Page 60 of When the Wicked Sing (The Leruna Sea #1)
Mariana skidded to a halt, the light of day blinding her.
“ Queen Mariana, what a delight to see you again,” said an arrogant, feminine voice.
Mariana blinked in the brightness and looked up. Halia stood high above on the edge, five guards flanking her on either side, armed to the teeth.
Mariana’s eyes widened when she saw Aurora and Astra floating above her, invisible restraints keeping them from moving.
Halia’s hands twitched and moved in slow, small patterns, keeping her sisters trapped in the air she manipulated.
“Join us up top, won’t you? We have much to discuss.
” Halia stepped back out of sight, pulling Astra and Aurora along with her until they were no longer dangling two stories above.
Astra had passed out, but Aurora’s eyes locked onto Mariana.
Fear, dread, and rage were all present in that golden gaze.
Her sisters disappeared from view, and Mariana raced to climb up the vine, the amulet bouncing against her chest .
As she made it to the top, strong hands gripped her. Two guards pulled her along toward Halia. Mariana sneered at her smug expression.
They stopped her within spitting distance of the princess.
“You can’t do this! She is a queen!” Aurora shouted, her voice muffled and strained as the sound barely made it through the invisible shield she was locked within.
Halia laughed, and Mariana’s fists tightened.
“Don’t you see where we are? Look around you! You are a queen of NOTHING!” Halia practically screamed. The sound reverberated up and down Mariana’s spine. Those words lodging themselves in her heart.
“However, I will be a queen of everything .” Halia smiled and extended a graceful hand. “The amulet,” she demanded.
Mariana only stared at her, not daring to move a muscle.
“Give me the amulet now, or I will take it.”
The threat loomed, and yet Mariana wanted to shake her head and roll her eyes. This was a princess who always got what she wanted, threw a tantrum when she didn’t, and judging by the way everyone feared her other name—the Matriarch—she also killed whenever she pleased.
Aurora shifted, straining, desperate to be free of her restraints. Mariana glanced at her sisters, then back at Halia, who was becoming more and more irritated with each passing second.
“What will you do with it?” she asked. “Only a siren can wield it. It’s useless to you. ”
Halia’s mouth lifted. “Holding a power like that is never useless,” she said with a quiet menace that made every muscle in Mariana’s body tighten.
“It can’t bring back the dead,” she said, almost pleading. “It was never made for that. Seraphina herself told me.” Mariana had hoped the truth would change Halia’s mind, but it was clearly wishful thinking.
Halia shook her head slowly. “I’d rather not take any chances.” She snapped her manicured fingers. “Hand it over.”
“Let my sisters go first.”
Halia groaned. “I will let them go once the amulet is safely in my possession.”
Mariana’s skin began to hum, her power reaching out toward the air, keeping her sisters trapped. She ran imaginary hands over it, testing it for cracks.
“In fact,” Halia added, “once I have it, I will let you all go to do what you wish. Crawl back to that underwater city of yours or stay here, I don’t care. Just give it to me.”
Invisible tendrils of air found a tiny seam in the magic, and Mariana gave Halia a small smile.
“No, I think I’ll keep it.”
With a flick of her wrist, her magic speared through that crack.
Halia shouted as Astra collapsed to the ground, and Aurora grabbed her bone daggers from her waist.
“I warned you what would happen if you touched my sisters again,” Aurora sneered, a wicked grin on her face.
“Restrain her!” Halia ordered .
The guards sprang into action, releasing Mariana. Aurora’s daggers whirled, slicing through the air with lethal precision. Two guards fell instantly, clutching their throats. The remaining three hesitated, casting nervous glances at each other.
Mariana took the opportunity to sprint toward Astra, her heart pounding with desperation. She knelt beside her unconscious sister, her hands trembling as she checked for a pulse. It was faint, barely there. Mariana’s breath hitched.
“Go!” Aurora shouted at her just as she flung one of her daggers into a guard’s stomach before yanking it back out to swipe at another.
While her sister kept the guards distracted, Mariana lifted Astra’s frail body into her arms. She wasn’t sure how Halia had magically lifted both her sisters into the air so easily, but Mariana worried she’d drop Astra, injuring her further, if she tried.
Instead, she gritted her teeth against her straining muscles as she ran into the fog.
