Then the pain rolled on, lower. I wanted these men inside me, laughing as I made love to them. I held them until they drove into me, their screams as they used their last breath pushing us both to the ultimate fulfillment. Then I threw their spent bodies into the surf, jerking yet another sailor into place. Satisfaction. Why could I never be satisfied?

I shrieked as the pain ripped downward, toward my toes. Only there were no toes, just beautiful fins that gleamed with iridescent green and turquoise scales. I raced through the water to the castle beneath the sea where my lord waited. He would be proud of me, want my tally of this night’s work.

I lay with my head on his feet, panting as his displeasure roared over my head. Not enough. Never enough. I had no passion for the work. No skill at the taking. I’d failed, my kills weren’t true and the men lived. I was unworthy, a wretched creature who could not serve this god with any honor.

I kept my eyes closed as a hand stroked my hair. I heard the murmur of soothing words when the pain finally vanished, leaving a blessed calm and… emptiness. Slowly I came back to the world. This world. Where I sat across from a true Siren. One who did the job and reveled in it. Who killed and didn’t sob later for the lost souls she’d taken.

“Sister.” Aggie paused with her hand on my head. “I’m so sorry.”

“Sorry?” I shoved back from her. “I guess I got what I deserved. I was a disgrace. The Storm God threw me away. I couldn’t serve him.” I wiped away my tears. Why had I been crying? Surely not because I hadn’t had the killer instinct. I had never wanted it. The fact that I had once done Achelous’s bidding sickened me.

“I’ve heard stories about lost sisters, Gloriana. Yes, I remember now. Your name. It is written in the archives. I can’t believe he let you keep it.” Aggie’s face was wet with her own tears. She shook her head, blinked her sea green eyes, then firmed her lips. “Well, that was quite a trip down your memory lane. No doubt about it. You were an epic fail as a Siren. You’re lucky Achy didn’t fry you with a lightning bolt instead of letting you go.”

“Yeah.” I didn’t know what else to say. Aggie obviously felt sorry for me. But I was beginning to realize being kicked out of the Siren sisterhood was actually a pretty good thing. Couldn’t be a stone-cold killer? I was so out of there.

Aggie pulled out her compact. “Look at me. I’m a mess and I have a date with Ian later.” She reapplied her lipstick. “I’m going to have to tell Achy about this, you know. Of course he saw you not too long ago, didn’t he? Wily bastard. Never said a word. No wonder he stuck me here in Austin. Bet he wanted to check up on you.” She arched a brow and looked over at me. “Think he’s having second thoughts? Might want you back?”

“God, don’t even go there.” I jumped up, then fell back onto the bed. I felt reamed out, weak. The pain tour had done me in. Of course the Storm God didn’t have designs on me. He’d seen me and let me go. If he wanted me back I’d be floating in an Austin lake right now with a rock for a bed. I dismissed the idea. Simply couldn’t wrap my brain around it.

“You’re right. Coincidence.” She laughed like she knew something I didn’t and went back to fixing her face.

I let it go, something else on my mind. “What powers did you see, Aggie? I was so caught up in the k-killing, I didn’t…”

“Good question. Well, there are a few things I can teach you. Amazing that Achy left you anything to work with. But the very fact that he let you keep your name is proof that he had a soft spot for you. Either that or he’s slipping. And, girlfriend, that man just doesn’t slip.” Aggie paused with her lipstick in her hand. “Powers. The statue thing, of course, you’ve got that. And I’ll bet you can read minds through blocks when dealing with vampires, shifters, the lesser beings. Try it. You’ll love it.” Aggie pulled out lip liner. “Can’t read mine, of course, so don’t even try.”

“I will. Try with others, I mean.” I fell back on the pillows, still horrified that I’d been like Aggie. She just sat there, calmly touching up her makeup after watching what amounted to a video of me doing the Siren thing like it was nothing. Yeah, another day at the beach. Literally. Swim out, kill a few sailors after some slamming sex. Business as usual. I wondered if I dared ask for one of Ian’s tranquilizers. Oblivion looked really good right now.

Aggie smiled as she put away her beauty tools. “No wonder you look shell-shocked and strangely flushed. Ian said you faced off with Lucifer tonight too. Not bad, sister.”

“I’m lucky he let me get away with it.” I put my hands to my cheeks. They did feel hot. Probably caused by that weird trip Aggie had done or maybe still singed from Luc’s blast of heat in my face.

“I’m sorry, hon, that Achy did a number on anything to do with water and you.” She shuddered. “I can’t imagine my life without being able to swim in the sea. For a Siren, that’s worse than death.”

