1. Grace & Sebastian

I stood beside my luggage outside my stateroom on the Kamaria, one of Solace Cruise Line's most elegant cruise ships, wondering if I was dreaming. I reached over and pinched my arm. I flinched minutely from the pain, so, no, I wasn't dreaming. It couldn't hurt to check because my current circumstances were beyond bizarre.

A white mountain lion sat next to me like a gentleman while I listened to the Solace Cruise Hospitality Manager, Kiara, explain for the third time that she was very sorry, but my stateroom wouldn't be available for the entirety of my thirty-day cruise.

I blinked at her in amazement and wondered just how badly the previous occupants had destroyed the room in order for them to still be scrambling to fix everything. Had a bomb gone off in there? I craned my neck to the side to see how badly it was ruined, but two smiling employees who stood guarding the entrance blocked my way. I wondered if they would need to call in a hazmat team next, because the situation seemed like it was escalating towards that.

None of these things, not the destroyed room, my rampant curiosity, or the smiling employees giving off nothing to see here vibes distracted me from the lion sitting next to me, minding his manners like a boss. He was sitting so close to me that his white fur felt incredibly soft against my bare legs.

I'd about had a heart attack when he casually came to sit down beside me in the hallway, but the Solace employees had all immediately assured me that he was the owner's cat and that the owner was in residence and let his cat roam freely aboard the ship. Also that I shouldn't be alarmed because the cat was just large for a Main Coon.

I had to wonder if they all needed eye examinations, because the cat leaning against me was, in fact, a lion. I'd seen Main Coons before. They looked nothing like lions.

I pondered, for about the hundredth time, if I might have made a mistake in coming here. But I shut that thought down immediately. My research indicated that this cruise line catered to… people like me, people who were different in a way not found in normal society. However, judging by the employees peeking down the hall to get a good look at me, the customers of the ship gaping at me out of their cracked open doors, and the customer service agent who was staring at me as though I were a really bright and shiny good luck coin she wanted to add to her collection, I guessed that my oddness was beyond the normal of what even this ship normally carried.

I was a little heartbroken at this observation. For once, I'd wanted to fit in. To be like those around me. It had taken me years to understand that people didn't react normally to me, and even more years to understand that my not knowing what I was had put me in danger my entire life. I'd heard rumors that the stories told in fantasy books weren't all that far off from the truth. I'd been given an anonymous tip—a note slid under my door, probably by someone in my town who felt bad for the disaster that was my life—saying that humans were not the only beings that shared our planet. I'd never once thought that I was an alien.

I snorted mentally at that. No, I'd almost instantly known that the note was real and that they were talking about fantasy races: dwarves, harpies, pixies, vampires, shifters. After that I'd dug in big time, searching the internet for everything I could get my hands on, until one day I'd come across a review of Solace Cruise lines.

At first, it had seemed innocent. It was only after I'd stared at it a while, trying to puzzle out why it stood out to me, that I realized it wasn't what the reviewer was saying. It was what they were carefully not saying. That review led to thousands of others, all hinting at otherwordliness without outright saying it, and I knew I'd found something at last. I told Mama what I'd found, and then before I really knew or thought about what I was doing, I'd booked a cruise. So now here I was, about to be booted off the ship because some ingrates had destroyed what was to be my room.

I was tired of people's eyes following me everywhere I went. Tired of the dates that, in the blink of an eye, literally became obsessed with me. Tired of the jerks that couldn't and wouldn't accept no. Tired of men trying to follow me back home, to scope out where I lived. Tired of creepy guys who became crazed around me, and decent guys who begged me to go out with them, even when they were standing right next to their date or their spouse.

It was awful.

No one prepared me for this stuff. Mama had to pull me out of school because the boys wouldn't leave me alone, and most of the girls hated me. I couldn't go to college for the same reason, so I ended up enrolling in online courses. I couldn't have a job outside my home because I was harassed and propositioned all day long. It was like... like I put everyone under some kind of spell, and they were powerless to resist.

Trust me. I know how that sounds.

I sound like an arrogant twerp. I promise I'm not. What I am is a frightened woman at the end of her tether. I'm thirty-eight and I'm basically stuck inside the home I share with Mama. I seldom go outside because people's eyes follow me everywhere. Going to the grocery store, the movies, clothes shopping, anything, gives me ridiculous amounts of anxiety.

I'm trapped in a life I didn't ask for. In a world that I've only caught glimpses of, but am mostly ignorant of. I don't know how to switch what I am off. Or even if it can be switched off.

Shouldn't there be a paranormal customer service line for situations like this? Like, " Hi, I think I'm one of you guys. Could you please send help A.S.A.P.?"

