Entranced
CYRUS
He has taken the form of a siren.
The words echoed in Cyrus’s mind, making him go numb with horror and dread. He was just about to ask which Titan had done this when several deep, thundering blasts shook the ground.
Cyrus instinctively grabbed Prue, his hands on her arms as he pulled her against him. The rumbling continued, and Cyrus looked around, eyes narrowing as he tried to identify the new threat.
“It’s footsteps,” Mona whispered, crouching close to the ground, no doubt so she could avoid toppling over from the earthquake.
“Yes,” murmured the siren beside them, still using Evander’s voice to speak. “More than one Titan has altered himself.”
Cyrus’s blood ran cold. “Speak plainly,” he said impatiently. “Tell us what has happened.”
“Of the three Titans,” said the siren, “one has become a siren. Another, a Cyclops. And the third, a chimera.”
“Good gods,” Cyrus breathed in horror, his flesh tingling from unease. It was unnatural. It was shocking.
And… impossible. How had the Titans managed this?
“Did they acquire more magic to do this?” Mona mused, clearly wondering the same thing. She seemed more curious than horrified, and Cyrus wondered if the revelation hadn’t fully registered for her yet. Beside him, Prue’s face had turned ashen, her mouth twisting into a grimace.
“I am not sure,” the siren admitted. “We sirens cannot sense magic on other creatures.”
“Are you bonded to one of them?” Prue asked. “The Titan who is a siren—if we hurt him, will you be hurt as well?”
“No. Not even Titan magic can forge a bond between sirens. He is not one of us.” The siren spoke with venom, warping Evander’s voice into something unrecognizable.
Prue exhaled, her eyes closing for a moment before she met Cyrus’s gaze. He saw relief on her face, and he knew she was hesitant to attack a Titan if she knew it would hurt the entire pack of sirens.
But Cyrus would not have hesitated. Regardless of his wife’s sympathy toward the creatures, he would not have batted an eye at the casualties lost if it meant he could erase the Titans from existence.
Prue seemed to notice the hardness etched on his face. Her expression turned stony, and she looked away. The thundering footsteps continued, drawing closer.
Mona looked up toward the sky, her brows drawing together.“This is one of them,” she murmured. “I can smell his magic from here.”
Cyrus inhaled deeply, and there it was. The pungent aroma of Titan magic. He hadn’t noticed it before—perhaps because he often smelled it on himself, thanks to his Titan powers.
“He approaches,” the siren warned, rising so it stood on its talons. It tilted its head toward the sky, black eyes flashing. “The one who poses as my kind.”
Prue frowned. “The siren is—” She broke off as another loud boom interrupted her. “It’s making those sounds?”
Cyrus shared her confusion. How could a siren be massive enough to cause the ground to shake?
The siren in front of them uttered a loud squawk and suddenly bolted for the sky, disappearing in a haze of smoke.
“Wait!” Prue called, stretching her hand as if she could call the creature back.
“Mona,” Cyrus said stiffly, his gaze narrowing toward the sky. “Can you conjure that dome of branches again?”
In answer, a cocoon of vines and leaves formed around them, shrouding them from the mist and muffling the echoing booms that were growing closer.
It wouldn’t do much. But perhaps it could conceal them from view for long enough for them to get their bearings.
Cyrus still had no idea what was coming. And clearly, it was fearsome enough to frighten away the sirens.
He peered through the leaves, holding his breath as he waited. The heavy footsteps drew closer. The ground shuddered with each sound. The mist began to clear, parting for whatever approached.
Prue suddenly uttered a sharp gasp, then covered her mouth. Her body was trembling, and her eyes filled with tears.
“What is it?” Cyrus turned to her. She was peering through the leaves on the opposite side, away from him. She shook her head, tears spilling down her face.
Cyrus followed her gaze, his fingers brushing leaves out of the way, and his heart dropped to his stomach.
Five bodies were strewn on the ground, limbs jutting out at odd angles. Scorch marks covered their faces, making them almost unrecognizable. Each one wore a familiar suit of armor.
It was the fire witches. They lay on the ground, eyes wide and motionless, staring into nothing.
All five of them were dead. And they had only been steps away, concealed by the mist.
“No,” Mona breathed, her face as pale as death. “H-How?”
“Their bodies are burned,” Cyrus said solemnly.
“If I had to guess, I would say the sirens convinced them to destroy each other.” A hard lump formed in his throat, and he suddenly found it difficult to breathe.
“They—They never stood a chance. We possess god blood, and it made us strong enough to withstand their call. But the witches…” He trailed off, his eyes closing.
