Page 193 of Gods of the Sea

She descended the stairs, taking an older man’s arm. That must have been her father, Simon.

Hmmm. His aura was quite faded. The man was truly ill. Did the daughter know? I couldn’t tell by her aura.

I took another sip of wine, processing the information.

My new father leaned over to my ear.

“Best foot forward,” he said. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or himself.

The woman of the house and the older gentleman came to greet us. Her eyes met mine once more, her aura turning from purple to rose. I tried not to smile. The little siren found me attractive. How amusing.

You should be afraid of me, woman. If you know you’re a siren, then you should know what I can do to you.

“I’d like you to meet former Naval Captain Theodore de Villiers, and his son, Jacques,” her father said. “Gentlemen, this is my daughter, Esmeralda.”

With a rosy smile she held out her hand for us to kiss. My father did so with a gentlemanly manner. I couldn’t hate him for it; she was undoubtably beautiful in many senses, and her siren charm was probably affecting him. I, however, only brought itup toward my lips but didn’t make contact. If this woman was a siren, I didn’t want to get myself in any more of a mess with the spirit world than necessary.

“I was afraid he was exaggerating,” my father said, “but I’m pleased to find that your father’s quite accurate in his praises of you.”

She brought a delicate hand to her expensive necklace. “My father should save some of those praises for himself. All of my accomplishments are from his spoils.”

And yet you asked the entire room to leave you expensive gifts,I thought.

I wasn’t buying this woman’s affections for her father. It was obvious how interested in money she was.

My father and hers joked together about their time in their navy, helping me piece together why my father had agreed to this arrangement. The father was a dear friend and ill. The woman, however, didn’t seem suitable.

And there was no way I was going to allow my father to marry a siren. To mix more people I knew with the spiritual world would only end in disaster.

It always had.

“Have you danced yet, my dear?” Esmeralda’s father asked.

She patted his arm affectionately. “Looking for a suitable partner, Father. All in good time.”

“Perhaps someone nearby would be suitable?”

“Are you volunteering, Father?”

“Me? Heavens no. You know I haven’t the slightest ounce of rhythm.”

Her father looked at mine.

My father shifted uncomfortably. “As much as I would enjoy asking for the first dance, I’m afraid I’ve forgotten all the steps after this blasted knee injury. Jacques, my boy, would you do the honor?”

Why was I getting involved in this again?

I took another sip of wine and put down the glass. I held out my hand, her aura turning even more pink. Even if I couldn’t read her aura, I could read her eyes. There was an anticipation in them, as if she thought I was her betrothed instead of my father. She should have known that a man like me could never be betrothed to a woman like her.

I wondered how long it would take for her to realize what I was, and how mortified she would be when she found out.

“I warn you,” I whispered to her as I escorted her to the dance floor. “Once we dance, you’ll lose interest in taking my hand again.”

“Is your dancing so bad?” she said with a flirtatious giggle.

I tried to hold back my smile, amused that she didn’t realize how much danger she was truly in.

“No,” I said in her ear. “But once you find out who I am, you’ll keep your distance, just like everybody else.”

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