Harper lowered her eyes when the realization hit her. “He didn’t take her anywhere. He raped and murdered her.”
“Yeah, if I were Demeter, I’d be pissed, too,” Gemma said.
“Why would she make them immortal?” Marcy asked. “If she hated them so much, why give them powers and abilities?”
“Hell is repetition,” Harper said. “She wanted to make them do the same things they loved over and over and over until the things they loved the most became the things they detested.”
“Do you think she would want to undo the curse she created?” Gemma asked.
“Maybe. If we can find her,” Harper said. “She might think they’ve had a long enough run.”
“How would we find her?” Marcy asked. “Or their father? Or any of the muses?”
“I can start by doing more research, but I don’t know if there’s really anything about sirens that I haven’t read at least a hundred times already,” Harper said.
“I could ask Thea, but she might not divulge much about this,” Gemma said. “She doesn’t like talking about their past, and she really does hate their parents.”
“I could…” Marcy trailed off. “I don’t know. What do you guys want me to do?”
“Maybe talk to Lydia,” Harper suggested. “She seems to have a connection with the supernatural underground. She’d probably know something about where we could find a muse or a god.”
“And I’ll keep looking for the scroll,” Gemma said with a heavy sigh.
“Do you have play rehearsal tonight?” Harper asked. “You could talk to Thea then.”
“Yeah.” Gemma glanced over at Harper’s alarm clock, which said it was only a quarter after three. “It starts in about an hour. I’ll be sure to talk with Thea.”
“Good.” Harper nodded, as if it solidified things. “So we have some kind of plan of action. That’s a good thing.”
“All right, so who am I asking Lydia to look for?” Marcy reached over and grabbed a notebook and a pen off Harper’s desk. “I need to write it down to be sure I get it right. These Greek names are ridiculous.”
“Demeter,” Harper said, then spelled it aloud for her. “Any of the muses. I don’t know all of their names, but Penn and Thea’s mothers were Terpsichore and Melpomene.”
“Okay, you need to spell those very slowly,” Marcy said.
“And then their father,” Harper said after she’d finished spelling the names.
“Who is that?” Marcy asked.
“Achelous,” Harper answered.
“Like the river?” Marcy asked.
Harper nodded. “Yeah, he was a freshwater god, I think.”
“Finally one I can spell,” Marcy said.
And then it finally hit her. The Achelous River was located about five miles north of town. It was named by the same man from Greece who’d founded Capri, so Gemma hadn’t thought anything of the name until now.
But Lexi had said, Once you knew who her dad was, it was, like, obvious. And the river was named after Penn’s father.
If Lydia was right, and the sirens carried the scroll with them, then it would make sense they would hide it nearby. And a river named after their own father? Penn’s narcissism wouldn’t pass that up.
“I have to go,” Gemma said and suddenly stood up.
“What?” Harper asked. “Why? Where are you going?”
“I forgot that play rehearsal starts early tonight,” Gemma lied. “But it’s good. It’ll give me a chance to talk to Thea more.”
“Okay,” Harper said, but she seemed confused. “Do you want me to give you a ride?”
“No, I got it, but thanks.” Gemma smiled at her. “I’ll see you later.”
She practically ran downstairs and grabbed her bike. Before she did, she pulled her phone out of her pocket and hurriedly texted Daniel so he’d cover for her if Harper asked about play rehearsal.
At their nightly play rehearsal and through texts, Gemma had been keeping Daniel apprised of their situation, as per their deal. He’d been giving Harper little bits of info about Gemma to keep her from getting suspicious, like telling her that Gemma had dumped Kirby and was flirting with Aiden.
But he left out all the major details—like that Thea wouldn’t help her or that the sirens had found a possible replacement. Daniel had encouraged her to tell Harper about that, but Gemma couldn’t. It was her turn to protect Harper for a change.
Besides, there might not be any reason to tell her about this. She still might break the curse.
Pedaling faster than she ever had before, Gemma made it down to Anthemusa Bay in record time. She ditched the bike among the cypress trees, along with her cell phone, shoes, and shorts. For once, she wasn’t wearing a bikini under her clothes, so she’d have to swim in her bra, but she didn’t care.