Siren's Serenade (The Wiccan Haus) Page 2

  Rekkus seemed to measure Kaleb before asking, “Why are you here?”

  “My superiors think I’m nuts.”

  Rekkus walked with them into the elevator and waited for it to fill before jabbing the one button. “Well, you’re in good company. They’re all fucking nuts here.”

  “Rekkus.”

  “Don’t you dare ‘Rekkus’ me. If you hadn’t pulled this I would be…”

  “Dana isn’t going anywhere, you nutty tiger. Good lord, she even married you.”

  “Sage, one day you will…”

  Kaleb left them arguing in the elevator, certain Sage would win out over the large man. Honestly, as his stomached growled, Kaleb couldn’t care less about the squabbling of hotel employees.

  Walking into the dining room, he found a heck of a lot more people than he had expected; only twelve had arrived on the boat with him, and he had been told the boat only came once a week. The number in the dining room was nearly double. The group he had arrived with all seemed to have gravitated to the area of the dining room painted light green; he was sure there was some new age name for the color, but “light green” worked for him. The rest of people all were in the darker green. He must have missed the memo that said which green he was supposed to eat in.

  That was when he saw her, sitting alone in the corner, sipping her soup. She had to be the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Her long blond hair lay over bare shoulders, caressing barely-covered breasts. His mouth watered as his eyes soaked in the sight of her. Kaleb took a few steps in her direction, but a strange uneasiness came over him as he crossed over into the darker green area. Odd, that he should feel almost sick the further he moved into the dining room. Taking a few paces back, the feeling subsided with each step. This place was getting weirder and weirder. Kaleb would have to be content to just go back to the light green side and eat his dinner in peace. All he had to do was get through his week, and then maybe, just maybe, if he kept what he had seen to himself, he would get back to his crew and team and back to what he was good at—rescuing people at sea. But even knowing what was good for him, his gaze still stayed on the blonde in the corner.

  “She’s not for you, Mr. Theldon. Trust me; her beauty is only skin deep.”

  Kaleb turned to see a tall goth woman standing beside him. If she actually cared either way about his wellbeing, it didn’t show in her eyes. “And why would you care?”

  “I don’t. Just telling it like it is. She is not someone, no matter how good a swimmer you are, you should get into deep water with.”

  “Never mind Sarka,” Sage said, pulling him into the lighter green section of the dining room. “I would say my sister’s bark is worse than her bite, but that would be a lie.”

  “So I shouldn’t stay away from the blonde?”

  “Everyone comes to the Wiccan Haus for their own private reasons, Mr. Theldon. That is all I can really say about Serena.”

  Though Sage’s words seemed to have a world of things lying below the surface, she had placed him with a direct and unhindered view of the blond woman. Her beauty reminded him of a sunset over the ocean’s horizon. He, a man who had never waxed poetic in his life, saw this woman in sappy terms all related to the ocean. Perhaps he was getting crazier by the minute.

  He sat down, and Sage handed him a sheet of paper. “Your schedule for tonight. We had to readjust due to your nap.”

  Massage with Lakshmi.

  Now that’s more like it, he thought. Maybe he would get through this week after all.

  Chapter Two

  SERENA SANK INTO THE POND as it sprang to life around her. Dropping deep into the water, she looked around before letting her legs merge into one large fin. She leaned back and let her head float, face just above the water, looking up at the dusk sky. The sky had turned the beautiful color of coral in the Mediterranean, shades of orange and pink blended together in breathtaking splendor. This was her favorite time of day here on the island, when the guests were getting ready for dinner and she had the lake to herself.

  Humming, she let the water run her over her skin and scales. Rekkus had been clear: no singing within the perimeter of the island. But he hadn’t forbidden her from the rest. Silly tiger. He should have known she could hum a serenade as well as sing. The only difference was her humming didn’t carry, and perhaps that was why he didn’t really care.

