Cord rubbed his head again.

  Dammit all. He wasn’t just a man she didn’t want to love. He was a friend, someone who’d always been there for her. She couldn’t abandon him to the sirens even if she never wanted to lay eyes on him again. “All right. Do you have a tarp?”

  Cord spun around. “What?”

  “A tarp,” she said slowly. Maybe some of his brain cells had died on his way here. That would explain a lot.

  “Um, yes.” His hand twitched toward the back.

  “Good. Come with me. There’s a problem, and your tarp can help solve it.” She spun on her heel and started down the dock. A moment later she heard quick steps behind her. Maybe if she was really lucky, he’d be quiet until they got to the mannequin.

  They were tromping through the sand when he spoke. “Why do you need a tarp?”

  She sighed. Thirty seconds of silence wasn’t what she’d been hoping for. “We need to move something that’s roughly human-sized and has been poisoned. I didn’t bring a tarp. I was headed back up to the town to get some help when you showed up.”

  “Human-sized or the weight of a human?” he said carefully.

  “Sized. I don’t know how much it weighs.” She scrambled up the rock. By the time her feet hit the sand, her eyes were already locked on the mannequin. It was still here, and she didn’t see any footprints other than her own.

  “A mannequin?” Cord came up next to her. “How was it poisoned?”

  “Needles were shoved into it, and they’re laced with some type of plant that will cause vomiting in most humanoids. I don’t know what effect it would have on the sirens, and I don’t want to find out.”

  “I understand removing it from the beach, but I don’t know why we would take it to town.” Cord slipped the pack off his shoulders and started hunting for the tarp.

  Shasta tipped her head back, letting the salty sea breeze wash across her face. If she was going to get through this, she needed patience that was currently in short supply. “I need to examine it for evidence, which will be easier at the house than here in the sand, and if we take it to town, we can put it in a secure location. Down here there’s always a chance that some of the needles could fall out and someone could get hurt.”

  “Do you have a plan for getting the mannequin on here?” Cord asked as he held out the tarp.

  Shasta took it from him, somewhat surprised by how much it weighed. Rather than the lightweight camping tarp she had expected, this was one of those heavy-duty blue ones that could be used for pretty much anything. Shasta started unfolding it. “I figured we’d lay the tarp out next to the mannequin and use driftwood to push it onto the tarp.”

  “Some of the needles might break off.” Cord took one end of the tarp and helped her finish unfolding it.

  “I’m open to suggestions.” She stood there with the tarp stretched between them.

  He shook his head. “All my ideas require magic.”

  “That would require a witch.” She said the words carefully, hoping he got the message. Those powers of hers were a secret right now. And based on what she had seen so far, it would be best if they stayed that way.

  There was a flash of understanding in his eyes. “Shame we don’t have a levitation charm with us. Let’s get this tarp in place and find some driftwood.”

  “I didn’t bring them.” As they settled the tarp on the sand next to the mannequin, she asked, “Did you pack any charms?”

  “Only healing charms.” Cord pivoted, scanning the area for anything they could use to push the mannequin over.

  Shasta spotted a piece of wood next to the big rock she had to climb over to get here and headed for that. As she leaned down to pick up the wood, she noticed a second stick behind it. She grabbed that one too, then turned back to Cord, holding her two prizes aloft. “Got it!”

  Cord was standing with a stick in each hand, a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth. “I believe we are well prepared to move this mannequin.”

  In spite of her frustration, confused feelings, and the conversation she knew they needed to have, she found herself smiling. “It doesn’t stand a chance.”

  Shasta circled to the far side of the mannequin, took a deep breath, and pushed it with the stick. It wobbled but then came back to its original position. She pushed it again, and the same thing happened. She could shove the mannequin harder, but there was a chance it could roll right off the tarp, losing some of those needles in the sand along the way.

  “Perhaps I can slide these under its arms and lift while you support the legs.” Cord mimed lifting up the mannequin and putting it on the tarp.

  “It’s worth a try.” Shasta got into position.

  Cord moved behind the mannequin and wrinkled his nose. “It stinks.”

  “I know.” Shasta shrugged. “Are we going to move it?”

  Cord slid the driftwood under the mannequin’s arms. “Ready.”

  “Now.” Shasta leaned forward, trying to support the mannequin without getting too close to the needles. “Are they always this heavy?”

  “I don’t know,” Cord grunted.

  After some swearing, they finally got the mannequin onto the tarp and rolled it on its back. With that done, Cord settled his pack on his shoulders. “Do you want the head or feet side of the tarp?”

  “Doesn’t matter, as long as I lead. I don’t want any the sirens who haven’t heard of your arrival to see you and attack.” Though news of his arrival had probably spread rather quickly. There was a chance the entire island already knew.

  “Fair enough.” For a moment he looked like there was something else he wanted to add, but then he took his position at one end of the tarp.

  Figuring it would be better to have the next conversation in the privacy of her dwelling, which would probably be their dwelling now, Shasta counted to three and picked up her end of the tarp. The short trip over to the rock was easy enough, but from there things got difficult. Neither one of them were feeling especially happy with the mannequin when they finally managed to get it over the rock. The sand made walking take more effort, but before long they were slowly trudging up the steep hill to the town. About halfway up, they set the tarp down to rest and drink some water.

