Chapter 1

Rose

U rgency far greater than the Call urged me forward, pushing me to swim across the Pacific without rest or food as I followed the horrid red tracks for days and days and days. Fear unlike anything I'd ever known turned the blood in my veins to ice. It was enough to loosen the hooks the Call had in my mind, just a little. Just enough that I could govern my own actions. A million questions burned in my mind day and night, but nothing else mattered except finding out if my people… my islands… my aunt were safe.

What if I was too late?

A storm unlike anything I'd seen before had the water above me churning and roiling, the waves reaching heights beyond my wildest imagination. The veritable hurricane followed me as I made my way home, growing in intensity as I crossed the ocean. Bright flashes of lightning and deep cracks of thunder, as beautiful as they were deadly, shook me even beneath the surface. The tempest mirrored everything raging inside my new body.

My siren form was a thing of beauty, more natural to me than my human one had ever really been. In the bursts of lightning above me, my white, opalescent scales glittered and shined in shifting shades of pinks, purples, and blues. Silky fins of pearly white fluttered through the currents, helping to propel me forward. The only things hindering me were the dress I'd changed into after the hunter had killed me and the braid I'd put in my caramel-colored hair that day—however long ago that was—which was now a knotted and tangled mess at the back of my head. My eyes, however, sought only one thing.

Home.

My beloved islands rose from the ocean before me, their dark shapes like sleeping giants in the mist. The closer I came to the islands, the more panic welled within me, especially as the strength of Joseph's power grew. Everywhere I looked, his blood-like aura coated everything, and as I tried to discern his intentions, my attention was brought to a rock that jutted from the water, one of the many that cropped up around the islands.

My hands sought out the closest smudge of his aura on the rock, to see what he'd seen, to understand his thoughts. When I touched it, it plunged me back into his mind.

A ripple of power blasted through Joseph's body, awareness of another siren being made singing in his mind. They were powerful, this new siren, and close, but he paid them no mind. He had other, more pressing matters to deal with.

Standing on a rock half a mile outside the Golden Isles, he stared at the scene before him with a loathing, a hatred, that knew no bounds. These islands—or, more specifically, Rose Sutton—had cost him everything. Had laid waste to his plans. And now, he was going to exact his revenge upon them all.

Subtlety was no longer an option.

Playing the long game was not in the cards.

He was going to make Nora into an island fit for him and his family, and if that meant blood was spilled, then so be it. This time, he wasn't going to fuck around. He had a plan, and by the end of the month, Nora would be his.

And I'm going to start with the fucking Suttons.

Terror reverberated through my body and shook me further free from the Call. My only thought was of Vi, of her safety. I dove back under the water and sped toward Nora, sticking close to the bottom of the caldera to avoid any ferries or ships that might be passing through. A flash of lightning brightened the sky above me, the thunder's rumbling muted beneath the waves. It took no time at all for me to get to Bryony Beach. When I breached the surface of the water, I tried to determine if someone would see me, but the beach was empty. Propelling myself toward the sand, I shifted back into my human form for the first time in… I wasn't sure how long.

My legs were weak from disuse. The moment I tried to stand on them, I collapsed to my knees. A wave knocked me onto my face before I had the chance to get up, and I was forced to scramble on hands and knees up the wet sand to escape the water. It took several more tries to stand and several more after that to be able to walk, but once I could, I was off toward the port. Toward home.

Beneath the sounds of the storm and the slap of my bare feet against asphalt, an unnatural quiet blanketed the island. A stillness that never existed before. When I approached the first set of houses just up the hill from the port, I quickly realized why.

There were no lights on.

The closer I got, the harder my heart pounded. I sensed no life, neither human nor Otherkind, nearby. There were no cars in the driveways. The houses were empty and bereft of inhabitants as I passed them by. It was likely that people had relocated in the time I'd been gone. Even before I'd gotten my Call, so many of Nora's population had left due to Joseph's meddling. But still, never had the island been so devoid of life.

As I passed by the hotel, my pulse pounded in my ears. Not a single car was in the parking lot there, either, but I kept going. I pushed forward, trying to rationalize why one of the busiest parts of town would be empty. When I got to the port, however, all my worries coalesced into one sharp, shining dagger in my gut. My heart stopped.

The lights were off.

It was daytime, and the lights were off.

