Page 93 of The Throne Seeker (Vallorian #1)
Something foreign stirred deep within her consciousness, breathing the same air, moving in the same body, thinking the same thoughts—interwoven with every fiber, every vein, every strand of hair.
She’d felt the dormant creature before. Only she didn’t know it then. But now… now the deep magical force quaked with power. She was forced to embrace the hibernated presence that was now undeniably… alive .
She knew exactly what it was.
It was her siren.
Herself.
She felt Roman’s fear. Felt it. Like the emotion was her own.
The sensation made her recoil at once, feeling as though she was touching something she shouldn’t.
Her eyes fluttered open. The world around her was clearer than she remembered, sharpened to lethal perfection. She peered up to find Roman’s astonished eyes, anxiousness pouring from them.
“Roman?” she mumbled.
His shoulders relaxed as he looked up to the heavens. “Thank the gods.” He pressed a firm kiss to her forehead.
“What happened?” she asked, searching her memories. “How’d I get here? Did you see the snawfus?”
“What snawfus? Is that what did this to you?”
“Did what to me?”
His hesitant eyes shifted hesitantly to the mirror. “See for yourself.”
She got off the bed and went to stand in front of the mirror.
She inhaled sharply.
Her muscles froze at the sight of the striking stranger staring back at her. She’d never thought of herself as vain, but she was a great deal more attractive than she could’ve ever imagined herself being.
The most drastic change was her hair—the once cool-brown color was now a thick, pearl mane. It matched the snawfus’s fur precisely. If it was a coincidence, she didn’t know, though the change had left her lashes and brows dark.
Her eyes were the most striking thing, though—practically bewitching.
A light sea-green color filled them, radiating the magic within.
But upon closer inspection, she discovered the tiniest bit of gold dust in them, like sand on a beach.
They were intended to be a weapon, to lure anyone who so much as glanced in her direction.
Her olive-tanned skin was clear, not a blemish in sight, and the scars on her neck and wrists were now gone. Her lips were still the same large pink ones, glowing with a newly hydrated plumpness.
There was no denying it.
Her beauty was ethereal.
She spun back to Roman, who was still staring at her. “What happened?” she asked, touching her cheek in disbelief.
“I could ask you the same thing. I was walking downstream when I saw a flash of white light. I came as soon as I could to find you passed out on the ground, looking like… like this.” He gestured to all of her.
She searched her memories again, trying to remember any detail of what had happened after the snawfus touched her. But all she had seen was a flash of bright white light, and then… nothing.
She faced the mirror again in disbelief. “Do you not like it?” she asked in a concerned voice, the pride of her siren slipping from her lips.
Before he even spoke, she knew the answer. She could feel his desire seep from him like a thick fog. It was powerful—his want for her. His need. How he worshiped her.
It fueled her.
A prickly shiver shot up her spine.
“Of course I do. It’s still you, isn’t it?” he stated, as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.
Her eyes fell. “Partly.”
His face contorted. “What do you mean? What the hell happened out there?”
Even though she was terrified he might run like hell, she told him everything that had happened in the forest, right down to the last detail, leaving nothing out.
“So you see… I’m a siren, Roman,” she whispered, ending her story.
His eyes flooded with understanding. “It all makes sense now. The way you could tell the arrow was laced with Dragonshade poison, how you could see the invisible rope in the Snorri. How you could train and move so quickly. How you escaped the sea beast. How you were able to run on the water with Onyx. How you can breathe underwater. Talk to the phoenix. Why I was in physical pain without you next to me—all of it.”
She clamped her hands together. “I believe so,” she whispered.
He tore his gaze from her to the window as he folded his arms, brooding as he thought.
She left him to absorb the information as she faced the mirror again, trying to familiarize herself with the face staring back at her.
A cold drip sunk deep into her bones as she looked at Roman through the mirror’s reflection, still peering out the window.
What if nothing he felt for her was real? What if it was her siren’s powers luring him to her? And what if it wasn’t just Roman? What if Tristan, Grant, Moretti—all of them had fallen victim to her unknown siren powers?
A new fear planted itself inside her.
What if… what if every love in her life had been fabricated?
The thought cracked each rib inward, causing the debris to stab her heart.
It was a long while before either spoke.
Roman finally looked back at her, observing her in the reflection. “What is it?”
She hesitated, stowing away her fear. “I’ve only read bits and pieces about sirens.
Their beauty is their most deadly weapon.
A trap to lure others in. They’re able to feel and manipulate emotions, which makes it easy for them to control those around them—to use them.
” Her eyes fell to her hands cautiously, as if they’d do something against her will.
“Their superior physicalities allow them to live for hundreds of years. Consequently, they have been hunted down by humans for generations, out of fear that if they outnumbered them, they’d rule them just like they had in history.
So they killed them off. It’s said they were almost annihilated—just like every other magical creature.
There’s hardly any left in Vallor.” She paused, her eyes meeting his.
“What if I’m exactly what the high council thought?
What if they had a right to fear me? What if somehow they knew that I was this monster? ”
Roman planted his feet in a wide, determined stance. “You aren’t a monster and never will be.”
She wished she could share his certainty.
He came to her, bringing his hand to her chin, lifting it so she’d have to look into the eyes she held so dear. “You are the furthest thing from a monster.”
She braced herself as his ache for her was magnified through the simple touch.
“Gods, look at those eyes. You can’t look into those eyes and not see an angel.”
It was strange to feel his mind, how much he wanted her. The knowledge amplified her desire for him, too.
She leaned towards him, her mind subconsciously reaching out, digging its claws into his, burring them into his soul. Bringing him closer. To devour him, to take?—
She backed up, suppressing the feral beast from ripping out of her skin.
She didn’t have to feel his pain to know it. It was written all over his face.
“I’m sorry,” she apologized, stepping back again. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”
His determination only grew with her confession. “You’re not going to hurt me.” He took a step forward.
She took another step back. “You shouldn’t be so sure,” she snapped, but then she softened at his hurt face. “I just need to know how this is possible. I need to know more. I need to speak to my mother.”
They both knew what that would mean.
They’d have to return to the castle.
Roman looked out the window again, rubbing his jaw as he let out a large breath.
“If we go back, there’s a good chance you’ll be seen.
I don’t know exactly how they’ll react, but I can guess it won’t be good.
You could be putting yourself in danger.
You were already a target before; now, you might as well have a red beacon over your head. ”
“She could come here?” she threw out the idea.
Roman thought. “We could do that, but I know my brother. As soon as he realized she was leaving, he’d know she was coming to you. He’d follow her. And I don’t want him showing up unexpectedly.”
She searched her mind, thinking of other options, but nothing else seemed possible. “It’s too important. We’ll have to take the risk. At least it’ll only be him and not the entire court.”
Roman sighed, caving. “Fine. We’ll send for her to come.”
“But there’s something I have to do first. And you’re not going to like it.”
Roman’s eyes darkened as soon as she told him.