  Her private sessions with Sage and Cemil were getting her nowhere. She was no closer to finding a way to break the curse. Sarka had, as always, been less than helpful, saying she should just take down a vampire to mate with. The flaw with that was for Serena to procreate, the soul of the man had to enter her babe—and vampires had none.

  But in a few weeks, she had to either break this curse or her mother would force the breeding on her. And that wouldn’t be good for anyone. She had thought about just leaving, but there was nowhere in the ocean’s depths that her mother wouldn’t find her. Unless Serena could find a salt water lake high on a mountaintop and someone to fly her to it, her mother would never stop.

  She paused, sensing rather than hearing something in the distance. Serena placed her whole head under the water and with one great push of her tail, plunged deeper into the lake’s recesses to the opening she had discovered months ago that allowed her access to the ocean. A woman was in trouble—Serena could hear it in vibrations that threaded through the water. The woman’s fear overcame Serena as she came out of the dark tunnel; she might not get there in time and there was no sea life close enough to help. Serena pushed her powerful tail through the water, closer and closer to the panic.

  Damn, the woman needed to calm down before she attracted a shark. And although she sensed a group of porbeagle sharks, as well as a blue shark in the distance, they currently seemed uninterested in fighting through the barriers of the island to get to a meal. Serena pushed a little further to ensure that no great whites were currently in the area. She could outrun a great, but not easily while carrying the weight of another.

  Nearing the surface, she sensed another closing in on the woman. About to fight off whoever was there, Serena stopped; just above her, a man swam with powerful strokes. Graceful and determined, with muscles that rippled in the water, he was perfection in male form. Unable to think, Serena’s body sprang to life like it had never before. But it wasn’t just the sheer beauty of his body, something Serena was never shy about admiring; he was trying to help her.

  He was saving this woman, with no concern for his own safety, in cold and unforgiving waters. Cresting a few yards from him, Serena stayed silent as he maneuvered the woman in his arms; she fought him at first, pushing him under, but he was stronger and more determined. He said something Serena couldn’t hear over the splashing. Had she been below the surface, she would have felt the vibrations and understood.

  “Can I help?” She was surprised to hear how breathless her voice was.

  “God, where did you come from?” He jerked around, trying to see her.

  Words caught in her throat as a pair of amber eyes looked at her in shock. Gorgeous didn’t begin to describe the bronze skin tone and well-defined features. His short dark hair, even wet, framed his face. Careful to stay to the side and fin down, she answered. “I saw you come in to help and thought to lend a hand.” Oh how she wished she could make her tail into legs right now, but her body would never allow the change in this depth.

  “I got her. Can you get back to shore and get help?”

  “Of course. Swim to the side over there; a strong rip current is this way, and there are cabins that direction.” Hoping he stayed on his back so he couldn’t see her, Serena dove deep again. It was the only way she could beat him back to the shore without giving up what she was. Pushing herself just below the surface, she made it to land far quicker than she knew any human could. Hitting the beach, her fin split into two legs and she stumbled—not at all like her normal graceful self. Moving as quickly as she could, Serena reached the door of Rekkus and Dana’s cabin. Pounding, she yel
led Rekkus’s name.

  “What is it?” He threw open the door, pulling up his pants, and for the first time, the sight of a naked Rekkus did nothing for her over-active libido. “Put some clothes on.”

  Serena looked down at her naked body and willed the clothes to form around her like a veil. She often wondered at the need to cover up what was natural, but knew her nudity made humans uncomfortable and Rekkus just didn’t want to see it.

  “You’ve got to call for help. A woman got caught in a rip.” Serena pointed to the figures now coming closer into to shore.

  “Dana, call for Sage and Cyrus,” Rekkus yelled, running into the water and rushing out to assist the man.

  Serena looked at Dana, barely covered in one of Rekkus’s T-shirts. “Sorry I didn’t mean to interrupt. It’s just…”

  Dana grabbed the walkie-talkie and told whomever was on the other end what was needed and where. “Serena, you did good, real good. Come on.” Dana threw a few blankets at Serena and grabbed some towels and bottled water.