But there wasn't. At least I'd never found one.

I was here ostensibly to have some peace and quiet to finish my current novel about a cute avian and cat shifter, but mostly because I was hoping someone would take pity on me and tell me what I am and how to shut off my dazzle, dazzle mojo.

I just wanted a normal life, with a spouse, a few children, a few Saturday barbecues, kids zipping through the sprinklers, toddlers having meltdowns, and my mama loving on her grandchildren. I wanted no part of whatever I was. I wanted someone to take it out of me, or turn it off, and I almost didn't care if they hideously disfigured me in the process if that was what it called for. At this point, I was desperate. My biological clock was ticking, and I was almost out of time.

The lion shifted beside me, bringing me back to the present. The employees were all looking at me expectantly, and I winced. I must have zoned out for longer than was socially appropriate. Social appropriateness was not something I was well versed in, being a shut-in and all.

Miss Kiara again apologized for the problem with my room, and I nodded because that's what you did when people looked super embarrassed and very, very apologetic. You nodded so they didn't feel worse. "I understand," I said quietly, utterly depressed at my misfortune. "I'll just gather my things." I grabbed hold of my two pieces of luggage, grunting at their weight. It felt like I was carrying bricks in each of them. In reality, it was a little bit of clothes and toiletries and a lot of books.

"Should I head to the passenger service desk to ask for my refund?"

Kiara looked horrified at my words, and I mentally went over what I'd just said, making sure I hadn't made another social gaff. Nope. I'd requested a refund because they were kicking me off the most elegant cruise ship in the world. And I'd asked about it politely, so I was good.

"Madam, you misunderstand," she said, her Nigerian accent thick with horror. "We will make room for you on another deck. You're getting an upgrade. As this is Solace Cruise Line 's fault, we will also be crediting your account with three thousand dollars to spend on incidentals."

I blinked, certain I'd misheard her. "I'm sorry, you're doing what, now?"

Sebastian

Hunting down my lion on a ship the size of the Kamaria was no easy feat. Twenty decks, twenty-six restaurants, fourteen lounges, four pools, twenty-five hundred rooms―it amounted to a lot of space. And even though we had cameras in all of our common areas, it was usually faster to track him down by word of mouth. A server saw him at the deck five Tiki Bar heading to the elevator. The elevator bellman said he got off on deck seven, the Dolphin Deck and a few of my porters said they saw him come down this particular hallway.

As I turned the corner, I heard a woman's husky alto voice saying, ‘I'm sorry, you're doing what now?' I stopped in surprise. Kazi was sitting next to a woman standing in the hallway outside a stateroom. The lion looked like he was waiting patiently for her to finish up her conversation with Kiara, my Hospitality Manager.

I was immediately and forcefully hit by her presence. It was so strong it almost drove me to my knees. Her scent and blood sang to me in a way I'd never felt before, but instinctively knew.

She was a siren.

I was sure of it.

A siren's pull was stronger than a vampire's, even to other paranormals. I'd felt a slight pull toward sirens I'd met before, but it had been nothing like this. This told me two things. One, she was powerful, and two, I was very interested in getting to know her because she might be my mate.

My mind was ancient, and ancient minds didn't bow easily to those of others. Even glamours didn't work on us. The other sirens had explained that my ancient mind was the reason I didn't feel a stronger pull toward them. That it was nearly impossible to mind-bend a vampire, even when a group of sirens were trying their hardest to lure them, or, in the case of feral vampires, calm them.

I walked away from those encounters secure in the knowledge that there was little out there that could muddle my mind. But this woman in front of me was living proof that there was at least one being that could. Because this siren was unlike those I'd met in my past. Her lure was potent, and if I wasn't mistaken, emitting an SOS.

That was another thing the sirens had warned me about. If a siren didn't feel safe, for any reason, her lure changed to pull in people who could protect her. This was a different type of lure. One that wasn't meant to calm or entice, but to build an army of protection against her foes. And the more insecure and unsafe a siren felt, the stronger the emitted SOS signal, pulling in people from greater distances.

Which meant that this siren, for whatever reason, didn't feel safe on my ship, and I wanted to know why.

She was diminutive, standing at about 5'3, and she was maybe 115 pounds soaking wet. She had long dark brown hair, not as dark as my black hair, but close, and if I had to guess, she probably had warm brown eyes.

I'd always been a sucker for warm brown eyes.

After a few moments, my heart stopped pounding so violently, and my knees felt like they could hold me up. I breathed, closed my eyes, found the indomitable willpower that my friends teased me about, and tried not to stumble as I made my way over to them so I could rudely intrude upon their conversation.

