Page 84 of Gods of the Sea

CHAPTER 27—THE DEN OF SIRENS

The shadows fluttered and split apart, falling down from the ceiling and swooping across the ship. I screamed and ducked down as the wind picked up over us. Jacques didn’t seem perturbed whatsoever and held his ground despite the shadows swarming around him. He popped an eyebrow as the figures landed on the ship, standing straight to reveal a swarm of men and women with large, dark wings.

Sirens?

“Quite an entrance,” Jacques said, monotone.

“Why have you come to the Den of Sirens?” one of the male sirens asked, stepping forward.

Jacques lifted up his shirt slightly to show the Celtic designs across his ribs. The sirens all took a step back, a sudden serious shift in the atmosphere.

“Where is your king?” Jacques asked.

There was another pause.

“We will take you to him,” the siren said with a bow.

Jacques waved for Luc and me to come forward.

“These are incarnates,” Jacques told them. “They’re with me.”

It was odd to hear those words coming from Jacques’s lips. It made it sound like he was in charge of me somehow, and I didn’t like the idea of it. But it was the first time he had actually tried to keep me close instead of insulting me or attempting to feed me to the sharks, so I took it gracefully.

What I couldn’t take gracefully, however, was the reaction of the sirens.

When the male siren’s eyes met mine, his jaw slackened and he took a step back. The others did similarly after him, all of them staring at me with wide eyes.

“It can’t be…” the male siren said.

“She’s returned?” another whispered in the back.

“Even after the last time…”

“How many times…?”

I couldn’t understand all of their mutterings. I had never gotten such a rude welcoming in all my life, and that was including my meeting with Adrian.

Jacques turned his head over his shoulder to look at me, one eye narrowing.

“Intriguing,” he said as he looked at me. “It seems you have a reputation here.”

I motioned to the caves around us. “How is that possible? I’ve never been here before.”

“That you remember,” Jacques replied. “You forget that sirens are born here. It can’t be your first time.”

I looked around the caves, digging deep into my memories for anything remotely familiar. But no, I was positive I was seeing all of this for the first time. I had never been here before.

“Take us to the king immediately,” Jacques commanded the sirens. “And there are human men in the brig awaiting trials. Take them to Purgatory.”

Something in my stomach clenched. I stepped forward to object, but Jacques only shot me a terrifying look of disapproval. Before I could speak, however, Luc gently grabbed my arm and gave me a reassuring smile.

“They won’t harm them,” Luc said. “Not until after the Trials.”

I gritted my teeth. “Not that it matters to you either way.”

I ripped away from Luc’s hold and followed the other sirens, keeping my head high. Who cared if I was a cursed incarnate? Not that I fully believed that anyway. Whatever I was, or wasn’t, I knew this: I was still the same dignified lady I was before I had ever gotten on this ship. My father was still grander than anyking. And no matter what happened here, I would return to my family.

Two sirens led in front, while the others flanked us at the side and back. Other sirens stayed back on the ship, and it looked as if they were collecting up the crew and bringing them down to the cavern.

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