“No, of course not.”
He moved around, taking pictures from all different angles. He even climbed up on the desk and stood over it, so he could fit the whole thing in one shot. When he went to jump down from the desk, his foot hit the Red Bull can, spilling yellowish liquid all over the scroll.
“Oh my.” Pine gasped and immediately started dabbing it with his shirt. “I’m so…” He trailed off mid-apology, and Harper instantly saw why.
She hadn’t been freaking out like he had because Gemma had told her the scroll withstood damage of any kind without any issues. But she stood up now, watching as the lettering on the scroll began to glow bright red. Everywhere the liquid touched, the wording beneath would flare up.
“What does this mean?” Harper asked. “Why is it doing that?”
“I don’t know.” Pine shook his head. “Maybe the ancient Greeks were big into energy drinks.”
As abruptly as it had started, the letters faded back to their normal color, which now looked dull compared to the radiant crimson. Even places where the Red Bull was still pooled above it had returned to normal.
“That was weird,” Pine said.
“That was very weird.”
“I’ll get these pictures out as soon as I can.” He set the camera aside and finished wiping the scroll clean. When he’d finished, he rolled it up carefully and handed it to Harper. “You get this back home and keep it safe.”
NINETEEN
Minion
The instant Daniel had stepped in front of Liv, he knew it was a bad idea. Before he’d even intervened, he knew just how much of a bad idea it was, but he didn’t feel like he had a choice.
Gemma was trying to reason with Penn and get her to deal with Liv, but Penn didn’t get involved in anything unless it affected her. So Daniel’s plan was to make it affect her. He theorized that he wouldn’t be able to stop Liv himself, but Penn would be mighty pissed off if something happened to Daniel so close to their big date.
But then again, Penn had already killed one siren for him. She might not be so eager to kill a second one.
Behind him, he heard the girl crying. She’d already had the misfortune of going on a date with Aiden Crawford, and this psychotic siren was about to devour her, so Daniel didn’t blame her for the tears.
Aiden was standing uselessly to the side, not that Daniel would expect any more from him. He did an excellent job of being a dick, and that was about it.
“Liv, don’t,” Daniel said, and he held up his hands palm out toward her. “Liv.”
As soon as he’d heard Liv’s monster voice, loud and proud in a public space, he knew that the poor girl didn’t stand a chance. Liv didn’t care who saw what, and Daniel could see the shift in her face. He’d seen it just the day before on Gemma, and even though he trusted Gemma, it had still freaked him out a little.
Now, as he saw Liv’s lips pull back and her razor-sharp fangs extend from her mouth, it was revolting and more than a little frightening.
“Do you really think this is the time or place, Liv?” Daniel asked, keeping his voice even. He kept trying to say her name, the way he’d seen a hostage negotiator do in a movie once. He wasn’t sure it worked as well on sirens, but anything had to be worth a shot at this point.
“Liv!” Gemma shouted, and she suddenly grabbed Liv’s arm, yanking her back.
Liv hissed like a vampire being sprayed with holy water, turning her rage on Gemma.
“Knock it off, Liv!” Penn yelled, and her voice seemed to echo through everything.
Liv covered her ears with her hands, and Gemma winced. The people who were standing closest to them shook their heads and looked around, as if they expected to see something shouting in the skies.
When Liv dropped her hands, her face had gone back to normal. Her eyes had even shifted back to dull brown. She did not look happy, though. Her frown, her slouch, even the sulk in her eyes, all reminded Daniel of a little kid who had just gotten a spanking.
“I was fine,” Liv insisted, and pulled her arm away from Gemma. “I was just having some fun.”
“You were not fine, that was not fun, and you are a horrible little brat who’s making Gemma look like a damn saint,” Penn snapped. She crossed her arms and glared down at Liv, but Liv didn’t shrink back. She held her ground and stared up at Penn defiantly. “Is that what you want, Liv? Do you want me to like Gemma more than you?”
“What just happened?” Mayor Adam Crawford came out of the crowd and walked toward them.
So far, everyone had mostly looked stunned and confused, but Daniel could hear murmurs in the crowd, and someone asked, “Did you see what happened to that girl’s face?” They had seen something, and the people of Capri were going to get wise to the fact that Penn and her friends were supernatural unless they did something, fast.