Shiri

T he next morning, we were up before the sun’s rays had peeked over the horizon, wordlessly preparing to go to the fallen Temple of Kyan that Malvolia had forced me to raze, not to be confused with the temple in Windhaven that the priestesses had to flee when the spiders attacked. Our ancient goddess, Kyan, had several temples dedicated to her scattered throughout the Fae realm.

Tari quietly sipped her memory tea and nibbled on a tart while the girls made a mess serving themselves. My heart was heavy as I picked at my breakfast, for I couldn’t get images of Drae with those glowing demon eyes out of my head. What if it took too long for me to learn the siren song and Drae was lost to me forever? Or what if the demon Mephis was right, and I’d never learn the song? Would all Faedom be doomed? No. I couldn’t accept that outcome. Mephis was lying just to shake my confidence. I would learn that song.

Tari tapped me on the shoulder. “You all right, sister?”

I shrugged a response. “As well as can be.”

She hugged me tight, kissing my cheek. “I understand,” she whispered in my ear. “We’ll get through this together.”

I hugged her back, so grateful I still had her.

After we got the girls ready, their eyes still heavy with sleep, we held their hands and headed outside. We weren’t about to leave the girls behind, and we had agreed not to separate. Not with so many enemies willing to plunge their daggers into our backs.

Helian finished saddling up the dragons by torchlight. It was still dark outside, but I couldn’t wait another moment.

Triss made snorts of protest as Isa licked smatters of blood off her scaled face like a cat grooming her kitten. Isa craned her long neck toward us when we stood beneath her shadow, pale ribbons of the sun’s first rays shining through the membranes on her wings.

“Good morning, Isa!” Tari called to her.

Good morning, Goddesses. Isa hovered over us, her neck swaying like a snake as she projected her thought into our minds. How did you sleep?

Tari heaved a loud sigh. “Meh.”

“Not well,” I answered. “You?”

She blew out a plume of smoke while giving her mate a side-eyed glare. As well as can be expected when your mate snores and farts like a bubonic troll.

Radnor turned on his mate with a fanged snarl. The witch cursed me with a flatulence spell.

Laughing, Tari planted her hands on her hips. “I did no such thing, though I’m happy to take the credit.”

Isa rolled her eyes. I’m sure it had nothing to do with that rotting whale carcass you ingested.

Helian finished cinching Radnor’s saddle, then landed on the ground with the dexterity of a cat jumping from a tree. “Try sleeping beneath his belly after he’s eaten rotten meat. It smells like a week-old battlefield.”

Radnor let out a blubbery growl, embers flying from his mouth and landing precariously close to our feet. Are we going to complain about my digestive system or go find the book?

When Tari cleared her throat, I nudged her side, projecting a thought into her mind. No more banter, sister. We need to find the book.

Shooting me an apologetic look, she said, “Helian, and I will ride with Radnor and one child.” She motioned toward the children. “You’ll ride with Isa and the other.”

When Aurora held up her arms to me, I took her and thanked Isa as she flattened her body against the ground. After Helian helped me strap Aurora into the saddle, I buckled myself in too.

It didn’t take long for Tari, Helian, and Ember to get settled on Radnor, and then we were thankfully off, the cool morning air sending a chill down my spine with each flap of Isa’s wings. I wrapped my arms around Aurora, holding her tight as we flew over the city’s jagged buildings and then over smaller homes with thatched roofs. Most of the city wasn’t awake yet, an eerie silence greeting us from below while the sun barely crept over the horizon. The fishmongers and bread bakers had yet to set up their stands at the market. Perhaps that was a good thing. I didn’t want them to see us leaving and panic that we might not return.

After we passed a beautiful park with a temple and inky black pond at one end, we flew over the tall wall that wrapped around the city, lit with torches at each tall turret. The firemage guards’ eyes were trained on us as we flew past them, and I wondered if they’d shoot at us if Malvolia commanded it.

I squinted into the darkness, shocked to see rows upon rows of tents pitched just outside the wall. The occupants of the tent city still slept within the confines of the flimsy walls that billowed in the breeze.

Odd , I projected to Isa. I don’t remember all those tents outside the city walls.

Those are country peasants begging to be let in , she answered. They’re afraid of demons attacking their villages.

What? Why haven’t they been let in?

Malvolia says there’s not enough food or shelter for them , Isa answered darkly.

Not enough food or shelter? We could build more shelters, and Tari could grow more food. But they are Delfians , I argued. It’s the queen’s job to protect them.

