Water and Blood

  Whitney ignored the scowl on Amber’s face as she passed her on the way to her seat. It was going to be a long class, emphasized by scowls from Amber every five minutes when she had some sort of excuse to look around the room. Whitney squared her shoulders and did her best to ignore the unhappy siren and pay attention to class, which was considerably harder than normal to do as her mind drifted to Sam again. At least thoughts of Sam made the class go faster, and it was done before she knew it. Then again, she was pretty sure she missed everything the teacher had said. It was going to mean more reading to catch up on, but so totally worth it.

  Packing up her bag slowly, Whitney made sure she would be able to leave the school right away without having to go through her locker while Sam waited. It was a good day with very little homework, and she had gotten almost everything done in class. Even with the book chapter, she needed to read she’d be able to fake in English the next day, because she had read the book before. Certain she was ready to go, Whitney made her way back out of the classroom, expecting to see Sam waiting.

  Well, he was waiting, but not as she expected. Amber was leaning toward him and trying to wrap her arms around him. Sam was expertly untangling himself as he spotted Whitney. Amber must have known that Whitney would be there as she tried a second time to get Sam cornered. Sam ducked and got away, leaving her in mid-sentence.

  “Ready to go?” he asked, not so much as glancing back at the extremely ticked-off Amber.

  “Yes,” Whitney replied, half tempted to turn and give Amber a little wave as they walked away, but then thought better of it. She didn’t need to be on her radar for anything other than just being with Sam. They both agreed the less the sirens wanted to know about her, the better off they would be.

  “Let’s hit the beach while the guys pack the bus,” Sam suggested, leading her to his car.

  Whitney raised an eyebrow at his ditching of his friends to do all the work.

  “They already know I’m bringing you with,” Sam explained as he opened the car door for Whitney. She hopped in, and he went around to his side.

  “And they’re fine doing all the lifting?” Whitney didn’t need his bandmates angry with her, either. She already had one siren she was sure hated her guts.

  “As long as we get back in an hour, they’re fine. They think I’m feeding on you and luring you to the beach to do just that,” Sam explained as he drove away from the school.

  Whitney giggled. It was kind of amusing how wrong everyone was about it. Her life depended on them all thinking about it that way, but it was still funny. It was like living a double life. At least in each version, she got to be with Sam. He grinned like he knew why she was laughing as he drove down the street and to the beach they had gone to before.

  “No wonder they know you by name,” Whitney said as he parked at the diner and led the way down to the beach. “I’m surprised they haven’t named a sandwich after you already.”

  “Ha, ha, ha,” Sam said, pulling her behind him on the small pathway.

  Taking her hand, Sam led the way to the beach. They weren’t ten feet in when Sam paused and then pulled Whitney to the right side of the path. She didn’t ask what was going on and trusted him. Just around the tree line where the tall grass started, a blonde head popped up as someone walked toward them. They stood to the side to let the leaving person pass. Sam didn’t look at the man, but Whitney did. His blond hair was cut short, almost in a military buzz, but that wasn’t what made him stand out. His blue eyes stared directly at them as he walked by. Sam gave him a friendly nod of the head, but the guy didn’t even look at him. He continued to stare at Whitney. Whitney looked to Sam’s back as he tugged her forward and that was a good thing. Suddenly, she was very cold. Blondie’s stare had given her the shivers.

  Sam didn’t talk any more as they neared the waterline. Whitney walked toward the enticing waves, but Sam turned and took her down the beach instead. She looked at him, but he didn’t talk; instead, they just walked hand in hand in the warm sand. When they made it around the bend, Sam finally slowed down and found a place to sit.

  “No swimming today?” Whitney asked, finding the change in his character weird.

  “I was planning on taking you into the cove to answer more questions, but sometimes you have to change your plans.” His non-descriptive speech made her wonder if more people were around. Maybe some siren had followed them. She didn’t see anyone on the beach, but she had the feeling she wasn’t going to get more question and answer time, at least not right now.

