A/N: I can't possibly thank my team of friends, but I always will! Alice's White Rabbit, LyricalKris, bandeforever16, mykstich, Pandora's Box Is Heavy, and Qwen...you all support me and I hope I do the same for you! Thank you for sticking with me and helping me to push through. Readers...if you've been here since the beginning...thank you for toughing it out. If you're just joining us, welcome aboard!
"Rosalie seems like an intense person," Edwards says as he walks me to my door. We had spent a few tense and awkward minutes speaking to her and Emmett before I dragged Edward into the Uber.
I was fishing around in my purse for my key, barely paying attention to anything this man was saying. My stomach was churning. I'd need to get into the water soon.
"Yeah, who knows what Emmett sees in her." I snort, mostly because I have a feeling that the encounter was not Em's idea. He's as much a slave to her as I am.
I finally dig my key out and jam it into my lock and open the door. I stride in and toss my purse onto the sofa. When I look back, I see Edward hovering in the doorway. I chuckle lightly. "Jesus, I'm sorry. Would you like to come in?"
His grin is contagious, and he steps in cautiously. His eyes drift around, and when they land on mine, my stomach settles for just a moment.
"You weren't joking about the mermaid stuff."
My eyes widen, and my heartbeat quickens until I realize that he's just standing in the middle of my living room, staring at all my mermaid-related treasures.
"It's more than just mermaids though, isn't it?" he asks as he walks toward a display case that holds pieces of nautical navigational history. A few scraps of old maps in frames, a bronze sextant, and a spyglass.
"Oh, that's just my collection." I'm nervous. My hands are clammy, and my voice is shaky. I move to stand next to him as he examines the antiques in the case.
"It's exquisite," he murmurs.
I can feel her, the siren, rising up within me. I let out a short breath, and Edward looks down at me.
"I feel like I've asked you this a million times tonight, but are you all right?" His face holds concern, and the part of me that's still holding on wants to tell him to leave, run, and never come back.
"I'm fine." I shrug. "Maybe a little out of sorts."
"Was it running into Emmett after you guys were fighting?" he asks and gently cups my cheek.
I lean into his touch and sigh. "It was a little weird, but that's not what's wrong." I lock my gaze with his and smile weakly. "I wasn't looking for you."
Weren't you? He's the one you want.
"I wasn't looking for you either," he says as he moves closer to me. "Sometimes, you just have to go with your gut, right?"
I nod, pull him to me, and clasp my arms around his neck. His eyes are clouded, and suddenly, I'm worried whether I have him in a trance or if it's just lust. I can't focus any longer when he takes my mouth.
His lips, once again, are so soft and warm. His mouth is inviting on mine, and I groan quietly as I press my body to his. Edward's hands roam the expanse of my back as I cling to him, willing the monster away, reveling in the feeling of him plundering my mouth like he's searching for buried treasure.
Take him.
Lure him.
Kill him.
I break the kiss but keep myself entwined within his arms. My fingers play in his coppery hair and breathe gently in his ear. "We could go for a walk on the beach," I murmur and nip at his lobe, "It's not that late."
DO IT!
I feel him shiver as he chuckles. "It's not, but some of us have to be up very early in the morning." Edward nuzzles into my neck, and I take a deep breath.
Not tonight.
Never.
"Then I should probably unwind from you and let you go," I say as I back away.
Edward quickly presses his lips to mine once again, and my knees go weak this time. This is all me; the monster is nowhere in this quick kiss.
"Can I text you tomorrow?" he asks as I lead him to the door.
"Of course."
His smile is sweet, and I return it as easily as I can as I watch him scurry down the stairs and out the building's front door.
When I lock up behind him, my chest feels heavy, and my throat feels raw.
Come to me now, Bella. Come home, child.
I ignore her call. Hera is already angered with me; I can feel it under her words.
I wash my face, change for bed, and the second my head hits the pillow, I'm done.
The images that swim in my mind are slightly blurry like I'm in a fog.
There was a parade in the streets after the radio announcement about the German's signing their final surrender. We still had the Japanese to worry about, but who knew that in just five months, they too would surrender.
People were smiling again.
Men, husbands, fathers, sons, brothers … they were coming home. Some of them were lucky enough to be in one piece.
Emmett and I were in Astoria, Oregon. I wanted quiet. He wanted a place to hide and lie about his time in the war.
We've told everyone that Emmett received a head injury, and he gets the joy of doing nothing and acting like a doofus if he wants.
I got a job at the diner in town waitressing and very quickly became very popular among the men who were living in town or passing through.
Hera hadn't spoken to me in ages, and I don't know what I'm supposed to be doing anymore.
I can't even imagine that there are any descendants left from the men of that ship.
I was walking out of the diner after finishing my morning shift when I felt a shift in the air.
At that moment, I knew Hera was sending me someone. Someone who might be related to one of those men … or maybe, I wouldn't remember this one. I was worried about that. I had kills I couldn't remember, and I was beginning to think that Hera was manipulating me. That's never what I wanted. I also never thought that I would be doomed to live the rest of this immortal life just killing people at a goddess' whim.
I was driving on the backroads outside of town when I see him holding out his thumb.
I slow and pull to the side of the road and lean over to roll the window down. "You need a ride soldier?" I smile as he looks relieved that someone has finally come by.
