Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

CHIP

I stood in the center of the Sistine Chapel. While everyone else was staring at the ceiling, I was staring at Monroe. Over the last few days of us working together to get this house decorated in time for the contest, he'd had the audacity to start to make me like him. He was still infuriating and insufferable, yet I hated him a little bit less. That pissed me off. He had good ideas and seemed to be genuinely thoughtful about other people's opinions and feelings, even if those things didn't fully translate to me. Getting to know him was becoming dangerous. With the rage and revenge receding, I was discovering attraction had been brewing beneath the surface.

Every time he smiled or laughed, my heart did little flips in my chest, sending butterflies fluttering through my veins. That had to be a red flag. This feeling couldn't have been normal or healthy. He was an ass. I needed to remember that. He was doing a good job of reminding me this evening. Monroe had been standing in the kitchen for the last twenty minutes without moving. He was chatting with other mage guys about some game the humans played with a brown ball. I had no idea what it was, but I knew they were talking about Giants and Bears, though those details confused me more. The point was he was not working.

The actual home decor contest started two hours ago, and there was a line out the door and down the sidewalk. People were talking about our house entry. Honestly, I didn't care if we won. I wasn't even sure what the winner won. I just wanted to get more clients from this. It was also the night we let the Island know our companies had merged. Chickles was now a part of Starlight Tours. So far, everyone was relieved by the news. A bunch of them had felt guilty for supporting both of us.

I seemed to be the only one irritated by him socializing when we were trying to put on a good show here. It was not lost on me that I was evidently consumed by where he was and what he was doing, I did not like what that suggested about me and my affections towards him. But I was ignoring that for now. I'd been making my way through the house, meeting new and old clients, with the intention of heading to the kitchen and the make your own pizza setup. I'd made it to the middle of the dining room when I spotted him through the archway we'd put up to separate the Sistine Chapel from the kitchen.

He looked good tonight too. That made me want to scream. He was a distraction, and it was deeply infuriating. We'd all decided to dress in costumes for different tour destinations to play along with the theme. He'd dressed as a safari tour guide, which I thought was an add choice as Starlight Tours did not currently have any African safaris in the books, past or present. If anyone asked me, which they wouldn't, he stole my thunder. I'd suggested the idea to make a zip-line from the balcony down to the backyard because I'd seen some videos of them while crashing at Holden's house the other night.

In the end, I'd dressed as a ski instructor but mostly because it was freezing cold in Monroe's house so the rooms wouldn't be saunas. Sirens usually hid in the water in the winter, so I wasn't super accustomed to the chill. I even had the gloves on. I could touch anything and not worry about getting wet and shifting, nor did I worry about the temperature.

Dawson was dressed as a fancy cruise ship captain, and he'd been acting the part. When I'd walked by him a few minutes ago, he had a list of three dozen people who wanted to do a group cruise trip.

" Chip!"

I jumped and spun around with my heart in my throat, but it was only my sister. My breath left me in a rush. "Pickles, what the hell?"

She slid her big black sunglasses down her nose and peeked over the top of them, both eyebrows raised. "Whatever you're doing, you need to stop."

"Stop what? I'm not doing anything. I'm just standing here?—"

"Staring at Monroe. You've been standing in one spot staring at him for like twenty minutes. And before that, you were watching him everywhere he went." She crossed her arms over her button-down floral shirt. "You're either plotting some twisted prank for revenge or ogling him. I'm not sure which of those things would worry me more."

My jaw dropped. "I am not ogling him. I don't even like him?—"

"Yeah, I'm not sure I believe that anymore. It's giving hindsight is twenty-twenty." She used the map of Los Angeles she'd been carrying around to point at me as she adjusted her fanny pack, or bumbag as the younger neighbor kid called it. "Can you just shelve whatever you're feeling until after the event? This is a big night for us."

I let out a frustrated sigh. "I'm not trying to mess anything up. That's why I'm still standing here and not making myself a yummy pizza."

"Well, stand somewhere else. Please." She nodded once, then spun and walked away from me. Her costume was the stereotypical American sightseeing tourist, complete with cargo shorts and white socks with her sandals.

I scrubbed my face with my hands, then glanced back in Monroe's direction.

" Chip, " Pickles hissed.

I huffed and forced myself to flee the dining room to where my sister stood in the doorway. " What? "

She rolled her eyes. "Why don't you go ride your zip-line?"

I opened my mouth, then shut it. That was a great idea, both mine to include it and hers for me to ride it. I hadn't ridden it yet. "Okay. Fine. But go make Monroe talk about work. He promised to talk about the sirens with?—"

"I know, I know." She shoo'd me away. "I'll handle Monroe. You go."