The closer I moved to her, the more her salt and lime scent made my throat burn. It was like a sledgehammer to my suddenly parched throat. I'd drank some A- before we'd begun boarding an hour ago, but I was suddenly extremely thirsty again.

I called every shred of control I'd learned over my many long years into play, forcing my reaction to her to subside by sheer willpower so I could have a clear head.

Kazi sneezed, and I raised my eyebrow at him. Why on earth was he hanging around a woman he'd never met before? Had he given her a heart attack? Could she see him? If I thought Kazi would give me any answers to my internal questions, I was mistaken. He snorted at my questioning eyebrow, gave me some side-eye, and went back to standing guard for the woman.

Oh.

That made sense.

Kazi had felt her SOS and was standing as her guard.

My heart warmed at my lion's protective instincts for those weaker than he was.

I'd rescued Kazi five years ago and raised him at the animal sanctuary I used to run. When I was ready to try something new and retire—most vampires usually moved on to something new after a certain number of years—I'd placed the rest of my animals in amazing sanctuaries, but Kazi was the only one I couldn't place. Every time I found somewhere for him to live safely, they would call me after a few days, worried because he'd stopped eating.

So, I had a lion who had severe separation anxiety and could never be parted from me. That meant bringing him with me wherever I went.

Because I'd moved on to owning a cruise line after the animal sanctuary, and Kazi would interact with both paranormals and humans, I'd paid a wizard to do a permanent glamour on him.

Humans only saw him as a massive white main coon cat, about half of Kazi's actual size. Most paranormals, however, could see past the glamour.

I'd gotten a fair few questions regarding him when I'd first started. All from paranormals asking me if Kazi was my familiar. He was not. At least, I didn't think so. He was just a big cat with a big heart who loved literally everyone, even the surliest, most cantankerous individuals. It didn't matter how grumpy they were. He loved on ‘em until they were less grumpy. It was the Kazi way.

My crew petted him and talked to him like he was one of the crew. And he was, actually. I'd made him an official concierge. He worked night and day to make sure everyone was happy on the ship anyway, so the position fit him to a T. He even earned a paycheck, which admittedly went to raw t-bones and his astronomical vet bills, but still.

As I tuned into the conversation, I realized that the previous occupants of the siren's room had trashed it, and they were giving her a room upgrade to a Royal Suite and a three grand credit onboard. This was all standard procedure for my cruise line. We'd risen to the top, not just for our luxurious ships and entertainment, but for the way we took care of our customers. People hoped they came onto one of my cruises with a room they could not occupy.

The woman continued to stumble over her words, then paused and put a shaking hand over her eyes, covering them for a moment and dragging in a deep breath. "I don't understand, ma'am. I understand switching me to another room, but why am I getting the credit?"

Kazi leaned into me, and I patted his head, running my fingers through his fur. Good boy, Kazi. Good siren hunting.

I cleared my throat and politely offered my hand. "Hello. I'm Sebastian Solace. This is all standard operating procedure for my ships, Miss...?"

"Miss Liora," Kiara whispered behind me. "Miss Grace Liora."

I nodded. "Miss Liora." It meant light in Hebrew. I wondered if she knew that. "I'm very sorry about the trouble with your room. It doesn't happen often, but every once in a while, the previous occupants of a room damage the room to such a degree that it's uninhabitable for a short time. Meanwhile, to compensate you for your troubles, we're happy to give you onboard credit, and upgrade your room to a Royal Suite."

"But it's not your fault that the previous occupants trashed the room. Why should you pay me for something that isn't your fault or the fault of the cruise line?"

"It's not your fault either, Miss Liora. And we're paying you for the inconvenience. We want all our customers to be happy on our cruises."

She nodded, still looking befuddled.

"I'll take her to her suite, Kiara." I nodded at my hospitality manager and then helped Miss Liora with her luggage. We wouldn't need a luggage cart because she'd packed so little, only two bags. I usually ended up with two bags for Kazi alone.

I politely got her started moving in the right direction, and we got on the glass elevators at the end of the hallway. She was quiet. Very quiet. She didn't make a peep as she watched the floors go by, a storm of thoughts behind her eyes.

I was still getting a pretty strong SOS from her, though, so I remained quiet. My long life had taught me that silence was often the best and most effective communication. It allowed someone the space to say what they were thinking or feeling with no expectation or hurry. Whereas, if I tried to fill the silence with words, she might feel overwhelmed and rushed.

I stayed silent for the first five floors, nodding to staff who waved hello to me in passing as the elevator ascended each level. After the seventh floor passed, she finally spoke.