Rage and regret swarmed in his chest, threatening to suffocate him.
He understood the sirens had been acting on the Titans’ orders. But suddenly, he wanted to wring each of those damned birds’ necks for retribution. Farah was dead. The coven leader who had trusted Cyrus enough to fight alongside him was dead.
And he hadn’t been able to stop it. He had done nothing.
Images of Lagos’s broken body flashed in his mind. Once more, the lives of good people had been lost because of him. He was not a brave enough or strong enough leader to protect them. Prue and Mona would likely die, too.
What was he even doing here? How could he win this battle?
“Cyrus.” Prue’s warm hands were on his face, forcing him to meet her gaze.
“Stay with me. We can do this. We—We knew there would be casualties.” Her voice broke on the words, and her eyes sparkled with tears.
But her expression was fierce as she looked at him.
“Do not leave me. Stay and fight with me.” She pressed a hard kiss to his lips.
A faint tendril of heat coiled in his chest from the commanding way she claimed his mouth with her own.
When she withdrew, her gaze was pleading, begging him to stay alert. To breathe. To fight.
He had to fight. For her. For his people.
Cyrus brought his forehead to hers and focused on her breaths. In and out. In and out. After a moment, his panicked breathing leveled, matching the rhythm of her inhales and exhales.
He pulled away to look her in the eyes. Before he could speak, something crashed into their dome of branches. Leaves and twigs went flying. Cyrus, Prue, and Mona collapsed in a heap of vines and foliage.
A deep, guttural roar pierced the air, making Cyrus’s ears rattle and his skull throb. He rolled, wincing when a sharp thorn pierced his skin. He found Prue’s hand and clutched it in his, relieved to feel her squeezing back.
A massive dark shape hovered over them, far bigger than the sirens they had just faced.
This one was three times as tall, its inky wings spread wide.
Its talons alone were nearly as long as Cyrus was tall.
Instead of the face of a woman, this creature wore a face that was all too familiar.
Green skin. Malicious black eyes. And a pair of white horns.
Oceanus.
Cyrus started at the creature, utterly confused. While Oceanus’s appearance was horrifying, his body wasn’t large enough to make such thundering footsteps. And even if it was… it would have just flown to them instead of walked.
So, what giant creature had made such booming footsteps? What else was out there?
Before Cyrus could think on it any longer, Oceanus spoke.
“Come to me,” he crooned. His booming voice resonated around them, brushing against Cyrus’s skin and warming his blood. He found himself shifting through the leaves, desperate to draw nearer to the magnificent beast before him. Prue and Mona did the same, scrambling over one another to get closer.
Oceanus laughed at their response. “Such feeble, malleable minds,” he taunted. “This will be far too easy.”
Cyrus blinked, shaking his head violently to clear the fog in his mind. Oceanus’s siren call was far stronger than the others. Cyrus grabbed Prue and Mona by the arms, halting them before they dived for Oceanus. Their eyes were vacant and hazy, drawn in by the lure of the siren call.
“Bow before me,” Oceanus commanded.
Cyrus’s back bowed obediently, his body responding without his permission. He gritted his teeth, trying to resist, but it felt like an invisible hand was pushing on his spine, forcing him to bow.
He grunted, warring with himself, trying to gain control. “You… coward,” he spat, gasping for breath.
Oceanus’s dark eyes glittered. “Coward? I think not. I’m stronger than any of you pathetic little gods.”
“Prove it,” Cyrus snarled. “Stop hiding behind your siren lure. Make this a fair fight, and let’s see how strong you are.”
Oceanus hesitated, his eyes narrowing. Suddenly, he hissed, launching forward and pinning Mona to the ground with his talons. Only then did Cyrus notice the vines that had been snaking toward the Titan in an attempt to wrap around him.
Mona had been trying to attack him from behind with her magic.
She yelped and struggled, shoving against Oceanus. But her attempts were futile. His massive form crushed her, and his talons dug into her flesh. Mona’s scream filled the air.
“Mona!” Prue surged forward, but Oceanus’s head snapped up, his eyes flaring.
“Kill him,” he hissed with his siren call. “The death god did this to your sister. Kill him now.”
Prue stiffened, her body freezing in place. Her arms locked at her sides, and her back was rigid. Slowly, she turned to glare at Cyrus, her lavender eyes milky and unfocused.
“Prue,” Cyrus said slowly, raising his hands. “Listen to me…”
Prue bared her teeth, then spread her arms wide. The earth cracked, and thorny brambles shot forward, wrapping around Cyrus’s legs.
