Lure
PRUE
Talons and feathers brushed past Prue. Something sharp scraped against her arm, dragging a path of fire along her flesh. She cringed away from the onslaught of sirens, scanning the skies for them. But the air was still so clouded with dust that she couldn’t see them.
She squinted, realizing it wasn’t dust, but fog. A dense fog poured out from the fissure in the earth, obscuring their surroundings. She clung to Cyrus and Mona, desperate to keep them close. The panic within her flared, and she feared one of them would get snatched by the creatures.
“Prue,” murmured a voice.
Prue froze, then crammed her eyes shut. It’s not real. It’s not real.
“Prue, I can help you! Just come to me, and we can face this threat together.”
Her mother’s voice washed over her, and oh, how Prue yearned to run to her. To dive into her arms and cling to her. With Gaia on their side, they could not lose.
“Prue!” Cyrus called out. He grunted, then barked out a curse.
Prue’s eyes snapped open as she focused on her husband. He was nursing a deep gash in his shoulder, gritting his teeth as he tried to stifle the flow of blood.
In an instant, everything came into focus. She hadn’t realized until that moment how foggy her senses had become. Sight and sound had been blocked out, drowned by the soothing call of her mother’s voice.
“Damn sirens,” Prue hissed, reaching for Cyrus to inspect his wound. The blood was already starting to clot, the flow of liquid slowing. Thankfully, it didn’t look too severe.
The sirens screeched louder, diving for them. Prue tugged Cyrus out of the way, narrowly avoiding getting skewered. But the sirens were relentless, pecking at them, talons extended. It seemed that once they knew their calls were being ignored, they attempted a different tactic.
And it was working.
Prue cried out as another talon gouged her cheek, drawing blood.
Cyrus made a noise of frustration. “I can’t strike them if I can’t see them!” A faint bolt of lightning blazed to life behind the fog, but it was fleeting, and the sirens dodged it easily.
Prue gritted her teeth, then crouched to the ground, pressing her fingers into the dirt.
She closed her eyes, drawing power from deep within her.
The ground trembled, and roots sprang from the cracks in the earth.
She summoned more, pulling energy, soaring higher and higher.
The roots gathered around her, Mona, and Cyrus, growing in height until a web of branches and vines surrounded them like a protective wall.
Sweat poured down her face and neck, and she was panting, the power draining her.
Mona took her free hand, lacing their fingers together and chanting words Prue couldn’t understand. The ground hummed, and a burst of energy filled Prue’s body—Mona’s magic had joined her own.
The branches thickened, forming a dome around them to shield them from the sirens’ attacks. Light filtered through the gaps, and the branches creaked when the beasts collided with it.
It wouldn’t hold forever.
“Mona,” Prue said urgently. “Tell me you have a plan. How can we stop them?”
Mona shook her head, her face pale. “Resisting their song is supposed to kill them. These are nothing like the sirens I’ve read about. They’re… different.”
“Because they’re fueled by Titan magic,” Cyrus growled.
From outside the dome, the sirens screeched and shrieked. A creature slammed into the branches, making them quiver. Leaves fell from the impact.
Prue frowned and shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. Romanos described a Cyclops. Why would the Titans send sirens after us?”
Cyrus’s eyes grew wide. “It’s a diversion. They don’t want to kill us, they want to delay us.”
“Delay us from what?” Prue asked.
“From reaching the Thanassian Empire?” Mona suggested. “Perhaps to keep us preoccupied while the Cyclops does their bidding.”
Cyrus’s expression turned dark. “I don’t know what plans they have for the Thanassian Empire, but it can’t be good.”
A branch cracked and split away from the dome, falling between Prue and Cyrus.
She flinched as chunks of tree bark fell around them, then drew more of her magic to fill the gap.
“It doesn’t matter what they’re doing in the Thanassian Empire if we can’t get out of here.
With the fog in the air, we can’t do anything! ”
Mona lifted a finger, her eyes sparking with realization. “Hold on. Sirens travel in packs. They are bonded to one another. What if we can use that bond against them and lure them to us? Use their own powers against them. Then, we can kill them.”
“How do we do that?” Prue asked.
“We have to catch one. We have to let them come close enough to be captured.”
“They keep flying away too quickly,” Cyrus said.
“If we can injure their wings, we can keep them grounded.” Mona met Prue’s gaze. “I think it’s time for that fire rune again.”
With Prue’s arm already bleeding from when a siren’s beak gouged her, it was easy to pour droplets into Mona’s empty canteen. With her eyes closed and her expression tight with concentration, Mona whispered the incantation.
“Accendo eduro.”
Flames appeared in her palm, but instead of a single strike in the sky like in the cabin, it lingered in her hand like a forever-burning fire.
A small smile appeared on Mona’s face. “If you can get one close enough to me, I’ll burn it.”
Cyrus offered a savage grin. “Not a problem.” He turned to Prue. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Prue nodded and took a deep breath, then withdrew her magic. The dome of branches vanished, and the sirens’ screeches intensified, as if they were calling to one another, alerting them to the exposure of their prey.
Feathers tickled Prue’s arms, and she yelped, jerking away instinctively. Beside her, Cyrus tensed, his body poised like a predator. His nostrils flared, and his eyes sharpened.
Another siren dived for them, and Cyrus lunged. He grunted as he tackled the creature to the ground, wrestling with its dark feathers.
Prue sucked in a breath at the sight of the creature. It had the face of an old woman, wrinkled and ancient, with a large, black beak and all-black eyes. The rest of its body resembled that of a giant vulture: raven-black wings and long, sharp talons.
It writhed and shrieked, trying to wriggle out of Cyrus’s grip. But he held fast.
“Now, Mona!” he bellowed.
