Fire Brand Page 11

  “Come on, Avila. There’s only so long I can tread water.”

  I ignored the pain in my shoulder as I pushed Teal’s heavy form over to the edge of the boat. We didn’t know any sirens who’d ever been denied anything, which was getting me further mired in this mess. I couldn’t say no to Penelope. “I’m having a hard time moving her.”

  I would’ve brought her to shallower water, if I thought we could get her that far. I could barely budge her.

  “Give her a good shove. She’ll probably kick your ass when she breaks out of this crap. Go easy on her, Teal. She means well.” Penelope laughed and splashed toward the boat. “Just do it.”

  This was a terrible idea. I knew it, but I couldn’t leave Teal on the boat, stewing in her own juices, without any hope. I hadn’t had any solutions.

  I pushed her in.

  Squeezing my eyes closed when I did it, I could’ve hit Penelope square on the head, knocked her out, and had both of my best friends at the bottom of the ocean.

  “I’ve got her! I’ve got her…I’ve got her.” Every time she said it, it sounded less convincing. “Holy starfish, girl, you got heavy. Avila, come help me.”

  Finally, a good idea. “Okay.”

  I jumped in, scraping my legs against the surface of Teal. Penelope clung to the top of her for dear life, struggling to stay above water. I needed to grab what should’ve been her feet. Problem was that they were four feet underwater. I dove down, trying to get a good hand on them, but I couldn’t hold on to Teal and swim back to the surface.

  “Give me some slack,” I said when I came back to the surface, gasping for air.

  “It’s not that easy. If I could move her on my own, I wouldn’t have had you jump in.” Penelope shifted as she tried to honor my request. “I just heard her!”

  It was working. Holy shit. “What did she say?”

  “Couldn’t make it out. But she’s pissed.”

  Penelope jockeyed for position, but less of Teal was above water than before. All we had to do was keep her at the surface until the stone wore away.

  “I’ll dive down to take some of the weight, but I can only stay as long as I hold my breath.”

  “It’s okay.” Penelope gritted her teeth, her words were strained. “Every little bit helps.”

  I made my next trip, grabbing Teal’s legs. They felt different this time. Smoother, less hard. Almost like flesh. I couldn’t see clearly underwater what exactly was happening. Her legs hadn’t totally broken free yet, or else I would’ve tried to make her tread water.

  With only seconds left, I looked over Teal’s body in case anything else had changed. If there was any way to make this easier. As soon as I let go, she sunk.

  I grabbed for her, but my oxygen was gone, and so was Teal.

  Fuck.

  “What the hell?” Penelope cried, flailing her arms. “I thought you had her.”

  “I had to come to surface.” I gasped for air. I’d been down there too long and my lungs were about to explode. “And I thought you had her.”

  “She slipped, and I tried to readjust, but…I got tired. And stupid.” She sighed. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw Penelope cry. If ever. “How far can you dive?”

  I pulled myself back up on the boat and shook my head. “We’ll never get back up. One of the reasons that we’re so successful with the men we lure is because their lungs explode from the pressure once they get to a certain depth.”

  I could only hope that Teal wouldn’t feel it when it happened to her.

  “Where are the mermaids?” Penelope asked. “They’ll catch her.”

  The water was too calm. “Sing. They’ll come.”

  Our vibration rippled the water but no one came. Yet. We needed to be patient, but it was hard through all the panicking and my best friend sinking to the ocean floor.

  Penelope sat next to me. “I hate giving up on her.”

  “We aren’t.” No bubbles rose from the water. Teal was gone. “Now when we fight, we fight for her.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Don’t give up. The sun will rise again.

  Asher

  I had no idea what the hell that was supposed to mean. Asher’s cryptic notes used to comfort me, but this one infuriated me. No more game playing. Tonight I’d take back my crown.

  I’d been waiting for the right occasion to wear this dress. Even on stage, I didn’t dress up much. Holy starfish, I missed being on stage. Penelope and I hadn’t played since Teal turned to stone. Since she sunk, I hadn’t felt much like singing.

