Page 5 of Emerge

Chapter Two

Blake

Riley was way too quiet as we pulled her onto the boat and wrapped a blanket around her. She kept examining her legs, but they looked perfectly normal to me. Ivy was already asleep on a bench, curled up into a ball.

When we had pulled up near the buoy, we had thought we might have to force her to come with us with the glare she gave us. But once she was safely on the boat, she had told us everything and then passed out from exhaustion.

It was so obvious now that Coach Gale was part siren, we just hadn't seen it. It's funny how something can be right under your nose and not be detected.

We pulled into the cave, and as soon as we were docked, Riley hopped off the boat and went to the elevator. Jax and I gave each other a look before he scooped up Ivy.

If Riley's way of dealing with what had happened was to flee, we had to respect that. I badly wanted to chase after her, but now that she had scales appear on her leg, we needed to tread carefully. Especially since the knife was now gone.

Ivy stirred in Jax's arms as we got on the elevator. She glared at him and he put her down.

"Where's Riley?" She pulled the blanket tighter around herself.

"She's already here." Jax's lips twitched. "You look like shit."

"Fuck you." Ivy flipped him off and scowled at the elevator doors.

They slid open and she rushed out, looking both directions before going to the living room. Riley was nowhere to be seen, but I heard the shower running upstairs.

"I'll take you home." Jax grabbed his keys as Ivy looked around the house, her mouth slightly agape. "Your parents are probably worried sick."

Ivy opened her mouth to argue, but then nodded solemnly. She had said repeatedly before falling asleep that everything was all her fault. I tried to tell her she couldn't control her reaction to a siren, but she was convinced she should have been able to.

I had never heard of any male sirens being born, so Dylan Gale was uncharted territory. We needed to know more and hopefully get the knife back before he destroyed it or grew attached to it too.

Ivy and Jax left, and I trudged up the stairs. I was exhausted from school, spending time with Morgan, and worrying about Riley.

When we had access to our phones after visiting Morgan, we both lost our minds trying to figure out where Dylan was taking her. We had shifted and gone to the marina, but they were nowhere to be found. Luckily, the call from Bubba had come not long after our panicking had reached its peak.

I paused outside Riley's door and put my forehead against it. The shower was still running, and I groaned, pushing away from what awaited me on the other side and went to my room to change.

I'd been up for more than twenty-four hours, but still felt wide awake. Visiting Morgan had been hard. He was in an oddly cheerful mood considering what his tail looked like. I was concerned he was masking his true feelings behind his smile. He was missing everything between the bottom edge of it to mid-shin.

I didn't know how it would affect his speed or his status as an alpha. Well, as soon as we earned alpha status again. But one thing was for sure, he wouldn't have the same capabilities as before.

I changed into some sweats and sat down at my desk, flipping open my laptop. I opened up a VPN and typed in Dylan Gale. The same stories came up as they had the last time I'd searched for him. The only thing to be found was about him becoming the interim swim coach.

I opened the private server for tritons and looked for anything about male sirens. There was nothing. Was he half human too? I still wasn't convinced that the water monster Riley had been attacked by was real. I was sure Dylan had something to do with it, but had it been part of his abilities as a male siren, or something else?

I shut my laptop and pressed my palms against my eyes. Poseidon having a child with a siren would be an interesting combination, but Finn had said the son we thought he was, was dead.

I went to lay in bed but could still hear the shower running across the hall. I rubbed the back of my neck, wondering if I should check on her. She had been shot and thrown off a yacht. That had to be traumatic for her considering her issues with water.

I groaned and pulled myself from my bed. We all needed a getaway where we could relax and unwind from all the stress we had been under.

I knocked gently on her door and got no answer, so I opened it. The bathroom door was cracked, and the smell of her shampoo hit my nose. It smelled like a tropical blend of some sort.

"Riley?" I shut the door behind me and went to the bathroom door. "You all right in there?"

The sound of crying made my heart stop, and I pushed open the door, finding her on the shower floor with her knees brought to her chest and her face buried against them. She shivered as the water hit her and I reached in to turn it off but stopped with my hand on the knob.

"Jesus. Why are you sitting in the cold water?" Instead of turning it off, I turned the water to hot. "Riley?"

She peeked out from her arms, her face red with her tears. "I wanted to see if they were real."

---