Page 78 of Song of Her Siren

“May we go play in the other room?” Aurora asked Tari.

When their mother nodded, Aurora grabbed Ember and disappeared within a blink. I didn’t blame the children for not wanting to be around their menacing aunt. The bitch had a lot of nerve coming here after our last confrontation.

Spinning around, I glared at the entrance as the heavy door was thrown open, Malvolia standing there with her chin held high as her defiant gaze centered on me. She was daring me to challenge her again, and I was in no mood to deal with her trollshit.

Four beefy guards accompanied her, standing stoically beside the door. She glided up to me, as if drifting on a cloud, her black cape swirling around her feet, her gown cut high above the knees, revealing long, shapely legs. I resented her for demanding court ladies wear long, frilly gowns while she exposed herself to the world. She did it to lure young males away from their lovers, even if those males were mated to my sister. She was a narcissistic bitch, and I had an uneasy feeling one of us would kill the other before this demon war was over.

“Well,” she asked in a haughty tone, dark smoke billowing around her, “did you get the book?”

Gritting my teeth, I motioned toward Cassandra reading at the dining table. “We did.”

Malvolia nodded before casting a glance at Helian sleeping on the sofa. “What’s wrong with the prince?”

Tari sat up, her jaw clenched, her arm draped protectively over her mate while she shot eye daggers at our aunt.

Cassandra stiffened, looking over her shoulder at Malvolia and then at Helian. The last thing I needed was a three-way confrontation.

I grasped Cassandra’s shoulder and shot Tari a warning look while projecting a command into her mind.Let me handle her. Don’t give her an excuse to turn you to ash.Giving Cassandra’s shoulder a squeeze, I cleared my throat while facing down my aunt. “He’s still recovering.”

She pursed her lips, appearing like she wanted to say more as that smoke pulsed around her like a heartbeat. The smoke was a warning signal to me, to all of us. She thought to frighten us like a bird ruffling its feathers.

“And with this book, you’ll be able to expel demons?” she asked.

“Hopefully.” I released Cassandra’s shoulder, motioning toward the book. “Cassandra is reading through the spells for me.”

Malvolia bridged the few short steps between us, hovering over Cassandra’s shoulder. “Have you found it?”

Cassandra tensed, her fingers digging into the pages. I loudly cleared my throat in warning.

She released her hold on the book and flexed her hands. “I believe so.” She pointed to a passage in the book with strange symbols I didn’t recognize. “Loosely translated, this is a spell to separate demon spirits from their hosts.”

“And where do the demons go after they’ve been separated?” Malvolia asked, an edge to her words.

“It says without a host, they go back to hell,” Cassandra said without inflection, as if she was overcompensating while trying to disguise the disgust she held for the sorceress queen.

Malvolia eyed Cassandra as though she wasn’t fit to lick the mold off the bottom of her boots. “And what happens to the host?”

Cassandra kept her gaze focused on the book. “Their bodies are usually restored.”

My heart beat a thunderstorm in my ears as my world came to a slow, grinding halt. “What do you mean byusually?”

She visibly swallowed while looking up at me. “The stronger the demon spirit, the more likely they are to completely push the soul from the host’s body. In that case, the body will die once the demon has been banished.”

I gripped the back of Cassandra’s chair, my legs threatening to give out beneath me. Drae’s demon had immediately taken over Drae’s body while Ash still had control over his voice and actions. When I felt Malvolia’s gaze upon me, I schooled my features into a mask of iron. I couldn’t let her know that Drae could be lost to us, for fear she’d try to kill him again.

“You don’t need to hide what you’re thinking, niece.” Malvolia slid her gaze over me curiously, as if she was sizing the worth of my magic. “I already saw how easily the demon took over your mate. Why do you think I tried to kill him?” She sounded so casual, as if she was speaking of a barnyard animal.

“You will not try to harm my mate again,” I hissed between my teeth while giving her a murderous look. “Iwillheal him.”

Tari jumped from the sofa and crossed over to me, taking my hand in hers. “We will find a way to bring back his soul, sister. I brought Helian back from the dead with Inretius flowers. It can be done.”

“Necromancy is forbidden in Delfi,” Malvolia said haughtily.

My last thread of sanity snapped like the breaking of bone, and I glared at her with a newfound hatred. “What about killing green witches out of spite? Is that forbidden, too?”

The temperature in the room dropped as a black fog hovered above us. Malvolia flashed her teeth, looking like a cornered animal. “Mind your tongue, niece.”

When Tari gasped, I stepped in front of her, shielding her from our aunt, should she try to kill us both. Black smoke leached out of me, too, swirling around our feet as I stepped up to my aunt. “Daminica was my friend!”

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