Mona appeared by his side, and the fire in her palm swelled. She pressed it into the siren’s wing.
The piercing scream that echoed around them was deafening, making Prue’s ear throb and her bones tremble. The keening wail reverberated and seemed to multiply, as if the other sirens were suffering along with it.
“Get ready, Cyrus!” Mona warned.
A cacophony of high-pitched roars and cries filled the air, swarming around Prue, Mona, and Cyrus. Frantic flapping of wings sounded nearby. Prue’s body was rigid, prepared for an onslaught of attacks from the sirens. The damn fog was obscuring everything. If she could only see…
In a flash, three sirens slammed into the ground before them, twitching and convulsing as if in tremendous pain. Cyrus wasted no time; lightning crackled from his fingertips and scorched the beasts, leaving nothing more than charred husks behind.
The cries grew more angry. More anguished.
“They feel each other’s pain,” Prue whispered.
A dozen sirens fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Cyrus summoned his lightning, igniting the sirens until they were no longer moving.
Prue’s heart stuttered in her chest as she stared at the smoking remains of the creatures.
This wasn’t right.
A swarm of sirens fell before them, bodies twisting in unnatural angles, their faces stricken with pain and fear. Cyrus lifted his hand—
“Stop!” Prue cried, grabbing his arm to hold him still.
Cyrus froze, staring at her with wide eyes.
A hard lump formed in Prue’s throat. She couldn’t speak. All she could manage was a single shake of her head. Slowly, she lowered Cyrus’s hand and approached the nearest siren. Its wings were folded inward as if it could cocoon itself and hide from the devastation of losing members of its pack.
“Prue,” Cyrus warned.
“This is wrong,” Prue said over her shoulder. “This is what they want! Mona and I are goddesses of earth—of life. To destroy creatures like this is exactly what the Titans want. But the sirens are not our enemy. If they are only here to divert us, then they don’t deserve to be destroyed for it.”
“They were created with Titan magic,” Cyrus objected. “Their very existence goes against the laws of the gods.”
“They cannot be unmade,” Mona said thoughtfully. “Once created, you can’t undo it. Even if they are killed, it doesn’t erase the fact that they existed. Nothing can.”
“You two aren’t seriously suggesting we keep them alive?” Cyrus’s voice was incredulous. “We won’t be able to get past them without being pecked to death!”
Prue gave him a sharp look. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being Queen of the Underworld, it’s that even the most monstrous of creatures deserve to be cared for. You yourself possess Titan magic. Should you also be destroyed for it?”
Cyrus’s mouth snapped shut at that.
“Let me try,” she pleaded. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll do it your way.”
After a moment, Cyrus offered a stiff nod.
Relief spread through Prue’s chest, and she looked at Mona. “Will you help me?”
“Of course,” Mona said.
Together, they drew closer to the siren. Wet, rasping sounds poured from its beak, and Prue’s heart shattered. “Goddess, what have we done?” she whispered.
Mona’s fingers slid through hers and gave a tight squeeze. They both knelt by the siren’s side. It was too wounded to even glance at them. Its dark eyes blinked, staring into the distance. Prue wondered if it was so close to death that it couldn’t register their closeness.
Mona gently pressed her hands into the siren’s feathers, then murmured, “Sano.”
Nothing happened.
Mona’s brows drew together in frustration. Her voice was firmer as she said, “Sano.”
Prue placed her hand on top of Mona’s, drawing from her own well of power. Their voices rang out as they said together, “Sano!”
Wind billowed around them. Heat burned underneath their joined hands. The siren’s body jerked violently from the force of their magic. Its head whipped up, and it squawked loudly at them, almost indignantly.
Prue gasped, her head rearing back in surprise. Her whole body tingled with energy, her blood simmering and her heart racing.
The siren snapped its beak, and Prue and Mona scrambled away before getting pecked at.
“We’re sorry,” Prue said, extending her palms. “Please forgive us. We only want to help.”
The siren cocked its head at them, assessing. Then, its beak opened, and a soothing melody poured out.
Prue stiffened, waiting for the siren song to overwhelm her body, to draw her in and lure her to her death.
But it didn’t.
The siren continued to sing, the melody soothing and beautiful. It sounded both lovely and sad, like a tale of lovers torn apart. Beside her, Mona sniffed, her eyes welling with tears.
“It’s—It’s the song of their kind,” Mona whispered. “A song of death and destruction. But also freedom and flight.”
Prue swallowed hard, sorrow tightening in her chest.
When the song was finished, Prue found her own cheeks wet with tears. She wiped her nose and gazed at the siren in wonder. She had never imagined that such dangerous creatures could also be… beautiful.
The siren’s beak opened once more, and this time, Evander’s voice spoke to them. “Thank you. Your healing has freed us.”
Mona’s breath hitched. Prue couldn’t imagine how awkward it must feel to hear this siren speak with the voice of the man she loved.
“We were enslaved,” the siren continued in Evander’s gentle voice. “But the pain of our bondage was swallowed up in the magic you gifted us. We are indebted to you.”
Prue blinked, her lips parting in wonder. Indebted.
On impulse, she blurted out, “Will you fight with us?”
The siren cocked its head again. “Fight?”
“We are trying to take down the Titans. Destroy them before they take over the realms. Will you help us?”
The siren said nothing for a long moment. Prue waited, holding her breath, daring to hope…
“Yes,” the siren said at last. “We seek to take down the masters who have caged us. But not all of our pack will follow.”
Prue frowned. “What do you mean?”
“To face the Titans means to do battle against one of our own.”
Prue shook her head, but beside her, Mona went still as death, her eyes wide. “What are you talking about?” Prue asked.
The siren’s voice was somber. “One of the Titans has used dark magic to alter his body. He has taken the form of a siren.”