Page 17

Part Two

Curses, Crones, and the Cost of War

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Tari

“H OW MANY DOLLS MAY I bring?”

I frowned down at Ember, who stood in front of at least a dozen dolls lined up on the sofa as if they’d been invited to tea. “Two.”

“Two?” Ember’s features and shoulders fell. “I’ll get bored with just two.”

Aurora slung a sack over her shoulder, the toys inside clanking with the motion. “I can’t bring my dragons without my firemages.” She had such a serious expression, as if she had to choose between lifesaving potions.

These girls were starting to give me a migraine, and we hadn’t even left yet. I looked at Shiri, who hid a smile behind her hand.

Ember stomped a foot, appearing as if she was about to throw herself onto the floor in a fit of rage. “If Rora gets to bring all those toys, I should be allowed more dolls.”

Rubbing my throbbing temples, I released a frustrated breath.

“Girls, please don’t stress your mommy right now,” Shiri said as she helped Ember pack her dolls, shoving an extra one inside her already stuffed pack with a wink. “She has enough to worry about.”

“Are we almost ready?” Helian asked while popping his head inside the doorway. Moonlight cast his silver hair in an ethereal glow as he stood on the balcony threshold.

I nodded, then faced Shiri, a sickening feeling twisting my stomach in a knot at the thought of leaving Ash.

“Aurora will teleport me here every morning and evening,” I said while grasping her shoulders, “so it won’t feel like I’m gone at all.”

She visibly swallowed, her mouth pinching before she backed away. “Of course.”

My chest felt like it had split open as I followed her retreat. “Shiri, please don’t pull away.”

Turning her back on me, she wrapped her arms around herself. “I’m sorry.”

Fighting the urge to hold her, I clenched my hands into fists. “You can still come with us.”

She faced me, wiping her eyes. “I need to stay and figure out my siren song.”

“You can do that on Fallax.”

Frowning, she shook her head. “I’m not leaving Drae. I don’t trust him in our aunt’s care. She’s already tried to kill him once.”

I inwardly cringed at that. Though I hated to leave her behind, she was right. Considering our aunt’s mercurial moods, Drae and Ash needed someone to advocate for them while we were gone. “I understand. Will you do me a favor and check on Enso and Freya?” I hated to give her more responsibilities, but I needed to know they’d be okay. “The stable boy Falcon is watching them. You can just summon him for updates.”

“Of course.” She smiled. “I’ll check on them myself.” She looked as if she had more to say, but then she froze, her mouth contorting as her eyes fogged over.

“Shiri!” I reached out to her before my world shifted, and I was suddenly tumbling off the back of a wyvern, falling through the darkened sky, flames streaking past me as I roared and shifted into a furry beast. A blur of smoking black feathers flew past me, and I felt the sting of water slap my back like thousands of icy whips. Struggling to reach the surface, I swallowed a salty gulp before reaching the top and gasping for air. Sulfuric air filled my nostrils as dragons roared above me, slicing through hapless wyverns as they fell from the sky like birds striking leaded glass. I thought I spied flickering lantern lights and familiar masts from docked ships before a headless wyvern splashed beside me, causing a wave of water to crash over my head.

I sat up with a gasp, peering at my two non-furry hands. Ember and Aurora gaped at me with wide, terrified eyes.

“Tari!” Helian said, shaking my shoulders. “Tari, look at me!”

A scream died in my throat as I looked into Helian’s eyes.

“Tari, what happened?” he demanded. “Why were you calling for Finn?”

Finn? I mouthed.

Shiri let out a moan, calling out for Nikkos as she sat up beside me.

Nikkos? I remembered a flash of smoking black feathers. Odds were it was Nikkos and not Blaze, since Blaze had the magical gift of speed, and he could dodge the dragon fire in time. Was Finn the furry beast? Why had he fallen from a wyvern, and why were the dragons attacking? My heart rate slowed to a dull thud as my world came to a standstill. Shiri and I had just had a vision of our mates being attacked by dragons.

Heavenly Elements, no!

Helian shook my shoulders again. “Tari!”