"What floor is my new cabin on?" Her voice was soft, as though she was hesitant to speak, and that smoky rasp to it made my stomach tighten. Just that quickly, my fangs dropped and her lure hit me again like a sledgehammer, making my whole body suddenly feel like I had a live wire shoved against my skin.

This was the first time my fangs had dropped spontaneously in over four hundred years. And the smell of her in an enclosed space, coupled with the pain and savage thirst, was nearly more than I could bear. But I was a vampire of extended years, so I just politely kept my mouth closed as much as possible when I answered her and elected not to breathe. Even with her amped- up siren blood calling to me, my self-control was too ancient to be anything but iron-clad.

Don't move an inch, Bash. Not one inch.

The boiling need lessened as my head slowly grew clearer . That had been potent and close. Too close. I hoped it was just the first few minutes with her that were that rough, otherwise I might need to stay on the opposite side of the ship from her. For her own safety. That would be difficult, though, considering she would be staying on my personal deck for the duration of her cruise, and she might be my Arisma. My soul mate.

Still not breathing, I fought for a center of calm and control over my actions. I wrestled every last desire to nuzzle her neck and taste her blood down until I felt like I could unlock my muscles and move without doing something I would later regret. I'd never had this problem before. Ever . Not even as a teenager in my human years. The ache and need for her diminished until I felt safe speaking.

"Deck nineteen, the Siren ," I said, answering her question from a moment ago. The irony of the deck name was not lost on me. "Deck twenty is our Stargazer deck and also Kazi's deck, so deck nineteen is the last one with rooms, and there are only two on the entire level."

"That's―" she spluttered. "How big are the rooms? The entire deck is just two rooms?"

She sounded astonished. Really, I was just a being that needed a lot of space. The only other suite up on deck nineteen was the one we usually used for royalty, paranormal or otherwise.

"Think of them like penthouse suites in a nice hotel."

Her mouth opened in a cute little O, then closed again. "Who has the other suite?"

"Kazi and I," I said, pointing my chin at the white lion still standing like a sentinel at her side. I eyed my lion curiously. Guarding her was one thing. Being instantly devoted to her was another. "I've never seen him act the way that he's behaving with you. He's friendly with the crew and passengers, but this is something different altogether."

She looked down at Kazi. "I didn't know it was legal to own lions in international waters."

Well, her paranormal blood was verified. "I used to own a big cat sanctuary. After a while, I decided to go into the cruise business, so I placed the rest of my cats in bigger and better sanctuaries. But Kazi has separation anxiety. He won't eat if he's away from me."

She looked down at Kazi, and I could see something change in her eyes. There was a yearning there that was painful to witness. She looked up at me, her heart in her eyes. "Can I pet him?" she asked quietly.

I nodded. "He's safe. I wouldn't have started the cruise line if he weren't."

She understood immediately. "Because you wouldn't have been able to bring him, and you needed to."

"Yes."

She knelt, sitting back on her thighs, which made Kazi tower over her, but she didn't seem bothered by it. She scratched under his chin, and then his cheeks, and Kazi kind of leaned into her as though she was sapping all of his energy from him. She laughed as he flopped onto her knees, humming in complete bliss. Her laugh was all rasp and smoke and it made my stomach tighten again.

"He's acting like a bigger version of the smaller cats."

"Well, he is, in a way. But he's also not. Lions are very much one of the apex predators in the wild. The lionesses hunt, but the lions protect the pride's territory, and this guy is very much an alpha. With that being said, because he's very tame, he acts more like a house cat at times."

Her lips got a cute little quirk when I mentioned the word alpha, but she didn't say anything. Kazi was practically taking a snooze on her lap. She wobbled unsteadily as he adjusted his gigantic body, nearly knocking her over. I placed a steadying hand on her shoulders. "Kazi, mind your manners. Get off of her."

He huffed and moaned about it, but in the end, he sat up. I helped Miss Liora up to her feet again just as our elevator hit the nineteenth floor. The clear glass doors opened to a view of a small lounge decorated in dark blues and darker wood. I usually ate or relaxed there after work. It only served the Siren deck. So... Miss Liora and myself for this trip.

As we moved past the lounge and down the hall, I could see her trying to take everything in while Kazi prowled alongside her.

One of my staff had already taped her keycards to her suite door in a little envelope with her name on it.

She pulled out the keycard and swiped it through the mechanism, which immediately turned green, letting her enter. I could feel her stunned amazement at the lavishness of the suite. It had three bedrooms, a large living room, a fully stocked kitchen, a study, a spacious bathroom, and a balcony that wrapped nearly around the entire side of the ship. My balcony wrapped around the other side, and they met in the middle. The decor had been done in coppers and sunset colors. The shower was white and rose marble, and the floors were sand-colored Italian tiles with a glass mosaic of a beach, ocean, and sunset in the center.