I ran to the building to see if maybe it wasn't open hours yet—I didn't know the time. It could've been before they opened for the day. But I was proven wrong when I reached the doors. It was nearly noon from what I could see on the lopsided clock barely hanging on for dear life on the wall, and not a single person milled about within. Not at the tourism association. Not at the ticket counter. Not at the sweets shop.

Worse yet, everything inside had been dismantled and ransacked, furniture and products toppled with Joseph's aura washed over each of them. Even without touching those bright, blood-red splotches of his power, his rage permeated the very air here, lashing out against my senses.

When I touched the old wood of the port's outer wall, images of terrified people running away from Joseph materialized before my eyes. Their screams delighted him. He was pleased that they were frightened. He wormed his way into their minds, giving them one directive: flee. Flee from him. Flee from the islands. Never come back. The humans were powerless to stop him, defenseless in the wake of his power.

Fear seeped into my skin and crept into my very bones, infecting every thought frantically bouncing around in my head. My quarry's face flashed before my eyes, and in seconds—in not even a blink—I was no longer the predator driven forth by the Divine Right of Vengeance. I was the prey, shaking in horror.

He forced me to look up at him and into his stormy eyes. There was nothing I could do to stop him from taking my mind as he had Will's. His own son. The pressure alone had me screaming, but terror followed close behind as I lost my will to him. All that was me was shoved deep, deep down as his power overcame me, crowding me out of my own head.

My vision narrowed until all I could see was him, almost like I was watching a TV screen rather than my own life, as he caged me inside myself. My body went limp, my hands falling to my sides. My fate was sealed. Within mere seconds, I was no longer in charge of my own body. I was nothing more than his little puppet, awaiting my next order…

Turning away from the now-defunct port, I ran the rest of the way to my aunt's house. I had to know what Joseph had done… if he'd done anything to my home, to my aunt. He hated me and Violet so much, and I knew… I knew that he wouldn't let us go unpunished.

And I was right.

He didn't pass over anything I held precious.

Where my home once stood was a pile of congealed ash and charred wood. The house was gone. The garden was gone. The sea bell tree in the front of the house was gone. Nothing survived. Nearly two hundred years of my family history reduced to rubble.

My vision tunneled, and my senses dulled in the wake of my rising despair. Everything I'd been protecting—everything I'd sacrificed for—was gone. I fell to my knees. Flashes of what happened filtered into my mind, overlaying reality, as I stuck my hand into the nearest splotch of Joseph's red aura.

Incandescent rage lent him strength. With a bellow that rattled the windows of the whole house, he ripped out the entire frame to the sliding glass back door. A startled cry came from inside the house, and Joseph followed it, though he didn't have to go far. The elder of the two he sought to kill was in bed but feet from him. A vicious, feral grin spread across his face.

Joseph yanked Violet out of the bed by her neck, pulling her close enough that he could feel her frantic panting on his face. Her heartbeat was a panicked, fluttering bird against his hand as he demanded, "Where's Rose?"

"Get the fuck out of my house!" Violet wheezed.

"Not until you tell me where your niece is."

The air popped and crackled around him with the force of his rage. She was smart to keep her eyes away from his. Not that it mattered; he could have her mind torn from her body within moments if he wished, and should this conversation not go the way he wanted, a soulless husk would be all that was left of her. However, her defiance fizzled out the harder he squeezed her neck.

"She's not here!" she croaked past his grip on her throat.

Taking a deep breath, Joseph listened for another heartbeat in the house to prove the bitch was lying, but it took only a moment to determine she was telling the truth. "Where is she?"

"I don't know."

Her words rang true. A low growl slipped from him. "Listen here, Violet Sutton. You will leave this island. You will relinquish your claim upon this land," he said, putting all the compulsion he could into his words.

Yet it didn't even seem to touch her.

"I will never abandon my islands. Never."

She said this with such conviction that he knew he could not persuade her. Pity. He had planned to keep her alive to witness the ruin he was about to rain down upon her, but if she was going to make his life difficult…

Without warning, he threw her against the nearest wall. Her head cracked against the wood, and her body hit the floor with a thud, landing in an ungraceful heap. Unmoving. Unconscious, but still breathing.

With a snap of his fingers, his magic set the house ablaze. The walls and ceiling were engulfed immediately as he stepped out of the gaping hole he'd left in the back of the house. Then he set his eyes on their pathetic little shop…

My chest constricted, my pulse pounding in my ears. This can't be… this can't be real. I can't… He can't have…

Standing, I ran down the road. My new supernatural speed meant I was there between one blink and the next, and once I was made sense of what was before me, the full brunt of reality battered me mercilessly. Not only had Sutton's Sundries been burnt, but so had every house on the block. In my single-minded focus on my house, I hadn't even noticed.

