Page 25 of Siren Sins
I screamed and protected my face. I’d expected to be eaten, but the ground shook as Jin’s dragon body hit a forcefield that I’d erected around myself. I lowered trembling fingers to find Jin’s scales cracked and a wing bent at an odd angle. The Blood Stone, or whatever it had become now, just saved me.
You’re welcome,it said with a smug tone.Now, you’re going to want to hold onto something.
Jet roared and inhaled. I protected my face again, hoping my shield would hold as an emerald blast came crashing down.
My world exploded and I crashed to my knees. When the flames cleared, Jin was dead, and those who remained stared up at their new king.
Memories of a Muse
Sonya
Well, that was fun,the Blood Stone echoed in my mind, its words reminiscent of Jet’s attitude.
“Who are you?” I asked as I watched Jet softly land, his claws digging into his brother’s corpse. His snout flared as he arched his neck and gave a triumphant roar.
Questions later. For now, I have a deal to propose. Get me to that Muse of yours, and I’ll restore the powers that had been stripped from her. We’re going to need her for what’s coming next.
My eyes went wide. Because of me, Sarah had lost her powers as a Muse and was nothing more than a mere mortal. It’d been bad enough that I’d lied to her about my need to feed on men to survive. But now, with the Blood Stone burning a new power inside my chest, I wondered if I needed to feed at all.
“Do you think she’ll take me back?”
A mocking laugh.I doubt it, but you can certainly try. Even if she’s not one of the four, she is still one of the seven.
Jet’s eyes found mine, and there was acceptance in that reptilian stare. He knew I was leaving, and I didn’t want to, but I had to help Sarah, and I needed to find my fourth.
“Jet,” I whispered, “come for me when it’s time.”
The streets echoed with a building cry of men and their dragons. The world was about to turn upside down now that supernaturals were out in the open. If my ex-girlfriend ever needed her powers back, it was now.
“Hold on, Sarah,” I said through clenched teeth, “I’m coming.”
Never Trust a Siren
Sarah
Ishould have known better than to trust a siren. When I awoke, I had a fucking fin.
I’m sorry,Vikki’s song whispered. I blinked, and shivered when I realized it was a third eyelid that slid sideways across my eyes. My vision cleared into perfect clarity when I kept the third eyelid in place.
The depths of the ocean crushed around me, but my chest rose and fell as water filtered through fresh scales at my neck.I’m a fucking mermaid!I shrieked. My words careened through the ocean and bounced back at me after they’d hit rocks, making my head ache with the force of echolocation now drilled into my skull.
Vikki should have guided me through the process it took to become a siren, which would have given me the surge of magic to regain my powers as a muse. But instead of staying with me through the transition, she’d let go. It could have killed me had I not given up everything. I needed to eliminate all ties with the land to become a mermaid. If I’d been left alone with even a single shred of my connection to the land and anyone in it, I would have surely died.
It’s only temporary,Vikki promised, finally appearing as a shifting shadow in the waters.
I flicked my tail,my fucking tail,and barreled towards her. She deftly slipped out of the way.
You’ll get your powers back,she promised,but first, you need to find something for me.
I hissed as rage filled me. I had no desire to be a mermaid, nor to be ordered around. While I’d cut all ties to the land, I wasn’t completely transformed. I had twenty-four hours before the fin was permanent, and my memory of my previous life was completely wiped clean.
Let me be your anchor.
The voice that came was my father’s and I looked skyward to where I knew the surface would lie. I couldn’t see the moonlight, but I could feel its silver kiss across waves and knew that my father was there, somewhere, and he was reaching for me.
I locked onto the memory he fed through magic that wound deep into the waters and into my heart. My mother, young and in love, and happy.
Vikki might have taken my sorrow from her loss, but my love for her remained. It didn’t bring pain or dread, only happiness, to be reminded of the small seed of her that remained in my soul. Love for my mother was pure and unhindered, and my father reminded me of that as I solidified my connection to the land.