“Yes, well, until tonight I didn’t remember it was ever important to me. I avoided anything deeper than a Jacuzzi tub.” I pulled the covers up to my chin when Aggie stood and walked to the door. “Tell the men I’m resting, will you? I need to think. I really don’t want to deal with any of them now.”

“Fine. I’ll tell them. But I doubt they’ll listen to me. If your Jerry or Rafe heard those screams they’re probably already crowded around the door. I’m surprised they didn’t burst in here. Ian’s guards probably kept them out.” Aggie stared at me for a long sixty seconds. “A Siren. Un-freakin’-believable. Wait till we tell Flo tomorrow night. She’s going to go nuts.”

“No, you can’t tell her.” I was across the room in an instant, even though it left me with a bad case of the shakes. “She’s leaving for Paris at the end of the week. Let her take off in blissful ignorance. I’ll tell her when she gets back.”

Aggie narrowed her gaze. “Why? You ashamed of your Siren heritage?”

“I don’t know how I feel or what I believe. But I do know I don’t want to deal with Flo’s reaction to the news right now.” I put my hand on Aggie’s arm. She was dressed for her date in a winter white sweater and bronze leather pants. Her leather heels were cute but not quite right for the outfit or the season. “You need new suede pumps. Right?”

Aggie looked down and frowned. “Maybe. Well, yes. These really aren’t working, are they?”

“You get Flo stirred up about the Siren thing and we can kiss shoe shopping good-bye.” For myself, I couldn’t imagine dredging up any shopping enthusiasm. Or even crawling out of bed anytime soon. I was already feeling wobbly again. I staggered back to bed.

“You’re right. Tell her later.” Aggie grinned. “Shoes are a Siren weakness. Because in the old days we so rarely got to walk on land. Thank God times have changed.”

“Um, it’s okay for you to say ‘God’ like that?” I sank down on the bed again. There was so much I didn’t know about Sirens. Not sure why I bothered to ask this question. With their history, there was no way a true follower of the Storm God had a Heavenly future. The thought made my stomach turn.

“Sure. Thank God, the Storm God, whoever.” Aggie rolled her eyes. “Lighten up, Gloriana. You are way too serious. Sirens are immortal. We don’t worry about Heaven or hell. Lucky for you, you’re a vampire now so you’ve got the immortality thing covered again. Otherwise, you’d be dust.” She tapped her perfect chin. “When did you meet your vampire?”

“1604.” I fell back on the bed, thinking about it.

“Yep. You are one lucky gal. If your guy hadn’t sunk his fangs into you back then, you’d be long gone, sister. I’m sure Achy never wanted you to live forever and he was really surprised to see you were still around when he did run into you.” Aggie stopped in the doorway. “By the way. That memory thing didn’t have to hurt. Call it payback for you and Flo ignoring me since the wedding.” She tossed her hair. “Hope you learned your lesson. I’m going for cute brown suede pumps tomorrow night. See ya.” She took off.

“Bitch!” But forget her and her evil tricks. Oh, yes. Achelous and I had met before and not that long ago. Yet he’d said nothing. Had he arranged for me to become immortal or had that been a happy accident? And, if he really hated me, why hadn’t he acknowledged me when we’d met? Dread built up inside me so strong that I wanted to run somewhere where there was no water whatsoever. A desert maybe. West Texas was supposed to have vast stretches of open range with little water. I could be there in a few hours.

I heard a commotion at the door and figured Jerry and Rafe were thrashing out who was going to get to see me first. I heard Aggie tell them to chill and settled back just as my phone chimed that I had a text. I looked around and saw my purse on the floor next to the bed. When I read the text, I realized it had been too much to hope that Alesa could have just vanished down to hell without a final word.

Left gift 4 U N $ at apt A.

I sent a quick text to Penny to meet me outside, then slipped out through the window. Of course I ran into one of Ian’s guards, but I just smiled and waved when Penny came running to meet me.

“What is it? Your text sounded urgent.” She still had on her lab coat.

“Alesa left us a little present at the apartment. I don’t know about you, but I figure it can’t be a good thing.” The ground seemed to shift under me, but I sucked it up and kept going. I had to do this. I couldn’t give in to weakness.

Penny grabbed my arm. “God, no. She mentioned me specifically?”

“If you translate into a dollar sign.” I dragged Penny around the house toward her car.

“Of course. She never called me by my correct name.” She dug her car keys out of her pocket. “Let’s go.” She stopped next to one of the guards. “If Ian looks for us, tell him I took Glory home and we need some alone time. Got it?” The guard just nodded as we climbed into Penny’s beat up economy car.