Page 49 of Song of Her Siren

The water was surprisingly warm and smooth, like silk upon my skin. I didn’t ask what made it so, though I suspected some sort of silt. We swam until we were neck deep in the water.

What do you think?Helian asked through thought, his voice echoing, so I knew his brother heard him too.

I tread water by kicking my feet and praying the pond had no sirens. Actually, the thought made me queasy. I was certain Isa would come to my aid, though the siren would probably have eaten my feet by then.

“It-it feels good,” I stammered as my fear increased.

Helian arched a brow. “That’s it?”

I tried not to kick too hard while keeping my head above water, lest I attract sirens or other hungry creatures. “The last time I went swimming in a dark pond, a siren almost ate me.”

Helian’s jaw dropped. “What happened?”

Despite the warm water, a shudder coursed through me. “Finn saved me, but she bit us both, and we hallucinated.”

Ash laughed. “They fucked like rabbits.”

I cut him a glare, remembering how he’d attacked Finn after that, not realizing that I was their fated mate.

Ash swam closer to me, threading his fingers through mine. “I’d love to fuck like a rabbit right about now.”

“I don’t feel comfortable.” I wrapped my arms around him, tucking my feet against his legs. “I keep waiting for something to bite my toes.”

Helian nodded toward the stone building behind us, lit with softly glowing torches. “Do you want to go into the temple?”

“What’s in there?” I asked.

He waggled his brows. “Come on. I’ll show you.”

I shook my head. “The girls.”

“Are fine,” Ash cut in.

Helian swam up to me, cupping my chin in his hand. “Your mates need you, too, Tari.”

Guilt tightened my chest at the look of longing in his eyes, and I agreed. I just hoped the building was empty. With our luck, we’d expose ourselves to dozens of priestesses.

As if reading my mind, Helian said, “Don’t worry. Malvolia has enacted a curfew. Nobody will be there.”

A curfew? Which meant we weren’t supposed to be out, either. Oh well. I dared the bitch to enforce it.

I held on to Ash while we swam to another set of stairs that led to the temple. I kept looking over his shoulder. The girls were facing the other direction, clinging to Triss’s sides and giggling while the dragons blew bubbles in the water. Ash and Helian held my hands, leading me up the stairs and onto a landing that was ankle deep in water. We splashed across the path into the temple, which was not much more than a bathhouse with a brick pool and benches lining the walls, plus a stone hearth with a roaring fire at the far end.

“I thought you said it was a temple,” I said, shocked when my voice echoed across the walls.

“It was a Maiadran temple,” Helian said, “but Malvolia converted it to a public bathhouse. She doesn’t have much respect for the old goddesses.”

I remembered Shiri telling me that the bitch queen had made her tear down a temple dedicated to Kyan. The old goddesses had temples scattered across the Fae lands, though in Caldaria, at least, they had enough respect to maintain them, not destroy them.

My mates led me across the bridge and then down another set of stairs into the pool. The water was clearer and less silky, as if it had been filtered. It wasn’t as hot as the water in the spring, though it was still warm enough to ward off the chill.

I glanced over my shoulder as we sank into the water. The children and dragons were no longer visible from here, though I heard their giggles echoing in the distance.

Helian led us to a submerged bench and pulled me into his lap, his stiff member poking my backside.

I bit my lip while looking into his silvery eyes. “We can’t take long.”

He cupped my chin, brushing a kiss across my lips. “We can take as long as we need.”

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