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Cold, empty, and quiet. Just how I like it, she reminded herself. I never minded the quiet before; in fact, I preferred it. Instead of the old place reeking of salt, it stank of loneliness.

Aerin didn’t want to face her thoughts any longer and decided to distract herself. She found a suitcase in the basement that once belonged to her father and decided to give Gideon a head start.

I’m sure that once he gets back with Josiah tonight, he’ll have changed his mind about staying. Aerin hurried through the house, grabbing his boots and jacket from the cloakroom, his clothes from the drawer in her room. I never should’ve given him a drawer. I shouldn’t have let myself get so attached. I’ve no one to blame but myself. I let myself fall in love with a man who was always going to leave me, she ranted silently, taking his books and favorite DVDs from the sitting room. She gave him some of the vampire movies he hadn’t got round to yet, since he had got such a kick out of the others. Dumping them in the open suitcase on the floor of the foyer before heading to the kitchen.

There’s no way he’s going to choose me, the cove, or his own clan, the family, after we spent so much time trying to get him back. I mean, if my family popped out of the ocean and wanted me to go with them, would I pick a man I’ve only known for a matter of months, or would I pick them?

Him, you would pick him because you are in love with him, her conscience screamed at her, but she shoved it down as an impossibility.

Grabbing Gideon’s favorite shell-shaped mug from the kitchen, she wrapped it in paper towels to stop it from breaking on the journey. He might as well have it, she thought, tucking it in between clothes. What am I going to do with a bloodstained mug? What she really meant was that she didn’t want a single reminder of him in her house. Thankfully, the old, worn clasp still closed on the leather bag as she sealed up his belongings. Staring at the suitcase, she cleared her throat as the heartburn started up again. It’s not heartbreak, I just ate some bad fish, she said, about to head down the hall.

“Stop judging me. I don’t need him,” Aerin said to her turtle in the hall, watching her. “Keep looking at me like that, and you’ll go with him.”

She hurried past her shelled friend and down into the caves because she needed to get into the water before her thoughts drove her insane.

Aerin stopped cleaning out the fridge when she heard Gideon walk through the door. With only one set of footsteps, she knew he was alone. That will make it easier to say goodbye. I don’t want Josiah to be here for this conversation, she lied to herself. Nothing about this conversation would be easy.

“Aerin? What’s with the suitcase by the stairs? Are we going somewhere?” he said, joining her in the kitchen. Her heart ached when he said, we. Their time was over.

“Hey, I packed up your things for your journey home. Or maybe you don’t want them; I’m sure you have much finer things waiting for you. You can go through what I’ve packed, and I can donate whatever you don’t want,” Aerin said, pulling off her rubber gloves.

“I don’t understand why you’re talking like this,” he stammered. “Can you stop cleaning and look at me? You’re making me nervous. Are you upset because my brother wants me to return home with him? Or because I said I wanted to stay without talking to you first?”

Aerin took a deep breath, not wanting her emotions to get the best of her. “We both knew you would leave at some point. You said you love me, and I’m flattered that you want to stay, but they are your family, your home. Why delay the inevitable? You couldn’t stay forever.”

“Is this your way of telling me you don’t want me to stay?” he asked. “Because I sure as hell know that you don’t want me to go.”

“We made a deal: we find your family, and I get your coffin. Deal done.”

“Deal done?” Gideon laughed. “You can’t be so heartless. You love me, and you’re scared that I’ll leave, so you’re forcing me to go.”

“I’m not hiding that I love you. We had a fleeting romance, one I’m sure we’ll both look back on fondly, but now it’s time for reality. You can’t pick between me and your family. I won’t be the reason you lose them, and I belong here.”

“I don’t have to choose. I’ve talked with Josiah, and he’s going to keep my survival a secret. Only my sister and mother will know, and they can come and visit. There is nothing to decide, no ultimatum. I stay dead, and it solves the political problem.”

“You’re oversimplifying,” Aerin countered.

“You’re overcomplicating.”

They came to a standstill.

“Would you come with me then?” he asked.

“What am I going to do in a clan of vampires? You think they’re going to welcome a siren into the ranks of your royal family with open arms?”

“If I knew any better, I’d think you’re trying to pick a fight.”

“Picking a fight? I’m facing reality. You’re going home, as you should. You have a whole life of your own, a whole family waiting for you. An entire banquet held in your honor. They’ve missed you for nearly two hundred years. If I had a chance to see my family again, I wouldn’t hesitate. You might love me now, but we have an eternity ahead, and I don’t want you to resent me.”

“This has nothing to do with my family and everything to do with us. Why can’t you admit that you don’t want me to leave?”

“Of course I don’t want you to leave,” Aerin snapped, not meaning for her fangs to pop out. “I don’t want to go back to being alone in this drafty house. You made me feel like I had a home, a family again. I was used to being alone. I liked being alone, and then I had to go and pull that damn coffin out of the sea and break my own heart.”

Gideon stopped in his tracks as her eyes turned black and her scales appeared over her skin as she lost her composure.

Aerin let out a long sigh; her scales disappeared as her heart rate settled. “But it doesn’t matter. You’re a vampire, and I’m a siren. You belong in England with your clan, and I belong here. We had our fun, and now it’s time for us to go back to reality, to our own worlds.” Aerin started for the door, but he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her back against his chest.

“Let me go.” She clawed at his skin, but he refused to loosen his grip.