Page 71 of Rise of the Siren Queen
Kieran’s body jerked as the force drove him back, his expression twisting, not with pain, but with something colder. Calculation. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice.
Neither would I.
The fight unraveled in a blur of motion, water and lightning clashing with devastating precision. My mind sharpened, instincts drowning out doubt. I wasn’t fighting to prove myself anymore. I was fighting to win.
And I was winning.
I called upon the ocean’s weight, shaping it into jagged, crystallinespears, each humming with energy. They struck fast and hard, relentless. Kieran dodged, countered, but I was already ahead of him. The moment his balance shifted, I unleashed a tidal surge, dragging the currents into a merciless force. The ocean roared at my command, a towering beast swallowing him whole.
For the first time, I saw it, just a flicker. The faintest crack in his mask of indifference.
Shock.
The realization sent a twisted satisfaction coursing through me.
The water settled, the currents steadying as I hovered, breath steady despite the lingering burn of exertion. Kieran righted himself, his expression unreadable. But I knew.
This round was mine.
I tilted my head, a smirk curling at the edge of my lips.
“Not so easy, is it?” My voice was quiet, but it carried.
Ronan’s voice drifted through the water, smug and amused. “Well, damn. The hybrid actually put up a fight.”
I swam to the shore, panting and still buzzing from the intensity of the fight. A wave of disbelief washed over me. I couldn’t believe what I had just done. The electricity had coursed through me like a second heartbeat, wild and untamed, yet somehow I had wielded it, bent it to my will. Gold Lightning, I could control lightning. I did not know this kind of power was even inside me.
I stared down at my hands, half-expecting them scorched or burned, but there was no mark, no sign of the energy that had flowed through me. The water pulsed gently, reacting to my thoughts, almost as if it recognized something in me had shifted. This wasn’t just about controlling water anymore, was much more.
What the fuck just happened?
My powers, these powers, had been a mystery to me since day one, and now I had unlocked something new, something terrifying andexhilarating all at once. It felt as if the ocean and the storm were merging inside me, their forces becoming one. Was this part of being a hybrid?
Kieran emerged from the water, his brow furrowed, eyes narrowing as he scanned me like I was some kind of puzzle he hadn’t expected to solve. His usually cool expression shattered by uncontrolled confusion.
“What the hell was that?” He demanded, his voice tight. “Since when can you control lightning?”
I met his gaze, still trying to grasp it myself.
“I don’t know,” I admitted, shaking my head. “It just… happened. I didn’t even think about it. It was like the energy called it to me, like the storm was already inside me, waiting to be let loose.”
Kieran studied me for a long moment, his usual confidence flickering. This time, it wasn’t him under control of the situation. It was me, and he knew it. The corner of his mouth twitched, not in amusement, but something closer to a begrudging respect.
“I’ll be damned,” he muttered, shaking his head. “I didn’t see that coming.”
“I didn’t just control it,” I said, more to myself than anyone. “I became it.”
“You tapped into something deeper with such ease, something most of us don’t even handle. If you can do this now, there’s no telling what else you’re capable of. But—” Kieran crossed his arms and leaned in, his voice low, almost warning, “you need to learn to control it, or it’ll burn you from the inside out. I suggest you keep training once you return to your world.”
I nodded, but what he said hung over me. Control. That had always been my biggest fear with this side of me. My powers were wild and unpredictable, and now they were growing faster than I could comprehend. But there was a thrill to it, too. The storm insideme felt powerful, almost untouchable.
Ronan stepped forward, his expression unreadable, but the glint in his eyes told me he had been watching closely.
“Seems the hybrid isn’t just a fish out of water anymore,” he said with a smirk.
I couldn’t tell if it was a compliment or another one of his provocations, but I wasn’t in the mood to figure it out. All I could focus on was the power still tingling in my veins, just waiting for another opportunity to be unleashed.
“Adrian, tomorrow Iryen will accompany you to your world, and she will perform the azure spell,” Sienna said. Just hearing Iryen’s name made me tense up, a jolt racing through me.