  I missed everything.

  I’d had a hard time caring about anything since we lost Teal. Even the challenge. My immortality didn’t matter anymore. I knew it wasn’t guaranteed. But I hated to lose, and I wanted Teal’s death to mean something.

  The mermaids had searched for her, but they’d been unable to find her body. I shivered every time I thought about it.

  Silver and sequined, the dress looked like coral glistening in the sunshine, and moved the same way. I ran my hand along it, changing the pattern. It felt like armor, and reminded me why I was doing this. If my powers of persuasion didn’t work, the dress was cut down to my belly button and up to my hip. There was no wearing anything under this thing. What you saw was what you got.

  One pissed-off siren who was willing to do just about anything to restore peace to her beloved Bay.

  I pulled up my long, blonde hair and put red lipstick on to complete my outfit.

  “You look amazing.” Penelope whistled low. She hadn’t gotten out of her pajamas since the night we lost Teal. This was the first time I’d put on anything acceptable for polite company since that night as well. “Oh, wait a minute.” She put her mug down, went to the window, and looked at the sky. I could’ve just told her the moon was almost full.

  She turned back to me, now wearing her most sinister glare. “Do not tell me you’re going to the King’s gala.”

  “Damn straight I am.” I had exactly two days before that Blood Moon smirked down at me, judging me for all my mistakes. I planned to give it the middle finger, and look smokin’ hot while doing it.

  The boat was empty without Teal and my bed was cold without Asher. Penelope swore he’d been involved in her abduction, but I convinced myself that was wishful thinking on her part. I should’ve believed her. Anything to make me forget him.

  Wasn’t gonna work. The brand on my wrist pulsed like a ticking bomb. Asher needed to stop leading me on. I wish I knew what I was getting myself into tonight. I wished he’d just been an asshole, instead of sending me notes and keeping hope alive. No wonder he was having trouble with The League and everyone who lived inside city walls. He was too nice.

  Soft-hearted.

  Ugh. I needed to stop describing myself and projecting my shortcomings on others. I had two days before I turned mortal, one hot dress, minus one siren, and no other options. Gala or bust.

  “Get dressed.” I grabbed Penelope by the sweatshirt. This thing was getting ripe. No matter what happened, I had to get her out of these clothes.

  She wriggled away from me. “Fuck that. Over my dead body will I set foot in that city.”

  “Do it for Teal.” It hurt to say her name out loud.

  Her mouth dropped. “Teal would smack some sense into you if she knew you were even thinking about this. If you had any respect for her, or yourself, you’d stay home.”

  “I’m as good as dead if I don’t go. So are you.”

  Penelope settled back on the couch, pulling a blanket over her putrid sweatpants. I had to fight dirty. I headed straight for her closet. She loved to dress up, way outdoing both Teal and I onstage. Everything in her wardrobe reminded me of playing with Siren’s Song, and how much I resented that I’d never be able to again.

  I grabbed a red tube dress. Perfect. I’d bring the devil with me. Or a furious siren out for revenge.

  I dangled the dress in front of her like a piece of candy. Her eyes lit up when she saw it. She snatched it f
rom me. “Fine. Uncle. What’s your plan for this ridiculous event?”

  I sighed. Every time I pictured this night, it was the three of us, playing on stage. The crowd in rapt attention, and Asher unable to look at anyone but me. To have my name fall from his lips when he made his announcement because his heart refused to consider loving another.

  Like this had anything to do with love, or loyalty. Tonight, it was all about retribution.

  Plan A. “We’ll go on stage and play as Siren’s Song.”

  “Does Asher have a bad memory? Because last I was in earshot of him, he put a ransom on our heads.” She pulled her sweatshirt over her head.

  “Whoa. You need to take a shower before I bring you anywhere fancy.”

  “I’m the one who should be adding stipulations to this adventure.” She glared at me as soon as she got the tube top over her head. “Are we bringing equipment?”

