And that’s why he didn’t tell her. If he told Harper now, it would only lead to fights as she tried to talk him out of it. But his mind couldn’t be changed. He knew that he’d do whatever he had to do to protect her, even if it meant selling his soul to the devil.

He didn’t want to spend his last few days with Harper arguing. He’d never ask Harper to endure his liaisons with Penn, but all he wanted was a few more days before he lost her forever.

Since his date with Penn was set for Wednesday, Daniel planned on going up to Sundham on Friday and telling Harper in person about everything that was transpiring. They’d break up then, and in the meantime, he’d have a few more days of text messages and phone calls. A few more chances to hear her laughter, to tell her he loved her.

That’s why he’d shut Harper down when things had gotten heated on Sunday night. He’d wanted to be with her more than anything in the world. But that wouldn’t be fair to her. He couldn’t sleep with her only to break up with her a few days later.

Daniel shook his head. “Not this time. I just need you to trust me and let me handle this myself,” he begged Gemma.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “But if you need help … I’m here.”

TWENTY

Bastian

After the incident, Penn refused to reply to any of Gemma’s text messages or phone calls. Gemma considered going out to the sirens’ house, and she’d even started talking to her dad about borrowing his truck to go up there.

Then Thea texted her, Penn & Liv getting into it. Better if you stay away for the night.

Is she getting rid of Liv? Gemma replied.

Unlikely, Thea sent back, and Gemma groaned inwardly.

I still want to talk to Penn.

She does not want to talk to you, Thea texted.

Can I talk to you? Will you call me? Gemma asked.

Liv & Penn going out to feed tomorrow. Come by in the afternoon. I’ll be alone.

That left Gemma impatiently waiting until the next afternoon.

Harper texted her to tell her about the newest developments with the scroll, and while Harper used lots of excited exclamation points, they didn’t seem that big to Gemma, who had already seen the words glow a bit with water. It sounded like the ink reacted even more strongly when mixed with Red Bull, so Harper had taken the scroll back to her room and tried spilling a few different liquids on it.

So far, Red Bull seemed to have the strongest effect, but water and orange juice both seemed to make it glow a bit. Milk apparently did nothing.

But other than glowing, nothing else happened. Harper concluded that further research was needed, but she was determined to get to the bottom of it. She asked if she could keep the scroll for a few more days, but Gemma didn’t like having it out of her sight for that long. It wasn’t that she didn’t trust Harper, but she wanted to experiment with the scroll herself. Marcy offered to go pick the scroll up for her, and Harper agreed to return it.

She hadn’t told Harper of her suspicions about Daniel, mostly because she’d told him that she wouldn’t. That, and she wasn’t exactly sure what he was up to. She didn’t want to ruin his and Harper’s relationship over nothing.

Besides, Daniel was a good guy. He was Gemma’s friend, too. She decided that she just had to trust him.

When Gemma went to the sirens’ house the next day, she had to ride her bike. Her car was still sitting dead in the driveway, like an especially large paperweight. The trek up there wasn’t pleasant. The sirens lived on the other side of town at the top of a cliff, and Gemma had to ride her bike up a long, winding road through the loblolly pines.

Even with her extra siren strength, the ride uphill wasn’t exactly easy, and it probably didn’t help that she needed to feed soon. By the time she reached the chic cabin, Gemma was winded.

“You’re all sweaty,” Thea greeted when she opened the door.

“Thanks,” Gemma said dryly. “I rode my bike.”

Gemma surveyed the house as she came inside, and she was surprised to see that not much had changed since the big battle nearly two weeks ago. They’d done basic cleanup, like righting the fridge and furniture, but they hadn’t fixed or replaced anything. Even the windows were still broken out, with plastic taped over them.

“Don’t you have a car or something?” Thea asked her.

“It needs a new starter,” Gemma said, wiping the sweat from her brow. “Do you have any water or something?”

“There’s bottled water in the fridge.” Thea motioned to the kitchen, but she walked over to the living room. “I’d let you use my car, but Penn doesn’t think I need one.”

Gemma got the water and guzzled it down before going into the living room to join Thea. Thea had sprawled out, taking up most of the couch, so Gemma sat in a chair with its stuffing gone.

“What’s that about?” Gemma asked as she tried to get comfortable on the uneven cushion. “How come Penn is the only one allowed to drive?”

“I don’t know.” Thea let out an exasperated sigh. “She comes up with bullshit reasons, but the truth is that Penn just wants to have control all the time. She doesn’t want me driving away.”

“Where would a car take you that your wings and fins already couldn’t?” Gemma asked.

Thea laughed a little at that. “I didn’t say it was logical. It’s just a power play. Everything’s a power play with her.”

“I don’t understand how she can tolerate Liv,” Gemma said, bringing up her reason for today’s visit. “Liv’s the most out-of-control thing I’ve ever seen.”