The Siren Jewel: Spellbound Prison Saga

by Karri Roberts

  “Jewels, you are repeating old mistakes.” Her voice flowed like a sweet melody.

  “Old mistakes,” the descendants around her echoed in unison.

  “We are not made to be alone. Death comes to those alone.”

  “Death,” the pod of mermaids reverberated.

  The Original Siren tucked my hair behind my ear and ran her finger along my jawline. She smiled, but her eyes were like pools of sadness.

  “Where am I?” I asked.

  “Where we all end up, eventually.” She brushed her fingers through my hair, smoothing the tangled strands.

  “Am I dead?”

  “Do you want to be?” She separated my hair into parts and began braiding it to the side like hers. “We are not made to be alone.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “You must save yourself before you save others or you’ll end up like the rest of us.” She finished the braid and cupped my face in her hands. “No one can truly live alone. Not even us.”

  The rock beneath me began to shake and the water rippled. More mermaids rose from the deep and intermingled with the descendants. Guardsmen. I didn’t know how I knew, but I was sure of it.

  “There is no such thing as fate. Only choices.”

  Suddenly I was falling through the air, surrounded by white, then black, then a blur of colors. I slammed into the ground and the air was knocked from my lungs. The stone walls and sound of the flowing trench told me I was back at Spellbound. Evan looked down at me. I bolted up and before I could stand Evan wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him.

  “There you are, Little Witch. What happened? One minute you were up and talking and the next you were lying cold on the ground. I thought you were dead.”

  “Maybe I was. I’m not sure.” I squeezed him back and could feel his rapid heartbeat against his chest. His warmth seeped into me, lighting a spark within that I hadn’t even known was there. Before I knew it, I pressed my lips to his. He swept his hands into my hair and kissed me back. I forced myself to pull away a few seconds later. “I have to find Lorelei.”

  He nodded and we took off to my cellblock.

  As soon as we turned onto my cellblock the chatter of pressured voices told me she was still here. I found Lorelei in our cell with her back to me. All our friends were huddled around the map of Spellbound, arguing over strategy. When Evan and I entered everyone went silent.

  Lorelei turned and frowned when she saw me. Tears lined her eyes as she started to speak but only a stutter parted her lips. I stepped forward and watched as her body tensed, preparing itself to take the full brunt of my anger. Instead I wrapped her in my arms and held her close. She clung to me and broke out in sobs.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry.”

  “I met your dad and the warden right before I got sent to Spellbound but—”

  “You don’t have to tell me right now. I know…”

  “Yes… I have to tell you this now. I broke your trust and you deserve to know why.” She sighed and pulled away, taking my hands in hers. Our magic and something deeper intertwined together and a sense of pure love and trust washed over me. “The warden did tell me to keep an eye on you. He had me under some spell and every time I spoke with him I would immediately forget that it had happened. I knew that I needed to protect you, but I assumed that feeling was because I’m from a Guardsmen family and you’re a Siren Descendant. I didn’t know it was something more. While you were in the Madness Room a package came for me from your dad. When I opened it all of my memories came flooding back. I knew I had to keep up the act with the warden to not draw attention to me or you. But I swear I didn’t know what I was doing until that moment and ever since I have been intentionally leading him down the wrong path.”

  “Why did the warden want you to keep an eye on her?” Evan stepped up to my side.

  Lorelei’s eyes narrowed. “Why are you here?”

  “Little Witch and I have an arrangement. I’m going to help her save her dad and get us all out of here.”

  “Like hell you are! We don’t need someone who would murder their own sister to help us.” Lorelei tried to pull me away from Evan, but I stood my ground.

  “That’s not what happened. The Blood Coven killed his sister.”

  “Of course he would tell you that! Who admits to killing their sister?”

  “Listen now…” Evan’s words were cut off by Flynn’s high-pitched whistle. Everyone turned to Flynn.

