Page 54 of A Song of Death and Desire

Eagan cries out again. She’s hurting him. I can’t just lay here and do nothing.

The sound of heavy footsteps reaches my ears, and I know, but can’t see from my position, that Raidne and Sienna have arrived. I let out a small exhale in relief as the sounds of Eagan and Vala fighting come to a halt.

“Now what do we have here? Another humananda siren. Isn’t this a nice surprise.”

“Kairi!” Raidne cries and I snap my eyes closed and hold my breath, hoping that to Vala I look dead even though it means the others probably think the same.

“What have you done to my ravens?” Vala’s voice loses all humor, the coldness of her tone sending a deathly chill through the room.

“Your birdies are dead, bitch,” Raidne says lightly, “and you won’t be far behind.” Vala screeches and my eyes peer open once more in time to see her send Raidne flying with her magic.

“Raidne!” Sienna screams.

“Shut up,” Vala snarls, and I hear the sound of flesh hitting flesh and a cry from Sienna.

Fortunately, it sounds like Raidne didn’t hit her head like me and isn’t badly injured from the attack. “Don’t you dare lay a hand on her again,” Raidne says, her voice deep and threatening. I know that despite her fear, if Raidne is going down, she is going down swinging.

“I had a thought,” Raidne begins, walking back into my field of vision. “I don’t know what you are. Are you a human with magic? Or are you something completely different? I don’t really care but I know for sure you are not a siren. And if I’m correct, you no longer have siren abilities yourself. You look like an ugly old hag and that mark on your arm looks destroyed. Seems like my friends did what they set out to do. Do you want to know what that means?” I wonder where she is going with this or if she is aiming for distraction.

“Earplugs!” she yells before opening her mouth and beginning to sing. Sienna rushes to put hers in and I watch as Eagan dives to find his on the floor but he’s too late. The song pours from her soul, wrapping around Vala and halting her movements. I find that my own body has slowed down, and Raidne’s song also entrances me. I blink a number of times, and pull my gaze from Raidne, and the hold the song has on me lessens. WithVala firmly in her sights, Raidne seems to be pouring everything into holding her and only a trickle of the song is reaching me. I look to Eagan, who has a similar empty expression on his face, but like me, he seems to be able to shake off the effects. I’ve never seen one of us imbue this much power into a song. It’s not directed at us, so it should have no effect at all. The fact that we can feel it means that she is using everything she has on Vala. Singing for sirens is like using a muscle, one that requires little effort. But this is like using that muscle to lift a weight far too heavy. It’s taking all her concentration and energy to capture Vala in the song and hold it back from the rest of us. Who knows what might happen if she loses control.

Vala struggles against the hold it has on her, being stronger than a typical human, but it is clear that the melody affects her more than it does us. Raidne sings and sings, not to consume Vala’s soul—does she even have one? —but instead to immobilize her. And it’s working. Oh, my goddess, it’s working!

I jump up, acting before Raidne becomes too weak to hold Vala. A gasp escapes Eagan from his position on the floor with Sienna. I quickly take in my surroundings, my gaze catching on the gleam of metal on the ground between myself and Vala. I glance at Raidne and see her eyes completely focused on the witch, sweat drenching her forehead and her body shaking from the effort.

I throw myself to the ground, picking up the knife, and with no hesitation, I take three more steps and plunge it into Vala’s heart. I feel the knife slide between her ribs and know that my aim is true. Black blood drenches her body, and my hand still grips the knife. Vala’s eyes widen. “No,” she whispers in horror. “You’re just a human now.” Confusion flashes across her face like she can’t believe that someone would be able to defeat her— especially not a ‘pathetic human’ and then I feel her aged frail body collapse.

Raidne stops singing, sinking to her knees in exhaustion. The cave is silent once more. She’s going to need a soul very soon. Her tired eyes take in our surroundings and the body that lays in front of me. I fall to the ground next to Vala as I’m hit with a bout of dizziness. I’m probably concussed.

“Is she dead?” Sienna whispers.

“Looks like it,” Raidne replies.

Without saying a word, Eagan stands up from his position beside Sienna with his knife in hand. Fury marks his face as he makes his way to Vala. He looks down at her still body and then leans down, viciously using his knife to separate her head from her body. Sienna gasps in horror, but Raidne and I don’t flinch.

“Well, now she’s dead dead, and no magic is going to be able to reattach her head to her body,” Eagan states and I can’t help the hysterical laughter that bursts out of me. It’s uncontrollable and the others simply stare at me as I howl.

Eagan comes straight to me, dropping down and pulling me to him.

“I thought you’d died. I swear to god, woman, the amount of stress you’ve caused me these last forty-eight hours is enough to give me a heart attack.” I stop laughing, turning a watery smile to the man I love.

“It’s over?” I question, still finding it hard to comprehend.

“It’s over,” he affirms before grasping me tighter and burying his face into my hair.

“Where do you think my song went when you severed her connection with it?” I ask.

“I don’t know. Did you think it would go back to you?”

I shake my head. The thought had crossed my mind that perhaps the song would return to its rightful owner. I’m relieved that it didn’t. I don’t want it back.

“Perhaps it just faded away?” Eagan suggests, and I have to agree that it seems likely.

I watch as Raidne walks over to Sienna and places a hand on her cheek. “Are you okay, Sienna?” she asks, and Sienna nods in response. “Then please, let’s get the hell out of here.”

We stumble back to the entrance of the cave. Eagan has an arm around my waist, supporting me as we walk but when it becomes clear that my dizziness isn’t immediately passing, he picks me up and carries me instead. I try to protest half-heartedly but give up, choosing instead to rest my head on his chest and focus on the steady beat of his heart.

We made it.

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