Free Siren Song by Stephanie Draven Page B

soldier like you, Ms. Karras.”
    With some female veterans, you could just look at them and tell. It was in the way they talked, the tilt of their shoulders, or a steely gaze. But Chloe had been so young when she served that she hadn’t kept the military mannerisms and few people ever guessed. She must have looked as startled as she felt because he added, “I know all about you, Chloe. I know why your tour of duty was cut short. The whole decorated veteran thing may not go with your rebellious rock-diva image, but it’s not hard to look you up.”
    She wasn’t about to let him rattle her. Not after a set like tonight. She’d been a goddess on stage and she wasn’t ready to come down off that high. “Am I supposed to be impressed that a guy your age knows how to use a search engine? Listen, I’ve mourned soldiers who gave their lives saving people, so I’m not about to shed any tears for these two.” She shoved the photos back toward him. “Might nominate them for the Darwin Awards, though.”
    His expression soured and he folded his napkin in a very precise square. “Yet, I hear these boys were big fans of yours….”
    Chloe shrugged and took a gulp of beer. Oak barrel stout. Cold, frothy and rich. She let it tingle all the way down before replying. Let him stew. He was pissing her off. “Yeah, well, they were also slobbering losers who didn’t know how to keep their hands to themselves. The last time I saw them at a show, they started a fight and my drummer had to step in. They were pretty much another Navy sex scandal just waiting to happen. So why are you asking me about Tweedle-Dumb and Tweedle-Dumber?”
    “Because they were my students,” he said, pinning her in place with those cold, unnerving eyes. “And I know that you killed them.”

CHAPTER TWO
    If Alexandros hadn’t known from personal and painful experience how easily a siren could lie, he might’ve been taken in by Chloe’s wide-eyed expression of shock. But as an ancient guardian of the sea, he knew better than to trust any protestation of innocence from a siren.
    She was a siren. Every man in the room was mesmerized by her song; even Alexandros had been forced to steel his ancient bones against her enchanting voice. He wasn’t immune to her—much as he would try to convince her otherwise—but he wasn’t about to get taken in. Not again.
    “You think I killed them?” Chloe started to laugh, a nervous sound, as if she thought he was deranged. “Dude. If this is some kind of lame pickup line, you’ve really got to step up your game.”
    “This isn’t a game.” He grabbed her wrist. He wouldn’t be toyed with.
    “Ow! Stop it,” she hissed.
    He hadn’t meant to hurt her, but now he couldn’t seem to let go. It’d been so long since he’d touched a woman that his entire body awakened to the sensation. She seemed to feel it, too. Her beautiful sapphire eyes blinked from beneath dark, smudged mascara, too garish for his taste. He didn’t like the punk-rocker pink hair that revealed itself from beneath her dark curls, either. She was a wild child and everything about her screamed of exactly the kind of chaos he could not abide.
    Still, she was captivating. He had to shake off the attraction. Sirens were treacherous but tragic creatures, and if he let himself, he could feel sorry for her. He could feel more than sorry. Yet, all he wanted now was to die in peace, and there could be no peace for him so long as a siren was near.
    With her wrist still in his grasp, he became acutely aware of the heated, envious glares of all the men in the place. All she had to do was call them over and there’d be violence. They were all under her spell. Especially her drummer, who had disentangled himself from the arms of another woman, and now looked eager for a fight. But then, what man could stay sane listening to a siren sing, night after night?
    Chloe’s voice lowered. “If you don’t let go of me by the time I count to