I rolled my eyes but turned and marched through the living room, pausing only for a moment to watch the people inside of the room to see their reactions. The living room was set up to look like we were at a rooftop bar in New York City, with panoramic views that were projected onto the walls and ceiling. We'd made a soundtrack to play sounds of police sirens, ambulances, and a relentless honking of cars mixed in with people shouting. All the classic Manhattan sounds to complete the ambiance. There was a bar set up to serve free drinks.

I thought choosing Manhattan was a waste of a room since most Islanders could just hop on the train and go over there. It wasn't a big deal to travel there, and I was a siren . However, Monroe insisted we needed Manhattan because he said a lot of Islanders were afraid to go into the city with all those humans and that chaos—that some Islanders needed the soft launch into traveling. I'd hoped to be able to tease him for being wrong but the ooos and ahhhs when every single person walked into the living room were eye-opening. People were grabbing drinks and sitting down to chat and embrace the ambiance.

Monroe had been right. The bastard.

I groaned and walked into the hallway. Our little snow-tubing slide was also a big hit, granted mostly with the kids. And Brian Bow. When I spotted the youngest Bow son standing at the top of the stairs-turned-snow slide, I just laughed and shook my head. I hurried up the stairs and realized I hadn't actually been on the second floor since they'd decorated. Pickles had approved it as ready to go, so this was my first chance to scope it out. Monroe's bedroom was locked, which was expected. I moved down the hall into the first guest bedroom where the furniture had been taken out and replaced with a miniature casino.

The guest bathroom was actually a Jack and Jill style set up where it connected to both bedrooms and the hallway, except tonight it was only accessible from the hallway because it was set up with a surfing simulator, but there was a line for people to try it, so I didn't want to take up any time from someone else. Instead, I moved on to the next bedroom, but the line to get in was getting long. We'd gotten somehow simultaneously creative and lazy with it . . . We'd set up six treadmills, each of them connected to different VR headsets. Every person who got on a treadmill could choose from about a dozen destinations and then walk them as if they were there. I also wanted to try that room, but I made a mental note to try all these things once everyone left.

The balcony was attached to the billiards room, so I had to walk through it. This room was more chill. We'd turned it into an Irish pub with a real bar. I did not linger. I marched right through and out onto the balcony overlooking the backyard. I'd been pretty excited to see this idea come to life and hadn't made it out there to look yet. As I walked out onto the balcony, I immediately smiled. It looked exactly as I'd envisioned in my head. On the left in the corner there was a spiral staircase that led to the first floor directly beneath us. But in the opposite corner there was a gorgeous picture opportunity.

I went to the edge and looked down at the forest and waterfall the boys set up. It was super pretty but boring. No one was using the zip-line. Sure, the first hour a bunch of teenagers had gotten everyone started, but everyone seemed to be waiting on someone else to ride it first.

"Let's do it." I strapped myself in the way I'd been instructed—and the way the sign next to it dictated—with the straps around my hips and stuff, then I held on to the handles and pushed off the edge. Cold air rushed over my face and through my hair. I smiled and looked around. The real trees surrounding Monroe's house were in shades of red, but for our contest entry, we put in a few tall pine trees so it would feel like zip-lining through a forest. The track made a sharp right turn and it startled me into a giggle fit. As the track wrapped around the pool the theme was lake in the mountains, but when it slipped between some pines and came back out beneath the waterfall, the theme had changed to a beach cove setting.

For ninety seconds, I laughed and enjoyed the moment.

Before I stopped moving, my gaze landed on the groups of people huddled by the open sliding doors that led inside. I shook my head. Monroe had come outside but he was still just chatting with them, and I doubted it was work-related. Nor was it him convincing them to go up and ride the zip-line. Then he glanced up and spotted me coming around the final turn and a smile spread across his face that made my stomach tighten into knots. He pointed to me and cheered. The two dozen people outside looked up and cheered as the zip-line came to a halt.

I climbed off, then took a bow. "You all need to ride it! Go on up there! I promise you won't regret it!"

"Take the shortcut here." Monroe walked over to the waterfall that was magically somehow coming off the balcony and pouring into the pool. "There's a spiral staircase right here for easy access."

Unable to stop myself, I marched over to Monroe and whispered, " Can you not just chit chat all night? At least make yourself useful. Get everyone moving through the whole house to try stuff. Or get them signing up ?—"

"Chip-"

"Do something, Monroe." I gestured around us. "It's pretty but boring out here. We need next-level. We need entertainment."

