Page 52 of Song of Her Siren

I gave a start when I heard the sitting room doors rattling below us. Wolfy let out a warning bark, and whoever was on the other side of the door made a startled gasp. I sat up, hugging my knees to my chest, and called down. “Who’s there?”

Drae snatched his trousers from the side of the bed with a curse. “I told the servants not to bug us.”

Should I come back later?a soft, feminine voice projected into my head. There was only one other woman who could project her voice into my head besides my sister.

“Veronica!” I grabbed Drae’s wrist. “It’s Veronica. Fly me down.”

I cleaned between my legs as best I could before slipping into a silk robe. Drae flew me down to the secondary sitting room beneath our bed. Wolfy had already lost interest in Veronica and had returned to his spot by the hearth, smelling up a big pillow that we’d probably have to burn later.

Drae kissed my cheek before heading toward a small buffet by the hearth. “Wine?” he asked us.

I gave him an appreciative smile. “Yes, please.”

Veronica held out her palms. “None for me. I won’t bother you for long.”

“You’re not bothering us,” I said, motioning toward a small sofa by the hearth, though she didn’t follow me.

She stood at the open doors leading to the balcony, staring out at the moonlight as a breeze blew her long, dark hair off her shoulders. It took a moment to register her stark changes. She was no longer dressed in fancy court attire, just a simple satin gown and no feather yoke. She looked so much younger with no makeup or wig, almost childlike while she blinked at me through pretty tapered eyes.

Depression clung to her like a thick fog, and she couldn’t hold eye contact for long before she turned her gaze back to the terrace. “I’m sorry for interrupting.” There was a wistfulness in her voice, a deep longing that made my heart ache and a chill sweep up my spine.

I slowly crossed over to her, as if I was cornering a wounded animal. “It’s fine. Why weren’t you at court?”

Her smile didn’t mask the sadness in her eyes. “I’m no longer welcome.”

No longer welcome? “Why?”

She exhaled a long breath, waving Drae away when he tried to offer her a goblet of wine. “For not warning our queen of Mortimus’s demise.”

Aww, troll turds. Of course, Veronica should’ve seen his death in her mists. She was a seer, after all. “Did you know he was going to die?”

“I saw two outcomes.” She folded her hands in front of her, appearing contrite—a stark contrast to the flirtatious and bold Lady Veronica I’d once despised. “Mortimus’s death was one of them. We don’t speak what we see for fear we twist fate.” She visibly swallowed. “Besides, the outcome with Mortimus’s death and Derrick’s injury and possession was far better than the other, where demonic spiders destroyed the entire city of Thebes, eating those who couldn’t fly away in time, including babes in their cradles.”

A tremor coursed through me at the thought of innocent babes dying in such a gruesome way. I didn’t envy Veronica’s magical gift, though I knew she’d made the right decision. Malvolia had to know, too, though selfish as she was, she’d rather babes be eaten by spiders than lose her flesh-eating horse.

“Are you no longer in my aunt’s coven?”

She visibly swallowed, looking away. “She disassembled the coven.”

Drae handed me a goblet of wine, his mouth set in a grim line. “She has no familiar, no lovers, and no coven?” he grumbled. “She’s going to drive herself mad, if she hasn’t already.” He fell onto the sofa behind me, taking a long sip of wine.

I nodded while palming my goblet. “My aunt seems to think she’s going to die. Did you see something in her future?” I asked Veronica.

“As I’ve said.” She turned her gaze to the floor, smoothing imaginary wrinkles in her gown. “We don’t speak of what we see.”

There was something Veronica wasn’t telling me. The fine hair on the nape of my neck stood on end. I set down the goblet, facing her. “Then, what’s the point of having that gift?”

A burst of sad, dark laughter escaped her throat. “I ask myself that question every day, though it matters naught, now that Malvolia has destroyed my seeing mists.”

I remembered the pool of mists in the chamber where I’d first met Malvolia’s coven. Why would my aunt destroy them? And did this mean Veronica would no longer be able to see the future?

“Malvolia has no mists at all?” Drae asked.

Veronica shrugged. “Malvolia relies mostly on her spymaster for guidance now, but she’s brought in new seers from the temples in Thebes and Ventus. I’m not sure if they’ve rebuilt the mists, but I know Gadea is rebuilding hers at the temple in Thebes.”

“Will the new mists help the priestesses see what the demons are planning?” Drae asked.

Veronica visibly swallowed as her cheeks reddened. “Another seer is coming. One with the gift of sight that is unmatched by any of us.”

---