I didn’t want to run into anyone else, however, so I took a less used route to my dorm, enjoying the time alone with my thoughts. I was wound up, like all the hormones that had been low key up until now all woke up at once. And Matty—the way he looked at me, the things he said, the feel of his body next to mine, against mine—I sighed once more. Lots of that going on today. I couldn’t wait to see him again.

  I went up the stairs on the side of my dorm, since I knew they weren’t used as much, and hopefully, since it was Saturday, I wouldn’t run into anyone. As I got to the landing between floors, I looked up.

  Caspian Silverwood was stopped in the middle of the stairs, his hand on the railing, his eyes gazing down at me in a decidedly unfriendly manner.

  Which didn’t stop the thrill I felt when I saw him. He was tall, lean, and muscular, and his fair skin with green eyes and blond hair were so sexy, as long as you ignored the expression on his face.

  His nose wrinkled as though he’d smelled something bad. “Where have you been? Or more to the point, who have you been with?” he asked.

  What the fuck with all the sniffing today?

  “Why do you care?” I snapped back. He might be one of the most truly beautiful men I’d ever seen, but he was rude to me every time he’d seen me up close, he’d threatened me, and he was snotty as hell to anyone not fae here at Nobledark. I didn’t feel badly about being abrupt with him.

  Although I did have to wonder how the hell it was I ran into the other two most handsome men in this school on the day of the most perfect first date with the third of the three most handsome man. Like, what were the odds?

  Were my hormones trying to give me a message? Matty would be pleased to hear that the next time we had some alone time. I stifled a laugh at the idea.

  Caspian’s eyes narrowed. He stepped carefully down a couple of stairs.

  It was amazing how graceful he was.

  “You need to—” he said, and then he stopped.

  “I need to what?” I asked. “Move, before you make me, with my human self?” I didn’t have any patience for his shit today. No matter how good he looked.

  He moved so quickly that I nearly didn’t see him. He was next to me in the space of one heartbeat and the smell of rain and cool evenings surrounded me. If moonlight was a smell, Caspian smelled like moonlight and silver, if silver had a smell.

  His arms went around me as his head came down toward mine. He said something in a hoarse, ragged tone, some language that I didn’t understand, and then his lips were on mine, demanding, full, and intoxicating.

  I couldn’t think about anything else but this silvery moonlight man and my arms went up as of their own accord. Even as I’d been cussing him not thirty seconds before. What was it that drew me to him? Beneath his tee shirt, he was as muscled as I’d suspected, and the tension hummed off him like an electric wire.

  He kissed me hungrily, searching for something with his lips, with his hands on my body.

  I should push him away, shove him from me—but I couldn’t. My body screamed for release, to be touched, stroked—and I melted into him.

  What the hell was I doing?

  My hands let go of his back and came around to push him away from me. “Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but you need to work it out with someone else,” I gasped, my heart thundering. My lips felt swollen, bruised even. My hand crept up to cover them as I looked at Caspian. My eyes were wide.

  His breath came out heavily, and he didn’t speak.

  We stared at one another for a moment that stretched into days. Then I edged closer to the railing and rushed past him. My hand was still on my lips as I burst out of the stairwell and into my hallway. I kept my head down as I moved as fast as I could without running.

  I made it to my pod door, wrenching the door open and flinging myself inside. Not only was the entire day amazing, the last half hour had sent it down a path to… to… crazy.

  I leaned against the door, trying to catch my breath.

  Jade’s room door opened. “You’re back!” she cried. She came into the pod hallway, then stopped and looked at me. “What the hell happened to you?”

  I opened my mouth but nothing came out, and I shook my head.

  “What did Matty Pearce do to you?” Jade asked in a dangerous tone.

  “No, no, it wasn’t anything like that,” I said, and I hated that I sounded raspy.

  Jade crossed her arms and glared.

  Thalia came out of Jade’s room. “What’s going on?”

