Page 65 of Rise of the Siren Queen
“I’m not bickering, Petros.” Ronan said, his tone light as he leaned back against the shore. “Just pointing out that she seems to have a special interest in me.”
Elora’s glare could have cut through steel. “Special interest? You wish.” She barked.
“Admit it, Elora. You love the attention.” Ronan winked.
Her expression faltered, just for a second, something flashing in her eyes, something deeper than mere annoyance. But before she could respond, Sienna stepped in.
“All right, that’s enough. We’re here for Adrian, not to fuel whatever unresolved fight you two have.”
I was dumbstruck by their interaction. The bickering, the teasing, it was so casual, so…normal. Yet here I’m, in a mystical moonlit pond, surrounded by creatures that shouldn’t exist, and these two were acting like they were in some mundane argument back in Thalassa. It was unnerving, almost surreal. For a moment, I wondered if I’d somehow misjudged everything. Was this really how they operated? Weren’t they supposed to be dealing with something far more serious?
I felt out of place, standing there as they traded barbs like it was second nature. Elora’s fiery temper and Ronan’s infuriating smirk… I couldn’t tell if they hated each other or if this was some twisted form of affection. Their fighting wasn’t just anger, it was something else, something deeper. A tension that pulsed beneath every word they spat at each other. And yet, as I watched them, I couldn’t shake the feeling of being an outsider. This world they lived in, the way they seemed to glide effortlessly between moments of deadly seriousness and casual taunts. It was so far removed from anything I’d ever known.
Kieran turned his attention back to me, offering a slight nod. “How’s the shifting coming along?”
“Painful,” I admitted, still catching my breath. “But I’m managing.”
Ronan chuckled, shaking his head. “You’ll get used to it. Eventually.”
“Great, just what I needed,” I drawled, my voice laced with sarcasm as I crossed my arms. “So, the little princess still can’t face me?” The bitterness dripped from my words, and the second I said it, I saw the change.
Both warriors stiffened instantly. Their eyes darkened, and their bodies went taut, like coiled springs ready to snap. I’d struck a nerve, and part of me, the one still boiling with anger, relished from.
Good.
Ronan was the first to move. His smirk vanished, replaced with a flash of fury.
“Don’t you dare talk about Her Highness like that,” he snarled, lunging at me with surprising speed for someone who’d been so casual just moments ago. His dark tail flicked behind him as he surged forward, eyes blazing with anger.
Before he could reach me, though, Sienna’s hand shot out, her voice calm but firm. “Ronan,no.”
He halted mid-lunge, muscles visibly tensing as he restrained himself, though his eyes still burned with fury.
“He doesn’t get to speak about her like that,” Ronan growled, glaring at me as if I’d insulted his honor. His tail flicked sharply, causing the water to ripple around us.
I held my ground, my heart pounding in my chest. Part of me knew I’d crossed a line, but the other part didn’t care. They were all protecting Iryen, shielding her from me as if I were the one who’dasked for any of this. As ifIhad done something wrong.
Kieran’s eyes were like ice, watching me with a cold, assessing gaze. He didn’t move, but the tension radiating from him was unmistakable.
“You don’t know what you’re dealing with, human,” his voice was low, controlled, and far more dangerous than Ronan’s explosive anger. “Choose your words carefully.”
I clenched my jaw, feeling a surge of irritation, not irritation,jealousy,flare up inside me. With their unwavering loyalty to Iryen, these warriors constantly need to protect her, as if she were some fragile thing. It grated on me, gnawed at something deep within.
Why did they care so much? Why were they so fiercely devoted to her? I couldn’t shake the bitterness that rose in my throat, the feeling that they were… too close.
I gritted my teeth, my pulse quickening.
“What’s there to understand?” I shot back, my voice rising. “She binds me to her, pulls me into this world, and then avoids me like a coward? I didn’t ask for any of this!”
“You know that’s not fair, Adrian,” Sienna stepped forward, her expression calm but her tone firm. “Iryen is dealing with just as much as you are, if not more.”
I scoffed.
“That doesn’t change the fact that she hasn’t even faced me since—” My voice caught in my throat as memories flooded back. Since we slept together.
“This bond is not a punishment,” she said, her tone unwavering. “It’s a chance. For both of you.”
“A chance?” I repeated, bitterness seeping into every word. “For what? To be shackled to someone I barely know? To be turned into some half-creature that doesn’t belong anywhere?”