  “Guitars, amps.” The guards had already brought everything to the party. These outfits weren’t made for roadie work.

  She raised an eyebrow. “Weapons?”

  “We don’t have any.” Sad, but true. We’d never needed them.

  “Not true. We have that fancy knife set on the kitchen counter that none of us ever use.”

  Pathetic. “Great. So I’ll bring a serrated knife and knock the hell out of some French bread.”

  “I have something else.” Penelope disappeared into her bedroom. She came out with red high heels that were not made for walking and a gun.

  “Holy starfish.” I couldn’t breathe looking at it. “When did you get that?”

  “When you lost your crown,” she said quietly, not looking me in the eye. “We didn’t know if anyone would try to take us hostage. I worried that our song wouldn’t have the same effect if we lost our titles. I’ve never used it. Never had to. Now, I’m glad I have it. The League will plug their ears with wax and find ways to resist us. Even if Asher’s not really in charge, someone is giving them orders to fuck with us hardcore. I refuse to wind up like Teal.”

  “Me too.” I wrapped my arms around her. We’d been inseparable without Teal, but empty. “It’s not your fault what happened to Teal.”

  “It wasn’t enough.” She could barely get the words out.

  “Tonight we fix that.” For Teal and for The Bay. “I promise.”

  Penelope flashed the first genuine smile I’d seen in over a week. “Good. Revenge is my favorite.”

  I’d never seen so many nervous looking women in one place. It was possible I wasn’t the only one who didn’t know who’d be chosen as Asher’s Queen. Interesting. I took it as a good sign.

  A sea of skimpy dresses surrounded me, with faces so made up I wouldn’t recognize them bare, and a new hole in the ozone thanks to the hairspray. I’d bet a large amount of money I wasn’t the only one in the room who hadn’t worn underwear. All of this fuss over one man. I couldn’t blame them, since I was in the same boat. A few of the ladies caught my gaze, daring me to look away first. I wasn’t familiar with this emotion. I’d never felt threatened before.

  “This was a terrible idea,” Penelope grumbled as she slithered between two women blocking our path.

  It probably was, but I was sick of her shit. We had absolutely nothing left to lose. It would all be taken from us as soon as The League got its shit together, revamped with Queen 2.0. “Why? You don’t think I can win?”

  “It’s not that.” She stopped and took a champagne flute off a tray, handing one to me as well. It gave us both a chance to survey the room. “You can win any fight, as long as it’s fair. But when the odds have been staked against you…”

  “We don’t know that.” I couldn’t give her a chance to refute my claim. “Asher invited me, and said we could play. If he doesn’t choose me as his Queen, we still have a day to figure out plan B.”

  She scoffed. “You should’ve been working on that all along.”

  “I’ve been a little distracted. Mourning the death of my best friend and all.”

  “It should’ve motivated you more.”

  “I’ve heard from him.” It was time to come clean. “He’s been sending me letters.”

  Penelope glared at me. “I heard from him, too. He wants you dead, but he doesn’t have the balls to say any of this to our faces.”

  Every eye in the room was on us. We hadn’t crashed the party, so unless they knew something we didn’t, there was some en masse overreacting sweeping this gala. Jealousy was an emotion I was familiar with, at least being on the receiving end of it. That was the angle I decided to go with. “Come on, let’s get ready to play.”

  The League had authorized our show, but rejected letting any of our guards stay longer than it took them to carry in our equipment. It was a major red flag, but unless someone cut my still-beating heart out of my chest, I was determined to complete this mission. For all the threats The League made, I didn’t think they had the actual authority to carry through on anything they couldn’t fix.

  “This is our first show without Teal.” Penelope had yet to move, instead she frowned at the stage, like that was going to make anything better.

  “We better make it good then, so she doesn’t throw rotten tomatoes down at us from Heaven.” I hoped there was something else for Teal, instead of the eternity at the bottom of the ocean that we promised our victims. Or wherever she was. She deserved better than that. After all, she’d expected to live forever.