  “Get in here,” Jade stood back and pointed at her room. “And you’re going to tell us everything.”

  I walked into Jade’s room, collapsing onto her bed. I felt like I’d run a marathon. Caspian had pushed me over the edge. My hormones were screaming after spending all morning and part of the afternoon with Matty. Then seeing Silas, and Caspian? I was lucky I hadn’t gone up in flames. What was going on with me?

  “Spill,” Jade demanded.

  “Do you have something to drink?” I asked.

  She got a bottle of water from the small fridge and handed it to me silently. She sat down in her desk chair, and Thalia plopped down in a bean bag. They watched as I drank half the bottle. Once I’d caught my breath, I said, “I don’t even know where to start.”

  “Start at the beginning,” Jade said, her voice still frosty.

  I had to get this out fast before she went looking for Matty and did her best to magically wholesale beat his ass. I told them, in what seemed to me like too much detail, how my day had gone. The amazing date with Matty, his holding back, which made Thalia sigh, and then the way we’d left things.

  “He is so sweet!” Thalia said.

  “That’s not what has you all flustered, though, is it?” Jade asked.

  “It’s part of it,” I said. “I didn’t want to leave. I didn’t want him to stop,” I added, feeling the heat bloom in my cheeks. Goddess no, I didn’t want to stop.

  Jade laughed, the first time she’d stopped glowering since I’d walked in the pod hallway.

  Thalia joined her.

  “Good for you,” Jade said. “It will make it even better when you finally give in and throw off all your clothes,” she added with a wicked grin.

  “Really?” I asked. “Holy shit.”

  That made them both peal with laughter.

  “So what sent you sideways?” Thalia asked.

  “Do I really look that bad?”

  “We know you, so yes,” Jade said, the laughter fading away. “What else happened?”

  I sighed and told them about meeting Silas. “I don’t know what he means by he’s good with a pack,” I finished. It was a puzzle, and I hated them, because I didn’t like things hidden from me.

  Probably was one of the many and varied reasons I was so mad about the whole siren thing. It had been hidden for nineteen years.

  Jade and Thalia exchanged a glance.

  “What?” I demanded.

  “Well, he is a wolf shifter,” Thalia said.

  Jade shrugged. “They like packs. It’s how they’re raised.”

  “Okay, you both need to explain further.”

  They glanced at one another again, and to my surprise, Thalia was the one who answered. “Sometimes wolf packs… share mates,” she said. Her cheeks pinked.

  Jade burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you’re blushing!”

  “Well, it’s not really something I’d think about,” Thalia shot back.

  “Even for someone like Silas?” Jade asked slyly.

  “Shut up,” Thalia said, throwing a pillow at Jade. “We’re not talking about me!”

  “No, we’re not,” Jade turned back to me.

  “I don’t know if that’s what he meant,” I said. It struck me that despite being raised by witches, I was kind of naïve about some of the aspects of the magical world. My parents didn’t seem naïve, but they hadn’t exposed me to a lot. As I thought about it, I also realized we’d kept to ourselves a lot, doing things with just the three of us. We traveled together, played together—they’d been keeping me safe and hidden all these years.

  “What?” Thalia asked.

  I waved a hand. “Just having more disturbing revelations about my life in general.”

  “Is that everything that happened today?” Jade asked.

  “No, believe it or not,” I said. “There’s more.”

  “More?” the two of them chorused.

  I related the encounter with Caspian, finishing it by saying, “Every time I see him, he’s looking down his aristocratic nose at me, or threatening me for being too human, so he must have been under a spell today.”

  Neither Jade nor Thalia spoke for a moment.

  “I don’t know,” Jade said. “He’s all about the fae, and every else can piss right off.”

  “Well, he was trying to bring up a lung when he kissed me today,” I said, feeling snippy.

  Thalia laughed. “What is it about you?” she asked. “Do you have some kind of pheromone that’s on high alert? A love potion?”

