Page 2 of Song of Her Siren

Chapter One

Thebes

Present day

Shiri

We landed in Malvolia’sthrone room, much to the surprise of two of her firemage guards, who gaped at us, then at each other, looking like they didn’t know if they should attack or run.

“Go get your queen,” I said, infusing a touch of siren in my voice.

I probably didn’t need to use my siren, though, for they flew out of there like bats escaping an inferno.

“Should I go get the dragons?” Aurora asked, one of her sharp shifter canines sticking out as she chewed her bottom lip.

I smiled down at my four-year-old niece, patting her head. My precocious niece’s teleporting abilities only extended to places she’s been before, so I wanted to make sure she got a good layout of the outside before she brought the dragons here. “Not yet. We need to find a place for you to bring them.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

Aurora had transported her twin, Ember, plus Tari, Helian, Ash, Drae, Blaze, and me to Malvolia’s castle. The dragons knew it would take a few hours for us to get them, as well as Enso, Bea, and Lady Arabella. We would need to ensure Malvolia had a secure place for our prisoners after Tari healed Derrick.

Back and wings stiff, Blaze walked the perimeter of the room, peering out one of the tall windows.

“Firemages are practicing in the courtyard,” he called to us, his wings relaxing slightly.

“Thank the goddess,” Tari said.

“That’s a good thing, right?” I asked Drae, who stood protectively beside me, his wings tucked tightly behind him.

Tension radiated off him in waves as he worked a tic in his jaw. “If they were at war, they wouldn’t be practicing. They’d be manning the battlements.”

I’d read the letter our mother had sent Tari. Ventus and Thebes had been attacked by demon spiders and a zombie king and wyvern, but she didn’t mention the outcome of the battle, other than our father had been gravely injured.

I swallowed back bile. “So the conflict is over?”

Drae grimaced. “The battle. Not the war.”

Blaze returned to us, his expression grim. My mates were dreading this meeting with their monarch as much as I was, for we’d all seen what Malvolia did to those who angered her, and the last time I’d been with my aunt, I had disobeyed her by refusing to kill my twin and then deserting her army.

Helian walked a slow circle around the throne room, his hand on the hilt of his sword, his long silvery hair tied back in a queue, emphasizing his pointy Fae ears. He stopped to frown at Malvolia’s throne, my great-grandmother’s floral parlor chair that had survived the Dark Tide.

He let out a nervous-sounding burst of laughter. “Kind of an underwhelming throne, isn’t it?”

Tari pulled the children to her sides. “Come back to us, Helian,” she said through frozen features. “We may need to make a hasty retreat.”

Helian returned to her, standing on her other side, one hand still clutching the hilt of his sword.

I gave Drae a look, not reassured by the tension lines around his eyes while he ruffled his feathers.

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