, but she felt it gaining on her. An electricity in the current, the subtle shifts of the approaching predator, spurred her on.
The land was too far, but a large rock jutted out of the bay. Gemma raced toward it, and she pushed herself out of the water and gripped crevices in the stone. Her torso was completely above water, but her fish tail was submerged. It would be slippery, deadweight if she tried to haul herself out, and she finally looked back before beginning the climb up the rock.
Penn surfaced from the water, laughing in a way that sounded like the cackling of a crow. “Oh, Gemma, you’re so funny when you’re scared. ”
Gemma relaxed, but she still hung on to the rock. “I thought you were a shark. ”
“You’re lucky I’m not,” Penn said as she floated next to her. “Or I’d be devouring you right now. ”
“Why were you following me?”
“I wanted to find out how things went yesterday. ” Her full lips were pressed into a blood-red thin smile. “How was your little adventure?”
Gemma looked toward the shore and pushed her wet hair out of her face. The sky above them had really started to lighten, turning purple and pink in anticipation of the sunrise.
“What are you talking about?” Gemma asked at last.
“You went somewhere yesterday, somewhere away from the water. ”
“How do you know?”
“We can feel it. We know whenever anyone gets too far away,” Penn said. “You could die, and I’ll have to come up with another replacement. ”
Gemma rolled her eyes. “And I know how you’d hate to replace me. ”
“Where were you?” Penn asked, but it sounded more like a demand.
“I told Thea. I went to Sundham to visit Harper. ”
“Sundham’s not that far inland. ” Penn narrowed her eyes as her black hair pooled in the water around her. The water was at her chin, and Penn had never looked more like a sea monster.
Gemma shrugged. “Well, that’s where I was, so I don’t know what to tell you. ”
“I don’t know what you’re playing at, Gemma, but it’s a very dangerous game. You don’t want to mess with me. ”
“I’m not,” she insisted.
“So then tell me where you went?”
Meeting Penn’s gaze defiantly, she said, “No. ”
Penn pushed herself above the waves, balancing on her tail so her entire torso was showing and she could stare imposingly down at Gemma. “I am so sick of this. I have enough going on with Liv, and this whole rebellious act of yours is getting old. You need to learn your place. ”
Gemma’s fangs were itching in her mouth, and she decided not to try to contain them. She might not be strong enough to kill Penn, but there was only one way she’d know for sure. And she was sick of dealing with Penn, sick of being a siren, sick of dreading the next time she’d have to feed, so even if she couldn’t stop Penn, at least Penn would stop her.
One of them would die today. It almost didn’t even matter to Gemma anymore which one it was, as long as this was over.
Gemma smiled as she spoke, revealing her jagged fangs. “Maybe it’s time for you to learn your place. ”
“You little bitch,” Penn said, smiling wider. “Bring it. ”
THIRTY-FIVE
Hostile
Gemma lunged at Penn, who didn’t move or even try to block her. As she wrapped her fingers around Penn’s throat, she felt them lengthening, the bones crackling as they grew. As Gemma tightened her grip around Penn’s neck, they both plummeted underwater, falling toward the bottom of the ocean.
Penn’s lips pulled back, stretching around her fangs, and her face began to change shape. Her cheekbones grew more pronounced, her eyes receded farther back, and her charcoal hair thinned. Her face had shifted into the full monster, reflecting the same changes that were happening to Gemma’s.
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Within a few seconds of their going underwater, Penn decided she’d had enough of Gemma’s talons around her throat. She bared her teeth, letting out a low, guttural laugh, and gripped Gemma’s arms.
Gemma’s arms had lengthened, stretching the skin tight around the bone, so when Penn grabbed her, digging her sharp talons through her flesh, they actually pierced the bone. Gemma cried out in pain, and Penn pushed back, sending her crashing into the stone wall of the bottom of the rock Gemma had been clinging to.
Penn’s mermaid tail had been pumping with such ferocity that when she slammed Gemma into the rock behind her, Gemma was surprised that the massive stone didn’t give way behind her. Reflexively, she let go of Penn’s neck, then, quickly, Penn pulled her back and slammed her into the rock again, cracking Gemma’s skull against the stone.
Pain shot through Gemma’s head, and for a second, she saw white. But when that cleared, Penn’s cackling face hovered in the water in front of her, her wispy black hair floating around her like a dark halo.