  “Did I do something?” Whitney really had no clue why the sudden change in his attitude.

  Sam seemed to shake out of his thoughts and turned to smile at her.

  “No. You’ve been perfect. It’s nothing to worry about. I’ll tell you all about it later. Now let’s just enjoy sitting here in the warm sun,” he suggested, pulling her to his lap and letting her lean back into his arms.

  “Can I at least hear more about your family or this birthday you’re avoiding? Maybe you can tell me more about where you’re from. I haven’t been allowed to travel since I’ve been living with my aunt,” Whitney said, trying to keep things very non-specific.

  Sam chuckled, making her bounce with his laugh. He pulled her close and kissed her cheek before threading his fingers through hers.

  “Well, where I’m from is kind of small compared to the cities around here,” Sam began. Whitney settled back to listen to him talk. “I think my city is maybe a couple thousand people at most. It’s the kind of place where everyone knows everyone.”

  “And where parents expect you to hook up with their best friends’ kids,” Whitney supplied for him. Amber had been on her mind a bit since she was still throwing herself at him.

  Sam laughed a second time and Whitney decided she really liked hearing him laugh. She was hoping they would get more time together so she could hear more of it.

  “I’m going to guess you’re talking about Amber. She doesn’t compare to you, and she knows it. Don’t let her get to you. I’m not going to allow them to decide my fate. I’m going to decide what I want, and my father will just have to learn to live with that.”

  “Sure,” Whitney added. While it all sounded great—making your own choices—she had been a night human. They weren’t always up for choices. But she did admire his determination.

  Sam wrapped his free arm around Whitney’s middle and pulled her closer.

  “You can’t imagine how long I’ve been looking for someone like you. Even if you’ve never met my family, you get it. You get the whole world I’m from without being there or being corrupted by them. My family …” Sam trailed off, and Whitney listened to the waves crash as he thought. “My family aren’t good people. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love them. But they just aren’t good people. Where I’m from there aren’t a whole lot of nice people. I’m guessing it’s because they think they’re better than everyone around them, but for whatever reason, they treat everyone they think is too different as being lower than them. It’s not how I wanted to live, and I was happy to move away.”

  “Is that why you don’t want to go home for your birthday?” Whitney asked. She had heard it mentioned more than once that he was boycotting.

  She could feel him shrug without looking behind.

  “I decided weeks ago I wasn’t going back because that’s when your parents decide who you’ll marry if you didn’t already choose someone. There’s no one back there I want to marry, so what’s the point? I know my father will be mad, but at the same time I have a job to do, and I can’t do that from home. I figured he can get mad about me not coming home, but he can’t get mad about me staying around to do my job.”

  “And what exactly is your job, besides teaching swim lessons and singing songs for fans that are throwing themselves at you?” Whitney asked. She didn’t blame the fans one bit. She had thought he was gorgeous the first time she met him.

  Sam didn’t answer, but turned her around in his arms and met her
with a kiss before she could ask more. He pulled back and grinned.

  “I’d think you might be a little jealous of those fans,” he teased.

  “Jealous?” Whitney replied, raising an eyebrow. “I think you have that in reverse. Those fans should be jealous of me.” She reached her hands up and pulled his face back for a kiss.

  Sam leaned back in the sand, pulling her with him without breaking the kiss. Whitney was never one for large displays of public affection, but that didn’t matter with Sam. There was just something about him. Every moment she saw him, she wanted to throw her arms around him and make sure everyone knew he was hers. And then as soon as she touched him, the whole world around them disappeared anyway.

  His phone beeped in his pocket, bringing them back to reality. Sam sighed and pulled back from their kiss.

  “Time to be responsible and go do my job,” he complained as he stood up, brushing sand off him before helping Whitney back up, too.

  Whitney grinned as he took her hand. There were worse jobs to have than a rock star. Only someone like Sam would see it as only a job and not a fun time.