  “Stop. All of you. We don’t have time for this shit. If we are going to get out of here, we need all the help we can get. We are on a timetable. Who knows when this place will fall to pieces and, Jewels, frankly you look like death, so I can’t imagine Teal’s spell will last much longer. Whatever we are going to do we have to do it together and now.”

  “I’m not leaving here without my dad. I’d rather die. If you guys just want to make a run for it, I don’t blame you. But I can’t.” My voice quivered and Lorelei’s grip tightened on my hand.

  “I go where you go,” she said.

  “So do I,” Evan said. Lorelei shot him a death stare, but he ignored it.

  Teal and Becky stared at me blankly. Teal grabbed Becky by the hand and led her to the back of the cell. They whispered between each other, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. Flynn leaned against the wall and stared at the ceiling, letting out a long sigh.

  “I say what the hell. If I’m going to go down, I’d love to take some Blood Coven witches with me. I’d be a fucking legend.” Flynn grinned. “Plus, you’re my pack and I don’t abandon my pack.”

  I jumped into his arms and wrapped him in a tight hug. Becky cleared her throat behind me. I turned and found her and Teal holding up the map.

  “We aren’t going to abandon you now,” Becky said. “I kinda like you.”

  “And even though you almost got me killed, you kinda grew on me,” Teal said. “Plus, we have a plan that isn’t a for sure death sentence. Well, half a plan.” Teal pointed to the map. “We could use this to track your necklace. That’s assuming it’s still in the building.”

  “Which we think it is given all the craziness that’s going on. All the shaking that’s been happening is probably the containment spell they have on it starting to give.” They both spoke so smoothly, finishing each other’s thoughts, like they were one. No wonder they had made such a great con artist team.

  “This is all a guess,” Teal said.

  “An educated guess. But still a guess,” Becky said.

  “The amount of power it would take to contain The Siren Jewel is massive and would be unpredictable. Coven members would have to stay nearby to keep it going.” Teal looked at Becky.

  “Which means it’s probably guarded by a lot of Blood Coven members.”

  “The spells on the prison have been spotty since the massive exodus. Most bindings have dropped completely. But whatever is still in place combined with the power drain being used to contain your necklace and drain you of your life force is still blocking our full use of magic.”

  “We have tried to cast a sort of tracking spell on the map to help us find a safe way out. But it keeps sputtering out.”

  “So, you’re thinking of using this tracking spell to find my necklace? But you can’t because some of the prison bindings are still active?” I asked.

  “Yes,” they said in unison.

  “Could we access The Void and use it to end the bindings?” I asked. The two witches’ faces went white.

  “No. That is far too risky. We don’t access it for a reason,” Becky said.

  “I have. Brendan does,” I said. Becky and Teal glanced at each other and then at me. “We could have him do it.”

  “It’s a bad idea,” Teal said.

  “I agree,” Lorelei said. “I’ve only heard bad things about The Void. It changes the people who access it. It’s wild and unmanageable.”

  “It manipulates the practitioner instead of the p
ractitioner manipulating it,” Teal said. “Absolutely not.”

  “Okay, then what about the portal you showed me?” I asked Teal.

  “We already tried that. It’s blocked off,” she said.

  The prison shook and loud clashes of things falling to the stone floor filled the air. I reached out to grab something to steady myself and my hands landed on Evan. We held each other as the building rocked for longer than any of the times before. The floor beneath us cracked and water slowly seeped in. When the world finally stilled I released my hold on Evan and looked at my hands. My fingertips were blue and my skin pastier than normal. I locked eyes with Evan and could read the worry on his face.

  “I have a way we could drop the bindings without The Void,” Evan said. He pulled a small figurine from his pocket. It was made of red clay and shaped like a half moon. He rubbed his thumb across its surface and then handed it to me. “It was my sister’s. I was saving it for something worthy of her memory. This feels like that.”

  “A Moon Child enchantment? How did you get that in here?” Flynn asked.

  Evan didn’t answer and just stared at the clay moon in my hand. I held it up and watched it glitter in the light. I passed it to Teal.

  “Will it work?” I asked.

  “It’s our only shot,” Teal replied.