  I tugged on Penelope’s arm, but not too hard. One false move would expose my lady bits to a room full of haters. Penelope’s dress was a little safer than mine. It would support undergarments, if she chose to use them, but the tops of her fishnet stockings were visible below the hemline of the skirt.

  Two stools waited for us with microphones in front of them. It was no secret we’d gone from a trio to a duo. I wasn’t sure if that worked in our advantage or not. Our guitars lay on the stools. I slipped into my strap carefully, making sure it didn’t push my dress into the danger zone. My Queendom for some double sided tape.

  That was exactly what we played for. My Queendom. I needed to keep that in mind.

  “Greetings, ladies and….” Now that I was back in my element, I realized I didn’t see any gentlemen. What the hell kind of meat market was this? “I don’t think I’ve ever been in a room with so many beautiful women. His Majesty has a tough decision ahead of him tonight. I wonder which one of us will be the lucky lady.”

  Penelope sneered at me as I strummed the first few notes of our usual opening number. The show was going to suck without Teal, but we’d played acoustic before. Every so often, Teal used to get preoccupied with a tasty morsel from The Alibi crowd and wouldn’t make it back to the stage in time to play. We rolled with it.

  “What?” I mouthed, adding a long run to put off singing for another couple of seconds.

  “Us?” She shook her head before joining me in the melody.

  Our show didn’t have the same effect on a room full of women as it did at The Alibi. Those bitches had the nerve to look bored. They hung back, away from the stage, looking around for something, anything, that would give them the advantage in the room. Their faces started to light up, and I thought we’d broken through to them, that true talent could melt the coldest of hearts. But once again, I was wrong. One by one, men started to appear, filling in the empty space along the front of the stage. I adjusted my legs so no one could see up my skirt.

  I smiled down at our new audience. They were dressed in the formal uniform of The League, and they saw nothing but Penelope and me. That glazed over look was absolute gold. The castle could explode behind them and they’d see nothing but our bare legs shifting underneath our guitars.

  “Well, hello, gentlemen. Ladies, The League is in the house and they’re looking mighty handsome.” Their smiles were predatory, but sharing that tidbit would backfire. “Remember, Asher can only choose one Queen.”

  A few ladies moved forward, mingling with the guards as we started the next song. The
more determined members of the crowd hung back, waiting for the real prize. Problem was, the guards didn’t pay any attention to anyone but Penelope and me. As soon as the declaration was made and we got the hell out of here, the playing field would be even.

  I couldn’t believe no one ordered them to put wax in their ears. Every guard in front of the stage would answer no call but ours.

  Hmmm.

  It had to be a trap.

  No one told us how long we were supposed to play. Red flag numero dos. That told me they expected trouble, or had no plan for the gala. The King had to be involved. His security had fallen under my spell, and his announcement appeared to be a complete wildcard.

  We only had a handful of songs we could play acoustic. Penelope eyed my wearily when we exhausted our catalog.

  “Any requests?” she called to the crowd.

  “Yeah, you in my bed,” the guy directly in front of her answered, and his buddies snickered before giving him high fives.

  She smiled down at him, stealing the oxygen from the entire front row. “If you play your cards right, soldier, there’s no telling how the night could end.”

  “I know how the night will end.” Everyone in the room gasped when His Majesty appeared. “For one of you, anyway.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Asher never looked more like a phoenix than he did tonight. He hadn’t shifted, but it didn’t make him any less magnificent. Blond hair tipped with gold and copper, dancing in the light like it had caught fire. I don’t know how anyone resisted reaching out and touching it as the crowd parted when Asher passed. They were all in awe, just like me.

  Nothing but the best for this gala. His formal wear was all black, with intricate embroidery in shades of red and orange on the jacket and shirt. I was dying to know the story it told. If I were to take a guess, it would be that The King was not afraid to fight to the death for what he believed in, and he’d rise, stronger every time.

  I’d follow him anywhere.

  But I knew better than to take my chances. In theory, anyway. Yet here I was.