Page 124 of Rise of the Siren Queen
But I couldn’t. Not without risking everyone.
I was drowning in my restraint, teeth clenched so hard my jaw ached, hands curled into fists as I fought back the roar building inside me.
I had all this power. All this fury. And I wasstillnothing.
A caged siren. A goddess with her hands tied behind her back. I willrememberthis moment.
I will remember it all when Iwreck their minds.
“You know, none of this would have happened if you had married me four years ago.” Draven’s paws caress my cheek, pushing a stray strand of hair behind my ear.
“You murdered my parents. I would never have married you after that.”
“And now you will have to choose.” He moved towards my grandma and pulled Elora to her side, binding her to the floor. His words registered when he gestured between them with his dagger.
“NO.” My voice raised, echoing in the silence. “I won’t choose. You want to marry fine. I will marry you, but I won’t choose.”
“You know, none of this would’ve happened if you had just married me four years ago.”
Draven’s voice slithered through the air like venom, his fingertips brushing my cheek with mock tenderness as he tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. His touch made my skin crawl.
“You murdered my parents,” I hissed, my voice splintering under the weight of old grief. “I wouldneverhave married you after that.Not then, and certainly not now.”
His eyes gleamed, not with love, never with love, but with victory. “Well… you’ll have to choose.”
He stepped back toward my grandmother, yanking Elora with him like she was nothing more than a rag-doll, her limbs limp, her body bruised and bloody. He forced her to crouch beside the queen, binding them both with a flick of his cursed hand. His dagger glinted in the low, flickering light as he gestured between them.
Something inside me cracked.
“NO!” My scream tore out of my throat, sharp and jagged, echoing through the stone walls. “You want a wife, fine. I’ll marry you. But Iwon’tchoose between them. Iwon’t!”
Draven’s grin widened into something grotesque. “I don’t believe you.”
He didn’t hesitate.
Didn’tflinch.
His blades flashed once, twice, and sank deep.
Their screams…
Gods.
Their screams werenotfrom powerful sirens. They were the sounds of souls being ripped apart. The moment his daggers found flesh, the world stopped spinning.
My body buckled.
Ronan dropped to the ground beside me, his shadows vanishing like smoke in the wind, as if they, too, couldn’t bear to witness what had just been done.
Draven’s laugh filled the chamber, thick and triumphant, cutting through my rising hysteria. It curdled my blood. I couldn’t hear anything else, not my heartbeat, not my thoughts, just his laughter and the sound ofthem, the women I loved most,dying.
I stumbled forward, tail weak, hands outstretched, but everythingfelt slow, like I was wading through a nightmare that refused to end.
“No… no, no, no…” The words spill from me in a hoarse whisper, then a sob, then a scream. “Please!”
I dropped beside them. Blood,theirblood, soaked into my skin, hot and vivid and far too real. Elora convulsed once, her mouth twitching with pain, her gaze finding mine with a look I would never forget. And my grandmother… gods, she looked sosmall. Her radiant skin, once so fierce and commanding, was now pale gray and drenched in crimson. Her chest rose in shallow, shuddering gasps.
“Don’t do this,” I begged, pressing my hands to their wounds, my tears blinding me. “Don’t leave me. Please, please don’t leave me. You’re going to be okay. Youhaveto be okay.”
