“Ugh.” Lexi groaned and leaned back in the seat. “Thea will never approve. She’s so dumb.”
“You’re upset, and I understand that, but you really need to watch your tone.” Penn glared over at her.
“Why don’t we just kill Gemma tonight?” Lexi asked. “It was just a full moon the other day, so we have almost a month to find a replacement.”
“No, that’s what happened with Aggie,” Penn said. “And the only reason I killed Aggie when I did was because she was going to kill us if I didn’t. I had no choice, and I’m not doing it again.”
“But if we just killed Gemma, we could get out of this town, and I’m sure outside of Capri there are, like, a million girls way better than her,” Lexi whined.
“Lexi, we will kill Gemma,” Penn assured her. “Soon. Very soon. Just not until I’m certain about the replacement.”
“When we kill her, can I eat her heart?” Lexi asked.
“No.”
“I never get to eat anybody’s heart,” Lexi pouted. “Every time we’ve killed a siren or another immortal, you get to eat their heart, and it makes you all extra hot and feel extra good. It’s not fair. I never get to do anything.”
“Yep. I get it, Lexi,” Penn snapped. “I know how you feel. Now you’re starting to get on my nerves.”
Lexi tried to be quiet, but it only lasted about a minute before she turned to Penn. “Can I eat Daniel’s heart, at least?”
Penn nearly slammed on the brakes but managed to just ask, “What?”
“Well, you were saying that you think he might be related to that Bastian guy or whatever,” Lexi said. “The immortal you dated before I was a siren. If Daniel is related to him, then he probably has a better heart.”
“No, you cannot eat Daniel’s heart,” Penn replied icily.
“Why not?” Lexi asked. “Yeah, he’s cute, but who cares? You get to eat Gemma’s heart, can’t you just leave me your scraps?”
“No.” Penn gripped the steering wheel tightly, and her words came out through her clenched teeth, which were slowly shifting into fangs. “He’s mine.”
“He’s yours?” Lexi scoffed. “You’re being ridiculous. I would expect this kind of sentimental bullshit from Aggie or maybe Thea. But never you.”
“Lexi!” Penn growled. “You are annoying! I’m gonna pull this car over if you don’t shut the hell up!”
“No! I will not shut up!” Lexi shouted at her. “You are annoying me! You and your stupid crush on an idiot human! You’re being a total—”
Penn jerked the car to the shoulder and slammed on the brakes. Lexi finally shut up and grabbed on to the door to brace herself. Without saying anything, Penn turned and attacked Lexi.
She climbed on top of her, grabbing Lexi’s silky hair to keep her from pulling away, and she hit her in the face over and over again. Lexi squealed and clawed at Penn’s hand, but she never really fought back.
When she’d finished, Penn sat back down in the driver’s seat. As she’d been hitting Lexi, her eyes had changed into a bird’s. But she began to calm herself, and her eyes returned to normal.
What really worked was licking the blood off her hands. Siren blood tasted sweeter and was far more powerful than mortal hearts. In a few minutes her voice would be more enchanting and she’d be even more radiant.
Lexi sat up slowly, and out of the corner of her eye Penn could see that her face was smashed up. Within the hour, Lexi’s broken face would be back to its normal beauty. Until then, she’d be in pain, and that made Penn smile.
“Now, then,” Penn said as she pulled back out on the road. “I think we’ll both agree that I will kill who I want, when I want.”
“Yes,” Lexi mumbled, her words slurred because both of her lips were busted open.
“Now clean yourself up,” Penn continued in the same cheerful, calm voice. “You want to make a good impression on the new girl, don’t you?”
“Yes,” Lexi repeated, probably afraid that if she didn’t say anything, Penn would attack her again. This was a fair guess, because Penn had tasted the siren blood, and she was eager to have more.
By the time they reached Auburnton, Lexi had begun to heal, but she wasn’t completely cleaned. She wiped the dried blood from her face while Penn hummed along with the radio, when it finally found a station.
“There she is,” Penn said as she pulled over on the side of the road beneath a maple tree.
“Where?” Lexi asked, and Penn pointed to a girl sitting at an outside café across the street.
Penn had told her they would meet her there, and the girl kept looking around, presumably checking for Penn. Her wavy blond hair was kept shoulder-length, and she chewed her lip as she waited. She couldn’t be more than eighteen, and there was something wide-eyed and innocent about her.
“Shall we go meet her?” Penn asked, and without waiting for Lexi to answer, she got out of the car.