Page 74 of Song of Her Siren

Radnor let out a low hiss.Impressive, witch. Now what?

I blinked up at him, still not sure my magic would work. “Now we pray.”

* * *

Helian

“HELIAN, SOMETHING’Scoming.”

That voice sounded so familiar. Was it Tari? No. Tari wasn’t with me. I would sense her presence, the pull from my heart to hers. Then, who?

“Helian,” the female voice whispered again, urgency ringing in her voice. “What are those?”

I rubbed my aching temples and then blinked at the lights that fluttered into our dark chamber.

“Fireflies,” I breathed.

I was somehow on my bottom, the chill from the hard floor numbing my legs. How had I gotten here? I looked at the woman leaning against the wall beside me, whose fair face was illuminated by fireflies that had formed a halo around her dark hair. She looked too much like Tari, though I knew my mate, and this wasn’t her. No, it was Tari’s twin, Shiri. I cursed, remembering why we had come here. My eyes darted to the box in Shiri’s hands, the box that hopefully held the spellbook, because I didn’t think we could survive another voyage down here.

Shiri’s hand flew to her temple, and a firefly landed on her knuckle, bouncing across her hand before floating to her hair.

How strange. What were they doing here?

“From Tari?” I asked while letting one of the bugs settle on my outstretched hand, tickling my palm.

“Who else?” Shiri stumbled to her feet, holding a hand down to me. “They’ll show us the way out.”

“The way out.” I repeated her words in a daze while taking her hand.

She helped me up with surprising strength, her eyes much sharper than how I felt, and she held my hand while pulling me in the direction of a swarm of fireflies. Were we escaping this place? I hoped so. The strange, pungent smell, like old cheese, filled my nostrils as the damp air clung to my skin.

By the time we stumbled out of the cellar door, the sun was so blinding, I had to hide my eyes behind my hands. I took a deep gulp of fresh air, relieved to finally be free. Though I heard Tari cry out, I was too shaky and tired to run to her. I felt the pressure of Radnor’s wings beating down on my face, and then I was being lifted into the air, hanging from my dragon’s claws like a rag doll in a child’s fist.

Chapter Twelve

Shiri

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