Page 34 of Song of Her Siren

“Will you let me heal your burns?” I asked Arabella.

“Yes.” She held up her hands as if they were foreign objects. “And maybe you can drive this demon back.”

I grimaced when I saw a big piece of blackened skin flake off her wrist. “I can’t make any promises, but I’ll try.”

“You don’t touch her until we muzzle her,” Ash boomed, his deep wolf voice shaking the very marrow of my bones. “We can’t risk her biting you.”

“Ash, I—” I wanted to argue with my mate, but he was right.

Arabella’s shoulders fell. “He’s right. Don’t trust my demon.”

We called in a guard, and they muzzled her with a leather mask. Then Ash hovered protectively over me, one furry arm distended and ready to knock her back should she try to attack. I grasped one of her arms, repressing the urge to vomit when it squished between my hands like dough. It was hard to focus on healing her with my big wolf mate breathing down my neck, but I finally manifested enough magic to heal the burns. By the time I was finished, I was exhausted once more. Her hands were still ugly and bloated, though the smell of burned flesh was gone.

I sat back on my heels, wiping sweat from my brow. “How do you feel?”

She dropped her head and loudly sniffled. “Better.”

Ash lifted me into his arms while a guard took the muzzle off Arabella’s face.

“How did the forest eat Duke Viggo?” Helian asked.

Adoration reflected in eyes that were much clearer as she looked up at Helian like he was a god to be worshipped. She still loved him, though I didn’t need to worry. My fated mate was committed to me, and I was fairly certain he loathed her more than any demon.

“A monstrous plant snapped his bones and swallowed him,” she finally answered.

Helian raised his chin, leering down at her over the rim of his nose. “I would offer my condolences, but I’m not sorry he’s dead.”

She shrugged. “Neither am I.”

I wondered what kind of relationship she’d had with her uncle, and if the rumors that he’d been her lover were true. I shuddered to think of that man touching me. It would’ve explained some of her unpleasant disposition, though it still didn’t excuse her past petulant and cruel behavior, unless her demon had been controlling her the entire time.

“And the demon mistress, Megaera,” Helian continued. “What exactly happened to her?”

Arabella flashed a wicked smile, reminding me of the demon that lived within. “I struck her hard. She will need time to recover.”

I shared a look with my mates.This explains why she hasn’t attacked yet.

Hopefully, she’s buried beneath the Periculian Mountains after Shiri’s earthquake, Ash said, his voice a dark shifter’s rumble.

Helian shook his head.If she can claw her way out of hell, I’m sure she can escape the mountains.

I rested my head against Ash’s big, furry chest, fatigue washing over me. “I’ll ask the jailer for better accommodations, at least a cot and a warm fire,” I said to Arabella.

She peered at something beyond my shoulder, her cheeks flushing with either shame or anger. “And some warm food.”

“Of course,” I drawled, my eyelids heavy with sleep.

Ash adjusted me in his arms, infusing heat into my bones as he slowly backed away from our nemesis.

“Princess Tarianya?”

Ash stopped at the threshold of the cell before snarling at Arabella.

I lifted my head off Ash’s chest. “Yes?”

“Helian is your fated mate?” She nodded toward my handsome Fae prince.

I shared a secret smile with Helian before facing Arabella. “He is, along with Ash and Finn.”

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