Page 17 of Blood of the Sirens
Untapped strength flooded my unfamiliar leg muscles as I practically vaulted over the last rock and rolled onto the large dock. I looked around wildly, finally spying her at the end of the wooden slants, out at the very end of the dock furthest out to sea. A large boat moored there, and a large man was yelling at her. Atmyfemale!
The audacity!
My first urge was to rush to her and take her in my arms. Whoever made her feel this way would be destroyed. I’d use the might of my clan to—
No. No, you wouldn’t. You were a human now. You were pretending.
I strode forward with determination, not pushing myself only because I did not trust these new legs. It wouldn’t look good to trip over the side of the dock and back into the water. I focused on my female: she looked so sad, standing there with her head bowed, shoulders small and drooping.
Another smaller male was trying to speak up for her, but the large man yelled at him, too.
I growled in my chest. I was not afraid of this large male covered in facial hair. As I approached, I wished desperately Iwas more adept at being a human like Barrett. He would know what to do. He would know what to say.
I stepped up to them, my eyes immediately finding her gaze and holding it. Her jaw dropped, shocked. The smaller male blinked at me, his eyes bulging at the sight of me.
Hopefully I hadn’t touched water somewhere. Were my scales showing?
I ignored them both in favor of the large man.
“I must speak with her.” I pointed at my female.
The large man grumbled and coughed. “Excuse me, but can I help you? We are docked for the evening. The next tickets are available—”
“You are yelling at her and I wish you to stop,” I spoke over him forcefully and with feeling so that my intent was clear. They all stared at me, and I puffed out my chest.
No one contradicted me. It appeared I was winning this odd battle.
“You know this asshole?” The large man jerked his thumb at me, but his face was turned toward my female. I didn’t know what asshole meant. I assumed it meant a strong warrior.
The smaller male behind her sputtered.
“Jesse, please introduce me,” he begged her.
Jesse?Jesse? That was my female’s name! I would ingrain it into my brain, carve the letters on the grandest shell I could find, and—
“I don’tknowhim. I just met him the other night!” Jesse wrung her hands helplessly at me, but this answer had the smaller male wiggling his eyebrows.
“Ooh? Do go on!”
“Shut it!” the older man sneered. He pointed at Jesse. “I know shit’s been tough, kid, but you can’t act like that in front of customers. It doesn’t matter if they are a bunch ‘o high and mighty dicks and dickesses. Those kinds of people have money,which I need to survive. I’m going to fire you to save face. The university gives me a ton of business.”
Jesse’s lower lip trembled, a fresh wave of tears brimming in her eyes. The smaller male tried to help. “Mike, come on. You know the circumstances.”
‘Mike’ pinched his brow. “And you know I’ll never hear the end of it if any of them come back and see her still working!” He pointed aggressively at Jesse and I growled.
They all stared at me.
“What work is this? Can I help? What will make it better?” I asked. I’d do anything to make this better for my female. If she had to complete work for this large man, then perhaps I could simply do it for her instead. It was understandable she would be upset if she was unable to complete an assigned task. I would help with this, and it would make her happy and stop the large man from yelling. She would see that I was a good protector and would make a good mate.
Mike arched an eyebrow. “You want her job?”
I blinked, not fully understanding. “If you need help, I can help.”
Mike’s demeanor shifted at that, and he eyed me with interest. I wanted to be clear about my intentions, however.
“Jesse stays with me,” I clarified. “And you will not yell at her again.”
Jesse made a choked sound, somewhere between a laugh and a cry of dismay. The smaller male stuffed his fist in his mouth to muffle his giggles.
