“You’re right. Sorry. Sirens. Yeah, they lured sailors to their deaths. Can’t quite see you doing that, Glory.” Rafe picked up the paper Ian had left on his desk. “‘Sexual beings, able to ensnare men with their powers. Irresistible to males who become helpless once they hear the Siren’s call.’ Okay, I’m buying that one. You had me the first time you patted me on my furry head.” He had the nerve to grin at me.
“You think this is funny?” I was up again. Rafe had been shifted into a dog body when I’d met him. I’d even rubbed his tummy. Yeah, I just bet he’d got off to that. I stomped around the room, avoiding his hands when he reached for me.
“This Siren deal explains everything. How I got Jerry in the first place. Why you won’t forget me and move on. Hell, why Ray, a world-famous rock star, still makes passes at me even after I’ve turned him down more than once. You’ve got to know that’s not his normal behavior with women.” I stopped, blinked away stupid tears, and met Rafe’s gaze. “I’m a damned Siren, Rafe. You guys are in thrall to me. You can’t freakin’ help yourselves.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Glory. I’m in thrall to nobody. I have free will. I can walk away at any time. So can Blade. Ray never even got a real chance at you. Still, I don’t see him camped on your doorstep, begging for your favors, do you?” Rafe tried to pull me into his arms but I knocked away his hands. I just couldn’t be distracted right now or comforted. I had to figure this out.
“Go back for a second. Can you? Can you really walk away, Rafe?” I thought about how I used our friendship, how I leaned on him. Rafe deserved a life of his own. A love of his own. Not my crumbs. I knew I wasn’t ever going to give him my whole heart. Or at least not that I could imagine anytime in the near future. “Then let’s test it. Go. Date other women. Screw your brains out. Have a relationship, a real relationship with another woman and forget me. I dare you.”
“What’s that going to prove? I love you, Glory. Would it be fair to another woman to use her to get my rocks off while I’m still in love with you?” Rafe’s mouth was tight with pain. “My feelings for you won’t go away just because you tell them to.”
“Get a clue. You’re under a damned spell, Rafe.” Tears filled my eyes and ran down my cheeks. “I’ve ruined your life.” I sobbed and fell into the chair again.
“No, baby, you haven’t. Let me be with you. We can have a life together. A great life. If anybody’s in thrall, it’s you. That damned Blade bit you, drained you and sired you. Made you his vampire and you’ve been under his spell ever since.”
I raised my head at that. There was something to what Rafe said. The sire/fledgling bond was strong, some said unbreakable. I’d never seriously tried to sever it. Oh, what was I thinking? Jerry had never given me a chance. He was so crazy about me, he’d never let me go, even paying for a bodyguard when I’d actually given independence a shot over the years. Under my spell? I took a shuddering breath.
“You don’t know the half of it. Ian says there’s something in my blood that is addictive to vampires. You can’t imagine it, but he’s even thinking he can make a drug out of it. Like the Energy Vampires have their Vampire Viagra.”
“Now you’ve convinced me this really is a scam. That doesn’t make sense. You and Blade have taken breaks. We were in Las Vegas for almost five years when he didn’t see you. Are you telling me he was able to just give up your ‘addictive’ blood for all that time?” Rafe stomped over and grabbed the file. He glanced at it then threw it down in disgust. “This is a bunch of scientific mumbo jumbo. But it’s bound to be a ploy to get to Blade.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Why would he bother using me? Ian has an army at his disposal. Besides, he swears the feud between their clans is old news.” I did see Rafe’s point. Jerry and I had taken breaks. Was he able to walk away from my blood because he was just that strong? Or could this be a lie and Clarity was all a scam?
“You’re exhausted.” Rafe smoothed my hair back from my forehead. “Let me take you home. Your emotions are all over the place right now.”
“Home. Yes.” I felt strangely lethargic.
Ian stepped into the room with a syringe. “Will you let me give you a tranquilizer? It will also help your nausea. You can lie down in one of my spare bedrooms. You’ve had a shock. And you probably should have a talk with Aggie later. To get more information. What do you say? A little nap now. Talk later? So you can process all this new information.” Ian moved closer.
“Are you nuts? You know what happens when I take your drugs.” I waved him away. “But I do need to talk to Aggie.” My stomach heaved again and I did take the bottle of synthetic Ian held out to me. “I need to stay here, Rafe. I’ll just lie down for a while. I’m feeling a little off-kilter. Confrontations with Lucifer always leave me drained.”