I placed her luggage on her bed. "Please let me know if you need anything else, Miss Liora." I handed her my business card, which had my international cell number on it. "You can call this number, or you can just ask any employee to buzz my room or office."

She looked over my card and then smiled tentatively at me. "Thank you, Mr. Solace."

I nodded and headed for her door. "Come, Kazi." I was waiting for him at the door to say his goodbyes, not paying attention, when Grace's laughter punched me in the throat again. I drew in an unsteady breath and looked over to see that Kazi had made himself comfortable on her bed, fully stretched out like the king he thought he was.

"Kazi," I growled. My left eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "Let's go."

Kazi closed his eyes and let out a little snore, which didn't sound much different from his lower-decibel growls. He sounded like a congested hyena.

Grace sat next to him on the bed and rubbed his back. She looked over at me, naked hope in her eyes. "He can stay...if that's okay?"

I paced to the bed and looked down at the big faker. "Do you want to stay with Miss Liora?"

"Grace, please," she murmured, correcting me.

I nodded, thanking her for allowing me to use her first name. I was raised in a time when manners were a big part of everyday society. It had been a thin veneer, nevertheless, there were manners and civility. "Thank you for the use of your name, Grace," I said politely.

She blinked at me, and then a slow smile spread across her lips. "You're welcome."

I looked back down at my furry anchor. "Do you want to hang out with Grace for a while?"

He opened one huge blue eye and purred. Mountain lions are not big cats, per se. But they're the largest of the small cats. And, fun fact, they're the biggest cats with the ability to purr. Kazi's purr sounded like a small engine was vibrating and about to take off.

I smiled, resigned, and scratched his furry head. "Behave like a gentleman," I warned him. He chuffed at me and went back to fake snoring with his eyes closed. I turned back to Grace. "I've never seen him do this before, but I think it's entirely possible my lion is in love with you." I was trying to warn her politely. Kazi in love was a thing never before seen. I had no idea what he would do or how he would act with her. The only thing I was sure of was that he wouldn't hurt her.

She blushed and then chuckled when Kazi nuzzled her leg with his nose, licking her for good measure. "Well, he's very handsome, and he's been great company so far, so he's fine to stay with me for however long he'd like."

"Thanks for putting up with him. You don't have to worry about feeding him or cleaning up after him. I have a few members of staff who take care of him exclusively. He has a big sandbox on his deck that he knows how to access, and his handlers track him down when it's feeding time. What you will need is a walkie-talkie. Let me grab one from my room."

I quickly went to my room, grabbed one of the devices, and returned to her. I then showed her the walkie-talkie and explained the channel she needed to use to talk to me specifically, and the channel to use to talk to his handlers if she needed to get a hold of them for any reason. I waited while she wrote the channels down on a little Solace sticky tablet by her bed. And then I gave her a brief crash course on the use of our walkies, which were mostly like normal walkies except with a few high-tech perks.

As I left, with Kazi still snoring on Grace's bed, I turned back to her. The saltwater sting of her scent in my nostrils had lessened, and my fangs had long since retracted, but my fascination with the woman had only increased since I'd met her. I really wanted to spend more time with her. There was something about Grace that drew me in, and I thought it had little to do with her siren blood. "Would you like to have dinner tonight in the Starlight Lounge? It's up on deck twenty, on the aft side."

"I'd like that," she said quietly.

"Six-thirty sound okay?"

She nodded.

I walked over and gently kissed her hand. Her hand was warm and smooth, with glittery gold paint on her fingernails. "I'm looking forward to it. See you tonight."

As I left her to settle in and get ready for dinner, I mentally ran over my to-do list and groaned. I needed help, or I would never be able to meet Grace for dinner. I depressed the button on my walkie. "Rafe, my favorite Cruise Director, do you have some time to split my task list with me?"

My walkie hissed and Rafe's British squawk of outrage had me grinning. "Of course, Sire. Anything for you, Sire. Would you like a tummy rub? Would you like me to spit-shine your shoes? Perhaps you'd like me to cut your dinner into tiny, bite-sized pieces for you?"

I laughed. "A simple no would have sufficed."

Rafe was a firecracker. He was also the face of the Kamaria, a nd I could objectively, in a straight-guy kind of way, say that it was a pretty face. He always had a million and one things to do, a thousand fires to put out, and a hundred girls available at the touch of a button. He was a White-Tailed Sea Eagle shifter, with razor-sharp wits, eyesight, and hearing, even in his human form.

Rafe's sigh on the walkie was legendary. "Anything for you, boss. What do you need?"