My mind spiraled down and down and down until I couldn't take the torment roiling within my soul anymore. If this Call hadn't come over me, if I had been here, this wouldn't have happened. Guilt assaulted me from within, tearing me up again and again like claws ripping through my flesh, desperate to escape. I tried to bottle it up, shove it down so I could think, plan my next step. But it refused to be contained, and when I couldn't take the pressure, I exploded.

I screamed up at the sky wordlessly, letting all the pain I had in me out. The storm responded in kind, the winds whipping up and lightning splitting the sky. The rain was daggers against my too-sensitive skin. Something within me cracked, old wounds on my very soul reopening.

The Call snapped back into place, but the physical pain of it doing so paled in comparison to the anguish inside me. The Call stole the breath from my lungs. My body lurched from the force of it, my spine bowing backward as it reasserted its dominance over my will. You have a promise to keep, it reminded me. It forced my eyes to seek out Joseph's aura and keep walking until I found him.

I fought it. I fought it with everything I had. There were so many other places I needed to be. I needed to know if my aunt was safe. But I was powerless against the will of a Goddess. Against my every desire, I was forced to my feet, forced to follow where Joseph's aura was strongest.

Beyond this block, he'd left the houses largely intact, though some were torn apart. What he'd destroyed were any and all of the buildings of importance. The post office, the one bank we had in town, Jeanie Mae's grocery store… none of it still stood. Joseph had made Nora uninhabitable to humans.

My stomach roiled in protest at the sight of it.

I marched down the main road until I reached the street leading to the center of the island, where the destruction only grew worse. Of all the buildings that once stood there, only the library and town hall remained. Everything else had been reduced to rubble, if there was anything left at all. The courthouse with its limestone pillars, the fire station… even the small shops were no more. The devastation was beyond imagination, and my grief strengthened the Call's power over me.

Joseph Kelley would die for what he'd done.

He'd die by my hand.

All his threads of energy converged at Town Hall. I knew without any shred of doubt that he was in there. I sensed many others in there as well, all Otherkind. That was all I needed to know before the Call pushed me forward once more, into the building.

These halls used to be filled with people working hard to keep Nora running smoothly. The lobby, once decorated with paintings and pictures of the island, was bare, and further in, the offices were all but upended and devoid of personality, with personal effects and artwork cleared from the rooms and paperwork strewn about carelessly. Everything that made this building unique had been stripped away. Had I been capable, I'd have mourned it.

Threads of all different colors and textures joined Joseph's as I walked through the building, but they all led to one place: the grand hall. It was the biggest room in the building, capable of holding the hundred or so citizens who turned up to Town Hall meetings once a month. The rampant energy I sensed radiated from that room, the smudges of auras flickering in proximity to their owners. And with the way the Call vibrated along my spine, I knew Joseph was among the Otherkind in that room.

The doors to the hall were wide open, as if awaiting someone's grand entrance. When I stepped inside, however, none of the several dozen merfolk lazing about the room in small clusters paid me any mind. Clearly, I was beneath their notice as they chatted and laughed between themselves, but I could use that to my advantage—to look around and get a better understanding of what I was working with.

While I'd thought the rest of the building had been horrendously mangled, it didn't even compare to the travesty that the Grand Hall had become. It had been refashioned into something like a castle throne room, complete with a throne. Seeing that horrified me almost more than the rest of it. The throne was made from the remnants of buildings that he'd demolished: white limestone glinted under the harsh fluorescent lights; pieces of brick and even some red stone from Golden Castle were melded into it. It was an abomination of hubris.

I hated it.

I wanted to destroy it.

I would destroy it, and the man who'd made it.

Gathering my power within me, I kept scanning the room. There were so many new faces here, lounging without a care in the world, while the expressions of those I did recognize were slack, their eyes vacant. Corvin Kemmer, the doctor who'd healed me after my time in the cave. Lillian, the previous leader of the merfolk. Jesse and Callie's friends from school and their parents. Joseph had taken their minds, trapped them within themselves so that only his will would be done. I counted them, one by one, to see how many he'd violated with his power. Twenty-six. Twenty-six men, women, and children he'd imprisoned.

