“Look, I’m not letting you go off and get hurt,” Alex insisted. “I have my earplugs, and I’m going with you. Now, do you want to stand around and argue with me about it, or do you want to go find your sister?”
Gemma didn’t want to waste any more time discussing it, so she started jogging down toward the bay. She was much faster than Alex, and he worked hard to keep up with her. She slowed down a bit because she didn’t want to lose sight of him, but she also wanted to get to the beach as quickly as she could.
Unfortunately, she’d grossly underestimated how crowded it would be at the bay.
Gemma figured that the sirens would be closer to the water, or at least in a more secluded area. She doubted they would do anything in public, not when there were so many witnesses, so they’d be drawn to places where there were fewer people.
She ran to the edge of the beach, the closest to the docks, where the crowd was the thinnest. She looked around, but she didn’t see Harper, Daniel, or any of the sirens.
Then Gemma realized she didn’t see Alex, either. He’d been right behind her a few seconds ago, but when she darted through the crowd, she must’ve lost him.
“Dammit.” Gemma rubbed her forehead and regretted bringing him. Getting Alex killed in an attempt to protect her sister wasn’t exactly a winning situation.
She turned back around toward the docks, trying to figure out where to look, and Sawyer was standing right behind her. So close, she nearly bumped into him when she turned around.
“Sawyer!” Gemma gasped. “You scared me.”
“Good.” He smiled, and before she could react, he grabbed her, clamping one hand over her mouth to keep her from calling out for help or singing.
THIRTY
Lyrical
“They’re here,” Harper said, doing her best to keep the panic from her voice, as she locked eyes with Penn.
“What?” Daniel leaned down to hear her better.
“They’re here!” Harper repeated, shouting this time.
Daniel looked up, and then he saw Penn, too. “Oh, shit.”
A person walked in front of Penn, and then she was gone, disappearing into the crowd.
“What do you wanna do?” Daniel asked. “We can try to follow Penn, maybe stop her before she finds Gemma, or we go try to protect Gemma.”
“We go get Gemma,” Harper said. “Penn knows where we live, so she’ll go there eventually. If she isn’t already on her way, or the other sirens aren’t already there.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
Daniel took her hand, but all the earlier flutterings had dissolved. The only thing Harper felt was panic.
And all the people didn’t make it easier. They were all going toward the beach, since the fireworks were about to start, and Harper and Daniel were pushing against them. It felt a bit like they were salmon swimming upstream, and it made it hard for them to hurry.
“Go towards the trees!” Harper advised.
“What? Why?” Daniel asked, pushing past a guy who wouldn’t get out of his way.
“Nobody’s going to be there because they block the view of the fireworks,” Harper said. “We’ll be able to get to my house quicker!”
Daniel did as he was told, leading the way and pushing through the crowd. Harper was dimly aware that she’d just told Daniel to go to the forest where she’d found Luke’s body. That was where the sirens disposed of their kills, so they were familiar with it.
But it was the quickest way home. And that was all that mattered to Harper. Getting home and making sure that Gemma was safe.
They’d just started on the path through the trees when Penn appeared in front of them. She hadn’t materialized, exactly, but she stepped out from behind a tree and blocked their path. Her eyes glowed yellow in the dim light.
“Where are you off to in such a hurry?” Penn asked, her voice a soft purr that nearly made Harper forget how much she hated and feared her. “The fireworks are the other direction. And you don’t want to miss the show, do you?”
“No, I don’t want to…” Harper’s brow furrowed, because for a second she couldn’t remember exactly what she wanted to do. “I’m leaving, and you can’t stop me.”
Still hanging on to Daniel’s hand, Harper walked forward, but Penn moved to block her path.
“Let me get by,” Harper said as firmly as she could.
“Or what?” Penn smirked. “What are you going to do?”
“Harper, let’s just go back the way we came,” Daniel suggested.
Penn’s eyes flashed when she heard Daniel speak, and she tilted her head toward him. Harper let go of his hand and moved in front of him, standing between him and Penn.
“I don’t know what I’ll do,” Harper admitted. “But we won’t let you go after my sister.”
She glanced back at him, checking to make sure it was okay she’d said “we.” Daniel had repeatedly told her he wanted to help her, and he had in the past. So Harper had decided to include him, instead of sending him away the way she normally would. If he was going to be her boyfriend, then they should be equals standing up against the enemy together.