I could hardly believe the words that came from my mouth. “Finn and Nikkos were attacked by dragons.”

The girls simultaneously let out childlike howls.

Ugh. Stupid me. Why had I said that aloud?

Panic flashed in Helian’s eyes. “Did they survive?”

The moisture evaporated from my mouth. “I-I don’t know.” I looked to Shiri for confirmation, but she was still in shock, gaping at me with a slackened jaw.

“Where were they?” Helian demanded.

I ran my tongue over my dry mouth, trying to piece together elements from my vision: the water, the lights, the ships. “I saw a town,” I rasped. “I believe Cyrene.”

Helian stood with a curse. “Shiri, what did you see?”

She dragged a hand down her face while releasing a slow breath. “Nikkos was badly burned.” Eyes watering, she gave me a pleading look. “Tari, I don’t know if he survived.”

I jerked when the door to the hall slammed open. Cassandra ran toward her son. “Helian!”

“We know, Mother.” Helian took her elbow, leading her to the sofa. “Tari and Shiri saw it too.” He thanked Ember, who quickly removed a few dolls, so her grandmother could sit.

Cassandra slumped onto the sofa, hanging her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking.

Helian helped me stand and then strapped on his sword. “We have to get to Cyrene—now.”

I grabbed Shiri’s hand, and she stumbled to her feet.

“Aurora’s never been there,” Shiri said to us.

Helian frowned while buckling the last of his straps. “How close can she get us?”

Shiri chewed her nails, her gaze darting from Aurora to Helian. “To our old cabin in the forest.”

“That’s not close enough.” Helian paced the floor. “It’s still several days away from Cyrene.”

Nikkos and Finn didn’t have days. They needed us now. Resolve stiffened my spine as I remembered the portal I’d created that stretched from the satyr village to the top of the Periculian Mountains after demons had taken the girls. “She will take us to the forest, and then I will summon a portal the rest of the way.”

Helian jerked to a stop. “Can you do it again?”

I shrugged. “I have no choice.” The alternative if I didn’t succeed was unthinkable.

Helian nodded. “Then, let’s go.”

Cassandra said quick goodbyes to Helian and the girls before Shiri followed us into the courtyard where our dragons were waiting.

Shiri and I shared a tight hug. “Goodbye, sister,” I whispered in her ear. “Please watch your back. I don’t trust that bitch.” She knew that I was speaking of Malvolia.

She pulled back, grasping my shoulders, her expression desperate. “I’ll be fine. Go save our mates, sister.” She kissed my cheek. “I love you.”

And I love you , I projected to her through thought while squeezing her shoulders, but my love doesn’t matter if you don’t love yourself first. That’s the key to finding your siren—realizing that you don’t need our mother’s love or our father’s trust. Nobody can protect and love your heart like you can. I splayed my hand over her heart, my throat constricting with emotion. The love that you need for the siren’s call is in here.

“Thank you, sister,” she said aloud while flashing a watery smile. “You don’t know what your words mean to me.” Taking a big step back, Shiri blew the girls kisses. “Come back to me soon.”

Helian grabbed Ember, and I hoisted Aurora into my arms. “I will, and our family will be whole again.”

At least, I prayed we would be. Our family couldn’t bear the loss of Finn or Nikkos. What good was all my magic if I couldn’t keep my loved ones safe?

* * *

Finn

D ESPITE THE OPEN WINDOWS , the pungent smell of burned feathers permeated the room as Nikkos lay as still as a corpse upon the four-poster bed. The innkeepers had procured a green witch, a female wolf shifter related to the innkeepers who appeared well past childbearing age, if the gray hairs in her bushy eyebrows and her massive, saggy breasts were any indication. I didn’t know her, but she was kind enough, having lived all her life in the town of Cyrene with a small handful of rebel shifters. I didn’t want to alarm Blaze, but this green witch wasn’t very skilled. She relied on potions and salves, and I was starting to wonder if she had any magic at all. The bandages she’d wrapped around Nikkos’s wings and back were already soaked with blood and would need to be changed soon. She’d drifted off to sleep in a chair beside the hearth, saying she’d used too much magic, though I hadn’t seen the slightest green sparks coming from her hands.

