54. Vera #2
My eyes roved over him to find any sign of her enchantment, any glimmer that he’d succumb to her, but I only saw steadfast determination. My anxiety eased a fraction. I turned back to the siren, clenching my sword tighter. “Stop with the games. What are you doing here?”
Her pout turned into a snarl. She morphed back into her true form, raven hair gliding over golden water.
“I know what you are preparing to do. I have been watching this kingdom for centuries,” she hissed, and her tail fin flicked above the surface.
“You will not succeed. The Fates will make sure of it.”
“How, by sending you to stop me?” I took a few steps and spun the sword in my grip. “That didn’t go so well for you last time.”
She chuckled darkly. The two High Elders and Tessa moved farther into the water. Everett and I both jolted, but they stopped, swaying in place like the waves of the river.
“I will not have to stop you for you to fail. You simply do not have what it takes.”
Indignation and pride rose to the challenge. “If that were the case, the Fates wouldn’t keep sending all of you after me,” I snapped. “They’re scared. They know someone has finally come along who can end their reign of terror on these people.”
To my surprise, the siren scoffed. Her hair shook across her bare shoulders. “You are truly naive, golden one. Give up your quest before it is too late.”
The whirlpool picked up speed. Everett inched closer to me. “Vera, maybe you should—”
“Never,” I said to her, gritting my teeth. “This kingdom deserves to be saved.”
With a cock of her head, her full lips tilted into a smile. “Very well.”
Our three companions instantly surged forward as the whirlpool increased, wind whipping my hair into a frenzy. The water rose to their knees, then their waists, their footsteps unknowingly leading them farther into the depths.
“No!” I darted forward and snagged Tessa’s hand, tugging her back to me. She yanked against my hold, body twisting to follow the siren’s silent commands. “Tessa, you have to stop!”
She wrestled from my grip, her bronze arm much stronger than her other one, able to overcome even my Shifter strength.
I glanced around for something to latch on to, and I spotted a tree a few yards behind us.
Summoning my shadows, I secured a strand of solid darkness around her waist, then lassoed it to the tree trunk.
I billowed as much of my shadow magic as I could muster into it until it was so thick, she couldn’t move an inch, despite her thrashing.
I looked back at the Elders to see the water already above their necks. Water poured into Maeve’s open mouth. “Everett!” I shouted, motioning to them.
He hesitated, features guarded as he took in their helplessness.
I knew he didn’t trust them, and for a moment, I wondered if he’d refuse.
But then he waded forward and grabbed each of them by the arm.
They dragged him along with them, sending him sliding on the slick riverbed.
He lost his grip on Maeve, barely able to keep Julius in hand, and I rushed toward them.
When I threw my arm around Maeve’s neck, something hard bit into my skin.
The chain at her neck glowed in the water, and I remembered—she had the sun amulet. When the kraken attacked us on the ship, the phoenix amulet had warded it off.
I wonder…
“Get her,” I urged Everett, making sure he could hold both of them.
I ripped the chain from Maeve’s neck and shifted my phoenix wings from my shoulders.
Firelight lit the river with an orange haze as I flew at the siren, who floated in the center of the whirlpool, water surging and rotating around her like a crown.
I shifted my fingers into talons, dove straight for her, and wrapped them around her porcelain neck.
“Tell me where the third amulet is!” I seethed.
“You will—not find it—here,” she rasped.
“Fine,” I snarled, then raised the amulet with my other hand. “Then I don’t need you.”
“All rebirth is written in surrender,” she whispered hoarsely.
I paused, amulet halfway to her chest. That triggered a memory—they were the same words written on the scroll left by the original demithes. My grip on her throat loosened slightly. “What did you just say?”
“What are you willing to surrender, golden one?” she asked, eyes flashing. “Have they told you the cost?”
A shiver crept down my spine. It was just another scare tactic—another attempt to get me to give up. But still, her words lingered over me.
Gurgling sounded behind me, along with choked inhales. I looked over my shoulder to see bubbles at the surface where Julius and Maeve had once been. They had dragged Everett too deep, and he now fought to keep his head above water.
I glared back at the siren. Her lips split into a devilish grin, sharp canines extended as she lunged for my throat.
Without thinking, I shoved the sun amulet into her chest. Just as it had with the kraken, light burst from the crest in a glowing arc, and the siren shrieked as it sizzled against her skin.
“Mark my words,” she cried. “If you forge this path, the Fates will be the least of your worries.”
With a final wail, she flipped away from the amulet and dove into the water, silver tail shimmering as she raced away from us.
Spluttering sounds came from behind me, and I spun to find Everett hauling Maeve and Julius from the water, soaked to the bone and gasping for breath.
Attached to the tree where I’d left her, Tessa fought against my shadows with wild confusion.
“Vera, what in the—what did you do?” Tessa grumbled, struggling to extricate herself from the shadows. I waved a hand to release them, then grabbed Maeve’s arm, helping them back to dry land.
“Everett and I had another little chat with our friend, the siren,” I said with a scowl. My boots squelched with water, and my clothes clung uncomfortably to my skin, water-logged and freezing.
Tessa’s brow furrowed. “The same one from the ship?”
“Yep.”
Her eyes flickered from me to Everett. “How are neither of you dead?”
“Lots of practice,” Everett huffed, wringing out water from his drenched shirt.
“What did she say?” Julius asked. “Did she give you any hint about the amulet?”
I shared a look with Everett. He held my gaze, silently communicating one singular message: don’t tell them. He heard everything I had. He knew the siren’s warning, her threats about a cost. I didn’t know what it all meant, but for some reason, I didn’t want to reveal everything just yet.
I tore my eyes from his and shook my head at Julius. “She just told me to give up the quest, and then she tried to drown all of you.” I waved a hand at Maeve. “Your sun amulet drove her away.”
Maeve took the chain back from me. “We owe you our lives, Lightbringer.” She and Julius both bowed low in reverence.
I shuffled awkwardly and looked at Tessa out of the corner of my eye, who shrugged and said, “Don’t expect me to bow for you, too.”
“Do not be too discouraged about the amulet, Vera,” Maeve said, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. “We’ll simply have to keep looking. We have faith in you.”
Her words did little to encourage me as we traipsed back to the palace. I had a feeling we were going to need a whole lot more than that.