Page 15 of Emerge

"I'll go turn on the generator." Blake stood, putting his napkin next to his plate.

Of course they had a generator. I'd expect nothing less.

"I want to tell a story." Piper's face went blank and her eyes turned glossy.

It was the exact same expression we had seen from Melissa right before she stabbed herself. Jax's eyes widened, and he reached across the table and took her utensils.

"Piper? What's going on?" Aiden shook her shoulder as she sat in silence, as still as a statue.

Blake stood behind her, and I could tell by the concentration on his face that he was ready to restrain her if needed.

Another flash of lightning flashed so close that the entire room lit up and Piper began to talk. "The god of the sea had long been hunted because of the gifts people wanted to exploit. So, Zeus gifted Poseidon with female soldiers that were meant to protect him. These soldiers were as ruthless as they were beautiful. They protected with a ferocity that sometimes led to innocent lives being lost when they came into contact with rogue sailors."

Ivy took my hand under the table as we listened to Piper. No one else besides her and Aiden knew, and even Aiden had been highly skeptical. I hadn't mentioned it to him again since the day I showed him the knife, and he hadn't asked.

"The sirens, as we know them, scared Poseidon, so he created weapons infused with properties linked to his trident to control them. The weapons were powerful enough that the sirens accepted them without question. Each knife calmed their violent natures and made them into the soldiers he wanted. These weapons didn't make them stronger, it made them vulnerable and weak. The sirens became obsessed with the knives, losing their minds completely if they lost them."

The room went silent and another crack of lightning and thunder made us all jump. Piper sounded so rehearsed and unlike herself that I wondered if it was really coming from her memory or if her voice was being controlled from a distance.

"The leader of the sirens knew what Poseidon had done and came up with a plan to get him to accept the sirens. She met with him daily and built a relationship with him, hoping he would see that sirens were civil and calm when unprovoked. She was so alluring to him that he couldn't resist her and she became pregnant. Poseidon saw it as one of the greatest deceptions he had ever faced. He did not want to appear weak, so he took the child once he was born and told her to never return."

Piper was panting as if she had run a mile. Her hands gripped the edge of the table. She was fighting against speaking but was losing. I hoped she didn't bite her tongue.

"The sirens' anger was greater than their weapons could control, and they attacked while he was leaving to return to Greece, hoping to take the child. Poseidon had already sent the child to live with Zeus and Hera, unable to bear the sight of a child that was not worthy of being a demigod."

Tears streamed down Piper's face and she looked to be in pain. I wanted her to stop talking, but at the same time, I had to know what else she was told to say.

"Poseidon had anticipated an attack, and when enough sirens had come after him, the tritons threw a golden chain net over them. The net was strong enough to hold a god, and that's when Poseidon made the ground quake. The seabed rose at his call, causing the ground to swallow them whole and live the rest of their days confined to their rocky prison. The rest of the sirens, far outnumbered, were hunted by the tritons and slaughtered in cold blood at Poseidon's command."

I stood, my chair flying back a little harder than expected and toppling over. "Stop." She met my eyes and a grin spread across her face. My entire body broke out in goosebumps. "What does he want?"

"You will wield the knife so he can free his mother and other sirens." Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she listed sideways against Aiden.

I looked at the guys who had stunned looks on their faces. They didn't know that story. Humans weren't the only ones that had things kept from them about the past.

The lights flickered back on and Piper groaned, sitting up and rubbing at her head. She looked confused and her face turned pink.

Santina laughed uncomfortably. "Good one, Piper. Where on Earth did you hear that story?"

"What story?" Her voice was shaking, and Aiden rubbed her back. "What happened?"

"We should probably finish eating before the food gets cold." Jax picked up his fork, acting as if everything was okay. "Great story, Piper. I'd love to read the book it came from sometime."

Morgan snorted. "Sounds like the making of a bestselling book to me."

* * *

The next morning,I woke feeling the weight of the night before weighing heavily on me. I groaned and rolled over, finding Morgan gone. I hadn't slept well and shut my eyes in an attempt to fall back asleep.

"Sweetie?" The bedroom door clicked shut quietly and my eyes opened to find my mom standing by the door.

"Mom!" I jumped out of bed, luckily wearing pajamas, and threw myself into her arms. "Finally!"

She scrunched her nose and looked around the room. "Whose room is this, young lady?"

"Morgan's." I pulled her to the bed and we sat down. "Where have you been? What's happening? Did you know Poseidon had a son with a siren and then locked the sirens away under the ocean floor?"

I hated to bombard her with questions, but this reunion was months in the making. I had so many questions that only she had the answers to.

---