The innkeepers had been kind enough to procure me new clothes after I’d shredded my last ones. Considering they were shifters, too, they were more than understanding. After a hot bath and a filling meal, I sat in a chair across from Nikkos’s bed, my feet propped up on an ottoman while Blaze sat beside his brother, his wings draped behind him, his brow creased with worry.

I glanced over my shoulder upon hearing a rap on the door. I already knew it was Bridget, the innkeeper’s young daughter, for I’d heard her lithe footsteps coming up the stairs. She peeked her head inside, her dark braids swaying in front of her. “Masters Inferni and Lykaios, you have a visitor.”

I shot up with a growl when I heard heavy footsteps outside, my nostrils flaring when I recognized the scent of sulfur and leather.

Blaze stood, tension in his bunched shoulders and raised wings. “Who?”

My growl intensified when the door swung open, revealing a Sidhe dragon rider with pale hair and skin and dark brows who couldn’t have been older than five and twenty summers. There was something familiar about the intensity of his moss green eyes. He was a few inches shorter than Helian but could’ve easily passed for his cousin.

“Lord Inferni, Prince Lykaios.” The dragon rider splayed a hand across his heart and bowed. “I’m Sir Luminae, but you may call me Declan. I’ve come to check on the youngest Lord Inferni.”

My ears perked, trying to pick up any deceit in his voice, but I sensed nothing amiss. Odd. Was he the green witch Ivar had told us about? The sack he carried on his back should’ve been a good indication. It smelled of strong, pungent spices, very much like the sack of herbs Tari carried. Of course, he was nobility. Many Sidhe Fae were, especially if they were dragon riders. And if they weren’t already born into noble families, Fachnan knighted them simply because they were dragon riders.

“We already have a green witch,” Blaze said, motioning toward the sleeping shifter whose double chins were fully resting on her ample bosom.

“I know,” he said on a loud whisper while readjusting the sack hanging from his shoulder, “but as a dragon rider, I’ve had lots of experience healing burns.”

Blaze slowly crossed over to Declan, his lips pinching while he glared at the dragon rider. “How can we trust you?”

To my surprise, Declan turned toward me and cleared his throat. “I wasn’t with the dragons who attacked Lupine. Fachnan had sent those of us with shifter families to the Tribus Point. My aunt married into the Animos pack. My cousins were shifters. Perhaps you knew them.”

Stunned into silence, it took me a moment to find my voice. “I did.”

The two oldest Animos brothers had been loyal friends of our fathers. I remembered well the night they’d brought home a beautiful Sidhe Fae bride with the same eyes as Declan. No wonder his eyes looked familiar. Their match had shocked not just the members of our tribe with their unusual fated mate, but the bride’s father, who’d come a few weeks later to reclaim his daughter, only to be turned away with the threat of violence. The young bride had easily acclimated to our shifter tribe and had given her two mates twin sons and then triplet daughters two years later. I still didn’t know who all had survived the dragon attack. I had hoped the Animos pack had been among the few lucky shifters to escape.

As if reading my thoughts, Declan answered. “They were all killed in the attack. The youngest were only babes.” He cleared his throat, and I sensed the tension and depression radiating off him. “My mother died in childbirth. My aunt had been like a mother to me.” His voice splintered as he abruptly looked away.

“My condolences.” I clutched my chest, pierced by the blade of despair. “The Animos were a brave and honorable pack, and their mate was a truly special Fae.”

Declan’s eyes misted as he gave a slight bow. “My condolences to you, too. Your fathers were fair kings. Ever since the attack against Lupine, we’ve had unrest among our ranks.” He paused, frown lines etched around his mouth and eyes. “There is bad blood between those who razed Lupine and those who resent them for it.”

I glared at him through slits. There was still a missing piece to this puzzle. “And yet you follow Ivar.”

Declan’s pale face flushed. “He was elected by a majority, but those of us who had shifter kin would rather serve Prince Helian. Most among our ranks were happy to learn what you and Prince Asher did to Fachnan. I bear no ill will toward any of you.” His gaze swept the room as he motioned toward Nikkos. “You’re the mates of the white witches who will hopefully restore peace in the Fae lands.”