  The bus ride, this time, was shorter, and Whitney was glad. The guys all seemed really curious about her and asked a whole lot of questions. She did her best to answer, but some had to be deflected. Mostly they were looking for how she won Sam over. They let it slip more than a few times that Sam was too devoted to his family to think of dating. They really were curious as to how she changed his mind. And it was mostly Mark. Leo asked a few questions here and there, but Mark was the one that wouldn’t let up. It took a hard glare and a bit of an order from Sam to get him to let it go.

  After the question and answer session, Whitney spent the remainder of the time pulled to Sam’s side while he and the guys discussed the set for the show. She had almost no clue what they were talking about and found it fun to simply watch them.

  When she looked at Sam’s two friends, she didn’t see the siren in them. They looked and acted much like day humans; she couldn’t fault herself for not seeing it before. Mark was your typical surfer guy with a laid-back personality that seemed to agree with everything being said to him when he wasn’t asking a question. Leo was much quieter. He thought more about things, but again would never question Sam. Both guys seemed more than willing to follow Sam’s lead, and that was the only night human trait she saw in them. Where she was raised, there was always an alpha that people followed. Sam kind of filled a role like that now that she listened in and saw it.

  As they finished their plans, Sam pulled her tight into his arms, and she got to spend the last half hour snuggled up to him. It was definitely a better ride than the last time.

  Once they reached the place they were playing, the guys were all busy. Whitney was given a backstage pass, and she watched from the sidelines as the guys set up and did voice check. She was content to sit and watch, and once they were done, Sam pulled her back to the bus to be alone with her as the audience arrived. This time, the guys left them alone.

  “Are you sure they won’t come back here?” Whitney asked for the tenth time as Sam was hopping in the hot tub in their bus.

  A hot tub in the bus seemed weird only days ago, but now completely normal. The band was part fish, so, of course, they needed a hot tub on their bus.

  “I promise. I ordered them to stay out, and they have to listen to me.” Sam offered his hand to Whitney. She looked at the front of the bus one last time and then decided that she trusted Sam wouldn’t let her get caught.

  Sam held her waist as she threw both her feet over the edge at the same time, knowing they would be an instant fin. She didn’t want to see if it was painful to turn one foot at a time. Knowing her luck, it wouldn’t be painful but snap her second leg into place, and she would crash into the water as ungraceful as she could be at times. Sam didn’t need to see that side of her yet.

  “Have you tried to will them to stay legs?” Sam asked.

  How did he know she had been practicing each morning in the shower?

  “Still not working?” Sam guessed.

  Whitney hung her head and shook it no. She had been trying, and it stunk. She was normally a natural at things. Even the mer stuff was easy. After her first swim with Sam, she didn’t even question breathing underwater. Or swimming underwater. Or swimming with a fin. Those things just felt right. But managing her tail wasn’t one of those naturally easy things.

  Sam tipped her face back up with just one finger on her chin. Whitney did her best to hold in her sigh. His touch was more enticing when she was in her siren form. Something about either being a half-fish, or maybe it was being wet in the water that made it all feel different. Sam must have noticed as his eyes flashed to their sea color as he transformed also. Whitney’s sigh caught in her throat. He was a beautiful human, but he was a stunning merperson. The deep brown lines on his arm almost shimmered, but the intricate tattoos that ran from his shoulders down to his fin were fascinating. Whitney tried to keep her face from blushing as she looked at them and then realized where she would be looking if he were still in his swim trunks. Sam grabbed hold of her and pulled her to his lap, his blue fin rubbing against her pink one, sending a whole new sensation to the tip of her tail.

  “I wish I could sit in here with you all day,” Sam told her, his hand tracing the lines on her skin and stopping as he traced all the lines on her shoulder.