  A few sirens passed them, eyeing Cord curiously, but none of them stopped to talk. As they picked up the tarp and resumed their journey, Shasta hoped that most of them were more curious than hostile. She wasn’t really looking forward to defending him against an entire town of angry sirens, especially not after the scene on the dock. While he’d managed to resist Ligia’s song, there was no guarantee that the next siren wouldn’t ensnare him or that several of them couldn’t combine their voices and enchant him.

  For some reason, her odd dream from last night came back to her. Only this time, instead of watching the sirens pull a stranger under the waves, it was Cord.

  “Shasta? Do you need a break?”

  She blinked and looked around. At some point she’d stopped walking and was standing still. She forced her feet to start moving again. It had just been a dream. “Nope. Just got lost in thought.”

  A moment later Cord’s soft voice drifted to her. “I’m here if you want to share.”

  “I was remembering a bad dream.” She glanced around and didn’t see anyone. “About sirens drowning men.”

  “Oh.” Wisely, he didn’t comment further.

  She didn’t let herself think about anything but carrying the mannequin as she guided them through town. When they reached her house, they carefully set it down. Shasta stood with her hands braced on her hips as she tried to catch her breath.

  She spotted Melissa hurrying down the path toward them. The siren looked Cord over, then seemed to dismiss him as she focused on Shasta. “Agatha would like to speak with you.”

  “The two of us would like to speak with her as well. There’s been another attempted attack.” Shasta motioned toward the mannequin.

  Melissa examined it with narrowed eyes. “Needles?”

  “Part of what I’d like to talk to Agatha about,” Shasta answered.

  Cord was very wisely standing still and keeping his opinions to himself.

  “I’ll relay the message.” Melissa pointed to Cord. “She’ll have questions for him.”

  Shasta bowed her head. “We will endeavor to have answers.”

  Melissa nodded, turned, and jogged down the path.

  Shasta turned to Cord, only to see him rubbing his temples. “Are you okay?”

  “I…” His hands fell to his sides and he shook his head. “No. I’ve made things more difficult for you and cast the company in a bad light.”

  “How did you think this was going to go?” Shasta crossed her arms over her chest. Surely someone had told him where she was going, that they weren’t partners anymore, and given him a new assignment.

  He avoided her gaze, instead watching a grove of trees where sirens were leaping up to pick fruit from high branches. “What I thought doesn’t change what is.”

  While that was true enough, it wasn’t an answer. However, between his rounded shoulders and subdued demeanor, she felt sorry for him. She wasn’t looking at Cord, the ex-police officer who knew how to handle a crisis. Before her was Cord, the man who knew he’d messed up but wasn’t really sure how to put things to rights. She sighed. “Put your pack inside the house. Wash up, get water, whatever. Until we hear from Agatha, I’m going to work on this mannequin.”

  “Thanks. I’ll be back in a minute.” He vanished inside the house.

  Shasta took off her backpack, rolled her shoulders to try to get rid of some of the tension that had settled there, and then got to work. Since Cord was the only one nearby, she cracked her shields open and probed the mannequin for magic. She sensed faint remnants of an old spell. From the texture and the way it trailed across the outside of the mannequin, it had probably imparted a more lifelike appearance. The rest of the mannequin was free of any magic.

  The only earthly things she could detect were sand and the traces of plant material on the needles. Shasta focused on the plant material. Whatever processing had been done to isolate the compound had obscured the origin of the chemical.

  Cord’s hand settled on her shoulder. She went from detecting tiny amounts of the plant material to feeling as if she were exploring sections of the whole—tall stem, deeply lobed leaves, and blue flowers. This was larkspur.

  Armed with that knowledge, Shasta, with Cord’s support, stretched their combined power across the island. They flowed across the surface of the earth, finding plant after plant and identifying it. They found three different types of pine trees as well as numerous shrubs, bushes, grasses, and mosses. But they didn’t find any larkspur.

  As they pulled their senses back into themselves, Shasta felt their power touch upon the cluster of soon-to-be-born humanoids. Before she could determine where they were located, Cord had pulled them back into their bodies and the connection was gone. When their power was firmly tucked inside their shields, Cord lifted his hand away.

  “I don’t know if that was good or bad news.” Cord stared at the mannequin.

  “Me either.” The poison coming from somewhere off the island could mean one of the sirens had ordered it or it could mean the attacks were orchestrated by someone else.

  “Would you be referring to the mannequin or something else?”

  Shasta closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning around. Standing there in her simple purple dress with her hair flowing free and her arms at her side, Agatha looked fierce and timeless. Shasta bowed her head. “I was referring to the origin of the toxin found on the needles that have been shoved into this mannequin. Larkspur might be the source, but it doesn’t grow on the island. Due to the presence of the toxin, we need somewhere safe to store the evidence.”

  “I’ll send someone to collect the mannequin and move it to a storage building.” Agatha’s eyes flicked over to Cord before returning to Shasta. “In terms of your investigation, how does the origin of the larkspur matter?”