Isa’s laughter rang in my ears. Don’t tell her that.

Rage boiled and bubbled my blood. How could my aunt just leave them out there? Even if she cared nothing for their safety, didn’t she realize they would be turned to soldiers in the demon army if left outside the walls?

I wondered how many children were among those displaced Delfians as I squeezed Aurora tight, grateful she and Ember were safe. Resolve hardened my spine. If Malvolia wouldn’t let them in, then I would, and she could go to hell if she didn’t like it.

* * *

Shiri

“T HIS IS IT?” MY SISTER asked while spinning a slow circle around the rubble that had once been a beautiful temple. She held tightly to the children’s hands, refusing to let them explore, though they begged to go collect stones for Aurora’s slingshot.

“What’s left of it, yes,” I grumbled. Shame washed over me for desecrating it, but Malvolia had forced my hand by choking my mates with her black magic until I finally brought down the structure. I thought bitterly back on that day and realized I’d never forgive her for that. I would never forgive her for a lot of things, but watching my mates writhe on the ground had made me see the depth of her cruelty up close. And my parents had thought I’d grow up to be just like her, which was probably why I hated Malvolia most of all.

I shivered, wrapping my arms around myself when a chill in the air coated my exposed hands and face and sank into my pores. How I missed my firemage mates, for they would’ve warmed me with the flames that heated their veins. Steam rose from the forest floor, coating the air in a fine mist and making it hard to see more than a few paces ahead. The dragons shifted uncomfortably from claw to claw while eyeing the dense foliage surrounding us. Both Radnor and Isa seemed spooked by this place, though it was rare for fire-breathing monsters to be frightened of anything.

Helian walked through the rubble, disintegrating a rock into a plume of dust when he kicked it with his boot. He turned to us, frowning. “How are we supposed to find the spellbook in this?”

A hopeless feeling washed over me. Nothing could’ve survived this destruction. My shoulders caved inward. “I don’t know.”

“Can you undo what you’ve done?” Tari asked me.

I gave her a helpless look. “How?”

Tari knelt beside the girls, grasping Ember’s shoulders. “Darling, do your friends know where the book is?”

Ember nodded, jutting a finger toward the center of what used to be the temple. “Under there.”

“Okay.” Tari stood, straightening out her skirts while eyeing the pile of rubble that was easily three men in height. “Then, all we have to do is dig it out.”

When we collectively turned toward Radnor, he arched back like a feral cat. Why does everyone look at me?

Helian laughed. “You know why, Radnor.”

Tari narrowed her eyes at the drake. “Do you want these demons gone, or not?”

He rose up to all fours, appearing like he would either give Tari a tongue-lashing or eat her, but Isa nudged him, batting her lashes.

Radnor snarled, then whimpered, then sulked toward the rubble, his tail dragging between his legs. Everyone, get out of the way , he grumbled.

We ran behind Isa as she tucked us and Triss behind her wing like a protective mama dragon.

“Try not to tear up the book!” Tari hollered.

Be lucky I don’t tear you up! Radnor answered with a rumble so deep, it nearly knocked us on our backs. Luckily, Triss broke our fall, grunting when we fell against her.

I watched through the foggy membrane of Isa’s wing while a blurry dragon dug through the rubble like a dog searching for a bone, tossing huge boulders into the air that smashed trees on the other side of us.

He dug for several interminable minutes before calling us with a snarl. Come out, witches.

Isa lifted her wing, and I took a tentative step into the foggy air, the dust so thick, I could scarcely breathe. I covered my mouth with my cape.

Helian covered his mouth, too, and motioned to Tari. “Can you get rid of the dust?”

Tari coughed, fanning her face. “Girls, stay with Isa for a moment,” she said to the children.

Isa dropped her wing over them like a falling curtain and Tari summoned a powerful wind and blew the dust and fog into the thick trees behind us. Helian picked up the girls, holding them against his broad chest as we approached Radnor. Beads of sweat coated Radnor’s crimson scales as he stood over a deep, dark hole.

Tari summoned a ball of light, shining it into the hole, revealing a crumbling set of spiral stairs leading to a basement floor that was coated with fallen rock and other debris. She released the light, letting it sink into the hole, floating until it reached an intact wall of rock with what looked like an iron cell door in the center. “Look there!”

“Can you knock it down?” I called to Radnor.

No. He sat on his haunches, wrapping his tail around his legs, his scales covered in soot. It’s walled by Thunderstone. Whoever built this cellar ensured it was indestructible.

