Love, Lies & Blood Ties - Whitby Shadows Series Book 2

Chapter Seven

I gasped. "Wait, what? Selina was, is, Katherine?"

He nodded.

"She's a witch?"

He pulled his lips into a thin line. "Was."

"I remember you saying now that she's not human. What is she?"

He closed his eyes and sighed. "That was a slip of the tongue I shouldn't have let happen. I was hoping you'd forgotten about that."

I grinned. "Sorry to disappoint."

He opened his eyes, his sapphire blue depths alive with tenderness. "My sweet Caitlyn, you never disappoint."

My heart skipped a beat. "So what is she?"

"If I tell you this, you must not, under any circumstances, reveal to anyone that you know. I am merely telling you so you can put closure to your dream. Do you understand?"

I motioned a zip being pulled close across my lips.

"Selina is a siren."

"No! Really?"

He nodded. "The bottle of wine that she sent to me that night at Jolene's wasn't one she took from me."

"Ok..."

"After she fell into the sea, I thought nothing more of her. As far as I was concerned, she was just another witch who had plummeted to her death. It was when I was at that vineyard that I discovered Katherine had in fact survived and become something else. She renamed herself because she considers this life a rebirth."

"Are there a lot of them—sirens?"

"Depends what you consider a lot. There's at least one that permanently resides in every coastal town or city across the globe."

I couldn't quite process this, it seemed so surreal. "That's...wow. But how come she can walk on land? Sirens live in the sea."

"Sirens can't lure sailors to their deaths like the old days. Modern ships and fisherman's tales have ruined that somewhat for them. Instead they come on land, seduce their prey, and entice them into the sea."

"That is so cool."

Marcus raised an eyebrow. "Tempting someone to their death is cool? Should I be worried about you?"

I giggled. "Just the way it works is fascinating. I have to ask though, what do sirens, you know, eat? Or do they drink the blood?"

He cleared his throat. "They don't drink blood, no. They eat the heart and the liver and discard the rest."

A violent shiver ran down my spine. Something about the way he said 'discard' really bothered me. It was almost as if he were talking about a dead animal.

I gasped.

"Are you ok?" he asked, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand.

"I...you basically treat humans like we treat animals for slaughter..." I shivered again "...it's rather chilling."

"Unfortunately, yes. But just like with animals, nothing gets wasted."

"That doesn't make it better, Marcus," I said, shaking my head. I frowned. "What do you mean nothing gets wasted?"

"Well there are fish in the sea, Caitlyn. Fish aren't too fussy about what goes in their mouths you know. If it fits, it goes in."

Something didn't quite sit right with me there. I couldn't imagine a mutilated body floating in the sea for days on end whilst random fish happened upon it and pecked away at it. It would take weeks for it to be completely gone.