That evil Cheshire grin was all the motivation Gemma needed. She’d always wanted to smack that hideous smile right off Penn’s face, so she finally did.
Before Penn could slam her into the rock again, Gemma slapped her hard, letting her claws rake across her face as she did. When one of her talons pierced Penn’s eye, she cried out in pain as blood reddened the saltwater around her.
Penn let go of Gemma so she could cradle her own face in her hands, and Gemma dove at her again. Balling her long fingers into oversized fists, Gemma began pummeling her. Since her bones were like marble, it was like punching with brass knuckles.
Penn’s arms were shielding her face, so Gemma focused her attention on the soft, exposed flesh of her stomach, and she slammed her fists into it over and over, hitting her abdomen and her sides. Penn swam backward as Gemma hit her, and it wasn’t until Gemma punched her chest, hitting her in the ribs directly over her heart, that Penn reacted.
She lunged to the side and tried to swim around Gemma. Gemma turned with her, thinking Penn was trying to get away, but then she felt a long arm around her neck, coming from behind her, as Penn put her in a headlock.
“Don’t even think about going after my heart,” Penn growled, her demonic voice right in Gemma’s ear, and she tightened her arm on her throat, suffocating Gemma.
Gemma craned her neck and gnashed her teeth, biting at anything she could. Her jagged fangs tore into Penn’s shoulder, ripping off the flesh and scraping against the bone. Penn moved her arm to get it out of the bite zone, and Gemma wriggled free.
As she swam away, she used the considerable strength of her fish’s tail to smack Penn in the face. Penn roared and began to swim upward, so Gemma gave chase. Penn wasn’t that far ahead of her, and Gemma reached out, trying to grab her.
Her talo
ns dug into Penn’s hip, and Penn sprinted ahead. Gemma refused to let go, though, so her claws raked down Penn’s side, ripping scales off as they tore through her tail.
Penn reached the surface first, and Gemma heard her cursing through the water. When Gemma came up a few feet away, Penn was tilting her neck to the side, cracking it. She was surprised to see that Penn looked almost human now, other than the sharp teeth protruding from her mouth.
The scratches on her face had mostly healed, and other than a dark line across her eye, there wasn’t much left of the injury. That’s why Penn had shifted back to human—the transformation sped up the healing process.
Gemma had her own healing to contend with, and she allowed her face to slowly shift back. But, like Penn, she kept her fangs out.
“So you really wanna go for it, Gemma?” Penn asked, and her usual wicked smile returned. “I thought I’d let you get a few slaps out, burn off a little steam, but you really wanna do this?”
“I want this over with,” Gemma said, and she was surprised at the inhuman growl in her voice. The monster was out, but she was still in control.
“You really wanna die today?”
“I won’t be the one dying,” Gemma said, and she dove at Penn and punched her right in the mouth.
With blood dripping from her lip, Penn snarled and reached out, grabbing a clump of Gemma’s hair. She knotted her fist right at the base, with her claws scraping the skin, so if Gemma were to pull free, Penn would rip her scalp off her head.
She whipped Gemma around, so her back was pressed to Penn’s chest, and as Gemma trod water, she felt her tail brushing up against Penn’s. Penn yanked her head backward, and she pressed a talon into Gemma’s jugular.
Gemma grabbed Penn’s arm and tried to pull free, but it was like trying to move concrete. When they had been fighting earlier, Penn had to have been holding back, but right now, it had never been more clear how much stronger Penn was than her.
“You stupid, weak girl,” Penn sneered, as Gemma took shallow breaths, trying not to press the talon any deeper into her skin. “You never eat. You never change form. You’re starving and useless. Did you really think you stood a chance against a powerful, well-fed siren like me?”
“I thought it’d be worth a shot,” Gemma admitted.
“Did you know that this is exactly how I tore off Ligea’s head?” Penn asked. “I gripped her hair just like this”—she tugged on Gemma’s hair to show her—“and her head just popped right off. And I can do the same to you right now. So I’ll ask you again—do you really want to die today?”
Even though, a few minutes before, Gemma had thought she didn’t care if she lived or died, with her death feeling increasingly imminent and her heart pounding desperately to live, she knew she had to do something.
Instead of pulling against Penn, she decided to give in to her. She stopped moving her tail, going limp in Penn’s arms, and leaned back against her. Confused, Penn started to go under before pushing herself upward.