  Running behind her, Serena took Dana’s lead. By the time they reached the water’s edge, Rekkus had lifted the woman out of the water and the swimmer was kneeling on the beach to catch his breath. Dana threw a towel over the shaking woman, and Serena knew she was expected to take care of the man.

  “Here.” She handed the blanket to the man. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”

  He nodded, following at a slower pace. As they entered the cottage, she heard Rekkus growl for Dana to get some clothes on. Serena nearly giggled as Dana rolled her eyes but obeyed. Rekkus had lain the woman on the sofa and was placing another blanket around her. These waters were cold at the best of times, but this early in the season they were downright chilly.

  “Have a seat. Get out of those wet clothes. My mate will get you something dry to wear, and if I know Sage, she’ll be here any minute with some hot tea.” Rekkus moved his golden focus to her. “Serena, can you start a fire?”

  “No.” She had never lit a match in her life, let alone a fire.

  She was about to suggest he do it, when she remembered that Rekkus’s body temperature ran higher than any human’s. By sitting next to the woman they’d rescued, he was naturally warming her.

  “Don’t worry. I have it.” Dana came out of the bedroom fully clothed and with some running pants and a sweatshirt for the swimmer. “Mr. Thelon, these are for you. The legs might be a bit long, but they should fit well enough.”

  “Please, call me Kaleb, and thank you.” And then the human god walked into the bathroom and closed the door. Serena wanted nothing more than to break down the offending door and see this human naked. She nearly fell out of her chair trying to watch him turn the corner.

  “Serena, be careful,” Rekkus said under his breath.

  “I’m always careful.”

  Dana choked on what at first seemed to be a laugh but turned into a cough. Confused, Serena looked at her. “Are you all right?”

  “Fine.”

  “I think Dana is trying to kindly infer that you are the least careful being she has ever met.”

  “Rekkus!”

  “What?”

  A new feeling surfaced in Serena. Unable to label it, she just let it cover her as she watched the Were and his mated bride with a smile on her lips. Yet there was something else, something that longed for what Dana had. Not with Rekkus; although he had been a wonderful lay, he was as moody as the darkest part of the ocean. He made her mother seem downright happy.

  The banter between the lovers was interrupted by Kaleb returning from the bathroom just as Sage and Cyrus barged in the front door. Sage, true to form, was holding a bowl of steaming hot liquid. She handed a smaller cup to Kaleb before pushing Rekkus out of the way and helping the shivering woman bring the bowl to her lips.

  Rekkus walked to the far wall and was talking in undertones to Cyrus. Both men looked at Serena for a second before returning to the group.

  “We can’t thank you enough for rescuing Ms. Davis as you did,” Sage said with a kind smile to Kaleb.

  “It’s what I do,” he said, his voice betraying no sense of pride or heroism, just matter of fact.

  “Nonetheless, we are thankful. These waters aren’t usually susceptible to riptides, and had you not been there, our guest would not be here.” Cyrus removed his glove and shook hands with the human. Something was going on; Cyrus never removed his gloves unless trying to read someone. And a second later, her suspicions where confirmed when Cyrus asked, “Serena, may Rekkus and I speak to you privately for a moment?”

  Serena nodded and followed the two outside, sure they had found some reason to blame this all on her. After all, Dana might have said she had done well, but no one would believe that of a mermaid.

  Once outside, and what she assumed was out of earshot of those inside the building, Rekkus turned and asked, “Are you sure that it was a riptide?”

  “It felt like one to me.”

  Rekkus looked out of the ocean which seemed as calm as Rekkus was tense, his hand clinched into fist on his hips. “Serena, you sensed nothing out there?”

  “Sorry, no. I was only focused on the girl. But he got there first.” Serena closed her eyes and envisioned in her head those strong arms and legs pushing through the water’s surface.

  “Serena, really focus; what did you sense in the water? Think past the fear coming off Ms. Davis.”

