Free Sirensong by Jenna Black

shoulders, then leaned forward to give me a chaste kiss. Even that slight brushing of lips made me tingle all over. I wanted to pull his head back down to mine, wanted him to give me a deeper, longer kiss. But although Finn wasn’t officially my chaperone, I knew he’d interrupt if things got too hot and heavy. Besides, I couldn’t help being self-conscious with him watching.
    “You look beautiful tonight,” Ethan told me, still smiling as he held the restaurant door open.
    I was glad he thought so, because I’d spent the better part of an hour deciding what to wear. I felt like a total loser for doing it, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. I’d gone for jeans, paired with a cozy sweater that would not only keep me warm on this typical chilly Avalon summer night, but would also feel nice if Ethan should happen to touch me.
    The restaurant was even tinier than I’d imagined, with only ten tables and a bar about the size of your average walk-in closet. Nine of those tables were occupied, and there were a number of twenty-somethings hanging around the bar. I was acutely aware of how much Finn stood out as he positioned himself against the wall near the door.
    Most people were dressed pretty casually—one couple, who were probably tourists and didn’t know the average temperature for summer here was in the sixties, were even wearing shorts. Finn, on the other hand, was wearing his usual dark suit and tie, as well as the dark sunglasses, and he was on the receiving end of more than one curious look.
    The hostess guided Ethan and me to our table, and I tried not to feel self-conscious. The people who’d stared at Finn were one by one transferring their curious stares to Ethan and me.
    I should have been used to it by now. I had to have Finn with me whenever I left my safe house—unless I had my dad instead. Which meant I was always at least a little conspicuous. But maybe because of the whole date thing, I felt more conspicuous than usual. My nerves were buzzing as I picked up my menu and stared at it without seeing it.
    I was on a date. A real, honest-to-goodness date. With a guy so gorgeous he’d usually have a handful of cheerleaders hanging on him wherever he went. I know that compared to all the crazy stuff that had happened to me so far in Avalon, this was nothing. But it made my heart beat a little quicker. And it made me feel about as mature as your average twelve-year-old.
    Ethan leaned over the table, dropping his voice. “Is something wrong?”
    Great. Bad enough that I felt so awkward and uncomfortable. Did I really have to be so obvious about it that Ethan could tell?
    Way to look sophisticated, Dana.
    I forced a smile and told myself to get over it. Not only had Ethan and I had more, um, intimate encounters before, but I had absolutely no reason to be nervous around him. At least, so I told myself.
    “Nope. Not a thing.”
    Ethan rolled his eyes. “Yeah, right. That’s why you look like you want to jump out of your chair and run.”
    That shook me out of my little bout of self-pity. “I do not!”
    “Do too.”
    I narrowed my eyes at him. For the moment, his smile looked normal, like the friendly smile he’d used to devastating effect before the Erlking had come into his life. But then he seemed to remember himself, and the smile wilted.
    “Sorry,” I said. “I guess I’m obsessing a bit about this trip to Faerie.” It made as good an excuse as any.
    Ethan nodded and picked up his menu. This time, he was the one deliberately avoiding my eyes. “It’s going to be a fun time all right. You, me, Kimber, and Keane all hanging out together twenty-four/seven.”
    I snorted. “ That’s what you think is most disturbing about this whole thing? That the four of us are going to be spending so much time together? I’m more worried about stuff like, oh, you know, dying a slow and horrible death.”
    The look in Ethan’s eyes hardened. “You’re not going to die,” he said, reaching across the