  We abandoned mine and Lorelei’s cell as the water flooded in. We all walked the halls, searching for a secure room to work in. Each breath I took was like sucking in sand. I leaned on Lorelei for support. Each glance from my friends revealed the worry they refused to express. I was actively dying and all they could do was watch it happen. Not even the power of hundreds of witches could save me now.

  Windows were shattered and rain pounded the floor and walls. The turbulent sea outside was angry and dark. The rocking of the waves matched tempo with my heart. Streams of the moonlight illuminated the beach for brief moments only to be drowned out by the clouds once more. Lightning flashed across the sky and I saw mermaids on the shore preparing to scale up. By the next flash they were gone, hidden beneath the waves. They had made it out. So could we.

  Inmates ran the halls. Everyone was distracted by their own desires. As one male shifter sprinted past us Flynn grabbed his arm and pulled him to a stop.

  “Where are you going?”

  “Haven’t you heard? The containments are down on the west side and people have been able to climb out the windows. I’m not going to miss my chance.” The man yanked his arm from Flynn’s grasp and ran west.

  Everyone turned and watched the man disappear.

  “I won’t blame any of you if you go now. If things were different I would do the same.”

  My friends looked at each other and they all nodded in silent agreement.

  “We aren’t going anywhere,” Flynn said.

  We found a suitable room that had been the guards’ break room. Food littered the floor and a fridge had been turned on its side. Every cabinet door stood open. All the chairs and the table were destroyed, but at least it was windowless and dry. Teal and Becky spread the map out on the counter and placed the clay moon in the center.

  “If this works, the prison will become a free for all. Every being still here will have full access to their powers and abilities. We will need to be on high alert. Everyone was sent here because they broke the law and we don’t really know what any of them are capable of with their chains off.” Evan addressed everyone but looked at me.

  “I know what all of you are capable of and I’d bet on you guys any day,” I said.

  Lorelei closed the door and the lights flickered. She saw my hands and her eyes glossed over with tears. They were a deathly blue all the way up to my wrists. My lungs were heavy and ached like they were full of nails. My raspy breaths did nothing to soothe her concern.

  Teal and Becky stood over the map and began to chant. The red moon melted into the paper. Spellbound quaked and the walls bowed. Stones fell to the floor as mortar fractured. The wall that separated us from the hall collapsed and Evan barely made it out of the debris’ path.

  “It’s not working!” Teal screamed. “We aren’t strong enough.” Blood dripped from her nose. She started to back away from the map.

  Becky grabbed Teal’s hand and held her in place. The veins on her neck pulsated and her pupils were so dilated they overtook the irises of her eyes. Red leaked from her ears. I leapt forward and put my hands on their shoulders. I didn’t know what words to use to accomplish my goal, so I said nothing and just envisioned my magic flowing into their body. Lorelei tried to pull me off them, but I held on tight and refused to budge. My magic melded with theirs and I felt them guiding it where they needed it to go. I didn’t have to do anything but maintain the connection. The moment the spell worked I felt a pop in the universe like a Mars-sized balloon just exploded. Every binding and containment spell on the prison unraveled. Each one passed through me as it came undone, like snakes slithering through my veins.

  The world around us stilled and the tension drained from the witches’ shoulders. I glanced at my hands and saw they’d returned to their normal, pinkish hue. I took a deep breath and realized the wetness in my lungs was gone. Teal wiped the blood from her nose and rested against the counter. The clay moon was gone and a red, glowing dot now appeared on the map. Becky smiled.

  “It worked.” She pointed to the glowing spot on the map. “We go there.”

  “I feel better. Like a lot better.”

  “Bad news is it’s temporary. This disrupted all spells and enchantments currently active within the prison walls. It won’t take them long to reinforce them. Good news is that it confirms that The Siren Jewel is still here.” Teal’s eyes locked with mine. “Thanks for the power boost.”