“No!” he bellowed before crashing to his knees. He severed the vines with his lightning but halted when Prue drew closer. He didn’t want to strike her.
Her face was contorted with fury, making her unrecognizable. She had never looked at him like this before.
“Prue,” he begged. “It’s me. You can fight this. I know you’re strong enough.”
Prue kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling. She aimed to kick him again, but he grabbed her ankle and twisted. With a yelp, she fell to the ground. Cyrus jumped to his feet, climbing atop her and pinning her with his knees. He grabbed her wrists before she could strike him again.
“Look at me!” he cried. “Prue, fight it!”
She snarled and hissed like a feral animal, her eyes still clouded from Oceanus’s influence.
She was fully entranced. There was no reaching her. This was not his wife. This was someone else—a vessel of Oceanus.
With a roar, Cyrus reached toward Oceanus, flinging a bolt of lightning straight into the Titan. Oceanus shrieked, toppling from the force of it. The smell of burned feathers filled the air.
But Prue took advantage of Cyrus’s distraction.
One of her branches lashed his arm, drawing blood.
Vines coiled around his arms, tugging him violently until he crashed to the earth, his head slamming into the hard ground.
Stars danced in his vision, and darkness crept toward him, threatening to drag him to unconsciousness.
Prue stalked toward him, her face as impassive as ever. More vines encircled Cyrus, tethering his wrists and ankles to the ground. He tugged fruitlessly against them, struggling in vain to free himself.
“Prue,” he rasped. “Please.”
Prue said nothing as she hovered over him. In her hand, she conjured a long, jagged branch with a tip as sharp as a spear.
Cyrus felt the blood drain from his face. Oh, gods. She was going to kill him. “Prue!” he bellowed.
A scream echoed, and Prue froze, tilting her head slightly toward the sound.
It was Mona. Oceanus had embedded one of his talons straight through her thigh.
Prue’s nostrils flared, her eyes burning with clarity. “M-Mona?”
“Finish him!” Oceanus hissed. “Kill the death god!”
Prue’s breath hitched, her eyes going milky once more. Her body jerked and twitched unnaturally. She raised the branch in her hands, aiming for Cyrus’s chest.
A brilliant blast of white light filled the air, momentarily blinding Cyrus. He turned his head, eyes closing against the force of it.
Then, dozens—no, hundreds—of voices echoed around him, reverberating as if he stood in a massive cavern.
Oceanus screamed, and then came the sound of a blade slicing into flesh.
Prue groaned and fell to her knees, gasping for breath. Her vines loosened, and Cyrus tore them away, rushing to her side. She was coughing up blood, her face pale and her eyes haunted.
But they were her eyes. Brilliant lavender. They stared at him with stark clarity.
Cyrus’s hands were shaking as he clutched her shoulders. “Thank the gods.” He pulled her against his chest, massaging her back and stroking her curls. She clung to him weakly, still reeling from Oceanus’s violent control over her body.
Cyrus looked over her shoulder, his gaze fixed on the sky, trying to make sense of what he was seeing.
Thousands of white blurry shapes danced in the air, flitting about with such speed that Cyrus couldn’t make out any details.
Somewhere close by, Oceanus was screeching.
The sounds of flesh tearing and ripping still filled the air.
Someone—something—was attacking the Titan.
Then, a figure appeared who Cyrus would recognize anywhere. He stood out amongst the white lights around him, his dark clothes a sharp contrast against the luminescent chaos.
His face taut with concern, Evander hovered over Mona’s prone figure. He bound the bleeding wound in her thigh, then gathered her into his arms, his eyes burning with fury.
Then, he met Cyrus’s gaze and hurried toward him, still carrying Mona.
“You—You aren’t real,” Cyrus said in a strained voice. Surely, this had to be a trick from Oceanus. Or perhaps one of the other sirens.
Evander offered a grim smile. “I’m afraid I am, brother. And I’m not alone.” He glanced up at the sky, then frowned. “Are those…” He trailed off as several loud squawks and screeches echoed nearby.
Cyrus squinted upward, then noticed the frantic beating of black wings darting between the pearly forms in the sky. A savage smile spread across his face. “The sirens. They’re fighting back.”
Evander looked at him in confusion. “Sirens?”
“Evander,” Mona croaked, gripping his arm, her eyes weak. “What—What have you done?”
Evander brushed sweaty strands of hair away from her face. “I’m here, my love. And I’ve brought an army with me.” He looked at Cyrus with determination and pride on his face. “I have freed the Wild Spirits, and they are here to fight for us.”