Page 58 of Cruel Destinies

“Well, there may have been,” I answered. “The night that my mom...” I couldn’t finish the sentence. My throat tightened and closed, silencing me. I swallowed and skipped past it. “There was a party with the kids at my school. I had never been to a real party, and I wanted more than anything to go, but my mom, with her silly rules, refused to listen to me, to budge at all. I was so tired of being held back from normal things kids are supposed to do. So I told her to let me go to the party in a voice that wasn’t mine, and she did.” I looked down at my lap, self-hatred churning like storm clouds inside my gut. “It all seems so stupid now.”

I didn’t want to tell her about the other incident. It would mean coming clean about the prank, and I just didn’t want to deal with that.

Celeste put her hand on my shoulder. “I’m so sorry your last moments with your mother were so tremulous. I had no idea. No wonder you carry such sorrow. But you must learn to forgive yourself someday. Your mother wouldn’t want you suffering over it forever. Don’t you think?”

I nodded, knowing that forgiving myself wasn’t something that would happen any time soon. Shoving it into a box deep inside and ignoring it? That was something I could do, and I was getting damn good at it.

“I’ve never met a siren,” Celeste continued. “In fact, I haven’t heard of one in our history for centuries, so little is known about them. About you. But from what you’ve told me, it seems that your powers stem from your will. The two times you’ve used your siren voice, you truly wanted the things you asked for. So I think if we want to harness this power of yours, we need to focus on exercising your will.”

“Forgive my ignorance, Celeste, but what can my powers even do?” I asked. “So far, all I’ve seen them do is control people, make them do things against their will. I don’t know if that’s something I really want to practice on other people. No one should be forced to do anything they don’t want to.”

“I’m sorry to say that I know little more than you,” she admitted with a shrug, forcing her brilliant red locks to spill over her shoulders. “Yes, they can be used to control people, and that is what they are most known for. But it is said that, at least in the ocean, the siren call can be used to beckon sea creatures. There are some legends that say a siren’s voice can even bring back the dead.” She snickered at the sight of my eyes bulging. “But we won’t bother with such dark magic, I promise you.”

“So...how exactly are we going to practice using my siren voice?” I asked, biting my lip. I wasn’t at all comfortable with the idea of trying them on Celeste.

Her smile widened, a mischievous twinkle in her emerald eyes. She turned toward the storage closet door and called, “Cora, we’re ready for you now.”

Cora? What the fuck?

The door opened, and Cora entered the room with her arms crossed under her chest and a scowl on her face. My heart fluttered as Cora came closer, worrying about what was expected to happen.

Was Celeste going to pit us against each other again? As much as I hated Cora, I was not prepared to fight her right now. The next time I sparred with her, I wanted to make sure I could completely kick her Barbie ass.

“Cora is still serving detention for kicking you out of your room in the mer wing,” Celeste explained, waving her delicate hand toward Cora. “As one of her sessions, I thought she’d be the perfect person to practice your siren abilities on.”

“Wait, what?” Genuine surprise loosened Cora’s default nasty expression, and she dropped her arms to her sides.

“Seriously?” Wicked delight shot through me at this new prospect. Not that I had a clue how to activate my siren voice, but I couldn’t ask for a better guinea pig than my bully.

“I foresaw this exchange, and it works out perfectly.” Celeste winked at me, ignoring Cora’s resistant comments and obvious growing apprehension. “There’s something you want from Cora, very much, I should think. Something she owes you.”

“I owe her nothing,” Cora sneered even as fear darkened her mascaraed eyes.

I couldn’t stop the smile from spreading across my face. Cora had been the root of every social problem I had since coming here, and what I wanted deeply was for all her hazing bullshit to stop. Celeste was giving me the opportunity, andpermission,to make that happen.

Having made my decision, I rose from the step and approached Cora, concentrating on what it was I wanted. With each step I took closer, Cora tripped backwards, shrinking little by little in fear, until she was backed up against the wall.

Now we were face-to-face, and the vengeful desire was so potent, I could feel the power welling up inside me. My doubts vanished. I knew this would work, and it filled me with impish confidence.

“Apologize to me for the awful shit you’ve done,” I commanded, that familiar yet foreign voice vibrating through my body as it flowed mellifluously past my lips.

Cora’s beautiful doll face went blank as the command worked its magic. Then her brows puckered, and she said with full sincerity, “I’m sorry, Arya. I’ve said so many horrible things about you. I kicked you out of your room. I’ve turned as many people as I could against you. I even tried to get you severelyinjured by locking you in the sim room. I blamed you for Letti getting hurt, and even after she woke up and said you were innocent, I still hated you. You didn’t deserve any of it. I’m so sorry.”

Hearing those words was more satisfying and more healing than I could have ever imagined. I could do so much more. I could destroy her. And for a very tempting moment, I considered doing just that.

But I wouldn’t stoop to her level. I was better than her in every way that mattered.

“Forget this apology and return to life as you know it,” I ordered with my siren voice. “But the next time you try to hurt or spread rumors about someone, imagine those same things are happening to you.”

Cora’s eyes remained blank for a few seconds after I stopped talking, then she came back to her senses.

“Please don’t hurt me,” she begged, wincing, having forgotten the whole ordeal just as I decreed.

“I’m not going to hurt you,” I said, taking great satisfaction in her fear of me. “You can go.”

Her eyes widened, and she looked over my shoulder at Celeste, who nodded. That was all she needed to scramble out from under my shadow and scurry out of the room.

Celeste stood and looked at me. “You surprised me. You could have ended her hazing once and for all.”

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