  I shrugged. “I wish I knew. I have no idea,” I said. “It doesn’t matter, though. I made a promise to Matty today.”

  “I hate to burst your bubble,” Jade said. “I don’t know that you’re going to get away that easily. Both of them sound really determined.”

  “Well, they’re just going to have to take ‘no’ for an answer,” I said. Being here, with them, having some time to think about it, I was feeling stronger.

  “Give ’em hell,” Jade said. “Can I watch?”

  “Stop it,” Thalia said. “Don’t be an ass.”

  “Well, it is definitely a clash of who has the stronger will. Even though you’re all out of sorts today,” Jade said to me, “I know you’re strong enough.”

  “It certainly explains why you look like you do,” Thalia said.

  “I wish I knew what got into them. And they both knew I’d been with someone,” I said, remembering that Caspian had said something about who I’d been with.

  “How did they know?” Jade asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. They were both sniffing at the air. I don’t want to think they’re stalkers.”

  We talked for a bit longer and then went down to dinner. I didn’t see Matty, but I didn’t see Silas or Caspian either, so I’d take that as a good thing. While I felt stronger, and ready to exert myself, I really wasn’t up for it today.

  Jade and Thalia, showing themselves to be the best friends ever, didn’t talk about anything I’d revealed to them about my day. I was so thankful. After dinner, Thalia asked if we wanted to hang out, and I pled that I was exhausted. I was glad to escape to my room.

  As I got into bed, I thought about the woman who was my birth mother. I was still thinking about her when my eyes closed, and then she was in front of me, surrounded by light, like she was out on a sunny terrace.

  “Olivia,” she said. Her voice was musical, not angry and strident as it had been when I’d seen her in Hell.

  “Iliana,” I said, not willing to call her anything else.

  “What brings you to me finally?” she asked, regarding me calmly.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Is this real?”

  She watched me silently, gazing at me like she wanted to memorize me. “As real as anything in the dreamscape. You’re skilled in the use of it.”

  A part of me acknowledged that this was my birth mother, no matter what I felt about it, and she’d been away from me my entire life. I could understand her wanting to know me. “Mom taught me,” I said, then stopped. Mom would always be Mom, but… I didn’t have to be a jerk to Iliana.

  “We need to meet,” she said. “Your siren side is wakening. I can feel it.”

  “And whose fault is that?” I snapped, angry at the thought that if I wasn’t part siren, I wouldn’t have to deal with a waking up siren, whatever the hell that meant.

  “There is no fault,” Iliana said, still calm. “It’s what is. You are my daughter, no matter what you feel about it. Your siren side is part of you, and even if you wish to ignore it, you cannot.” She shrugged. “It’s a matter of when you deal with it, not if.” She gazed at me. Her eyes were striking, blue as the sea, and relentless in their gaze. But she didn’t speak.

  “I will meet with you,” I said finally. “But no one knows anything. No one!” I leaned forward. “If anyone knows I’m a siren—”

  “Everyone will know soon enough,” she said. “You are my heir, and we are one of the ruling siren families.”

  “I don’t want to be an Underworlder,” I said, the words spilling out of me. I hadn’t meant to say that. It just… came out.

  “Everything is not black and white, no matter what your school wants you to think,” she replied. Iliana didn’t seem bothered by my unkind statement.

  Which made me feel worse, like an even bigger heel.

  “I will contact you via your parents,” she said.

  “You admit they’re my parents?” I demanded.

  “Of course they are,” her voice was warm. “They are my dearest friends. And they have taken care of my greatest treasure. I could not have entrusted you to anyone else.”

  I felt real shame at her words. “I love them,” I said finally.

  “I would be disappointed if you felt anything else,” her voice was back to the frosty neutrality.

  “Are you angry at me?” I asked suddenly.

  “Yes. You are stubborn, and making things more difficult,” Iliana said without any hesitation. “Your mother tells me you’re smart, but I’m not seeing it.”