"Do something? Okay, fine." He leaned in, then sang softly, " Hear my song, hear my cry, take this siren with the evening tide to show the nature she always hides. "

I gasped so loud I choked. My eyes widened as I froze in place just staring up at him in shock as his magic washed over me. His siren's song magic. I felt it seep into my body and rush through like a raging river current. My legs began to tingle as my body tried to submit to his magic. I groaned through clenched teeth to try and fight it off. I was a siren princess, surely I could overpower his magic—the neon-purple material of my snow pants shredded into tiny pieces as my lower body shifted from two legs into one tail. Gravity yanked me down to the cold patio tiles, my purple scales glistening in the moonlight.

" But . . . but . . . but . . ." I shook my head and just stared up at him. I was shaken. "What . . . how . . . but?—"

He grinned his cockiest, most mischievous of grins and leaned down. "There. Some entertainment. Thanks for being a good sport, Chip."

WHAT? HOW? HOW ARE YOU A SIREN? He had to be a siren. I knew he was. There was no other species in this realm that could use siren's song magic other than a siren. Not even a jinn or a wolf. That gift was ours and only ours. Oh my God. Monroe is a siren. He's not a mage. My gaze was locked on his even while I tried to think back to every instance where magic had been used in front of me—during all his pranks and decorating this house. In Araqiel's name. He never once used his own wand. He always grabbed Dawson's.

I was so confused I couldn't move. Monroe was a siren.

Monroe is a siren.

He chuckled and shoved his hands into his pockets—his leather-gloved clad hands. He was wearing gloves. I hadn't thought anything of it before, thought it was part of the costume, but could they have been a precaution for the same reason I was wearing gloves tonight? Because there was a lot of water around. But he had to have something else on to prevent shifting . . . My guess was a piece of jewelry made by Peggy Bow like the ones Pickles and I were wearing around our necks. Or the one Holden gave to Reese.

In the back of my mind, I registered we had an audience. People were moving closer to see what happened since there was no logical reason I would've shifted like I just did. But none of that truly registered in my mind. I was too busy trying to figure out how to get Monroe to shift. I narrowed my eyes and sat up straight. He took a step back, but that smile was still firmly in place. So, he knew not to trust I wouldn't retaliate, but he was too cocky to think I had much of a chance with my land-legs gone. I tried to shift back, but I'd landed in the little river we'd made to drop into the pool.

"You okay, Chip?" He cocked his head to the side and arched one eyebrow. "Perhaps you need someone to do something?"

You son of a bull shark. On land like this, I stood no chance. But the pool was just two feet behind him. This beautiful, infuriating siren was so damn confident that he underestimated me. Even after everything I'd done to him this month. I didn't know why Monroe stayed on land or why he pretended to be a mage like his cousin, but I did know I'd never seen him in the ocean as an adult. I knew every single siren that lived offshore of Megelle Island. I knew without a sliver of a doubt he hadn't been in the water in at least ten years. My sisters would've known too.

If he hadn't been in the ocean in a while, then there was no way he'd overpower me in the water. I was a siren princess. I was a stronger swimmer and faster. He either had on a bracelet or a necklace— wait. It's a bracelet. A rope bracelet! The memory of his rope bracelet slammed into my mind . . . and then came a plan. All I had to do was get him in the water and I'd snatch that bracelet off. I wanted to see him shift right here in his own damn pool in front of everyone. If he was going to embarrass me in front of everyone, then he was going to hate the way his own medicine tasted.

Pickles gasped from somewhere behind me near the house. " Chip! Are you okay?"

"Chip?" That voice was Reese's. The sharp tone cleared some of the shock that kept me glued in place. I looked up toward her voice and found her peering over the balcony. She frowned. Something in my expression must have given her an answer because she narrowed those green eyes at Monroe. "What happened to her, Monroe?"

He shrugged one shoulder. "There's a lot of water right here. She must've gotten wet?"

"None of her skin was out, Whittaker." Reese's confusion turned into a glare. She may have been my baby sister but being the Alpha's wife had brought out the mama-wolf side of her. She was calling bullshit on his cocky smile, and it was going to be a lovely assist to my evil plan. "Unless you're suggesting she fell on her face? But you're not, because surely you would've either caught her before she hit the ground or you wouldn't be smiling right now?"

"I didn't do anything. I didn't touch her?—"

I swung my tail into the back of his legs, sweeping them out from under him. His eyes widened as he flew up and backwards?—

"Here, Chip!" Torren appeared out of nowhere right behind Monroe and directly in his crash zone. The world slid into slow motion as she held up a towel with a chipper smile. "I've got a towel and a fan to dry?—"

Monroe crashed right into her faster than anyone could've caught him. Torren screamed but it turned into a screech as her human form vanished and she shifted into a small black cat with teal hair on her head. Her little body had caught his fall and now his balance was thrown off all over again. He stumbled backwards, except now he was falling in the wrong direction. If he fell through the waterfall, he would hit the edge of the pool wall on the other side. I didn't want him to get hurt. I cursed and pushed off with my hands and slid across the tile with my tail stretched out as far as I could to catch him.

