Gemma didn’t want to waste any more time discussing it, so she started jogging down toward the bay. She was much faster than Alex, and he worked hard to keep up with her. She slowed down a bit because she didn’t want to lose sight of him, but she also wanted to get to the beach as quickly as she could.

Unfortunately, she’d grossly underestimated how crowded it would be at the bay.

Gemma figured that the sirens would be closer to the water, or at least in a more secluded area. She doubted they would do anything in public, not when there were so many witnesses, so they’d be drawn to places where there were fewer people.

She ran to the edge of the beach, the closest to the docks, where the crowd was the thinnest. She looked around, but she didn’t see Harper, Daniel, or any of the sirens.

Then Gemma realized she didn’t see Alex, either. He’d been right behind her a few seconds ago, but when she darted through the crowd, she must’ve lost him.

“Dammit.” Gemma rubbed her forehead and regretted bringing him. Getting Alex killed in an attempt to protect her sister wasn’t exactly a winning situation.

She turned back around toward the docks, trying to figure out where to look, and Sawyer was standing right behind her. So close, she nearly bumped into him when she turned around.

“Sawyer!” Gemma gasped. “You scared me.”

“Good.” He smiled, and before she could react, he grabbed her, clamping one hand over her mouth to keep her from calling out for help or singing.

30. Lyrical

THIRTY

Lyrical

“They’re here,” Harper said, doing her best to keep the panic from her voice, as she locked eyes with Penn.

“What?” Daniel leaned down to hear her better.

“They’re here!” Harper repeated, shouting this time.

Daniel looked up, and then he saw Penn, too. “Oh, shit.”

A person walked in front of Penn, and then she was gone, disappearing into the crowd.

“What do you wanna do?” Daniel asked. “We can try to follow Penn, maybe stop her before she finds Gemma, or we go try to protect Gemma.”

“We go get Gemma,” Harper said. “Penn knows where we live, so she’ll go there eventually. If she isn’t already on her way, or the other sirens aren’t already there.”

“All right. Let’s go.”

Daniel took her hand, but all the earlier flutterings had dissolved. The only thing Harper felt was panic.

And all the people didn’t make it easier. They were all going toward the beach, since the fireworks were about to start, and Harper and Daniel were pushing against them. It felt a bit like they were salmon swimming upstream, and it made it hard for them to hurry.

“Go towards the trees!” Harper advised.

“What? Why?” Daniel asked, pushing past a guy who wouldn’t get out of his way.