Page 69 of Song of Her Siren

Ember clung to me, shivering. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Auntie,” she pleaded.

I kissed her temple, murmuring in her ear. “It will be okay, sprite.”

Tari moved closer to me. “Shiri, are you sure about this?”

“We have to do this, Tari.” My throat constricted as I stared down at Helian. “It has to be Helian and me while you stay up here with the girls.”

“And what of this sentry?” Tari asked us.

“We’ll be fine.” Summoning a confidence I didn’t feel, I straightened my shoulders. “I have yet to meet a creature not affected by the siren’s call.”

Tari clutched my arm as Aurora looked at me with glossy eyes. “I just found you. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.” I gave her a reassuring smile while trying to forget that a flesh-eating creature was waiting for me on the other side of that door.

Helian climbed back up the stairs with haste as more of the flooring crumbled beneath him. He kissed Tari with Aurora between them. Then he kissed the girls’ foreheads, ruffling their hair. “Be good for your mother, sprites.”

Radnor let out a low rumble, his long neck snaking toward his rider. I don’t like this, Prince.

Helian shrugged. “Believe me, neither do I.”

I squinted at the darkness below. “Do you know how to open the door?” I asked Helian.

When he looked at me like a deer caught in a hunter’s crosshairs, Ember said, “My friends say the siren’s call, Auntie.”

“Good to know.” I tenderly stroked her cheek. “Thank you, darling. Auntie will see you both soon.” I kissed my nieces again, inhaling the lavender in their hair and relishing the feel of their soft cheeks against mine one more time while committing their sweet faces to memory. Then I reluctantly handed Ember to Tari.

She balanced both children on her hips with a frown. “I can’t lose you, Helian.”

“I will come back to you, Tari,” Helian answered grimly. “Even if I have to claw my way out of hell.”

I had to look away when Tari set the children down and Helian kissed her once more.

“Sheesh!” Aurora said aloud. “All you do is kiss.”

“And rub against each other,” Ember added with a giggle.

I let out a deep belly laugh at that, and so did Tari and Helian. My nieces knew exactly how to break up tension.

“You ready?” I asked Helian.

Clutching the hilt of his sword, he faced me with a grimace. “Not really, but let’s get this over with.”

He took my hand and helped me down the unstable stairs while Tari watched from above, nervously chewing her lip. I looked over my shoulder as twin balls of light followed us. I mouthed my thanks to my sister for her little magic trick. Hopefully, those balls of light would continue to follow us into the abyss. They would come in handy should a horned monster try to eat our flesh.

I frowned at the dust-covered iron door, shocked and intrigued by the round, bulky handle that was actually a dial with engraved symbols, like moons, dragons, and sirens. I didn’t know what to do other than to summon my siren and say, “Open.”

When nothing happened, I frowned up at Ember, and she squinted at the sky painted with faint pink ribbons above her head. No doubt, one of her friends was hovering above her.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, she called down to me. “Say ‘apertis,’ and be sure to tell the door who you are!”

I faced the door again, a strange tingly feeling coming over me like hornets were coursing through my veins. “Door, I’m Princess Shirina Avias, daughter to Flora, Derrick, and Marius Avias, niece to Queen Malvolia Avias.” I wondered if I should have admitted my relation to the evil sorceress queen. “I’m a white witch come to retrieve the book that will help us defeat the demons.” I swallowed back bile that burned my throat. “Apertis.”

Much to my shock and relief, the door rattled as if it was about to fly off its hinges, and the locking mechanism made all kinds of creaks and groans before it finally heaved open as if moved by a ghost.

I gaped at the darkness that greeted us, not reassured when the color had drained from Helian’s face. The two glowing balls of light that Tari had manifested floated ahead of us, illuminating stone walls and a dusty slate floor.

Tipping my head back, I called to Ember. “Do your friends know where exactly this book is down there?”

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