  Yelling came from down the hall, followed by the rapid patter of footsteps. Evan and Flynn moved in front of us as a group of inmates came barreling down the hall. Some were mid shift, others had flames or swirls of air surrounding them. I recognized a witch or two in the mix. They blocked off our exit, forming a line where the wall once stood.

  “We only want her.” A tattooed fae with air swirling at his fingertips pointed to me. “The rest of you are free to go.”

  “We aren’t leaving without her,” Flynn growled. Lorelei shoved me behind her and tried to block me from their view.

  “Then I guess you aren’t leaving.” Air blasted toward us like gale force winds and knocked Flynn to the ground. A shifter almost fully in wolf state tackled him, pinning him to the ground.

  Before I could react, Lorelei pushed me farther behind her as she intercepted a witch’s charge. I fell to the ground and scrambled back into a corner. Lorelei tussled on the ground with the witch. When the witch’s lips started to move her mouth suddenly disappeared and the look in her eyes turned frantic.

  “Nu, uh, uh. Bad witch.” Teal stood over her and twisted her hands like she was wringing a chicken’s neck. The witch’s body buckled, her neck turned in a complete 180. Cracks filled the air as her spine snapped and she went limp. A group charged Teal and Lorelei. Teal threw her hand up, palm open.

  “Jecarious,” she said and the group froze.

  Green scales started to line Lorelei’s neck, disappearing down her shirt. Her eyes turned feral and she charged the group. She sprang into the air, landing on the shoulders of a warlock. She held his head in her hands and yanked. Blood gushed from the hole where his head once was and his body fell to the ground. The group was moving again, no longer frozen in place. Lorelei hit the ground with the body and rolled across the floor before engaging another attacker. I lost sight of her in the crowd.

  Evan’s fists turned to flames and he threw fireballs at the air fae who countered with a gust blowing the flames off course. The flames flowed in my direction and I ducked just in time for them to soar over my head and dissipate against the stone wall. Evan’s eyes narrowed and his clothes disintegrated on him, turning to ash as his entire body erupted in flame. He threw his arms forward and a wall of fire engul
fed the air fae. His agonizing screams cut through all other sounds and he fell to the floor. The screams stopped, but the now unrecognizable air fae’s remains were still smoldering.

  Becky had me by the arm and tried to lift me up off the floor. Fire flew by our heads and I closed my eyes and covered my face with my arms. I braced for the burn. Something sizzled in front of me and a steamy warmth drifted against my skin. I opened my eyes to a wall of water separating Becky and me from the fire. The water encircled us and lifted us from the ground like a giant bubble.

  “How are you doing that?” Becky asked.

  “I’m not.”

  She pointed to my hands and streams of water were pouring from them into our watery safe haven.

  “I… I don’t know.”

  Flames surrounded us and the water sizzled.

  “We are going to boil alive.” Becky looped her arm around my waist. “Hold on! Caecus Lacus.”

  I felt weightless and the world blurred by. My feet hit the ground across the hall. We had broken through the line and were now behind our attackers. The floor-to-ceiling windows behind me rattled as the waves pounded against them. Lightning cut through the sky, followed by crashes of thunder. Becky grabbed my arm.

  “Can you fill this hall with water?”

  “I don’t know,” I stuttered.

  “Try!” She turned to the window. “Claustra diffringo.” The pane vibrated and cracks spread across its surface. “Frango depraesentiarum!” The glass shattered outward and the wind and rain rushed in. “Do it now, Jewels!”

  I stared at the angry ocean churning below, beating against the rocks and overtaking the beach. I reached for my magic and the water responded by twirling up in a cyclone. The twisting water gushed into the hall.

  Becky pulled me behind a stone column. Teal ran from the crowd with Lorelei on her heels. Fire licked the ceiling on the other side of the line of The Blood Coven’s cronies. Teal and Becky took a fighting stance in front of us, palms facing the crowd. A translucent wall appeared, barely visible to the naked eye, and separated us from the crowd. Flames slammed into the barrier and puttered out to smoke. The water rapidly filled the room and many of our attackers retreated, but we remained safe and dry behind the two witches.