Siren's Serenade (The Wiccan Haus) by Dominique Eastwick Page A

you.”
    “But—”
    Looking into her eyes, watching them swirl with life, he understood so much now; small pieces that had been missing suddenly fit into place. “There is no ‘but.’ It’s that simple.”
    Sadness filled her, and Kaleb could almost feel it as it were his own. She looked toward the sea. “You threw the tear away.”
    He sighed, pulling back a little. “I acted in anger. The world as I knew it had shifted on its axis, and I went a bit crazy. If I could find your tear, I would never take it off again.” He stepped away from her, looking over the bay where so much had happened and where he had thrown her gift in a fit of rage. A gift only now he could fully appreciate.
    “Perhaps the tides haven’t taken it just yet. You threw it out here?” Serena put a finger in a motion for him to wait. She was only a few steps in when another mermaid emerged from the dark water and made her way toward them “Serafina? What is it?”
    “We didn’t say farewell and I wanted to meet your man.” Serafina looked at her sister the same way Kaleb’s family looked at him. Warmth and protection, mixed with a good deal of compassion. Serafina smiled at him before turning back to her sister with expectation.
    “Serafina, please meet Kaleb, the most honorable man I have ever met. Kaleb, this is my oldest sister, Serafina.”
    Kaleb nodded, but maintained his distance. One of the things Cyrus had insisted on teaching him the night before had been the best ways to stay safe when a mermaid was in the area. Step one, always carry earplugs. Failed step one. Step two, never get near the water. Passed step two. And step three, never, ever, get involved in a fight between mermaids. That was just common sense—any man knew not to get in the middle of ladies fighting. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Serafina.”
    Serafina looked him up and down and turned to her sister, looking perplexed. “Are you sure?”
    “More sure than I have ever been in my existence. I’m finally living.”
    Serafina smiled. The same smile Serena had, but without the sucker punch effect hers always hit him with. “Then I think he might have lost this.” Holding out the necklace with the sea glass, she put it in Serena’s hand. “Take care of her for us. She’s the special one.”
    “I plan to.”
    “Good.” Serafina nodded her head toward the bonfire on the beach. “I’m just going to let them know where we have taken the sharks. The alpha is dead; we made sure not to kill him within the barriers of the island as you asked. I will miss you, sister.”
    Serena hugged her sister goodbye one more time before turning to hand Kaleb his necklace back. “I will ask Sarka to fix the clasp in the morning.”
    “I should have trusted you and my gut. Instead, I let my ego and my anger overrule my instincts.”
    She pulled his hand to her mouth, kissing his knuckles. “I don’t blame you for being angry. I would have been angry myself.”
    “I was afraid you would never come back.”
    “I was afraid you had left.”
    Kissing her forehead, he pulled her into the cabin and closed the door. “I’m not leaving; they offered me a job and I took it.”
    “Here? I don’t understand.”
    He laughed “No, not here exactly. More all over the place. But I can make my home here if you want. I have family in Alaska, but now that I know better, I don’t think Alaska is a good fit for you. I understand the water may be a bit too cold.”
    She blushed. “Really? But I can’t stay here forever.”
    “Actually, I think if you talk to the siblings they have something figured out.” Stifling a yawn, Kaleb turned off the lights in the front room. “But tonight, if it’s all the same to you, I would just like a hot shower and to go to sleep with my arms wrapped around you.”
    “Just sleep?”
    “God, do you Paras ever run out of energy?” It felt weird to say Para, but Kaleb figured it would get easier with time.
    She laughed, kissing him softly on