My nostrils flared as I inhaled the smells radiating off Declan. I didn’t detect the sour scent of deceit, just sweat and grime from riding a dragon.

Blaze eyed me, his expression questioning, and I nodded my approval.

“What can you do for my brother?” Blaze asked, desperation lacing his words.

“May I?” Declan asked, motioning toward the bed. When Blaze stepped aside, Declan went to Nikkos, frowning as he peeked beneath the bandages.

“The burns are extensive.” He grimaced while unwrapping the bloody bandages from Nikkos’s wings. “I can’t completely heal him, but I can keep him alive until the white witches come.”

Blaze visibly swallowed, then wiped moisture from his eyes. “I would be most grateful if you did.”

* * *

Tari

W E’RE ALL HERE. Radnor blew steam on my head with his sulfuric breath. Now what?

The grumpy drake had been the last to be teleported, and now his big bottom was crushing what was left of our little moldy shack in the woods, his long neck stretching as high as the tallest tree. Isa crouched beside him, tucking Triss beneath her wing, smoke streaming from her nostrils as she scented the air.

Though I had manifested enough balls of light to drive away some of the forest’s gloom, I still couldn’t wait to leave this place. This was where my sister and the girls had found Wolfy. No telling what other demons lay in wait for us.

I set Ember on the ground beside me, holding her hand and squinting up at the grumpy drake. “Now I need you to watch for threats while I try to summon this portal.”

How about I eliminate the threats?

Radnor crouched on all fours like a cat about to strike, his massive tail swinging over our heads as he blew a circle of fire around us. No animals squawked or ran away. The forest was already dead, the charred trees stripped bare. A shiver snaked up my spine as I suspected that it wasn’t just the fire that had stripped these woods of life. The sooner we left this place, the better.

I nudged Ember toward Helian, and he held both girls close to his sides. Closing my eyes, I blew out a long, slow breath. I pressed my hands to my sides, trying to still the trembling in my limbs while summoning my magic. The tingling sensation moved through me a little faster than before, and I prayed the effects of the tea were wearing off. I didn’t care how much Helian begged; I wasn’t drinking that tea again. I couldn’t afford for my magic to slow me down, not when seconds mattered.

I tried to steady my breathing, though it was hard when smoke from Radnor’s fires clogged my throat. I squeezed my eyes tighter while envisioning Finn’s easy smile and sparkling eyes.

Elements, help me reach Finn.

I imagined the town of Cyrene, from the smells of bread, filth, the pungent ocean air, and the prostitutes’ cloying perfume. I saw the merchant ships rocking in their stalls, their bare masts jutting into the sky.

Take us there, Elements , I pleaded.

The magic in my hands was building, swelling my fingertips until they throbbed and ached, and when I could no longer withstand the pressure, I flung my arms, sucking in a hiss when a portal opened in front of us, widening like a circle of flame burning a hole through parchment. The hole continued to open until it was large enough to accommodate a dragon. I gaped at the crumbling wall on the other side of the portal with familiar carvings of spear-wielding satyrs attacking a dragon. Dunhull? No! Why hadn’t the portal taken us to Cyrene?

“You did it!” Helian exclaimed while nudging me toward the portal.

“I didn’t.” I dug in my feet. “That’s Dunhull.”

“It’s better than nothing. Come on.” He pushed my shoulder while corralling the girls toward the portal.

I wanted to fight him, but a wave of dizziness rolled over me like a boulder. As I swayed against Helian, my world tipped. I thought I heard the girls gasping as Helian hoisted me in his arms.

“You’ve used too much magic,” he rumbled while adjusting me. “You can take us to Cyrene after you recover.”

No. No. No! I didn’t want to go to Dunhull. It would take too long to reach Finn and Nikkos. They could be dead by the time we found them. I tried to tell Helian as much, but my words came out on a slur as my eyelids drooped, too heavy to reopen.

Helian was right. I’d used too much magic. How would I save Finn and Nikkos now?