Page 161 of Song of Her Siren

I recalled that rotting corpse minotaur beneath the rubble of Kyan’s temple. It had smelled much like this giant, who I now realized must’ve been undead. The corpse minotaur hadn’t responded to my siren telling him to stand down. No wonder Megaera had created an undead army. She knew I wouldn’t be able to control them. I worried my bottom lip, my gaze darting from Blaze to my aunt. “I don’t think my voice works on the undead.”

Blaze’s jaw dropped. “It’s undead? How will we defeat it?”

“I-I don’t know,” I stammered.

The giant finally stopped its stream of fire, its chest heaving as if it was straining for breath. Firemages flew around the beast, thrusting spears into its head, which were probably too small to penetrate its thick skull. The monster let out an agonized roar, swatting at its face when Freya landed on the bridge of its nose, pecking out one of its eyes! The monster swatted her like a bug, and she cried out, spiraling through the air like a busted sail, landing on top of the seawall.

The beast rubbed its eyes, stumbling as waves washed over its back, slamming it against the seawall. My eyes widened when the wall began to crack.

Malvolia gripped Marius’s arm, her eyes wide with panic. “Evacuate the city!”

Holy Elements! The entire city would be under water if I couldn’t figure out how to defeat the monster.

* * *

Tari

IWOKE MUCH TOO SOONto the sound of dragon roars overhead. Ahh, so this was what it was like waking up in an army of dragons. They reminded me of an old rooster we had back at our cabin in the woods. Only, these roosters breathed fire and could snap me in half.

I rubbed the sleep from my eyes with a groan.

“Mommy’s awake!”

Aurora and Ember climbed all over my chest, demanding we return to Thebes for tarts. Finn pulled the girls off me, scolding them for crushing me and telling them to wash up and change their stockings. They whimpered but did as they were told when he insisted.

I thanked him with a kiss on the cheek, then worried when I didn’t see Ash. What place would he have in the pack now that he was no longer alpha? Finn was the nurturer, helping me with the children. Helian was the alpha, making important pack decisions. Would Ash feel lost without a purpose?

As if he’d heard me thinking about him, Ash ducked his head in the tent, his face grim. “Tari, you need to follow me.”

I tensed at the haunted look in his eyes. “What is it?”

“Centaurs,” he rumbled, sounding none too pleased.

My reaction echoed his, after our last encounter with the centaur king, who had threatened to thrust spears through our chests rather than offer two white witches and their mates food and shelter for the night.

I quickly dressed and ducked outside the tent, Finn and the girls following me. The morning sunlight pierced my eyes while swarms of dragons soared directly above us. I sure hoped none of them had to relieve themselves, and if they did, I hoped they had the courtesy to fly over the ocean or an empty sand dune first.

Ash led us to the smoldering campfire, where three very haggard-looking centaurs awaited me. Standing in front of a teenage boy and girl centaur was a full-grown female Fae-slash-horse with auburn hair and matching coat. The girl, beautiful, with pale, soft hair that reminded me of Helian’s, had glossy, bloodshot eyes, as if she’d been crying. The boy had a proud tilt to his chin, and the determination in his eyes made him appear ready to die defending the other two centaurs. If memory served me, the adult females were called mares, the younger girls fillies, and the boys were colts.

“Goddess.” The mare bowed low, her front legs dipping while she splayed a hand across her chest. “I am Frida, and this is my daughter, Angeline.” She motioned toward the colt. “And our friend, Gunnar. We are all that is left of Itarian.”

“Why?” I asked, noting the dirt and grime on their chests and faces. “What happened?” Though I feared I already knew. I hadn’t been able to conceal their stronghold yesterday, not that I could have, since Aurora couldn’t teleport me to a place she’d never visited.

Gunnar stepped forward, puffing up his chest. “Itarian was set upon by demonic spiders. They ate the entire fortress and everyone in it in a matter of seconds.”

I clutched my chest, mourning the innocent centaurs. Yes, their king had been vile, but I still felt bad for the others. I bowed my head. “My condolences. How did you get away?”

Gunnar cleared his throat. “We’d been recently outcast and watched it from afar.”

I arched a brow. “Oh?”

The mare angled closer to me, speaking on a hushed whisper. “The king banished us when I wouldn’t let him mount my daughter.” She nodded toward the young filly, who wiped her wet eyes with the back of her hand.

“Why am I not surprised?” I asked wryly. After meeting the ignorant centaur king, it wasn’t a stretch of the imagination to also believe him to be a cruel debaucher of children. “Thank you for telling us what happened to Itarian,” I said, my voice softening, “and, again, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

The centaur shrugged. “They turned on us, staying silent like cowards while our king beat me and tried to rape my child.” She wiped tears from her eyes, her voice sounding hollow. “They reaped what they sewed.”

I understood why she didn’t show remorse, but damn.

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