Mermaid Mayhem: A Paranormal Women's Fiction Novel: (Eerie Investigations) (Misty Hollow Book 1) by H.P. Mallory & J.R. Rain

Author:H.P. Mallory & J.R. Rain [Mallory, H.P. & Rain, J.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rain Press
Published: 2023-03-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

I hate surprise birthday parties. Actually, surprises in general.

And I don’t mean ‘hate’ in the sense that they annoy me or make me uncomfortable. Because while both of those things were also true, surprise parties also happened to be insanely dangerous when you’re expected to sing ‘happy birthday’. My song was a defense mechanism as well as a curse. And forget singing happy birthday—any unthinking sound had the potential to turn into a haunting wail that would momentarily (and sometimes irreversibly) strip the sanity from the listener—aka a shriek, a scream or even, on occasion, an especially loud gasp. The siren’s song was more effective against men, but could theoretically be used to snare anyone unfortunate enough to listen. Most of the workforce in Misty Hollow was male, and thus highly susceptible.

And yet, me releasing a shriek or a scream that could permanently destroy everyone within hearing distance was almost exactly what happened. Dozens of men and women leaped out from behind the bar, the tables, the curtains, or any other hiding spot they could find, and ambushed me with a loud chorus of, “Surprise!”

I backpedaled, nearly choking on my own tongue in an effort not to scream. I even threw a hand across my mouth in case any of my siren voice tried to leak out. And when my frantically beating heart finally vacated my throat, it was an effort not to either sprint back up the stairs or go wading into the beaming crowd, fists flailing. An overreaction? Yeah, maybe, but they shouldn’t have snuck up on me like that. They were all supernatural, so they should have known better. In a game of stupidity, this pretty much took the cake.

Then again, none of them knew exactly who and what I really was. I posed as a garden variety mermaid doing an unorthodox job and very rarely let the truth about me be known. It was as much for my safety as everyone else’s. There were people who’d want to lock me in a tank and force me to sing, so they could use the sound on their enemies. There were rogue hunters who would kill me for the existential threat I posed to humanity. And then there was just the fact that people tended not to trust me after I revealed my curse. Tell someone you have a magic voice, and can put anyone who hears it under your thrall, and suddenly everything you’ve ever said to them is suspect.

Anne flung herself toward me, arms snaking around my neck so she could pull me into a bone-crushing hug. I ended up face down in her ample cleavage, struggling to breathe past her grip and enormous assets. I didn’t want to date her, but I could admit that her skin smelled amazing. If danger had a scent, Anne had invented, bottled, and sold out of it. There were plenty of men, women, monsters... well, creatures in general who wouldn’t mind this being their last memory. But not me.

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