Page 16 of Emerge

"I've known. Your grandmother is one of the sirens who escaped. I didn't know the child was still alive." She sighed and studied my face and then her eyes fell to my necklace that was hanging out of my shirt. "You're happy with these boys?"

"I think so." I ran my fingers across the three pearls. "It's hard to focus on building a relationship when so much is going on."

"Male tritons give a single pearl to those that take their hearts." She put her hand over her heart and looked wistful. "Finn gave me one when we were in high school."

My eyes widened, and I looked down at the three pearls. "All of these things I should know."

"I never intended for you to transition into a siren, Riley. This life... always on edge, wondering when you're going to snap or when you'll be found and slaughtered... I didn't want that for you." She stood. "We're meeting in the living room about what happened last night."

She gave me a tight smile and left me so I could get dressed.

After pulling on jeans and a sweatshirt, I trudged down the stairs, to what sounded like a heated conversation between Finn and Morgan.

"You locked my parents away for helping sirens, but now you're helping sirens. Tell me why we should even trust you not to take Riley away from us." Morgan's voice was trembling.

When I got to the bottom of the stairs I stopped, seeing Finn and my mom sitting on the couch next to each other. Finn was sitting with his arms crossed and my mom had a slightly amused look on her face.

Blake was standing next to Morgan and looked to be more concerned about Morgan than what the conversation was about. "Morgan, you should really sit down. You're supposed to be taking it easy."

"How can I take it easy when Riley's in danger and now this?" Morgan gestured to the two of them. "Jax, what do you have to say about this?"

"What's going on?" I approached with caution since Morgan was on the fine line between frustrated and angry.

I stood by the arm of the couch and my mom reached over and took my hand, pulling me down next to her. I had missed her so much and it had been so long since I had sat next to her and just touched her without fearing for my life. I sniffled back tears. She pulled me to her and kissed my temple.

Finn looked comfortable next to my mom and stretched an arm out on the back of the couch. "Jax called me about last night's festivities. We needed to see the footage from the security camera out front and your mom wanted to check on you."

"We? Since when is there a we?" I looked between the two of them. "Did you forget that he had me kidnapped by his own son and then tied me to a chair and tried to waterboard me?"

Her eyes darkened, and she patted my hand. "I didn't forget. He is still receiving his punishment."

She shot Finn a glare and he smiled sheepishly. Gross.

Jax was quiet at the dining table with a laptop open in front of him. He stood and carried it to the coffee table. "The security cameras caught a shadowed figure outside the front of the house last night."

The guys stood behind the couch so we could all see the video. In the video, the lights were all on out front and then suddenly went out, but in the faint light from a lightning strike, I saw a figure standing by the front door.

"Why are we wasting our time watching a shadow?" Morgan glared at the screen.

"Just watch." Jax leaned forward over his dad. "Watch right here where he is."

A flash of lightning hit nearby and, at the same time, his eyes lit up like the lightning was inside of them.

My mom gasped and put her hand over her mouth. "He's Poseidon's child. He has to be."

Morgan twisted his lips to the side. "And what would you know about that?"

"Son-" Finn turned to face Morgan.

"I'm not your son." I wanted to hug Morgan, but he was grumpy. He hadn't had the best time sleeping, tossing and turning most of the night.

"When I was old enough, my mother told me about serving Poseidon and how his eyes would light like a million lightning bolts when he was using his powers." She clasped her hands in her lap and got a faraway look on her face. "It was how she knew something was wrong. She saw a flicker and knew that something was going to happen."

"Where is Grandma?" I had never met the woman, but my mom talked about her like she was well-known and respected in Mexico.

My mom took my hands and sighed. "When I hit puberty, I started the transition into a siren. She never tried to stop me from going in the water; she encouraged it. One night, when I was about thirteen, she told me I was going to live with my biological father, here in Salinity Cove. I was furious and wanted to tear apart the house and everything and everyone in it."

My stomach dropped. If she killed my grandmother, I didn't know what I'd do. My face fell as that reality set in.

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