Page 24 of When the Wicked Sing
“Demons?” she chuckled. “Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”
“Back then, these islands didn’t have much value, so the fae left, and mortals moved in.”
“The vultures,” she joked. The sound of the sea crashing drifted to her ears, and she stepped to the side of the arch, tugging on the rope that connected her to Dax. He huffed but let her look over the edge.
“Damn,” she breathed as she stared down at how far the sea was from where they stood. Violent waves crashed against the rocks jutting out from the sea and up the side of the cliff. Her gaze lifted to the other side of the chasm, where another archway stood, far enough away to appear twice as small. The salty wind blew her hair around her face, stinging her eyes.
Dax let out a low whistle over her shoulder. “Yeah, there’s no jumping that. You’ll die instantly.”
Mariana lifted an eyebrow at him. “So would you.”
He had the nerve to smirk at her, then pulled her back toward the strange doorway.
“If this thing doesn’t work, we’ll both fall to our deaths. That’s nice,” she muttered.
“The only way it wouldn’t work was if you and I were mortals.”
She squinted. “How’s that?”
“Mortal blood can’t use the Crossing. Only fae blood can pass through.”
Taking a hesitant step back, she said, “But I’m not fae, I’m a siren.”
He placed his hand against her back, stopping her. “Every siren has fae blood; that much I know. You’ll be fine.”
She hated the worried look he must’ve seen across her face and quickly schooled her features.
“Fine. Bastards first,” she said politely and gestured for him to go. The smirk never left his eyes as he shook his head and shoved her through.
Mariana’s lungs seized. She closed her eyes, fearing the worst, and expected to feel herself falling to her death, straight into the place she called home, when her feet stumbled.
Rocks crunched beneath her boots, and she realized she wasn’t falling.
Releasing a shaky breath, she smiled and opened her eyes just as a pair of rough hands grabbed her arms and sneering copper eyes inspected her.
A gravelly voice from chapped lips said, “Who do we have here?”
Chapter 12
Daxtookadeepbreath, enjoying the moment of peace and quiet. As he slowly exhaled, he reminded himself why he was doing this and why he had to follow through with his orders.
Then the silk string connecting him to Mari yanked him right out of his relaxed state and through the archway.
“Look what we have here at the other end of the leash!” a rough voice he didn’t recognize shouted.
Dax’s body tensed as he inspected the three male fae surrounding him.
One with long, black hair was holding Mari by the throat as she tried kicking him in the shins with zero luck getting free. The male was tall and built like a brick wall. He sneered in her face before turning that scornful gaze at Dax as if he were proud of his shiny new stolen toy.
But Mari was no toy. She seethed, glaring at the lowlife like she couldn’t wait to riphisthroat out.
The one who’d shouted at him held a long steel blade in his weathered hand. Dax could tell from where he stood a few steps away that it hadn’t been sharpened in quite some time. Theyweren’t typical marauders then, so why were they staking out the archway?
“Agray-skintrackin’ down ablue-skin. Hah! Come to collect yourself a bounty, have you?” The knave’s dirty brown hair blew in stringy strands around his face, and he kept shaking his head to clear his eyes. One of them was swollen and bruised.
Dax made a silent promise that by the time he was finished with these idiots, he would make sure both eyes were even.
“Oi! How much is a siren worth these days?” the greasy brute asked the black-haired male holding Mari, who laughed and sneered.
