Page 121 of When the Wicked Sing
Pulling herself up, Aurora glanced along the shelves. “I’m not sure yet.”
Think, Godsdammit, think! How are you going to get out of this?
“Has anyone been by to check on us?”
“Just once,” Luna replied, her fingers tracing the lines in the stone floor.
“When?”
She shrugged. “Maybe a half hour ago?”
Nodding, Aurora put her hands on her hips, instantly noticing her weapons were gone, but her armor was still locked in place around her chest.
“Okay, when they come back again, we’re going to—”
The door swung open, revealing a scraggly cursed with vein-riddled skin.
Jocasta.
Without hesitation, Aurora slammed her forehead into Jocasta’s, knocking her back.
Luna gasped behind her. Aurora wrestled Jocasta for dominance.
Grabbing Jocasta by her hair, she slammed the cursed siren’s face into the wall. Hearing the crunch of bone and listening to Jocasta scream filled Aurora with unmistakable satisfaction. Jocasta reached her hands back, digging her razor-sharp claws into Aurora’s skin as liquid darkness spilled from the cursed siren’s nose, mixing with the water.
Aurora roared in fury and launched Jocasta through the door and into the kitchen. Her head banged against the table, causing bowls of ingredients scattered across the large preparation table tocling. Dinner must have been in the midst of being prepared when the cursed decided to attack, claiming Salus for themselves. Aurora’s chest grew hot with rage as she approached the still siren. As Aurora pulled her up by the back of the neck, Jocasta moaned in protest, her eyes rolling to the back of her head, and Aurora growled at her. Dropping her into a chair, Aurora made eye contact with a very pale Luna.
“Get me rope from that cabinet,” she demanded. When Luna didn’t move, she shouted, “Quickly!” Luna jumpedbefore wordlessly nodding. She grabbed the rope and handed it to Aurora, who made quick work of tying the unconscious siren to the chair.
“Lock the doors.” Luna rushed to lock it before coming to her side.
“What are we going to do now?” Luna asked in a soft, unsure voice.
Aurora gave her a grim look before pulling her close. She wrapped her arms around Luna, squeezing her niece, grateful she was alive. Her heart ached at the thought of telling Luna of her mother’s fate, but she didn’t have the courage to utter the words. She’d tell her later, once the rest of their family was together again.
After a silent vow to Astra to keep her daughter safe, she planted a quick kiss atop Luna’s head and let go. She turned to a stone butcher block sitting on top of the kitchen counter and pulled out a knife; the sound of the blade sharpening glorious to her ears.
“Now, we get answers.” Aurora slammed the knife into Jocasta’s tail, earning a startled scream.
The taste of rotten blood swirled in the water around them. Aurora tried not to gag as she yanked the knife free, pulling a few scales along with it. They floated gently to the floor in a plume of black blood.
“Tell me where they’re holding the queen! Now!”
Jocasta gritted her teeth and seethed, her eyes darting around. Aurora knew she was looking for a way out, a weapon, anything she could use to get free.
“No one is here to save you. Tell me where the queen is or I’ll cut off your fins,” Aurora promised menacingly, holding the knife against the bottom of her tail.
Jocasta’s eyes shot up to hers. “You’re going to die, all of you! The sea doesn’t belong to you anymore. The sea will rise as the moon beckons her daughters of the night up from the depths. All of you will die!” She cackled hysterically, and Aurora punched her in the face.
“Enough!” She gripped the cursed siren’s dull, stringy hair and pulled her head back, pushing the knife against her sickly pale throat. She sneered in her face, “You want to see the moon again? You want to murder another mortal, feel their energy upon your black soul? Then you’d better tell me exactly where you’re keeping my family, or I will rip you apart!”
Jocasta smiled, black blood between her jagged teeth. “Aww, in front of the weakling hiding in the corner? I doubt she’d survive the shock of seeing you unleash your fury upon me,Scarlet Serpent. You’ve frightened the poor weak soul.” Jocasta cackled, and Aurora slammed her elbow into the bitch’s face, pulling a scream and a whimper from her thin, cracked lips.
Moving away, Aurora let out a frustrated groan and went to the shut window across the room. She rested her palms against the frame, wishing she could leave the window open to let in fresh seawater, but it was too risky. She’d spotted cursed sirens armed to the teeth patrolling.
Salus had fallen into a stygian blackness. Even the bioluminescent garden had darkened, quieted. Death contaminated the water with a sickening taste of decay and rot that wasn’t just from Jocasta bleeding out.
Aurora shook her head. Where once the cursed had been hidden beneath, they’d now risen to claim their place above everyone else.
