Page 91

“The real question, Prince, is what don’t I know?” She tilted her head, eyes narrowing. “The Veil of Visions. I already know Esmyra has spoken of it to you.”

“That basin in the tower?”

“Indeed,” she answered, her body still pressed to his. “It does more than conjure reflections of memory. It’s a looking glass, revealing more than just this world. It also shows what lies beyond the sea—above its surface.”

As her words sank in, his pulse quickened. Syrena had been watching them—more than that, she’d been watching the realm .

“So tell me, Prince,” she purred, a mocking edge to her voice, “do you still think you’re one step ahead? Or are you finally starting to realize you’re exactly where I wanted you all along?”

“You vindictive bitch,” he growled, lip curling.

Her smile grew more malicious as she leaned in closer, her voice a taunting whisper.

“Oh, you’re so quick to anger. So much like your maker, who felt the same for her.

For Kaelypso,” she said, watching the fury blaze in his eyes.

“You should’ve listened to your first instincts about me, Draevyn Rowe.

I am what you would consider evil. And so is Esmyra.

Why do you think they tried to kill us in the first place? ”

His fists clenched, knuckles whitening as he held himself back. “You don’t know the first thing about her, or me.”

Syrena’s laugh was light, mocking. “Oh, but I do, handsome. I’ve watched everything.

For hundreds of years, I’ve sat and waited for my vengeance.

And now, I know you’ll understand how I plan to raise the kingdom once more—by unlocking the bones of our true forms from the crypt.

Bones that you so conveniently led her to.

” She shrugged a shoulder. “So, thanks for making that part easy.”

Draevyn’s face hardened with realization, rage breaking past his restraint. “I will die before I let you harm her. I will melt the flesh from your fucking bones.” He meant every word as he spat them at her.

“Ah, yes. I assumed it would come to that, hence the velsinyte bracelet.”

“That you removed,” he reminded her, grinning as embers sparked at his fingertips. “You think she’ll just stand by while you take whatever twisted revenge you have planned?”

An evil, bone-chilling cackle erupted from her before she tsked. “The removal was necessary for my plans.” Her voice was like silk. “And ‘stand by?’ Oh, darling, she’ll be exactly where I need her to be. And here’s why.”

As their stare down continued, her amber eyes shifted, the pupils morphing into slits, mimicking that of his favorite pair of icy blues.

And suddenly, all of his thoughts went quiet—the devastating fear that gripped him by the throat from Syrena’s threats loosened their hold, and was replaced by a blissful calm. Gazing into her eyes, he felt an irresistible tug toward her, his reality becoming a haze.

The danger radiating from the predator standing beneath him slipped away, and all he could feel was her seductive allure, dragging him to her like the force of the raging tide.

“Kiss me, Draevyn Rowe.”

Draevyn Rowe . That was how Esmyra always said his name—a flirtatious threat. His eyes roamed over the face directly beneath his chin, her body pressed against his, and all he saw was her.

As he drew closer, her face became clearer in the soft merlight peering through the windows. Esmyra’s perfect face, begging for him to press his lips to hers, and by all gods, did he want to. He craved it more than anything, every second of every day.

Draevyn obeyed and kissed the goddess before him. It felt just as it had the night prior, bringing warmth to his entire being, mimicking the moment one steps into a quiet lake under the sun.

Her kiss was soft, yet filled with need, sending a thrill through him all the way through his fingertips. He couldn’t think, didn’t want to. Everything faded—the taste of salt on her lips, the softness of her touch. It all threatened to consume him, just as she always had.

There was a strange tug at the back of his mind, a faint instinct telling him that something wasn’t right. But her hands slid up to his face, her fingers tangled in his hair, and all doubts evaporated in an instant.

Draevyn became lost in her, in that kiss that felt endless, like falling without fear, like drowning but never needing air.

That was how it always felt when he was with Esmyra.

His Wildfire was his warmth—she was his .

Suddenly, a soft creak sounded, and then the door to his chambers slowly swung open.

“Drae?” Esmyra’s voice echoed through the room.

The kiss broke, and the trance shattered like glass.

Draevyn blinked, dazed and disoriented. His mind spun as he pulled away, shoving out of Syrena’s hold.

His throat tightened, heart thundering in his chest as his gaze lifted to the doorway.

And there she stood.

His Wildfire.

Esmyra’s expression was thunderous, her lips set in a tight, furious line. Her eyes mimicked storm clouds—dark and brooding with betrayal.

She didn’t move. Didn’t say a word, but the weight of her gaze was enough to make him feel as though his entire world had just crumbled in seconds .

A chill ran through Draevyn, and the room suddenly felt unbearably small—the air heavier, suffocating.

“Esmyra, no—” He took a step toward her, but she raised a hand, halting him.

“Don’t.” Esmyra’s voice cracked, and she looked away for a moment, blinking as if to hold back the flood of tears he knew both of them felt.

And then she said the words that shattered his heart, feeling the crack splintering between them. “I trusted you.”

The silence that stretched between them was deafening. And it was in that silence that Draevyn realized he may have just lost everything before he even fully had it in his grasp.

Esmyra’s eyes lost their fire, now staring at him, dead and cold, before she slammed the door to his chambers shut, leaving his sight.

“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, but the only person the words reached was Syrena, who watched him with wicked amusement.

Draevyn’s head snapped toward the queen, fury flaring in his chest. “ You ?—”

Syrena still wore that mocking, self-satisfied smirk on her face. “Ahhh, young love,” she said in a cheery voice, but her next words echoed with pure venom. “It’s what fucking cost us everything in the first place.”

A raging ball of flame erupted in his palms, and just as he was about to throw it in her face, her eyes shifted once more, and he became paralyzed—locked under her compulsion again, only this time he had all of his senses. It was as if she compelled him to just remain frozen in time.

“Not so fast. I’ve been burned by your flames before, Draevyn Rowe, and I have no intention of it happening again.

” The bitterness in her voice seeped through each word.

“You see, the power Esmyra and I will wield together is what will break the chains, for I don’t possess the magic to do it myself.

And once the kingdom is restored above, I’ll have no use for her.

With her powers under my command, the seas will bend to my will, and Kaelypso will be nothing but a memory. ”

Her gaze roamed over him as the door opened once more.

Relief flooded him, thinking Esmyra had returned, but when his stare lifted, his heart stopped.

Azarian, the queen’s head guard, stood in the archway, along with five others, weapons in hand.

Draevyn writhed against the siren queen’s hold, his body vibrating with rage and worry for Esmyra, but all he could feel was his will cracking beneath her grasp.

“Don’t feel bad, Draevyn. It was inevitable. Irah couldn’t save Kaelypso before, and you can’t save Esmyra now.” She tsked. “We would’ve been great together, you and I. But now I fear you will only continue to be a thorn in my side, making an already difficult task damn near impossible.”

He was screaming. Draevyn was screaming and raging at the top of his lungs in her face, igniting her in flames over and over and watching her body burn in his mind—only that was where the vision remained. In his mind.

Trapped under her hold, he could do nothing as her guards stalked toward him, grabbed him by his arms, and held their spears to his throat.

“Tell Cyrus I said hello,” Syrena taunted, and before Draevyn could blink, she swiped her talons across his eye—three of her claws slicing through his brow and flesh.

“Consider yourself lucky I didn’t use venom,” she finished.

As he went to roar in pain, an unbearable agony erupted through the back of his skull.

And then Draevyn’s world went dark.