Читать книгу Siren Song - Stephanie Draven - Страница 8

If Alexandros hadn’t known from personal and painful experience how easily a siren could lie, he might’ve been taken in by Chloe’s wide-eyed expression of shock. But as an ancient guardian of the sea, he knew better than to trust any protestation of innocence from a siren.

She was a siren. Every man in the room was mesmerized by her song; even Alexandros had been forced to steel his ancient bones against her enchanting voice. He wasn’t immune to her—much as he would try to convince her otherwise—but he wasn’t about to get taken in. Not again.

“You think I killed them?” Chloe started to laugh, a nervous sound, as if she thought he was deranged. “Dude. If this is some kind of lame pickup line, you’ve really got to step up your game.”

“This isn’t a game.” He grabbed her wrist. He wouldn’t be toyed with.

“Ow! Stop it,” she hissed.

He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but now he couldn’t seem to let go. It’d been so long since he’d touched a woman that his entire body awakened to the sensation. She seemed to feel it, too. Her beautiful sapphire eyes blinked from beneath dark, smudged mascara, too garish for his taste. He didn’t like the punk-rocker pink hair that revealed itself from beneath her dark curls, either. She was a wild child and everything about her screamed of exactly the kind of chaos he could not abide.

Still, she was captivating. He had to shake off the attraction. Sirens were treacherous but tragic creatures, and if he let himself, he could feel sorry for her. He could feel more than sorry. Yet, all he wanted now was to die in peace, and there could be no peace for him so long as a siren was near.

With her wrist still in his grasp, he became acutely aware of the heated, envious glares of all the men in the place. All she had to do was call them over and there’d be violence. They were all under her spell. Especially her drummer, who had disentangled himself from the arms of another woman, and now looked eager for a fight. But then, what man could stay sane listening to a siren sing, night after night?

Chloe’s voice lowered. “If you don’t let go of me by the time I count to three—“

“What are you going to do? Use your powers to make me take a long walk off a short pier?”

That shocked her. Like most sirens, it’d probably never occurred to her that someone might know her secret. In fact, she probably didn’t know there were any mortal men in the world who could resist her. She might not even know there were men who were more than mortal….

“Look, Captain Asshole, if you don’t let go of me, I’m going to have the bouncers throw you out!”

“I bet they’ll come running, won’t they? There’s not a guy in this place that wouldn’t do anything you asked him to. Except for me. I know what you are.”

“I know what you are, too. Crazy! I didn’t do anything to your students. If you think I’m guilty of something, call the cops. Otherwise, leave me alone.”

“The police won’t believe that you can control men by singing. Even if they did believe it, all you’d have to do is hum and they’d be dancing to your tune.”

This time she didn’t deny it. “What do you want from me?”

What did he want from her? In more ancient times, it would’ve been his duty to bring her to justice. But there was no justice in this modern world, which was one of the many reasons he’d chosen not to live in it any longer than necessary. Now, he just wanted her gone. “Get out of Annapolis. If you’re going to prey on sailors, do it in someone else’s town.”

“Prey on sailors?” Oh, she was a fine actress. Those wide sincere eyes. That plucky resolve as she yanked free of his grip. “I told you, I didn’t kill anybody!”

She had spirit, he had to give her that. She seemed so genuinely bewildered that it almost broke his resolve. She was young, after all, and still coming into her powers. Perhaps she was telling the truth….

No. He’d heard a fatal siren song the night those midshipmen died. Hardening his heart, he took the photos and slid out of the booth. “I’m giving you twenty-four hours to pack up your show and take it on the road.”

“Or what?”

“You don’t want to find out.”

Chloe watched him walk away, her heart slamming in her chest. He knew!

Ever since she’d returned from Iraq and decided to start singing, she’d told herself that her powers were just something she imagined to psyche herself up. To give her an edge on the stage. To make her feel untouchable, like no one could ever hurt and humiliate her again. Or maybe just to convince herself that she deserved to make it big. Didn’t every aspiring music star have some kind of magical charm?

Once, she’d even confessed to her therapist that she thought her effect on men was supernatural, but the shrink had chalked it up to post-traumatic stress disorder—as if she’d conjured up these feelings of power to compensate for all the powerlessness she’d experienced in the desert. But now this complete stranger believed that her powers were real. It might’ve actually been a relief to finally have someone who knew her secret…if only he hadn’t accused her of murder!

Okay, so she wasn’t blameless. Chloe used her charm to get out of speeding tickets and sticky situations. To get men to pick up her bar tab. To get a little extra oomph in the bedroom. And though she’d fantasized about using her powers to hurt people if she needed to, she’d never actually done it. She just wasn’t that kind of person, was she?

When Chloe left the booth, all she could think about was how Captain Alex Shore could know about her powers. And if they were real, why was he immune? She felt edgy. Freaked out. She just wanted to get out of the bar. She didn’t want to deal with Sophia’s protectiveness, but now her friends gathered around her.

“Hey, are you okay?” Sophia asked.

“Yeah,” Jay chimed in, his drumsticks tucked under his arm. “What’d that guy say to you?”

“Nothing. He’s just a jerk. Stop hovering!”

“Okay,” Jay said. “But only because I’ve got some great news! There’s gonna be a talent scout in the audience tomorrow.”

Chloe blinked. “Seriously?” Between drunken binges and late-night partying, her bandmates had always talked about making a demo and sending it to a music exec, but Chloe always put it off. She worried that her magic only worked live. But if a talent scout was going to actually come to one of their shows…this could be their big break. After all the practicing, the annoying promo, she was finally going to get her shot. Even if she’d given a nanosecond’s consideration to leaving town, that was a nonstarter now.

She was staying, even if Captain Tall, Dark and Dangerous wanted her gone.