  With Cyrus’s gloved hand on her shoulder, she normally would have been flirting her tail off; the warlock never touched her, no matter how much she had tried to get his attention. Now his touch did nothing but return her thoughts to the matter at hand: the strange tides that shouldn’t be in this area. Closing her eyes again, she focused this time on what had been around her and in the area. She thought she had sensed some fish, those few sharks, but nothing paranormal. Definitely not her mother or any of her kind. “Nothing. I sensed there were some sharks, but no one else was close by.”

  Kaleb watched Serena walk out of the cottage with the two men following close behind. Other than Dana heading into the kitchen, no one else moved.

  Nothing made sense in this place. Rekkus—who, granted, was a man in great shape—had lifted Ms. Davis out of the water like she weighed nothing. And who the hell referred to their wife as their mate? Not to mention the inhuman sound the man made when he asked his “mate” to change clothes.

  As his head cleared, now that his body was warmed from dry clothes and warm tea, Kaleb saw even more things that didn’t make sense. Serena, the beauty, had swum faster than anyone he had ever met. She had managed to outswim him through a riptide, get on shore, get dressed, and get help before he had made it hundred yards. But thanks to her, the girl on the sofa—whose blue color had been worrying—now looked rosy and pink.

  Added to the large nature and muscular build of all the security men on the island, Kaleb wondered if perhaps this crazy spa wasn’t full of steroid users as well. Because that was the only thing that made any sense, and it meant he was going to have to be ultra-careful about what he ate and took. It also was now something he was determined to get to the bottom of it.

  Moving to the door, he listened in as the two men talked with Serena.

  “Serena, you sensed nothing out there?”

  “Sorry, no. I was only focused on the girl. But he got there first.”

  Daring to take a peek, Kaleb looked through the open doorway. Rekkus growled, and Cyrus placed a gloved hand on Serena’s bare shoulder. An unreasonable sense of jealousy came over Kaleb. “Really focus; what did you sense in the water? Think past the fear you could sense coming off Ms. Davis.”

  “Nothing. I sensed there were some sharks, but no one else was close by.”

  “You will tell me immediately if you sense anything.”

  “Good goddess, Rekkus, you know I will.”

  “I know you better than most. That’s what I know.” Rekkus moved away from the couple. He paced, catlike, on the water’s edge.

  “What d
id I do this time?” Serena’s voice was small, and she seemed fragile.

  “What does anyone have to do right now to set him off?” Cyrus said with a shrug. “But as you already know, it isn’t in his nature to trust and you still have to make up for the concert you gave the last time you were here.”

  “It was one little song,”

  “Where you are concerned there is no little song about it.”

  She sighed looking at Rekkus before speaking again. “I did apologize.”

  “That might have been the world’s least heartfelt apology in history. But you came a long way today in making up for that escapade. I’m going to see what is going on in that cunning brain of his.”

  “Better you than me.”

  “You can say that again.”

  Serena tilted her head. “Better you than me.”

  Cyrus laughed, patting her shoulder before walking away. “It’s just a saying, Serena. You didn’t really have to repeat it.”

  “But…”

  Watching the lower lip protrude from her mouth in a beautiful pout, Kaleb felt his cock harden; he cursed the running pants that did nothing to conceal his present state. With the blood leaving his brain for parts far lower, he had a hard time focusing on the conversation that had just happened. Nothing about it made sense. But perhaps things were just off from what they seemed. She said she had not sensed anything in the water—perhaps she was in a small raft or just on shore with sonar working when the other woman was swimming. That could possibly explain her speed on the scene and the speed she had going back if she hadn’t fought the rip current to begin with.

  “Thank you for saving her.” Her voice floated over him like the ocean breeze.

  Obviously he wasn’t a very good spy. Stepping fully out of the doorway, Kaleb shrugged and gave his standard answer, uncomfortable with hero worship. “It’s what I do.”

  She cocked her head to the left, as if confused by his statement and trying to work it out in her head. Her voice held a hint of an accent, but he couldn’t place it. Not that he was an expert in dialects. Kaleb was lucky he could tell the difference from Alaskans and Texans, to tell the truth.