Page 46 of Siren Sins
“Since I require power from the three sources of magic to do what must be done, your little fish friend is going to give us a small sacrifice.” He ran the blade over the glass, sending a grating screech cascading through the room. “I’ll be taking her heart.”
Sarah gasped with horror. “You’ll do no such thing!”
Apollo swirled on her with rage flaring in his eyes. “You are my daughter, but do not test my patience. Changing the world requires sacrifice. It’s already begun and we can’t stop it now. All we can do is embrace it and prepare for a new era.”
What was he talking about? I was afraid I didn’t want to find out.
Sarah straightened. “Taking the life of an innocent mermaid isn’t sacrifice.” She presented her hand and a blue gem appeared on her finger. “Sacrifice means giving something up that you care about. If you truly care about me, then you’ll take my ring, and spare this poor creature’s life. That,Father,is sacrifice.”
He scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why do you care about a fish? If the mermaids had their way, you’d be swimming among them with seaweed wrapped through your hair.” He thrust his knife into the glass, sending it cracking and water spurting through the leak. “You’ll see. Once the water drains, she’ll suffocate because she’s afish.She can’t breathe air.”
The entire room went silent, waiting and watching for what Sarah might do. The fires of my Blood Stone burned within me, and had I not learned control, I would have snapped and gone for Apollo myself. But I exercised the new strength that Luke had given me. This was Sarah’s battle, and if she needed me, I’d be there for her, but I wouldn’t take that which wasn’t mine to take.
A moment later, the room bathed in a brilliant blue as Sarah’s ring came to life. Her hair flung about her face and she lifted from the ground. Wide-eyed, I watched as she transformed, scales erupting over her skin and the air growing thick and dark as if we’d been submerged under water.
Apollo extended his hands and pressed his power over her, but if he was trying to control Sarah, it wasn’t working. “Daughter!” he cried. “Stop this!”
Sarah wasn’t listening. A song began, and I realized that the sirens had begun a melody I’d never heard before. It was one of secret lamentation and sorrow, but also of a faraway homeland that they’d longed for and lost.
The mermaid flicked her massive tail and broke the glass, sending water and shards of glass into the air that instantly hung free instead of crashing to the ground. Sarah encased the water around the mermaid, keeping her safe in the ball of life-giving liquid.
The song intensified and Apollo’s enraged cries muffled as the air began to transform into water. Out of instinct I wrapped the Blood Stone’s power around myself and Luke. I wasn’t the only one with gifts to keep ourselves alive. The witches chanted until they blocked out the melody of the sea, wrapping their coven and Apollo in safety. The werewolves had scrambled to the exits, some now swimming in the air. But the vampires, I watched them through the red haze of my power as they enveloped into the witches aura. I made a mental note that vampires and witches seemed to be on the same side. Perhaps that’d be useful knowledge in this “new era.”
The witches raised their hands, parting the waters long enough for Sarah to stumble. Apollo launched through the opening and ripped the ring off her finger. He said something to her, but the words wouldn’t carry through the wall of water between us.
A blazing portal deep with purples and ancient magic opened up behind Apollo. He sneered at his daughter before launching himself through it. If he wasn’t going to find his sacrifice here, then he was going to find it somewhere else.
I grabbed Luke’s hand. “Come on!” I urged him. Apollo couldn’t get away with the Tear of the Sea. If Sarah didn’t have it to keep her grounded, she’d turn into a mermaid herself, or die.
With a single look at her face as the mermaid wrapped her fingers around her arms, I saw a rainbow of emotions erupt to the surface. Sarah was afraid.
I expected Vikki to separate Sarah from the creature that clung to her now, but instead she bound hands with her sister’s and raised her voice in song, keeping the waters encased around them as the power of the witches ripped violently through the air.
“They’re stable,” Luke said.
That’s all I needed to hear. Sarah would survive this, thanks to Vikki. She could survive without the Tear of the Sea, at least long enough until we got it back.
With a blast of controlled power, I gouged out a tunnel through the water, sending the witches choking as their bubbles began to collapse. Together with Luke, we ran through the portal, and in a blast of energy, found ourselves someplace new.
“The hell?” I snapped.
I looked up, my nostrils flaring at scent of water, but not of Miami. The soft lilt of a language I didn’t recognize hummed around me, the intonations softer than a siren’s song.
“Are we in… Venice?” Luke asked.
I looked around for where Apollo and his team of witches and vampires could have gone, but was met only by the cool, languid air. Moonlight trickled over mossy walls and slow moving crowds parted around us as if we hadn’t just appeared from a magical portal. I whirled, but any hint of magic and danger was gone. The hairs stood on the back of my neck when I couldn’t shake the sense that we were being watched.
My gaze shot up, finding a man standing on a roof with eyes that glowed red. He smirked, gave me a salute, and disappeared into the night as if I’d imagined him.
Wherever we were, it was vampire territory, and we had a whole new set of problems on our hands.
Succubi Don't Wrinkle
In lieu of freaking the fuck out, Luke opted for winding through the lopsided streets until we found a corner café to settle in. Forcing me into a seat, Luke ordered a coffee in fluent Venetian, he told me it was called, and made my heartbeat rise a good fifty percent.
“You speak fucking European?” I breathed as I accepted the minuscule coffee cup.
He laughed. “European isn’t a language, sweetheart.”
