Page 47 of Song of Lorelei

“Just hit my funny bone on the dash is all.”

“You sure?”

Lorelei smiled, glancing briefly back at Nireed, where she sat sandwiched in the backseat between Lila and Branson. “Never better.”

Checking his review mirror once more, some of the tension coiling in his stomach eased as he watched the marine research center shrinking behind them. Save for the hubbub over by the museum, the campus remained calm and quiet. No shouting, no sounds of alarm, no security guards hopping into SUVs with black-tinted windows to chase after them. HCMRC might be a state-of-the-art research facility, and its security might have amped up in the last year, but this was still small-town Haven Cove. Heists here weren’t flashy. Not like in the big cities, and certainly not like in the movies.

“Where are Aersila and Undine?” Lorelei asked. He glanced over. Her head was bent while she tapped something out on her phone—likely texting Katrina that the coast was clear, and to meet them at the docks as planned.

“Back at home,” Killian replied. “They’re sticking close to shore, waiting for us to bring Nireed.”

“Good.” Lorelei lowered her voice. “And they’re aware she’s in bad shape?”

“Yeah, I gave them a heads up, so they’ll be prepared and hopefully won’t eviscerate us when they see her.”

She rubbed her forehead. “I hadn’t thought of that possibility.”

“I mean they weren’t pleased, but they weren’t outraged either.”

Nireed spoke up from the back. “Aersila and Undine are together?” She sounded surprised.

“Yeah, they seem to be working together,” he confirmed. “I think they’re both really anxious to get you back.”

Once they cleared town, and turned onto the country road, he sped up, sailing past the speed limit. No one might be following them now, but he didn’t want to take the chance. The more distance they put between themselves and HCMRC the better. The sirens still needed to take Nireed and get her back to the deep. And this ragtag crew needed to follow them in Dawn Chaser with the virophages. With any luck, Lorelei, the only mermaid in the group, could convince them to go through with it.

Operation Badass Bitches wasn’t over yet.

Chapter Twenty-Six

LORELEI

Sirens waited for them in the cove, bobbing along in the grey, choppy water. A light fog had rolled in, and seven pairs of lambent eyes stared out from the haze. Each tracked Lorelei and her companions as they exited Killian’s truck.

When Nireed slid out from the back seat, with help from herself and Lila, the sirens dipped beneath the surface. Swimming to shore no doubt. Lorelei’s stomach tied itself in knots at the quick approach of her kin.

But were they kin? That word once accompanied horror and disgust, but now Lorelei feared she didn’t have a place amongst these vicious ladies of the deep. They shared siren blood, yes, but Lorelei had always been a shorewalker. All that bound her to them was a deal she made with Undine under a year ago. Not respect.

An amber-eyed siren who shared Nireed’s features, just aged, sloshed onto shore. Her movements, though clumsy, were quick and determined. Despite walking being new and unfamiliar, she pushed herself up the beach, picking herself right back up each time she stumbled and fell.

Nireed let out a cry and raced down the sand. A surge of adrenaline and the downward slope propelled her onward, lending her tired body the momentum it couldn’t produce on its own. She collided with the siren, bowling her over, sand and limbs flying as they tumbled together down the beach. They rose to their knees clutching one another, their bodies shaking with tears and laughter. This must have been Aersila. Lorelei followed at a distance, letting the sisters enjoy their reunion without disruption. She heard the others trail behind her.

“Aersila,” Nireed sobbed. “I am sorry I did not tell you.”

Her sister hugged her tighter. “It does not matter now. I am just happy to have you back. And you speak Two-Legger now. You learned so fast.” Pride shined in Aersila’s eyes.

Nireed withdrew from her sister’s embrace, rolling her own. “I was surrounded by them every day.”

Undine and the others crawled up the beach to join them. The leader of the sirens pinned Lorelei with a firm look. “It is done, Shorewalker?”

“We’ve got the cure,” Lorelei replied, gesturing behind her to Killian’s truck. “And we’ll bring it to your territory by boat—just like with the canned pig.”

Undine turned to Nireed. “Is it true? You no longer crave Two-Legger flesh?”

Nireed nodded, a weak smile spanning her face. “I am free.” As she said the words, she tried standing up, but wobbled back, the adrenaline rush fading from her limbs. Lorelei caught Nireed before she fell, and gently lowered her to the sand.

Worry wrinkled Aersila’s brow as she turned to the other sirens and began to sign. With her back turned, Lorelei didn’t catch what she’d said, but two broke off from the group to pull something out of the water by two long pieces of rope. As they dragged it up the beach to where Nireed sat ashen-faced and winded, Lorelei saw that it was a stretcher made from whale bone and woven seaweed.

Together, they helped Nireed onto it, moving quickly, but tenderly. They cradled her head as they laid her down and strapped her torso to the stretcher. Aersila signed some more. Rest, sister. We tow you. You’ve done more than enough.

---