  Whitney had looked at the lines that appeared on her as a mer and was more than happy to see it covered all the basic upper body parts to not leave her naked and he only stopped because of where he would be touching and not that they had disappeared. The shimmery purple color of the lines complemented her pink fin nicely as they swirled around her body. Now she knew what her back must have looked like also as Sam’s fingers trailed over her shoulder. She had yet to be able to get a mirror behind her to see what it looked like.

  “You amaze me every time I see you transform,” Sam said quietly, his voice barely audible over the noises around them.

  “Haven’t you seen like a million girls turn into fishies?” Whitney teased.

  Sam chuckled. He at least found her term “fishies” funny, but the other mer would take offense. With their view on order and being at the top, the siren didn’t like being compared to mere fish, not quite the bottom of the ladder, but pretty close. Sam didn’t take offense to anything. He was helpful and tried his best with everything she was going through.

  “No, I have not. I don’t know a million girls. But yes, I’ve seen others transform.” Sam thought for a moment. “I don’t know what’s different, but you are different. I mean the pink fin is one thing, but beyond that. There’s something else that just seems amazing.”

  Whitney glanced at her salmon-colored fin and wondered what it meant. He had explained a bit about the blues and greens in the siren world, but he never told her about the other types of mer. Was he leaving something out? He did say he would marry any type of mer.

  “Could it be I’m not a siren?” Whitney asked. She had been wondering that since she got her siren anatomy lesson, or rather, levels of power lesson.

  “No. I’m certain you’re a siren. Besides, you already told me that you put your cousin into a trance while singing. That should prove it to you.”

  Okay, that much was true. She was pretty sure she was a siren also, and she had kept her mouth locked shut when she got the urge to sing with any song on the radio. Now that she might snap and eat someone, she refused to sing outright. She wasn’t about to tell Sam she was listening to his orders, even though she was.

  “There’s just something magical about how you transform. It’s almost like you sparkle as you do it, and you should see your eyes. They turn the most beautiful shade of purple I’ve ever seen.”

  He was now staring intently at her. Whitney tried not to smile, but she couldn’t help it. The awe she saw in his eyes was exactly the same as she felt when she looked at him. She wanted to pretend it was a siren thing, but she was pretty certai
n it was a Sam thing. The more they were together, the more she realized she was falling hard for him. It wasn’t just the awesome kisses. It was beyond that. There was something that made her not want to let him go anywhere without her.

  Sam broke eye contact and tilted his head to the side. He shook his head disappointedly.

  “I have to head back with the guys. We have to go over the set again and everything,” Sam told her as he turned and lifted her out of the hot tub, leaving her tail in the water.

  Whitney flicked her tail over the edge and let it drip as Sam jumped out of the tub with legs. She really needed to learn that trick. Sam waved his hand, and all the water went back in the tub, including the last drop falling from her tail. That was another trick she needed to learn. Sam reached for a towel and handed it to her. Whitney blotted off the few damp spots left on her tail, and her legs reappeared.

  “You can hang out on the bus if you want or backstage. The pass will basically work anywhere to get in,” Sam explained, slipping a shirt on.

  “Can I go into the audience?”

  “You might want to stay closer to the stage. The people toward the back are always drinking and spilling their drinks when they have too much. And since the stage is covered, even if it starts to rain you should be safe in the front of the arena. The back isn’t covered.”

  “Played here before?” Whitney guessed. Sam grinned as he nodded, offering her a hand to go with him.

  Whitney took his hand and let him pull her out of the bus. She looked up to the darkening sky and knew it was a combination of night time and possible storms. At least the bus was under some sort of awning that they could go from the stage to the bus without getting wet if it rained. She really needed to learn how to control her fin. That was priority number one.

  Mark was waiting just inside the doors as they passed two very large security men. They didn’t look at the pass around Whitney’s neck, but then again, she was walking in with the lead singer of the band that was going to go on soon. It was chaos as people ran from place to place backstage, but Sam didn’t seem to notice. He took the guitar from Mark and slung it around his neck.