… nothing more than his little puppet…

None of those twenty-six, however, were Will. If I'd been in control of myself in that moment, I'd have wept with relief, even as I wanted to cry for those who hadn't been as lucky. Joseph will pay for this, the Call promised me for the hundredth time.

When I found him sitting among his people and laughing without a care, my Call gripped me tight. He looked exactly the same as I remembered him. He had the same copper hair and ocean-colored eyes as Will, but he looked a little older than his son, although no more than thirty-five. His skin was also a bit paler, and he was not as muscular as Will, likely from staying inside and directing others to do his dirty work for him. But none of these small differences were as notable as the scars across his face, four raised, angry lines bisecting his face temple to chin.

"I'll never, not even in a million years, let you have it, you monster." I forced each word past his grip on my throat, but I punctuated it by swiping my nails across his face. As I raked them across his skin as hard as I could, something in me surged up, lending me strength I didn't know I had. His flesh gave way, ripping apart and causing blood to pour down his face.

I'd given him those scars.

I itched to give him more.

"Joseph Kelley."

My voice cut through the din of the other merfolk, silencing them with the sheer power I put into my words. All eyes swiveled to me—aside from those not in control of their minds—and the air crackled. But I ignored everyone else. I was here for only one man.

Joseph's eyes widened as they landed on me, disbelief blatant across his features. Of course he was surprised; he'd left me for dead in the sacred cave the night he murdered Eli. But as he stood, his movements slow and deliberate, his expression smoothed out, hiding his surprise behind a smug smirk.

"Rose Sutton," he said, still not bothering to get my name right after all this time. "What a surprise to see you here today. I hadn't expected you to join our ranks after how we left things."

"You mean after you left me to die in that cave?" I asked, my words dripping with venom. My Call thrummed beneath my skin, ready to be released, but I held it back.

"Is that how you were changed?" he asked as he settled himself on his stupid, gaudy throne.

"Don't give yourself so much credit, Joseph." I shook my head. "It was hunters that ended my life, not you."

"And when you were remade, little Rose? When did you discard your humanity to become better in every way as a siren?" His utter disdain for humanity had my Call perking up even more, readying itself.

"July fourth. But I think you knew that already. You were there, after all." When he furrowed his brows, clearly not sure what I was referring to, I decided to jog his memory a little bit. "You stood on a rock, looking out over the islands, wishing me and my aunt dead. You felt me being made. Though, I suppose that wouldn't be something you remember. You've been a very busy boy in my absence."

An infuriating smile crossed his face as he gestured at one of the merpeople near him—a woman named Lia, if I remembered correctly. Her eyes were vacant and lifeless as she brought him a can of beer and a plate of raw cut fish and kneeled at his side, holding the tray aloft for him. He said not a word of thanks, not even looking her way as he leisurely picked at the food. He regarded her as nothing more than furniture. It made my blood boil.

"Do you like what I've done with the place, Rose?" He popped a piece of fish in his mouth, still grinning smugly even as he mocked me. "It must be devastating to see the island this way, what with you and your little human comrades being so adamant about honoring the past. No matter. It is now a sanctuary for our kind, just as it was always intended to be." His eyes met mine, the air around him crackling already. "I did keep the castle for myself, though."

I ignored that last statement. "If that were the case, then Thomas Golden and his family wouldn't have left. He wouldn't have let humans settle here at all."

"Thomas Golden was an idiot. Which is why I did away with almost everything that was his." Joseph smirked again, his expression turning vicious as he ate another cut of fish. "Starting with your aunt's house and shop."

The fight was over before it even started. I just didn't know it yet.

My Call exploded out of me. I flew toward him, my claws out and ready to rip that smug look off his face. Joseph didn't even flinch as I hurtled toward him, and when I was close enough, he stood and slapped me hard enough my legs gave out as stars exploded across my vision. Pain blinded me for a moment as my body slammed to the floor, my breath leaving me in a rush, but I got up and went at him again—only to achieve the same result. Over and over, he let me try to kill him, to satisfy my Call. Over and over, he batted me away like I was no more than a child.

I managed to get one hit in, my claws catching his shoulder before, unexpectedly, I faltered. Joseph shoved me back again, but it wasn't him that had distracted me. A chorus of cries echoed around the room, and my focus snapped away from my target to see why. The merfolk under his control all clutched their shoulders… exactly where I'd sliced Joseph… blood blooming beneath their fingers. It was only then that I saw tendrils of their auras leading straight to the asshole himself.