“Which means the dragons won’t be able to fit through the door,” Helian answered.

Clucking her tongue, Tari eyed the hole. “The book has to be in there.”

I took Ember from Helian, holding her on my hip. “Darling,” I asked while tucking a loose strand of her long, chestnut hair behind her slightly tapered ear, “did your friends say the book is behind that door?”

She stuck her thumb in her mouth and nodded.

Helian handed Aurora to Tari and took a tentative step on the top of the crumbling stairway.

“Be careful, Helian,” Tari called to him while rocking Aurora on her hip.

“I’ll try not to bust my bollocks.” Nervous-sounding laughter rang in his words. “But I can’t make any promises.” Then he slipped with a yelp, sliding down the stairway as it crumbled beneath his feet. He landed like a drunk squirrel jumping from a tree, dodging gravel that slid across the floor behind him. “You sure your friends don’t want us to die, so they can have more friends?” Helian called up to Ember, a sharp edge to his voice as he adjusted the shield that was strapped to his back.

Ember pulled her thumb from her mouth. “They don’t want you to die,” she called down to him. “That’s why they say to bring a sword.”

Helian’s eyes bulged as he grabbed the hilt of his sword.

“Why?” I asked her. “What’s down there?”

She grasped my shoulder, peering at me with eyes far too wise for her age. “The sentry.”

An icy premonition snaked up my spine and made my stomach roil and pitch. “The sentry?”

She trembled in my arms. “It guards the book and has horns and eats flesh.”

“Eww,” Aurora squealed while hugging Tari’s neck. “You shouldn’t lie, Em.”

Ember stuck out her tongue at her sister. “I’m not lying!”

Tari shared a look with me, projecting a question into my head. Do you believe her?

I repressed a grimace while smiling at my niece. She doesn’t lie about these things.

“Just great.” I heaved a frustrated breath, wishing my niece was prone to tall tales. I didn’t feel like going up against this sentry. But what choice did I have? Drae needed me to find that spell.

You’re not going in there, Prince. Radnor blew a plume of smoke with a growl, his eyes flaring as he fogged the air. I can’t fit through the door to protect you.

Tari blew the smoke back toward the dragons with a scowl. “He doesn’t need you. He has me.”

When Radnor snarled at her, she narrowed her eyes. “Now would be a good time for me to use that flatulence spell.”

Enough! Isa hissed, arching back while baring her fangs. The enemy grows stronger while we bicker.

“She has a point,” I said to them.

Of course, I do , Isa rumbled . I didn’t evade the demons for twenty-four years because I’m stupid.

Tari glanced from Helian to me, then at that iron door. “Who’s going in there?”

Helian faced the door, his expression grim. “I’ll go.”

Tari shook her head. “Not without me.”

“You’re jesting, right?” Helian clutched the hilt of his sword, his eyes nearly crossing. “Do you think I’d let you go in there?”

“Helian...” Tari pleaded.

Helian’s face turned as red as a dragon’s pecker. “I’m not allowing my mate and the mother of my child through that door!”

I was shocked by his assertiveness and wondered why Helian, as the oldest of his brothers and next in line to the throne, wasn’t the alpha.

Tari lifted her chin, her bottom lip quivering. “You can’t stop me.”

Helian closed his eyes, tension lines tightening his mouth. When he opened them, he looked up at my sister with a plea. “Tari, please don’t fight me on this.”

“I’ll go with him,” I blurted, the words that spewed from my mouth feeling like a death knell. I was absolutely insane to agree to go into that cellar, but what choice did I have?

Ember clung to me, shivering. “I don’t want you to get hurt, Auntie,” she pleaded.

I kissed her temple, murmuring in her ear. “It will be okay, sprite.”

Tari moved closer to me. “Shiri, are you sure about this?”

“We have to do this, Tari.” My throat constricted as I stared down at Helian. “It has to be Helian and me while you stay up here with the girls.”

“And what of this sentry?” Tari asked us.

“We’ll be fine.” Summoning a confidence I didn’t feel, I straightened my shoulders. “I have yet to meet a creature not affected by the siren’s call.”

Tari clutched my arm as Aurora looked at me with glossy eyes. “I just found you. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t.” I gave her a reassuring smile while trying to forget that a flesh-eating creature was waiting for me on the other side of that door.

Helian climbed back up the stairs with haste as more of the flooring crumbled beneath him. He kissed Tari with Aurora between them. Then he kissed the girls’ foreheads, ruffling their hair. “Be good for your mother, sprites.”

