Page 5 of Song of Her Siren

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Tari

MY HEART BEAT A THUNDEROUSrhythm in my chest. I’d survived an encounter with the wicked witch who’d haunted my childhood nightmares, though I wasn’t sure if our next meeting would go as smoothly. I saw the way Helian’s pale face reddened when she’d given him coy looks. I made a mental note to ask him what had happened between them when he’d been her prisoner, though I had a sickening feeling I wouldn’t like his answer.

I squeezed Helian’s hand and smiled while we walked. His tight smile in return wasn’t reassuring. Ash walked alongside us, carrying Ember and Aurora against his broad chest, his long, dark hair falling around his shoulders and his swirling tattoos standing out against his bulging, tanned muscles. My alpha was so good with the girls, and they knew exactly how to melt their big, snarling wolf daddy’s heart. I was a lucky witch.

We followed my sister and her two mates through one opulent hallway into another. My sister’s mates walked like roosters guarding their hen, glaring at any other males who glanced our way, their dark feathers standing on end.

I couldn’t get over the extravagance of Malvolia’s castle. Just one of the plush rugs lining the hall could’ve fed a starving family for a year. To think, I could’ve grown up in this castle, safe and well-fed, if not for Thorin. If I ever came across that monster, I’d burn his eyes out before he could harm my family again.

Shiri stood at the double doors leading to our mother and fathers’ bedchamber and released a long breath. She placed a palm on the door before grumbling. “You ready for this?”

I shrugged. Shiri and our mother had never had the best relationship, and I feared tensions would only be higher now that we were in Malvolia’s castle.

Drae pushed open the doors for her, and I was immediately struck by the stench of sickness.

“Eww,” Ember said, her nose wrinkling before she pressed her face against Ash’s chest.

Aurora made a face. “What’s that smell?”

“Sickness, darlings,” I said, patting my daughters’ backs. “Cover your noses.”

The wolf flashed in Ash’s eyes. “It’s bad,” he whispered. “Our shifter noses are more sensitive.”

“I understand.” I motioned toward a balcony visible behind open double doors. The smell of brine and fresh air beckoned through the billowing curtains. “Take them outside.”

He didn’t need to be told twice, as he quickly carried them outside.

We were greeted by two footmen dressed in ridiculous tights, their limp wings draped behind them. My mother had told me half-breed Ravini were commonly servants in wealthy Ravini households. Those Ravini mixed with either human or Sidhe Fae blood usually had limp, thin wings that looked like capes.

The footmen led us through a beautiful sitting room that was bigger than our cabin in the woods and into an even bigger bedchamber, where the smell of sickness intensified. Four winged Ravini guards stood on the perimeters of the room, still as statues while quietly blending in with the drapes and floral wallpaper. If my parents had made up with Malvolia, why were the guards here?

Our mother shot up from her chair beside the bed, staring at us as if we were apparitions. A man who looked too much like our father Derrick stood alongside her. Marius. My heart and gut twisted at the longing in his eyes.

“Oh, thank the Elements!” Our mother ran straight for me. I grimaced when she took me in a tight hug, sobbing into my hair. “You’re safe!” she cried while stroking my back.

“Of course, we’re safe.” I pulled out of her grip with a scowl, very mindful of Shiri standing stiffly beside me. Would it have hurt my mother to hug Shiri too?

“Father!” Shiri quickly crossed over to Marius, and he picked her up, twirling her in his arms.

Marius. How badly I wanted to go to him too. I swiped hot tears as my mother rubbed my back while Helian stood protectively behind me. Shiri locked arms with Marius and led him toward me.

“This is Tari,” Shiri said, beaming. “Tari, this is our father, Marius.”

Marius looked too much like our other father, Derrick, a typical Ravini male, with a warm complexion, dark eyes, and black, feathered wings. Though Marius and Derrick were twins, Marius appeared at least a decade older, his chestnut hair peppered with more gray and several more lines framing his eyes, not to mention he weighed about two stone less. Considering he’d survived almost twenty-four years in Malvolia’s dungeons, I wasn’t surprised.

He took my hands in his, smiling down at me with glossy eyes. “Forgive me. I’m at a loss for words. I have so longed for this day.”

I didn’t wait for an invitation before throwing my arms around him, letting the tears fall while I held tightly to his neck. A sob escaped me, and he wrapped his wings around my back and stroked my hair, murmuring kind words while the tears continued to fall. I hadn’t expected to react this way to seeing him, but I’d had a rough few days. He kissed my temple, holding me as if he had no intention of ever letting go. By the time I pulled back, tears burned my eyes and streaked my face.

“I’m sorry we didn’t know about you.” I resisted the urge to cut my mother an accusatory look. I didn’t know why she and Derrick had kept it from us that we had another father. He’d deserved to have his memories kept alive, even if they’d thought he’d perished in the Crimson Tide.

“It was best that way.” Marius squeezed my shoulders, giving me a pitying look. “Your childhood was trying enough.”

And his time in Malvolia’s prison wasn’t trying? What a selfless father. I loved him already. I motioned toward the bed, where the stench originated, floating through the air like steam from a cauldron. “I need to heal Derrick.”

I ignored our mother as she let out a sob and let Marius lead me to the bed.

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