“Stop!” she heard Halia scream behind her, but she kept going, ignoring the grunts of pain and clash of metal against bone. Aurora was a superior warrior to those guards; she could handle them.
Mariana’s arms and legs barked at her to release Astra. Panting, she set her sister down, leaning her back against a boulder.
“Astra, please wake up,” she said in a pleading whisper, gently shaking her shoulder and patting her cheeks. They were freezing to her touch.
Astra groaned, her eyes fluttering. “The amulet,” she murmured, pressing a shaky finger to the blue stone that glowed gently at her touch .
Mariana’s eyes blurred with tears as she watched her sister’s heavy eyes lift to her face.
“Get out of here. Protect it,” she whispered.
Mariana shook her head, her heart clenching at the thought. “I’m not leaving you here—”
“Step away from her,” a cold voice sounded above her, and Mariana glanced up toward the point of the blade Halia was holding.
Slowly, Mariana stood from where she’d crouched and took a small step back.
“Why are you doing this, Halia?”
Where is Aurora? Mariana glanced past the princess toward the fog.
The princess rolled her eyes. “You know why. The fate of my kingdom depends on who possesses the amulet. I will not allow my brother to be resurrected and ruin all I’ve done. Now, drop your dagger and hand over the amulet.”
Mariana swallowed. “Astra has done nothing wrong. Please, just let her go, and we can work out an agreement. I don’t want to see Helios return either.”
“Nonsense! I know the deal she made with my father! The moment she gets her hands on it, she will fulfill their agreement. And I can’t let that happen.”
“So what’s your plan, then? Destroy the amulet? It’s powerless in your hands.”
“Exactly. Although, I do not wish to destroy it. Instead, I will deprive all of you of the chance of ever using it against me. It’s safest with me. Hand it over, or your sister dies. ”
Halia stepped toward Astra and pointed the blade at her. Mariana glanced down at her sister, who was growing paler and paler with each breath. Her limbs were shaking with the effort to stay upright.
“Don’t let her take it,” Astra forced out with an effort that made her close her eyes and release a heavy breath.
Mariana took a step back. She needed to redirect Halia’s attention away from Astra.
“You want the amulet? Come get it.”
Turning quickly, she bolted for the broken glass dome just as she felt airy vines yank at her feet. She slammed to the ground just as she reached the edge, her breath rushing out of her lungs.
Gasping, she stared down into the destruction, the bones, the water . Mariana’s body hummed with the familiar pull. The water below was connected to the sea.
Glancing behind her, she saw Halia slowly stalking toward her, the blade’s tip dragging along the ground. She was smiling, like she thought she’d won.
Shoving her hands beneath her, Mariana stood. She glared at Halia, teeth gritting and fists clenched tight enough to hurt.
Allowing Halia to possess the amulet was not an option. Neither was accepting her sister’s death. Mariana’s hands began to shake.
“This is your last chance,” she warned Halia, who released a sharp laugh.
“Doubtful. I have all the power here, sister .”
Mariana’s eyes widened. What did she just say ?
Halia released a vicious scream along with a hurricane of wind at Mariana, throwing her into a fallen column. Her breath shot from her lungs upon impact.
The water trapped at the bottom of the broken dome behind her beckoned with the promise of chaos, and Mariana answered the call.
As she lifted herself to stand, she pulled the water up from the depths, feeling it surge behind her in a mighty wave.
The bones of her dead sisters swirled within the churning water.
Power sang beneath her skin. The rush of ecstasy after so long without using her magic had her laughing like mad. She smiled at Halia.
“Surrender!” she shouted at the princess.
Halia briefly turned her scowl behind her at where Astra hid, before giving Mariana a villainous grin.
“Never.”
Halia lifted her arms, one aimed at Mariana, the other at Astra, who floated from the ground with her hands clawing at her throat as though there were an invisible pair of hands choking her.
Rage burned bright through Mariana’s veins, numbing her to the point that she didn’t feel the amulet lifting from her neck.
Mariana watched in delight as Halia’s eyes widened the moment she released the unforgiving wave. Water swallowed everything in its wake and violently slammed into the dam above.
Mariana’s heart seized as she realized her fatal mistake. Her power broke the dam, the waterfall breaking free with a devastating roar. She screamed, watching helplessly as trees, boulders, and debris descended upon her sister .
Astra’s pale, teary eyes were the last thing she saw before water crashed down, consuming them all.