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So very arrogant to linger in the water with a siren.

So very arrogant … and reckless.

Save Des. Kill this monster. Those are the only two goals I have at the moment. Now that I know my glamour works on the Thief, these goals seem temptingly easy. But that’s the same thought I had when I sought to ambush Galleghar on Barbos. No doubt there’s a trap waiting for me here as well. Nothing is easy when it comes to the Thief.

There are two kinds of predators. One who chases after prey, and one who coaxes their prey to them.

A great god like Euribios must feel impervious to harm. He’s too great, too powerful.

It will be his downfall.

But I can’t be too hasty.

Let him think he has control of the situation. Beguile him softly.

I stare up at the Thief. “Am I the only one to be baptized?”

His eyes glitter. In response, he steps closer to me, his gaze fixed on my face. “You are … utterly singular. You always have been.” He looks awed by the affect I have on him. “If you want to baptize me, siren, then simply give me the order.”

He begs for death!

I take his hand. “Come, my captor king.”

My blood stirs as I tug him deeper and deeper into the pool. I can feel the ancient compulsion to draw my victim into the water.

Water …

Months ago, I remember thinking about the origins of my kind.

How sirens were known for luring sailors into the sea. That story never made sense. The perverse cruelty of it all. The seeming randomness of the victim and the manner of death.

But it’s not random at all.

The water is hungry for blood.

Iam hungry for blood.

Vengeance and lust and bloodsport all call to me.

Have patience …

Maybe those sailors deserved their deaths. Maybe they didn’t.

I place my hands on Euribios’s shoulders. He’s watching my lips, waiting for my next order.

Patience …

“Let me anoint you in the waters of the dead.”

My clawtips dig into his shoulders, pressing down. Slowly he lowers himself.

Patience …

I lean in close, until only a breath separates my lips from his.

“Drown,” I breathe.

Our patience isgone.