The asshole who was now laughing and laughing.

Before I could react, he grabbed me by the neck, holding me aloft, then body slammed me into the floor. My breath was knocked from my lungs once more, my back and skull exploding with pain that whited out my vision. It stunned me momentarily, but my Call pushed at me, puppeted my hands to reach for Joseph, to claw and scratch at him. He held me fast even as I struggled to escape him, but with every blow I struck, the merfolk under his control cried out. I tried to stop, but the Call wouldn't release me.

And still he laughed, delighting in their anguished screams. A terrifying smile split his face, wrinkling the puckered scars I'd given him. It chilled me to my soul.

I should've expected it when he reeled his other fist back. He'd never been afraid of hurting me before, and now that I was Otherkind, he had no reason to hold back. His fist slammed into my temple, making my head snap to the side with the force of his punch. Stars scattered across my vision, and my Call fizzled out and slunk into the recesses of my mind as I struggled to stay conscious.

"Are you finished with your tantrum, Rose?" he asked, bearing down harder over me. "You can't hurt me, not without hurting them, and I know you're too softhearted to hurt innocents."

"All this is your fault! Everything! They killed me because of you!" I screamed back, trying to shove him off me. Even with my improved strength, I was weak compared to him.

So fucking weak.

"So childish, Rose," he tutted. "I suppose that's to be expected when you're new to being Otherkind. You'll see soon that I am doing what's best for our people. If I must be the bad guy in your story to make sure that we're all safe, then so be it."

"You'll never be the good guy in anyone's story. You care only about yourself and want everything under your control!"

I wanted to say more, but his hand tightened around my neck, cutting off my airflow. I thrashed, trying to get him off me, until his powers hooked into my mind and took root there. I stilled, my arms falling to the floor as he readjusted his position to straddle my body, one hand still on my neck.

"Perhaps you just need a little convincing. Perhaps you need to see why aligning yourself with me is not only the best option but the only option you have." My hackles rose, especially as his powers pushed against my mind, burrowing into the nooks and crannies. "You see, Rose, I'm more powerful than you. I will always be more powerful than you, and while you are here, you are under my dominion."

His words were laced with a compulsion, telling me they were undeniable truth, that I needed to listen to him, as he was lord over me. They beckoned me to succumb to him, to lay down my defenses. Just as the others had done.

I won't! I won't! I screamed at him in my mind.

He continued, ignorant of my mental tirade. "This is no longer the island you remember, Rose. Your ancestry, your history, is mine now. This is my home, my refuge for my family and those like us. None of the others will come to your aid, not anymore."

I snarled wordlessly at him, unable to keep my fury inside. But the harder I tried to speak, the harder he pushed his power into my mind, crowding my thoughts with his will.

Come on, Call! You're stronger than he is. You're divine, and he's a peon! Why are you not helping me? Panic colored my thoughts as Joseph began the process of shoving me to the back of my own mind.

"You know you can't trust anything the other Otherkind say or do. The only people you can trust are your own kind." My mind wanted to believe his words; it softened against the pressure of his power, even though I knew he was lying. But it was so hard to fight against him when I felt so small in my own head. "There's no need to fear me. We're on the same side now."

Joseph caught my chin in his hand, and he angled my head so I was looking up at him. Instinct, memory, screamed at me to look anywhere but his eyes. This is how he took over my mind last time . I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent that from happening, but that only made him chuckle. His influence doubled, leaving me little to no room in my own head.

"That's it, Rose. Don't fight me. Don't fight this." His voice was gentle and coaxing, like a parent laying their child down for sleep. But I knew that if I listened, I'd lose myself again, and I'd never get my mind back.

The process was almost complete. I could almost see the blood red of his power wrapping around my brain and replacing everything that was me with his will. As it settled in, trying to make itself at home, I panicked. I imagined gripping the power where it was flowing into me and yanking, severing the connection between me and its source. I visualized it ripping away from him and freeing me, allowing me to get away.

Joseph bellowed, as did everyone else in the room, and my eyes flew open to see him clutching his chest. The pressure and his presence in my mind were gone. Control over my own body returned to me.

I did the first thing I could think of: I kicked him between the legs.

With an animalistic grunt, his face contorted into pain. But rather than let me go, he squeezed my neck tighter and tighter until black spots ate at my vision. Then, rearing up and taking me with him, he cracked my head against the floor. The last thing I heard before my world went dark was his voice.

I'm going to kill this little bitch!