Page 80 of Song of Her Siren

“Tari!” Helian cried out while falling off the sofa, his eyes wide with alarm.

“I’m here, my love.” Tari ran to the sofa, kneeling on the floor beside her mate.

Malvolia licked her lips like a hungry dragon while gaping at Helian, who wore no shirt, his broad chest on display.

I loudly cleared my throat. “Aunt, we need those flowers.”

Nostrils flaring, she lifted her chin, that black fog spreading outward again, as if to shield her from the rebuke in my glare. “Very well,” she said, then marched out the door, but not before casting Helian one last look of longing.

It was then I realized I had two options: Find a way to get Tari and Helian far away from here, or kill our aunt before she tried to kill Tari and take Helian for herself.

* * *

Tari

HOLDING TIGHTLY TOmy daughter’s hands, I followed Shiri, Helian, and Cassandra down the circular stairway into the bowels of the dungeon, my eyes focused on the torchlight Helian held to guide us through the gloom. Taking my daughters into this hellish place was less than ideal, but I didn’t trust anyone else to keep them safe. Besides, they’d already been exposed to a lot worse than Malvolia’s dungeon in the hands of the demon mistress, and I had a feeling they’d see even more atrocities before this war was over.

The farther we descended the damp stone steps, the worse the stench of mold and rot. It clung to my gown and permeated my skin.

“It smells down here,” Ember complained.

I squeezed her hand while squinting in the darkness. “I know, darling. We’ll all take baths after we leave.”

Shiri swore when we reached the bottom step. Our mother stood there, her face smeared with grime while she clutched a full chamber pot to her chest. Were there no servants in the dungeon?

The girls pressed into my skirts while gaping at their grandmother.

Frowning, Helian pulled his mother aside.

“Girls, where have you been?” our mother asked, her accusing glare sweeping over us before settling on Shiri.

Shiri heaved a dramatic sigh. “Finding the spellbook that will help me expel the demons.”

Mother arched a brow. “Did you find it?”

Shiri’s back stiffened. “Yes.”

“Good.” She jutted a finger toward the row of cells behind her while sloshing contents of the pot onto the floor. “Get your father’s demon out now.”

Shiri rolled her eyes. “It’s not that easy, Mother.”

Mother impatiently tapped her foot. “Why not?”

When Shiri let out a string of curses, I interrupted. “Mother, she’s never tried this spell before. It’s complicated.”

“Your father doesn’t wake! He will die if we can’t get food and drink into him!” Mother’s voice turned shrill, wildness flashing in her eyes, and I wondered if I had looked as crazed when I’d thought Helian had been killed by Malvolia’s mages.

Cassandra clucked her tongue while Helian scowled at our mother.

I forced a note of calm into my voice, hoping it would soothe our mother. “We won’t let that happen.”

“Neither of you have come to visit us, to see how we’re holding up.” She clutched the pot with whitened knuckles, her voice turning as shrill as a dying dragon. So much for me trying to calm her. “Look at me!” She shoved the pot toward us, sloshing it onto her wrists. “Dumping our chamber pot because the servants refuse to come into the cell!”

Shiri took a big step back from her. “We lived in squalor for almost twenty-four years. I think you can handle it.”

“Eww.” Aurora fanned her face, then plugged her nose while gaping at the mess her grandmother had made on the floor.

Mother snarled at Shiri like a wounded animal. “Do you think this is a joke?”

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