Page 52 of The Sirin Sisterhood (The Sons of Echidna #2)

Lai

Lai pressed his hand to Lucy’s forehead. She was burning up with a fever. Open flesh wounds and filthy pond water had turned into an infection, and he could do nothing about it. If he’d had his poison kit, he could make her a tonic to fight it; he now had to rely on knowledge of the coven.

They were confident in their remedies, laying flat leaves over the infected bites and making her drink strong-smelling herbal antidotes. Lai was relieved when they began to work, breaking her fever over hours.

Lucy stirred, sweating through her nightgown, muttering in her sleep. Lai listened closely, and felt a guilty pang as she mumbled his and Klein’s names. Even in feverish dreams, she was concerned about them.

He stayed with her by the bedside that night, shame consuming him for not helping sooner.

She’d gotten off light in facing the sirens, but he couldn’t stop thinking that he should have done more.

He regretted his earlier outburst and regretted not apologizing for it before the trial.

His hurt feelings have caused him to hang back from the lake.

She wouldn’t have been so hurt if they weren’t a divided front.

“Stop pacing. It’s not helping.”Lai glanced behind him at Klein. His brother seemed determined to wear through the wooden floor with his endless footsteps. He paused for a moment but ignored Lai’s request.

“If you two weren’t bickering, you could’ve prepared her,”Klein said. It seemed like he was consumed by the same thoughts as Lai.

Scandalized, Lai whipped around to face him. “So could you!”

Klein was right, of course, but Lai wouldn’t let him have the satisfaction of knowing that.

“You know what I mean. You’re more experienced with mother’s gifts.”

Lai wasn’t just experienced with the blessings of his half-siren blood; he’d spent years mastering the abilities that came with it.

They’d served him well in his previous line of work.

His targets stood little chance against Lai’s charm and boyish looks.

When he’d added his singing, in a bewitching voice that could break down the last of their barriers, they were utterly powerless to resist.

He still wasn’t going to admit to Klein that maybe he could have been more help.

Besides, really, what could he have done?

He was still recovering from his half-transformation, and even if he could have changed, the wyvern didn’t stand a chance against a school of killer mermaids.

He might have told Lucy to wear earplugs, but that didn’t make the sirens any less deadly.

They’d just have to work harder for their meal.

“I sing men to their deaths. Did you want me to challenge the lake full of hungry monsters to an a cappella competition?”

Klein turned around, letting his brother see how annoyed he was.

“All I’m saying is that you’ve been acting like a child.”

Lai’s temper was rising at the accusations. Knowing that Klein was right only meant he couldn’t deny it, and instead, he was put on the defense, deflecting the pointed words. “Is this making you feel better? Having someone to blame?”

“I’m not...”

Both men glared at each other in a silent battle of huffs and scowls before they were interrupted by a weak moan.

“Are you two fighting?”Lucy mumbled, stirring from her sleep.

“Don’t be ridiculous.”Lai scooted closer to help her, propping her up with a handful of pillows. “It’s just how we show love.”

“Did someone love me a little too hard?”She groaned in pain, shifting slowly, careful not to move her chewed-up legs. “I feel like crap.”

“You look like crap, too.”Lai smiled. “Can’t imagine why, you only survived a hoard of hungry mermaids and drank half a lake as you drowned. Déjà vu , much?”

She laughed, closing her eyes to conserve her strength. “Feels like home. Freezing forests, getting drowned, giant... Wait!”

Lucy shot upright to stare at Klein, her eyes wide in awe. “You! You saved us! At least, I assume it was you. I saw a creature, and I knew it wasn’t Lai. It was enormous!”

Lai huffed and crossed his arms. “Enormous? As far as hydras go, Klein is tiny .”

Klein came closer, taking a seat on the edge of the bed, ignoring his brother’s insult.

“I had to do something, and it was all I could think of. Things were getting out of control. I don’t know why Freya was unaffected by the sirens; maybe her sisters prepared her, but you were way out of your depth.”

He kept a straight face, but Lucy couldn’t hide a smile. Lai rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.

He couldn’t remember a time when Klein had been the knight in shining armor. Just this once, he could have it.

“I don’t even remember the trial. I just– wanted them . As bad as it sounds.”She sank back in memory, recalling the details. “They were ethereal. So beautiful. They were so soft, and their smell…”she paused, her face turning pink.

Lai shook his head, filling a cup with water and passing it to her.

“It’s not your fault. Not many people can resist a siren’s song.

Father has quite a few scars from his encounters over the years.

”He winked at her, hoping to cheer her up.

“The last run-in with one left him with lifelong emotional trauma and a couple of disappointing kids.”

Lucy raised her brows as she accepted the cup and took a few small sips. “Do I want to know? Actually, yes, I do. How long is the story?”

“Our mother was a siren.”Klein cut Lai’s dramatic story short, ignoring his brother as Lai puffed up furiously, outraged that he’d been cheated out of the grand reveal.

“It’s a long story,”Klein continued, “and definitely not one for today. You need to rest.”

Lai caught the faintest hint of dread on Klein’s face and understood why he’d cut to the chase. He couldn’t stand to hear the story; he didn’t want to relive the loss.

Lucy must have realized the same because she immediately dropped the subject, which wasn’t like her.

Lai was almost disappointed. Yes, it hurt, but he believed that if they stopped talking about her, she would be forgotten.

He would never let his mother’s memory die, but perhaps right now wasn’t the best time for a trip into the past. He let it go.

Lucy looked up at Lai. “I can’t rest for too long. The next trial...”

“There is no next trial. Not for you.”The heels on the wooden floor sounded like hammers, pounding the final nail into the coffin of Lucy’s failure. Agata approached the bed, towering above her. “I’m glad you are alive–”

I know disappointment when I hear it.

“–But you have not obtained a russalka ’sfavor.”

Lucy sunk against the sheets, her eyes darting from Agata to Klein to Lai. She looked tiny. Helpless. Defeated.

Fuck. If it wasn’t for the fact that he still couldn’t say Lucy’s name and never would again if she failed, he could have just kept his mouth shut and let her lose.

They could come up with a nickname while they waited for Freya to win.

‘Lucy’was ridiculously old-fashioned anyway.

Maybe he could sell her on a nice Greek name?

She could be ‘Foteini’or ‘Polyxeni’if she wanted.

‘Polyxeni Galanos’ didn’t sound too bad.

Ah, who was he kidding?

“Forgive me.”Lai cleared his throat. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I seem to recall that mermaid favors aren’t strictly material in nature. My father obtained one when my mother agreed to marry him.”

Agata’s lip twitched. She knew what he was getting at. Lai hid his smirk and plowed ahead.

“Receiving a token of a siren’s affection and surviving the encounter is acceptable proof of favor, according to the lore. Isn’t that right?”

Narrowing her eyes, Agata shifted to one hip, waiting for Lai to finish. “Indeed.”

It was all he needed to hear. Lai leaned over Lucy and pulled back her hair, ignoring her whine of protest. Her neck was covered in purple hickies from the passionate start to the trial.

“Looks to me like she was favored greatly.”