Page 77 of Song of Her Siren

“How ancient?” I asked, intrigued.

“Before the first goddesses,” she said wistfully. “I hope the scrolls survived the demon spider invasion, though I doubt it. They ate everything in their path.”

“Don’t be sad, Grandmother,” Aurora said, taking Cassandra’s hand and leading her toward the sofa.

“Did any of them ever say where the demons came from?” Tari asked.

Cassandra sat, taking Aurora in her lap. “From a human witch queen. She opened a portal to hell in an attempt to add demons to her dwindling army to destroy the Fae.”

Not wanting to be left out, Ember also climbed onto Cassandra’s lap. She held both girls close while stroking their hair. The more I saw of her, the more I liked Cassandra. I would never get to know my mates’ mother, thanks to Thorin. For that, I should’ve been jealous of Tari, but I wasn’t. Maybe I wasn’t turning into Malvolia.

“Humans blamed the Fae for demons coming into our realm,” Tari said. “I lived in the human world for two years with Thorin, and the humans despised our race. If Mother hadn’t transformed my features into a mousy human, they would’ve burned me at the stake. They hate Fae and anything magical.”

“Humans will always find scapegoats for things they can’t understand,” Cassandra said.

“What happened after the human opened the portal?” I asked.

Casandra stiffened, then whispered to the girls.

“Yes, Grandmother,” they said before skipping toward the buffet. “We shall get you one of each tart.”

Cassandra watched them go like a mother hen eyeing her eggs before speaking on a hushed whisper. “The demons killed the witch and her human army. It took a goddess with the power of the siren’s song to defeat the demons, first Kyan, followed by a few others, and finally Maiadra.”

I shared a look with my sister. Goddesses were rare white witches, just like Tari and me, but only I had the siren’s song, which meant I would have to be the one to send the demons back to hell. Sure, Tari and I could eliminate the demons by turning them to ash, but what of the innocent souls in the host bodies they inhabited? We had to find a way to get rid of the demons while saving their hosts. I thought of Sol and Bertram and all the others Malvolia had turned to dust that could’ve been saved. And then there were Drae, Derrick, Ash, and Wolfy. How could I possibly turn them to ash? The demon Mephis had said my heart was too dark to learn the siren song, but I refused to believe him. That’s what he wanted me to believe. I would learn it, and I would save our loved ones.

I leaned toward Cassandra, keeping my voice low. “Why didn’t they send them all to hell?”

A chill swept through me at her hardened expression. “There were always a few demons who escaped and went underground, hiding until after the goddesses finally died.”

Did she mean that the demons would always plague our world, disappearing and then reappearing so that our children and their children would have to deal with their threat? My gaze drifted toward the girls as they giggled while trying to arrange tarts on a tray. My heart ached and splintered at the thought of them having to face the same menace when they grew older.

Determination stiffened my spine as I turned up my chin. “Well, they shall hide no more. Tari and I will make sure of it.”

Cassandra’s subtle smile didn’t mask the sadness in her eyes. Had she seen something in the mists? Would we fail to banish all the demons?

Her smile tightened. “First, we need to figure out the spell to banish them from their host bodies.”

I nodded toward the book that sat innocuously on the table before me. “Are you sure this book can be trusted?”

“I don’t trust the demons who wrote it,” she answered, “but I trust the book. I’ve read about this spellbook in our ancient scrolls. Kyan stole it from the demon king and used it to banish him and other demons to hell.”

Tension crept up my spine like a slow-moving fog as I stood. “Then teach me the spell I need to extricate the demons from our family.”

Her smile twisted as shadows fell across her features. “With pleasure.”

* * *

Shiri

IPACED THE FLOOR,trying my best to remain patient while Cassandra slowly turned the pages of the book. How long did it take to find an exorcism spell? I fought the urge to hover behind her and demand she hurry, for I feared Drae’s soul was slipping away with each passing second. The thought of losing him, or any of my mates, turned my blood into a boiling cauldron of rage.

The dragons flew circles above our terrace, their shadows passing over our windows every few minutes. Radnor had made himself a pest, asking if Helian was awake with each pass until Tari had finally had enough and given him a good tongue-lashing. The girls quietly played on the rug beside the hearth as the sun began to set. They knew not to interrupt their grandmother. Tari had curled up on the sofa beside Helian, resting her head on his chest.

The blade of jealousy that twisted in my heart was so sharp, I dared not look at my sister and her mate again. I knew I had to get control of this poison that had taken over my soul, but without my mates, I had no light to drive out the darkness. Loath as I was to admit it, I finally understood why Malvolia had gone mad. She’d had no one to love and no one to love her until she’d found Mortimus. Now that Mortimus was gone, she was slipping into madness again. Murdering Daminica was proof enough of that.

I tensed at the familiar sound of clicking footsteps outside our door.

The girls gasped, jumping to their feet.

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