Dark Water: A Siren Novel Read Online Free PDF

office but it’d probably make a great gym.”
    I was guessing this might be a selling point. The wife was thin and wore a sleeveless top that showed off defined arms. She carried a canvas satchel large enough to hold a yoga mat.
    “Also,” I added, “it’s a mile’s swim from one side of the lake to the other. That makes for a great morning workout.”
    She gave me a slow once-over, clearly debating whether my motives were sincere. Fortunately, plenty of swimming over the past year had given my muscles definition, too. I didn’t know how visible they were through my jeans and baggy tunic, but she must’ve seen something that satisfied her, because the slight wrinkles in her forehead smoothed as her face relaxed.
    “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to check out the basement.” She slid one hand around Brian’s arm and began leading him toward the stairs.
    “Actually,” I said, “there are a few other rooms up here. They need a lot of work, but—”
    “I’ll take a look.” Brian pulled his arm away. “One of them might make a great walk-in closet.”
    He directed this at her—as some sort of reward, I assumed—but looked at me.
    She hesitated, then sighed. “Whatever. Keep your phone on.”
    “Sorry,” he said, when she was gone. “She has pretty particular taste.”
    I forced a smile. “No apologies necessary.”
    I started down the hallway, casting what I hoped appeared to be the occasional coy, mysterious glance over my shoulder. I certainly wasn’t coy, and if ever I was mysterious, the guy wasn’t the only one in the dark. But between Paige’s sister, Zara, her mother, Raina, and my own biological mother, whom I’d met for the very first time last fall, I had learned a few things aboutwhat I could do—and how. I hadn’t so much as smiled at a boy since the last time I smiled at Simon eight months ago, so I wasn’t very good at any of it … but I also knew that didn’t necessarily matter.
    Because Brian was following me. Watching me. Grinning like his wife wasn’t downstairs, like he wasn’t even married. The worst part was he didn’t even know what he was doing; he couldn’t control his response. Only I could.
    It was wrong. Uncomfortable. If my skin weren’t so dry, it’d be crawling.
    But it
was
dry—and getting worse. I brushed one arm with my hand and a flurry of translucent flakes fluttered to the floor. So I kept going. All the way to the guest bedroom at the other end of the hall.
    “Wow.” For a split second, he focused on something besides me. “That’s some view.”
    I joined him by the windows overlooking the lake. The big room was empty, except for an old sofa and desk, but we stood so close, our sleeves touched.
    “You should see it at sunset.”
    He turned to me. “I’d like that.”
    A warm surge of energy simmered low in my belly. Encouraged, I pictured Justine beaming at Caleb and did my best to mimic the expression.
    “So where are you from?” I asked.
    “Providence. In Rhode Island.”
    This time, my grin was sincere. “I’ve heard of it.”
    He shook his head, laughed lightly. “Of course you have.” He looked up, tried again. “I’m an adjunct econ professor at Brown. Marley’s a yoga instructor.”
    “And Marley, she’s your …?”
    He inhaled sharply as I stepped toward him. The heat in my belly shot down my legs, up my torso, through my arms. In a matter of seconds, I went from wanting to collapse into a deep sleep to feeling like I could swim Lake Kantaka a dozen times. I pulled back to check my arms and saw that my skin was already smoother, softer.
    And then I looked at Brian and felt a million times worse than I did before.
    His eyebrows were furrowed, his smile uncertain. “Marley … she’s … that is, I think maybe she’s …”
    He couldn’t even remember her. His wife. With whom he’d probably been having a perfectly delightful day looking at houses before they’d run into me.
    “So I just wanted to show you the view