Deadly Seduction

Iris Amador Deadly Seduction: A Siren Shifter Dark Romance Copyright © Iris Amador 2023 All rights reserved First published in April, 2023 Written by Iris Amador Original title: Deadly Seduction This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real people, living or dead, or events is purely coincidental. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior permission in writing from the author. www.irisamador.com CONTENTS Copyright Contents Prologue Chapter 1: The End of Her Chapter 2: Afraid of Sharks Chapter 3: Black Eyes of Death Chapter 4: Someone Cares Chapter 5: Definitely a Guy Chapter 6: Traitor Chapter 7: Into the Abyss Chapter 8: Punching His Own Heart Chapter 9: A Gift Chapter 10: Second Time Lucky Chapter 11: Siren's Song Chapter 12: His Waiting Arms Chapter 13: Last Day to Remember Chapter 14: Hand of Judgement Chapter 15: Even Monsters Bleed Chapter 16: Savage Beauty Chapter 17: Sardines In Her Stomach Epilogue Bonus chapter More Books by Iris Amador About the author PROLOGUE NATALIE “Why does the princess have to be here?” Ricky sneered, side-eyeing Natalie. She leaned back against the railing of the boat, trying to look unbothered. Ricky was a tall man in his forties with little meat on his bones, his face stretched long and contoured with the stubble of a beard. He was a judgemental prick, and Natalie had already thought of strangling him a few times in the short couple of days since she’d met him. “I’m glad you’re here today,” Gerard said, ignoring the other man. A heavy hand clapped her shoulder, squeezing hard. Too hard. “Joining us was the right decision. It’s what your mother would’ve wanted.” Don’t talk of my mother, Natalie thought. She’d known of Gerard before… before. But the old man seemed to believe they shared a closer bond than what Natalie herself maintained. She’d seen him a couple of times, he’d worked with her mum. That was all. Natalie only hummed, neither an agreement nor disagreement. “When we catch them, you’ll see exactly what kind of creatures we’re dealing with. I know it can be hard to believe if you’ve never seen one, but they exist, and they’re dangerous,” Gerard went on. Natalie internally sighed. He didn’t need to give her the monologue all over again. She was there on the boat, she’d shown up for the expedition. She already knew the sirens were dangerous, after how they’d killed her mum. And she wanted them dead. Gerard didn’t stick to her side for long, he had other matters to attend to, other fledglings to inspire, other minions to order about. He left with Ricky in tow muttering something under his breath about “stuck-up brats” and Natalie rolled her eyes. Natalie was on lookout duty, she held onto the railing as she sat at the front of the boat, her bright orange life jacket keeping her snug and warm, almost lulling her to sleep along with the rise and fall of the boat. All she saw were waves and more waves, as well as her own curly hair that the wind occasionally spat in her face. Her mind had been wandering for a while. The men laughed raucously and talked in the cabin, occupying all the cushioned seats around the steering wheel. They were all older than her, all scruffy beards and contemptuous curls to their lips, insults ready for sirens and humans alike. Natalie didn’t get along with any of them, had no interest in getting to know her new companions more than what was strictly necessary. She was there to find sirens, nothing more, nothing less. As if called by her thoughts, something red flashed out of the corner of her eye. She furrowed her brow and leaned over the edge, unsure of whether it had been real or a trick of the light, perhaps the sun blinking as a wave collapsed in on itself. There was nothing in the water. Then, she saw it. There was no doubt about it this time. The fin of a creature broke the surface of the water, glittering a radiant deep rouge. It was an uncommon colour in fish; the tail too long to be anything other than a dolphin or a shark, or a— There was a hand, too, the pale skin of a torso and long blond hair undulating underwater. A siren. Natalie’s heart started beating rapidly, her fingers tensing in their grip on the wire railing. She was enveloped by a slowly growing dread, and did nothing but freeze where she was kneeling, still half bent over the edge. “No, no, no,” she whispered under her breath, alarm bells going off inside her head. Everything was happening too quickly. It was her first day, less than an hour had passed since she’d decided to join the hunting crew. Less than a day since Gerard had prepositioned it to her. She wasn't ready for whatever was going to happen. “Hey!” One of the men called out to her from the back of the boat. “What did you see?” She turned to him, the wind sending her hair up in all directions. She put a shaking hand to her forehead, keeping the curls out of her face. “Nothing, there was nothing. Just a fish,” she answered. The wind carried her words, she didn’t know if they’d heard her, if she’d sounded confident enough. She wasn’t confident, she had no clue why her mind had panicked all of a sudden and made her lie. It hadn’t been a fish. Whatever Ricky saw on her face gave her away, or maybe he was just naturally distrustful, for he stood from his seat and leaned over the edge himself. Natalie turned back around, facing the front. This was why she’d come here, why she’d joined the crew. She’d wanted to catch a siren. But as she was there now, all she could think was a stream