“Fine. I think you’re actually in shock, Glory.” Rafe watched me drink every drop in the bottle.
“Now who’s the doctor? But Valdez is actually spot on. Shock. You sure you won’t let me…?” Ian waved the syringe then put it on the desk. “Fine. Distrust me till the end. But you’re welcome to a bedroom. Second room down the hall.” He studied me. “I think she’s on the verge of passing out, Valdez. Carry her.”
I did feel strange and didn’t object when Rafe picked me up and lugged me down the hall. He laid me on a soft bed, peeled off my boots, then covered me with a blanket. I closed my eyes and let myself drift away. This wasn’t my death sleep so I had dreams. Of fish and fins and boats with men screaming for me to kill them.
I jerked awake but was quickly sucked under again. To a beautiful sea. I lay in warm water, floated in the sun and played with dolphins and starfish. I chased sharks into caves where strange creatures lived in the darkest parts of the ocean that I knew I’d never seen before. I rolled over on the bed and came up against a hard body. Warm arms held me tight. I inhaled and knew I was safe. I finally slept peacefully, dreamlessly.
“You say she’s a Siren? That’s ridiculous.” Jerry’s voice. Impossible. Here in Ian’s house?
“No, it’s not. I can show you the scientific proof if you’re not too dense to understand it.” Ian obviously didn’t care that he was throwing down a gauntlet.
“Aye, I’m sure you’ve managed to create evidence that seems to back up your claim, MacDonald. Now you’ve drugged her again. What’s to keep me from cutting out your heart right here and now?”
“The dozen guards surrounding you? And I didn’t drug her. She’s sleeping off the effects of the horrific night she’s had.” Ian’s voice grated, the tone less of threat and more of amusement. It was bound to goad Jerry into doing something foolish. I struggled to wake up.
“Stop, both of you.” I rolled toward the door and threw off a blanket as I sat up. Not drugged? I wondered. Could Ian have put something in that bottle of synthetic he’d had so handy? The room spun and I wiped at my blurry eyes. There they were in the doorway, facing off. It was almost a surprise to see Ian and Jerry in jeans and knit shirts instead of plaid and battle gear.
“Gloriana! Thank God you’re awake.” Jerry pushed Ian aside to stride to the bed. “How are you feeling? You look like—” He obviously decided “hell” wasn’t the right word. “You’ve had a shock.”
“Yes, I have.” I took Jerry’s hand and let him pull me out of bed. My legs felt a little rubbery but I managed to stay upright with his arm around me for support. I looked around for Rafe but saw no sign of him. I knew this was a busy night for him in the club, maybe he’d gone to check on things. “Ian’s been nothing but helpful. Quit trying to start something with him.”
“Helpful? Filling your head with nonsense about Sirens?” Jerry glared at Ian. “You have to know that’s impossible. No one here knows you better than I do. You hate the water. I love you, but even you admit you can’t sing worth a damn. I’ve known you these four hundred years and more and seen no signs of a Siren in you. This entire idea is madness.”
“Obviously she was deprived of her Siren powers before you met her, Campbell. So of course you never heard her sing, saw her swim or kill with her call as Aggie can.” Ian shrugged. “Gloriana needs to find out what happened. Why she seemed an ordinary mortal when you met her. I think the Storm God will have the answers.”
“You want her to meet with him?” Jerry pulled me into his arms and I went, a rag doll, flopping where he put me. I fought off the effects of what I was pretty sure Ian had slipped me. “If he is the one who did this to her, that could well be suicide.”
“Slow down, both of you. I want to talk to Aggie first. If I am a former Siren, I want to find out more about my, uh, profession.” I sighed as Jerry’s strength surrounded me and I absorbed it. I didn’t know myself. Or what was real.
And God knew what would happen when Jerry snapped to the fact that he’d never stood a chance with a Siren luring him to turn her vampire. Of course I wouldn’t have wanted to be mortal. I might not remember my Siren days, but obviously I’d have been desperate for the immortality a vampire had to offer. And Jerry had been in thrall to me for over four hundred years! Crazy. For a strong man like him, could he live with that knowledge?
But when I’d tried to reason with Rafe, he hadn’t been able to hear me. Was the spell I’d cast so strong? Did either man really love me at all? I realized Ian had left and Jerry was staring down at me.
“You honestly think you could have been a Siren once?” He brushed my hair back behind my ears and eased me down onto the bed again. Then he sat beside me. “You’re certainly beautiful enough. And you had me bewitched from the moment I saw you.”