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Why does my power draw others in?

I always wondered about that. About how much of my alluring nature was to blame for my stepfather’s sick assaults. Obviously, that’s incorrect thinking—mystepfatherwas to blame for his actions, notmypower—but at the time I didn’t know it. And then an instructor at Peel Academy touched me inappropriately, and suddenly the abuse felt like a pattern, and I wondered all over again—why? Why did I have to be this way? If I blended in more, could I have escaped the abuse I endured?

No.

No, I could not have.

There will always be bad men, and they will take and take and take.

But so will I.

People like us are not victims. We’re someone’s nightmare.

I finally understand why my power draws others in.

“There are two kinds of predators,” I say softly. “One who chases after prey, and one who coaxes their prey to them.”

Galleghar hasn’t lost his smug expression.

He will in a moment.

“What do you see when you look at me?” I ask.

“My mortal enemy,” he says. “You must be destroyed.”

“What else?”

Again his brows draw together.

“A slave,” he says, compelled to answer by my magic.

“What else?”

He frowns, but his eyes drink me in, fascinated. “… An enchantress,” he finally says.

“Asiren,” I correct him.

There are aspects of my magic that I’ve unconsciously dulled over the years. The ability to ensnare my victims with a look alone—that is one of them.

The same part of me that resented my nature also fearedthispart of me. The sinister, powerful, punishing part of me. I already disliked the attention I received. I didn’t want anymoreof it.

That’s why, even at Peel Academy, I was a loner. I willed myself to be overlooked. I didn’t realize then that’s what I was doing, but I did it nonetheless.

And I continued doing it.

Until now.

All at once I unleash the full force of my magic on the room. My skin brightens a touch, and my power fills the air.

Dozens of fairies stand, their eyes glazing over as they look at me. Many begin to clamber over chairs, trying to get closer to me. Even Temper cuts towards my throne.

“Everyone, stay where you are.” My audience stops where they stand, bound by my order.

I gaze down at the former Night King. Abruptly, I stand. Stair by stair, I descend the dais, until I’m only a couple yards from him.

“What do you see now?” I ask.

This is what it’s like for a siren to hunt.