Page 168 of Song of Her Siren

I’m sorry, sister.She grasped my hand, giving me a reassuring smile.I know he will.

I gave her a curt nod. “How far are the dragons?”

“We should reach The Tribus Point by tomorrow night.” She sipped her tea with a groan. “Oh, this is so much better than the swill at camp. Any signs of the demons?”

“No.” Nervously chewing my lower lip, I cast my gaze to the clear blue skies as Freya and Enso flew circles above us. “They’ve gone suspiciously silent.”

The girls let out excited squeals, throwing themselves against Cassandra’s legs when she came into our suite, clutching that cursed book of demon spells to her chest. She always had her nose buried in that book, and I worried she’d become obsessed with it.

Cassandra hugged her grandchildren and sons, the book pressed between them. Finn set up the girls with plates and juice at a table inside our chamber before he and his brothers followed Cassandra outside.

Helian pulled out a chair for his mother at our table. “How goes your interpretation of the book?”

“Very interesting.” She set the book in the center of the table, thanking Finn as he poured her a cup of tea. “There are two ways demons can enter the Fae world. The first is the way you’re used to. Naraka demons, which are possessed Fae, can infect other Fae with demons through saliva and blood.”

I absently nodded. We already knew that.

Tari leaned toward her. “What is the second way?”

Her eyes hardened, and I tensed, fearing she was about to deliver bad tidings.

Cassandra flipped open the book, pointing to a dog-eared page with strange symbols that none of us could interpret. “Through a portal made with powerful magic, probably the same one that had been created centuries ago by a human witch.”

“Is it like the fleshy portals that open when I cast out demons?” I asked.

She nodded. “Very much, only the demons have somehow figured out how to keep this portal open. If they pass into our world this way, they will be in their true demon forms, the Infernals. The good news is, Infernals can’t infect Fae through their blood or saliva. Megaera is an Infernal. She came in through the portal and is still in her Lamatsu form.” Then she paused, leveling us all with a stony look. “If you can close the portal that Megaera used, she will be sucked back into hell.”

“Then, that’s what we must do.” Tari tapped her fingers on the table. “Do you know where the portal is?”

“Possibly.” Cassandra grimaced. “I suspect it is in Megaera’s lair beneath the Periculian Mountains.”

“There’s another.”

I gave a start and Tari stiffened when Arabella walked onto the terrace in a flurry of flowing purple, shimmery skirts that complemented her lavender eyes. Malvolia’s seamstresses had been hard at work ever since the future Dutchess of Windhaven had become the queen’s honored guest. Though she claimed to have gotten over Helian, Lady Arabella always found a way to appear when he and Tari visited, her hair in a perfect coiffure and just the right amount of rose to her full lips and high cheekbones.

“What?” Cassandra slammed the book shut and twisted in her seat. “Where?”

“Peloponese.” Arabella’s longing gaze drifted to Helian before she faced Cassandra with a stoic expression. “Beneath the castle.”

Tari shot eye daggers at her nemesis. “How do you know this?”

Arabella folded her hands in front of her, eyeing Tari from beneath thick lashes. “Because my father and Selig took me to it. We used it to summon the Indus worm.”

Helian pointed at her with an accusatory finger. “We knew it was you who summoned the worm.”

The rose on her cheeks deepened as she batted pleading eyes at Helian. “You’ve no idea the control my uncle and his demon wielded over me.”

Helian let out a derisive snort. “I know the control you also tried to wield over others.”

“Enough.” Tari stood, her tone stern as she stared down her mate. “If we can’t come together and leave the past behind, the demons will surely win.”

Helian gaped at my sister, then promptly snapped his jaw shut. “You’re right, darling.” He kissed the top of my sister’s head while glaring at Arabella, who quickly averted her gaze.

“So, is there a way to close these portals?” I asked Cassandra.

“It’s a spell,” she said, “similar to the one you used to cast demons to hell.”

“Let me guess.” Helian rolled his eyes. “It has to be closed by a white witch.”

---