Radnor let out a low rumble, his long neck snaking toward his rider . I don’t like this, Prince.

Helian shrugged. “Believe me, neither do I.”

I squinted at the darkness below. “Do you know how to open the door?” I asked Helian.

When he looked at me like a deer caught in a hunter’s crosshairs, Ember said, “My friends say the siren’s call, Auntie.”

“Good to know.” I tenderly stroked her cheek. “Thank you, darling. Auntie will see you both soon.” I kissed my nieces again, inhaling the lavender in their hair and relishing the feel of their soft cheeks against mine one more time while committing their sweet faces to memory. Then I reluctantly handed Ember to Tari.

She balanced both children on her hips with a frown. “I can’t lose you, Helian.”

“I will come back to you, Tari,” Helian answered grimly. “Even if I have to claw my way out of hell.”

I had to look away when Tari set the children down and Helian kissed her once more.

“Sheesh!” Aurora said aloud. “All you do is kiss.”

“And rub against each other,” Ember added with a giggle.

I let out a deep belly laugh at that, and so did Tari and Helian. My nieces knew exactly how to break up tension.

“You ready?” I asked Helian.

Clutching the hilt of his sword, he faced me with a grimace. “Not really, but let’s get this over with.”

He took my hand and helped me down the unstable stairs while Tari watched from above, nervously chewing her lip. I looked over my shoulder as twin balls of light followed us. I mouthed my thanks to my sister for her little magic trick. Hopefully, those balls of light would continue to follow us into the abyss. They would come in handy should a horned monster try to eat our flesh.

I frowned at the dust-covered iron door, shocked and intrigued by the round, bulky handle that was actually a dial with engraved symbols, like moons, dragons, and sirens. I didn’t know what to do other than to summon my siren and say, “Open.”

When nothing happened, I frowned up at Ember, and she squinted at the sky painted with faint pink ribbons above her head. No doubt, one of her friends was hovering above her.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, she called down to me. “Say ‘apertis,’ and be sure to tell the door who you are!”

I faced the door again, a strange tingly feeling coming over me like hornets were coursing through my veins. “Door, I’m Princess Shirina Avias, daughter to Flora, Derrick, and Marius Avias, niece to Queen Malvolia Avias.” I wondered if I should have admitted my relation to the evil sorceress queen. “I’m a white witch come to retrieve the book that will help us defeat the demons.” I swallowed back bile that burned my throat. “Apertis.”

Much to my shock and relief, the door rattled as if it was about to fly off its hinges, and the locking mechanism made all kinds of creaks and groans before it finally heaved open as if moved by a ghost.

I gaped at the darkness that greeted us, not reassured when the color had drained from Helian’s face. The two glowing balls of light that Tari had manifested floated ahead of us, illuminating stone walls and a dusty slate floor.

Tipping my head back, I called to Ember. “Do your friends know where exactly this book is down there?”

Ember looked above her, then called down, “Follow the smoke.”

My confusion was reflected in Helian’s gaze when I repeated, “Follow the smoke?”

He shrugged. “That should be easy enough.”

“Sorry if I don’t share in your optimism,” I retorted, “but nothing in my life is ever easy.” Swallowing back my fear, I cast one last look at Tari and the girls before descending into darkness.

* * *

Blaze

A FTER FLYING ALL DAY and night and operating on very little sleep, I finally reached the southernmost port of Caldaria, the town of Cyrene. The bustling seaside village was not like I’d remembered. It had only been a few days since we’d flown here, and already the town had doubled in size, with even more shanties and tents surrounding the perimeters. What were they all doing here? Were they refugees from Peloponese? Or perhaps Skullgrove?

I soared low over the town after spotting dragons flying over the shoreline in the distance. Call it a bad premonition, but the hair on the back of my nape stood on end for fear of them spotting me, and I couldn’t get the morbid thought out of my head that the dragons would love to pluck a lone firemage out of the sky.

I landed quietly in a back alley near the local tavern, the smell of freshly baked bread reminding me I hadn’t eaten, though it didn’t mask the tang of blood in the air. Tucking my wings tightly behind me, I did my best to conceal my feathers and hopefully blend in with the crowd, and that’s when I heard the whispers of a darkness spreading over Caldaria. I scanned the skies once more for Nikkos and Finn before ducking into a tavern. Hopefully, they’d arrive soon, for I had a bad feeling whatever these refugees were running from would be soon coming for us all.