Jenna Black - Sirensong

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Keane, his eyes narrowed and flashing. He looked like he was about to hit something, which meant he was watching Ethan, not me.

I stifled a sigh. I had no doubt Ethan had put his arm around me specifically to provoke Keane, but I didn’t feel inclined to shrug him off. We’d had very little alone-time, and though we were hardly alone here, the anonymity of the crowd gave us some semblance of privacy.

I slipped my arm around Ethan’s waist and laid my head against his shoulder, enjoying the feel of him against me as we walked to the shore of the lake and then stood there together, taking in the view. Up close, the lake looked just as blue as it had from a distance. Near the shore, the water was crystal clear, showing a bottom of pebbles, but even that water had a blue tinge to it. The color shaded to aquamarine as the water got deeper, and then was an almost sapphire blue in the center. I wondered if maybe there was some kind of algae in the water that made it blue like that, but I didn’t ask, because “Why is water blue?” seemed like a dumb question.

“You doing okay?” Ethan asked, squeezing my shoulders.

“Nothing’s attacked us yet, so I’m doing great,” I said, crossing my fingers in case I just jinxed us.

Ethan laughed. “Nothing’s going to attack this party. There are a dozen Knights with us, along with some serious magic users. We’re not exactly an appealing target.”

I glanced over my shoulder at the prince’s entourage. Everyone was scurrying around busily, and I wondered if anyone other than me, my friends, and the prince was actually getting a chance to rest at this rest stop.

Ethan pulled me a little closer, his chin nuzzling the top of my head. I tore my gaze away from the lake and looked up at him, meeting his eyes. I had come so close to losing him forever, and I’d promised myself that I was going to savor every moment we had together from now on. His head bent toward mine and his lips parted. I closed my eyes and held my breath in anticipation of his kiss.

Someone cleared his throat behind us. I jumped like a startled cat, although Ethan didn’t seem surprised at all. I tried to pull away, feeling guilty and embarrassed about our near public display of affection. Until I turned my head and saw who had just interrupted us.

“You should get something to eat,” Keane said, holding up a shiny red apple and then taking a bite. “This is as close to a lunch break as we’re going to get.”

I saw that he had a second apple in his other hand. He tossed it to me, and I impressed myself by catching it one-handed. (I had to catch it one-handed because Ethan was squeezing me so tightly against him my other arm was trapped.)

“Thanks,” I said warily. I was pretty sure Keane hadn’t come over here just to give me an apple. I didn’t think it would take much for this to turn ugly.

“You didn’t bring one for me?” Ethan asked with exaggerated outrage.

Keane took another bite of his apple, the fruit making a crisp crunching sound that would have made my mouth water if I weren’t so aware of the rising testosterone level. I’d known from the start that having both of them traveling with me was a recipe for disaster, but which one of them would I have told to stay home? Not that it would have mattered, because neither one would have listened to me.

“Sorry,” Keane said around his mouthful of apple. “Only have two hands.”

Yeah, he sounded really sorry. Looked it, too.

I think Ethan was about to say something scathing, but I gave him a poke in the ribs with my elbow. “Can we skip the posturing and chest-pounding, guys?” I asked, trying to put some distance between myself and Ethan. I liked having his arm around me, but not when he was doing it just to piss Keane off. I couldn’t help wondering if he’d tried to kiss me only because he knew Keane was watching. I wouldn’t put it past him. I knew Ethan was really into me—I was over suspecting his motives every two seconds. Well, mostly over it. But I’d seen his darker side, and I knew he was capable of some world-class scheming.

Keane grinned at me. “I promise not to pound my chest, though I’d get a kick out of it if Ethan tried a Tarzan yodel.” He took another bite of his apple, his eyes alight with hard-edged amusement.

My skin prickled with a hint of magic, and I figured things were going from bad to worse. Ethan had lost his easygoing manner and was staring daggers at Keane. I didn’t think Keane had said anything all that bad—at least, not for him—but apparently Ethan was touchier.

“Maybe you should demonstrate the yodel,” he said, the magic around us growing thicker.

Keane had to feel the gathering magic, too, and had to know what it meant. Keane was a great fighter, but I seriously doubted he had the chops to go up against Ethan in a battle of magic.

“Ethan,” I said in a warning tone, “you’d better not be thinking about casting any nasty magic.” Of course, I already knew he was more than thinking about it.

Keane raised an eyebrow. “What makes you think he’s about to cast something?”

Dammit! Keane didn’t know I could sense magic, and I couldn’t afford for that to change. I’d been so annoyed at the boys and their machofest that I’d forgotten to be cautious.

I shrugged, hoping my chagrin didn’t show on my face. “I know Ethan,” I said, giving Ethan my sternest look. “Don’t do it.”

He blinked and tried to look innocent. Considering the air still prickled with magic, it wasn’t a very convincing act.

“I’m not a bully,” he said. “I’d never pick on someone who couldn’t defend himself.”

Keane made a growling sound and stepped closer to us. The sensation of magic built even more, and I suspected Keane was responsible for at least some of it.

“Who the fuck says I can’t defend myself?” Keane asked, green eyes flashing.

Geez, could he take the bait any easier? I wondered if I’d get myself hurt if I stepped between the two of them. Neither one of them would hurt me on purpose, but I had a feeling if they started fighting, there’d be collateral damage.

Ethan’s grin widened. He was really getting a kick out of pushing Keane’s buttons. Not that Keane was making it hard for him.

“Far be it from me to insult your manhood,” Ethan said. “I’m sure you’d have no trouble whatsoever defending against my magic.”

Keane sneered. “Just like you’d have no trouble whatsoever defending yourself in a fair fight. Right?”

They both seemed to have practically forgotten I was there. They met each other’s eyes in furious alpha-male stares, and the magic was so thick in the air it was hard to breathe. I wanted to say something to them, to get them to back off, but so far nothing I’d said had made a dent in their animosity. In fact, my very presence was probably making things worse.

“Whoever throws the first punch, magical or otherwise, gets to deal with me,” Finn said, and we all jumped.

We’d all been so focused on the looming fight we hadn’t heard him coming. I checked over my shoulder and saw that my father and Kimber were only a few steps behind him.

Ethan and Keane both turned to Finn, the belligerence far from gone. And now there was a third person’s magic stealing the oxygen from the air. I hoped they’d all cut it out soon, or they’d start to wonder what was wrong with me as I did my gasping fish impression.

Keane opened his mouth as if to say something smart—or stupid, as the case may be—but he wasn’t a complete idiot. I’d seen him fight his father once before, when Finn was teaching him a lesson about the difference between a skilled teenaged self-defense instructor and a trained Knight of Faerie. It hadn’t been pretty.