"NO!" Torren screamed, and it sounded funny with her in cat-form still. "Monroe!"

I slid under the waterfall and blocked the pool wall so he wouldn't hit it. "I've got hi?—"

But Torren didn't hear or see me. She shifted again— into a massive black panther. I gasped. She dove to catch him but the claws of her now panther paw sliced through his sleeve, cutting his skin and his rope bracelet. My eyes widened. He was under the waterfall, with water dumping over his entire body.

Bright, royal blue scales wrapped around his legs before that rope bracelet or the blood from his arm even hit the floor.

I heard gasps echoing all around me.

My heart stopped. I was stretched out over the corner of the pool just praying I broke his fall instead of the pool wall.

"MONROE!" Dawson yelled from somewhere.

" He's a siren?" Holden shouted.

He fell right onto my tail, his head slamming into the scales right above my fins. His wide gaze met mine. I grimaced and strained to hold him long enough to tip him into the water but everything happened too fast. Torren hadn't realized I caught him because she dove for him again, except those claws sliced into the scales on his hips. He shouted in pain as she landed right on top of him. My strength buckled under the weight of both of them and they plummeted into the pool.

Torren's cat screech was cut off by the water. I dove for the pool to get Torren back out, but I'd only moved about an inch when there was a flash of light and a massive blue whale filled every inch of the pool. Water poured onto the tiled patio like a miniature storm surge that sent me rolling in the opposite direction.

I caught myself and flipped back over to look at the pool and found the entire backyard completely flooded. Everyone who'd rushed out to see the commotion had been knocked off their feet and were now sitting in six inches of water. Torren's blue whale head was submerged under the water, but her body was too big so her tail had crushed the edge of the pool on one side and was lying halfway across the yard.

"MONROE!"

"OH GOD! IS HE DROWNING?"

"He can breathe down there! I assure you!" I yelled out as I dragged myself back to the edge of the pool.

"Yeah, he can." Dawson stomped through the water behind me. "He can breathe. I promise. He's a siren."

Holden cursed. "Did I see blue scales? He's been a siren this whole time? Chip, did you know this?"

I looked up at him and grimaced. "No. I thought he was a mage until he just used siren song on me to force me to shift."

"I knew it!" Reese yelled from the balcony. "I knew he'd done something."

"Dawson?" Holden pointed to the pool.

Dawson blushed. "Not my story to tell, but . . . yeah?"

I shook my head and looked back to the pool. "Torren, you okay? Can you see Monroe?"

Her big whale eye looked up at me. "I can feel him breathing?"

"Well, that's a start?—"

Nash walked up to the edge of the pool slowly, then stopped and looked down at his soulmate with a sigh. He shook his head. "A blue whale, Torren? Really?"

Torren whimpered. "I panicked and shifted into the first aquatic animal that came to me."

Nash nodded. "And that wasn't . . . I don't know . . . a siren since there were two right in front of you?"

"I panicked, Nashville!" Torren screamed.

Nash chuckled and pushed his hair out of his face. "Okay. And how about now?"

"Um . . ." her whale eye bounced around. "I'm stuck?"

Nash crouched down and smiled. I had to give him credit. He kept his cool with her every single time she lost control like this. "So, shift back into yourself, love? Or if that's too much, into something smaller?"

She groaned and wiggled her body, but her tail knocked over two trees. "Oh no, the trees!" she cried.

"That's all right, love," Nash said softly. He knelt down with his knees in the water that was flooding the tile, then reached out and put his hand on her back. "Peggy's got tree repair food. We'll get those back in the ground. Right now I need you to just close your eyes and turn into something smaller so we can check on Monroe. Okay?"

She whimpered.

" How about a frog? " I suggested in a whisper. I knew sometimes when flustered and panicked that shifting could be extra difficult. "That can breathe both in water and land."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Nash smiled lovingly at her. He had to be the best boyfriend in the world. "C'mon, love. Gimme a cute little teal frog."

She closed her eyes. There was a flash and a splash of water, then a cute little teal-colored tree frog was floating in the pool right at the edge. Nash smiled and scooped her up in his hand. I expected him to sit her on the ground, but he slid her into the front pocket of his button-down shirt instead.

"Just sit there for a minute and breathe." Nash chuckled. "And hide."

" Thank you. I'm sorry," Torren whispered.

"It's all right."

At the same time, Nash, Dawson, and I looked down into the pool that was now only half-full. Monroe was just lying there on his back with his arms stretched out to the side. He was staring up at the sky with the most defeated look on his face.

I leaned over the edge and smiled. "Now who's the slimy little fish?"