"I'd love one, miss." He has dimples and a nice smile, and I wonder how he got out this way. "I'll climb in the back."
He reaches for the back door, and I wave him off.
"You'll do no such thing. I'm sure you've been walking for a long time. Just get in, and I'll take you into town."
He smiles and throws his rucksack into the back seat and climbs onto the bench seat in front next to me.
"You're very kind, miss. Thank you." He seems to relax just slightly as I pull back onto the road, and already I can feel the monster raging within me.
"What's your name?" I ask as I cruise down the road. It's the middle of the day, and since this is the longest way back to town, I have time, if I drive slowly enough.
"Tyler Crowley. I'm from Washington originally, but when I got back from overseas, I found out my folks had died, so I'm venturing out to find my own way."
"I'm sorry to hear that." I am, truly. "So, where to?"
"I guess just into the nearest town. Do you know any place where I could find a job?"
He looks so earnest, and I see my opportunity.
"Actually, my brother and I have been looking for someone to help us around our property. He was injured in the war, and he can't do much these days." I glance over at him and smile. "We'd be happy to pay you, plus room and board."
"Oh, I don't know, miss. I'm just nobody you picked up on the side of the road …" he trails off.
"Tell you what? I'll bring you to our place, and you can meet my brother, Emmett, and have a look around. I'll make us some lunch, and if it doesn't feel right, I'll drive you to town."
"Honestly, I could do with a decent meal," he says with a chuckle.
"Then it's settled." I veer to the right, away from town, and head out to the old farm property that Emmett and I bought.
"I'm Bella, by the way."
A few hours later, after sandwiches and a quick soup I was able to throw together, Tyler is out walking the property with Emmett.
He is not happy.
We've never brought anyone into our private space before, but I assured Emmett that Tyler will be in and out in a matter of a couple of weeks, if not days.
Plus, we have that granny flat out back that he can stay in.
I'm drying the last spoon and placing it in the drawer when I see them walking up to the back porch. I can see that Emmett, with all of his reservations, has already taken to Tyler.
"Well, Bella, I think we've got ourselves some help finally." Emmett is smiling and clapping Tyler on the shoulder as they walk inside.
"Excellent. I'll go clean up the flat for you," I say and smile to them both. "Emmett, why don't you let him clean up a bit upstairs, and then you can help me."
A few weeks went by, and the three of us had settled into a routine.
Tyler was out mowing the grass while Emmett and I were watching from inside the house.
"You need to do something, Bella. He's been here too long." Emmett is staring at me, and I know he's right.
"You're right. I'll take him out later tonight."
I'm quiet for the rest of the day, contemplating how I'm going to get Tyler out of the house with me.
Late in the afternoon, I pack a picnic lunch and load the basket and a few blankets into the trunk of the car.
Walking around the back of the house, I find Tyler and ask him to load some cut wood into the trunk for me and tell him we're heading to the beach for a bonfire and a picnic.
"You've been working hard, and you deserve a night off. Come with us." I refuse to take "no" for an answer.
The three of us pile in and take the hour drive to the shore.
After roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, I scour the beach for a large stick to walk along the shore with.
I tell the boys I'm looking for shells, and I need some quiet. It doesn't take long before Tyler comes jogging down to the shore. I'm looking out toward the sea. I can feel the lure, and the smell of the water so close at hand is making my hackles rise.
"Miss Bella." Tyler sidles up next to me, and I turn to look at his eager face. "I just wanted to thank you for taking a chance on me. For giving me a job and a place to stay. I'm just real lucky you came across me that day on the road."
I sigh and grip my stick tighter.
"Tyler, you're more than welcome, and Emmett and I have appreciated having you around the farm." I look back across the water. "But I didn't just 'stumble' upon you, son."
"You … You didn't?" I can hear how the confusion is clouding his voice.
"Of course not." I turn around to face him fully. "Emmett isn't even my brother."
"What?"
"I found you, Tyler, so I could kill you," I say as I swung my arm up and smacked him under the jaw with the stick I was holding.
When he doesn't fall immediately, I take a ballplayer stance and swing again and again, over and over, until finally, he falls onto the wet sand right at the shoreline.
I see Emmett standing by the dwindling fire we made, and I wave him off. I know he'll pack up everything and extinguish the fire. He'll make up a story. Probably something along the lines that Tyler and I ran off together.
I grab that poor boy's ankles and begin dragging him into the ocean.
I wake up as I fall onto the floor and push the hair out of my eyes. I'm sweating, and my shirt is so twisted I might have to cut it off my body. I lean on my mattress to leverage myself off the floor when I notice the figure lounging on the end of my bed.
The moonlight streaming in through the window is casting enough light to illuminate the slender blonde with long legs and a sickeningly sweet smile on her face.
"Pull yourself up, Bella. We have a lot to talk about." She rises off my bed and glides out to my living room, and I'm still slumped on the floor like a pile of week-old dirty clothes.
I pull myself up from the floor, untwist my shirt, walk to the bathroom, and splash water on my face. The reflection is so unfamiliar to me at this point; I don't even know who or what I am.
Monster or muse.
Cursed or kind.
Siren or angel.
I walk out of the bathroom, take a deep breath, and steel myself to face her. My fate may be directly linked to her, but it's time for me to take control of my life.