Page 67 of Song of Her Siren

“What’s left of it, yes,” I grumbled. Shame washed over me for desecrating it, but Malvolia had forced my hand by choking my mates with her black magic until I finally brought down the structure. I thought bitterly back on that day and realized I’d never forgive her for that. I would never forgive her for a lot of things, but watching my mates writhe on the ground had made me see the depth of her cruelty up close. And my parents had thought I’d grow up to be just like her, which was probably why I hated Malvolia most of all.

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself when a chill in the air coated my exposed hands and face and sank into my pores. How I missed my firemage mates, for they would’ve warmed me with the flames that heated their veins. Steam rose from the forest floor, coating the air in a fine mist and making it hard to see more than a few paces ahead. The dragons shifted uncomfortably from claw to claw while eyeing the dense foliage surrounding us. Both Radnor and Isa seemed spooked by this place, though it was rare for fire-breathing monsters to be frightened of anything.

Helian walked through the rubble, disintegrating a rock into a plume of dust when he kicked it with his boot. He turned to us, frowning. “How are we supposed to find the spellbook in this?”

A hopeless feeling washed over me. Nothing could’ve survived this destruction. My shoulders caved inward. “I don’t know.”

“Can you undo what you’ve done?” Tari asked me.

I gave her a helpless look. “How?”

Tari knelt beside the girls, grasping Ember’s shoulders. “Darling, do your friends know where the book is?”

Ember nodded, jutting a finger toward the center of what used to be the temple. “Under there.”

“Okay.” Tari stood, straightening out her skirts while eyeing the pile of rubble that was easily three men in height. “Then, all we have to do is dig it out.”

When we collectively turned toward Radnor, he arched back like a feral cat.Why does everyone look at me?

Helian laughed. “You know why, Radnor.”

Tari narrowed her eyes at the drake. “Do you want these demons gone, or not?”

He rose up to all fours, appearing like he would either give Tari a tongue-lashing or eat her, but Isa nudged him, batting her lashes.

Radnor snarled, then whimpered, then sulked toward the rubble, his tail dragging between his legs.Everyone, get out of the way, he grumbled.

We ran behind Isa as she tucked us and Triss behind her wing like a protective mama dragon.

“Try not to tear up the book!” Tari hollered.

Be lucky I don’t tear you up!Radnor answered with a rumble so deep, it nearly knocked us on our backs. Luckily, Triss broke our fall, grunting when we fell against her.

I watched through the foggy membrane of Isa’s wing while a blurry dragon dug through the rubble like a dog searching for a bone, tossing huge boulders into the air that smashed trees on the other side of us.

He dug for several interminable minutes before calling us with a snarl.Come out, witches.

Isa lifted her wing, and I took a tentative step into the foggy air, the dust so thick, I could scarcely breathe. I covered my mouth with my cape.

Helian covered his mouth, too, and motioned to Tari. “Can you get rid of the dust?”

Tari coughed, fanning her face. “Girls, stay with Isa for a moment,” she said to the children.

Isa dropped her wing over them like a falling curtain and Tari summoned a powerful wind and blew the dust and fog into the thick trees behind us. Helian picked up the girls, holding them against his broad chest as we approached Radnor. Beads of sweat coated Radnor’s crimson scales as he stood over a deep, dark hole.

Tari summoned a ball of light, shining it into the hole, revealing a crumbling set of spiral stairs leading to a basement floor that was coated with fallen rock and other debris. She released the light, letting it sink into the hole, floating until it reached an intact wall of rock with what looked like an iron cell door in the center. “Look there!”

“Can you knock it down?” I called to Radnor.

No.He sat on his haunches, wrapping his tail around his legs, his scales covered in soot.It’s walled by Thunderstone. Whoever built this cellar ensured it was indestructible.

“Which means the dragons won’t be able to fit through the door,” Helian answered.

Clucking her tongue, Tari eyed the hole. “The book has to be in there.”

I took Ember from Helian, holding her on my hip. “Darling,” I asked while tucking a loose strand of her long, chestnut hair behind her slightly tapered ear, “did your friends say the book is behind that door?”

She stuck her thumb in her mouth and nodded.

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