  “Well, you don’t know me,” I shot back.

  “Nor will I, if you do not get over whatever feelings you’re nursing like a child,” she said. “I will send word this week.” The light all around her went out.

  “Iliana?” I said, but all around me was dark, and then I sat up in bed, blinking in the dim light from the window.

  We’d been in the dreamscape, and when she was done, she’d kicked me out. I’d never met anyone with that skill.

  Looked like me and my birth mom were going to spend some quality time together after all.

  Chapter Twelve

  When I woke up, I thought over my conversation with Iliana. It had been in the dreamscape, but I knew better than anyone how real the dreamscape was.

  I snickered. All my problems seemed to come from there—Marbys, Raven, all the siren stuff.

  I probably should call my parents and talk with them about this. It was odd—we’d been so close for all the years before I went to school. Now they were leaving me be, even with all the recent revelations.

  Glancing at the clock, I saw that I’d missed breakfast. I decided that I’d shower, and get myself together, then call my parents before lunch.

  A bit later, my cell in hand, I got comfortable on my bed and dialed Mom.

  She answered on the second ring. “Olivia! How are you, sweetie?”

  “I saw Iliana in the dreamscape last night,” I said, not beating around the bush.

  “You’re finally talking to her? That’s good,” Mom said.

  “Have you heard from her?” I asked.

  “No, should I be expecting to?” Mom sounded distracted, like she was in the greenhouse.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “That’s good, honey. You need to talk to her.”

  “Why?” I asked. “No one has to know that I’m adopted.”

  “Well, I don’t know all the details, because apparently it’s all hush hush unless you’re family, but eventually, everyone is going to know. You can’t help who your parents are, and you are her daughter, as you’ve always been. If anything, think of our time without your siren family responsibilities as a gift.”

  “It has been,” I said. “And it’s shown me what’s possible.”

  “Listen, Olivia,” Mom’s voice changed, her ‘all business’ tone, “There is much to say, still. And I have an idea, based on some of what Iliana’s told us, that you will have a lot to deal with. But I’m keeping quiet, because you have to sort this on your own, with her. Then I’ll be free to speak—”

  “You raised me!” I said, furious. “You should be able to say whatever the hell you want!”

  “It’s not Iliana or anyone else stopping me,” Mom said. “I am keeping quiet out of respect for my friend, and my daughter, who need to sort out their… their… shit.”

  Mom so rarely swore that I burst out laughing. “You’re being very tough,” I said.

  “Everyone involved in this loves you,” Mom said, and I could tell she was laughing as well. “You can’t forget that.”

  “Yeah, except everyone here at school. Do you know what they will do to me?” I asked.

  “I don’t know that I’d consider that a done deal, either,” Mom said.

  “Which means?”

  “It means quit trying to pump me for information, and stop being a big baby, and call your mother,” Mom said.

  “That’s what I’m doing,” I shot back.

  She laughed again. “You know exactly what I mean, missy. Don’t be a smarty pants.”

  “She chose you because you both are so nice, so good, didn’t she?” I said abruptly.

  “What?” Mom sounded startled.

  “That’s why she chose you and Dad. You’re both so nice, and she knew you’d protect me. I think you went overboard on that, though,” I said, thinking about my ideas from yesterday.

  “We were scared for you,” Mom said. “We truly do not know everything that Iliana was dealing with but what we knew scared us. We decided that we’d keep you safe and protected as much as possible while still preparing you to be part of the magical world.”

  “I love you,” I said.

  “I love you, too. You know that. Always and forever,” Mom said.

  “Will you call me the instant she calls?”

  “Of course.”

  “Kiss Dad for me,” I said.

  “Oh, I’m glad you didn’t forget him. He’d sulk otherwise,” Mom said. “Now go, and take care of your… your shit,” she finished.

  I burst out laughing. “Yes, ma’am,” I said as I hung up.