  “I don’t know.” There were still parts of the puzzle that didn’t make sense, and she wouldn’t point fingers until she was sure who was behind the various attacks. “Unfortunately, this information does not rule out any of the residents, though I’m unsure if they could have done the type of processing that was done to this plant without someone noticing.”

  Agatha drew herself up. “So you think one of my sirens is attacking her sisters?”

  “That’s not what Shasta said.” Cord stepped forward. “From the current evidence, she believes it’s impossible to rule in or out a particular individual, though this attack contained things that would be unlikely to have occurred on the island.”

  “I haven’t gotten to you, elf,” Agatha snapped. A gust of wind swept across the town.

  While Shasta could appreciate Cord’s intentions while defending her, it wasn't helping the situation. Especially not when the elements seemed to be supporting the siren. She tried to keep her voice low and calming. “Agatha, I can’t give you the information I don’t have. You brought me here to get answers, and until I’m satisfied that I have actual answers, there isn’t much I can tell you.”

  “I hired you. You will tell me what I want to know.” Agatha’s glare seemed to carry with it the heat of the sun.

  “No. My company has policies, and I must uphold them. Those include not giving information that could be used wrongly. Let me do my job. Let me conduct a full investigation.” She hoped that would be enough to convince Agatha to wait for answers. Any information she provided now could be misused. Considering the age of the sirens’ society, punishments handed out likely included death. Shasta didn’t want to have to live with someone’s death on her conscience because Agatha rushed to conclusions.

  “Procedures. Policies.” Agatha sneered and pointed to Cord. “If you hold those in such high regard, why is he here?”

  “I must apologize for my unwelcome arrival and beg your understanding.” Cord dropped to one knee, bowing his head. “I came because I believed Shasta needed backup. Due to miscommunications, I was unaware of the nature of this assignment. If you grant me a night’s shelter, I will leave in the morning. However, I do ask that you hold Shasta and the company as a whole blameless. They are not at fault.”

  “Passionate words, elf. Why should I listen to them?”

  Shasta held her breath, afraid that anything she tried to do to help would only end up making matters worse.

  Cord’s throat worked as he searched for the words. “Because they are the truth. And I can help. I may be a man, but I was a police officer for twenty years, and that’s valuable experience you could use in this situation.”

  “Is it true you resisted Ligia’s song?”

  “Yes.”

  “Interesting. Do you think you could resist my song?” Agatha eyed Cord like a hawk would a tasty mouse.

  The siren’s voice slid across Shasta’s skin like sun on a cold winter’s day, warm, alluring, and decadent. She caught herself leaning toward the siren. As she steadied herself, she saw the corner of Agatha’s mouth turn up.

  Cord’s entire body swayed forward. “No,” he breathed.

  “Wise elf.” Her words were warm but didn’t target Shasta the way they had a moment ago.

  Cord didn’t move.

  Shasta wished she knew what Cord being able to resist Ligia’s voice had to do with him staying, or the siren’s trusting him, or really anything at all.

  “You may stay for the length of time we initially hired Shasta.” Agatha turned, her skirt twirling around her legs, and glided away.

  Shasta stood there, not sure if that had gone well or poorly. As she watched Agatha blend into the town, a single thought occupied her mind. What did it mean that Cord had been able to withstand Ligia’s song and Shasta had not withstood the songs of the welcome feast?

  Cord sighed and pushed himself to his feet. “That was… That was not what I expected.”

  With Cord’s words, whatever energy she’d had left for the rest of the day drained right out of her. There were too many questions, too many conversations, too many unknowns, too many things she didn’t know if she was willing to examine honestly. Without looking at him, she turned, walked into the house and over to the bare-bones kitchen, and poured a glass of water. Leaning against the sink, she took a long gulp. When she lowered the cup, Cord was silhouetted in the doorway.

  “There are things I should tell you.” He opened his mouth like he would continue, then seemed to think better of it, shaking his head.

  “Why? What point would there be? You said plenty already,” she said flatly.

  “To put things to rights between us. To answer the questions I would have if I were you.” He stepped fully inside and closed the door behind him. Then he leaned against the wall, giving her as much space as the dwelling offered, and watched.

  She couldn’t even muster the energy to reply.

  “I’m sorry for the trouble it caused, but I love you. I’m here for you.” He sounded so sure of himself, of her.

  Shasta snorted. “‘I love you’ doesn’t fix what’s broken. ‘I love you’ doesn’t change what you’ve done and what’s happened. I don’t know what you think those words mean, but I’m telling you right now, they don’t mend what’s wrong between us.

  “I offered you my heart, a heart unbroken by any man, and you took a hammer to it. Even though you’ve known me fourteen years, you said you didn’t know me. Suddenly, because you learned I am Shasta, born of the earth, bringer of justice, I became a different person.”

  He winced.

  “I think I’m the same person I’ve always been, but maybe you’re right. Maybe I am different. If that’s true, is it really such a bad thing? If you could love the unfinished me, why couldn’t you love me when seasoned and polished?” She closed her eyes and sucked in one deep breath after another. She couldn’t say the rest. She didn’t want to hurt him, and she didn’t want to damage what was left of their friendship.