Page 51 of The Lost Siren

I sat dully in front of my fireplace, restless as the marks on my neck twinged in pain when I moved. Benedict was such anass.

D’Arcy’s hands dug into my shoulder blades, but it was anything but soothing as his fingers probed too close to Benedict’s wound, reveling in my pain as he jabbed and poked at it.

“My my…someone isverydispleased with you.”

I ignored him, my strategy of choice. His hands continued to caress my face, my neck, and reached lower. My skin crawled in revulsion, but I forced my body to be limp. I needed him to come through on this last task, so that I could prove myself to Benedict and all the other Drakens. It was stupid and infantile, but it was the only bit of hope I could latch onto. I couldn’t bear the look of hate in Benedict’s eyes when he looked at me.

D’Arcy yanked my head back, his hands running up and down my throat as he lowered his lips to mine. I went stiff, unable to relax even if I had decided to let him do what he wanted. I was secretly afraid he would force the issue the entire way, but every time he’d come close, he’d merely sniff at the wounds on my neck, his nose wrinkling in disgust. Perhaps it was a good thing Benedict had hurt me. If I was honest, Iwantedto hurt. Everything was such a mess.

“You’re hardly any fun when you don’t fight back,” D’Arcy sulked, his hands dropping to the sides of the chair.

“Just leave me alone,” I whispered. He made a sound of disdain in the back of his throat, but blessedly let me be. I wasn’t sure how much longer I sat there, staring at the fire. At some point, I became aware of another presence. The turquoise coloring made me flinch, but it wasn’t D’Arcy.

“Hey.”

Sabien pulled up a chair next to me, folding in his wings and melding seamlessly into his human form. He didn’t sit, not yet.

“Did you come to get a swing in at me too, since I murdered your cousin?” I didn’t bother lifting my eyes from the dancing flames in the grate before me.

“I find it hard to believe a little thing like you nearly decapitated him, and with his own sword.”

I didn’t answer, and he crossed his arms.

“Did you seduce him? That would be the only thing that would have worked against a warrior like him. We’reallwarriors, yet you’ve come out on top again and again so far. Why is that?”

Silence.

“What would you have me do, die?” I asked softly, my fingertips rapping on the edge of my chair. My eyes were heated.

“Don’t begrudge me using what meager weapons I have: soft skin and heated looks against scales and claws, teeth and blades.”

Sabien narrowed his eyes but sat down across from me.

“Benedict said Bair betrayed us; that he told Severn where we were hiding. Is that true?”

It would be no more than they deserved if I toyed with him, letting him wonder what information was true, and what wasn’t. I couldn’t do it, however, not to my friends, and not to Benedict. Not even if they hated me. I sat up straighter in my chair, daring to look at him.

“Benedict believes me?”

Sabien shifted. “Well, he didn’t at first, but then he recruited me to go on a scouting mission with him, and Kieran and Ronan.” His eyes were wide with wonder.

“I went outside of the mountain and spread my wings in the open air for the first time in centuries. I couldn’t leave the mountain physically, but it was still something. Benedict said he needed my help for a task, but he didn’t trust my father.”

Well, would you look at that. Perhaps hedidbelieve me. Sabien gazed past me, his eyes far away.

“He told us to stay where we were and wait for him to return. If he didn’t come back by morning, he said I was to tell everyone thatIwas king. I was petrified.”

I snorted, not blaming him.

“I’m assuming since you’re here and not making grand announcements in the hall that he came back?”

My heart thudded with worry as I waited for his answer.

“Yes, of course. He came back after hours and hours, but he did return. The look on his face…I don’t think I’ll forget it.”

I leaned forward in my chair, shaken out of my apathy by his tale.

“Where did he go, Sabien?” He looked up, those breathtaking, turquoise eyes meeting mine.

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