“You’re mated to a Siren now. She’ll always be able to call you to her, no matter how far apart you get. And she’ll never lose her memory again.”
“What about the curse?”
“Well, since your heart doesn’t beat as a vampire, it wouldn’t affect you. But Ajax is dead now. His curses died with him.”
I breathed in deeply, slowly putting the beast within away. I hadn’t needed to rip out anyone’s throat, but my strength had held the ancient Siren long enough to finish him. I would forever be grateful for that.
Calliope pulled away from her sisters and walked to my side, tucking herself against my body and inhaled deeply. “I have no words for you, my love, other than thank you. Thank you for being stubborn and persistent and sticking with me through these last few days. Without you, I would have nothing. Without you weakening him, we wouldn’t have been able to finish the spell.”
“You are the gift, Calliope. The treasure any knight worth his salt would die a hundred times over to protect.” I cupped her face, tipping her chin toward mine, then took her mouth. Her taste burst on my tongue like a sweet cherry—summer and happiness washing away the horrors and pain and fear that had tried to steal our chance to be together.
“Mine,” I growled through the kiss, a little of my beast surfacing to make sure she knew she belonged.
“Yes, I am,” she murmured.
I broke our kiss and walked her toward the back door of the cabin and outside. We were mated now. She acknowledged it. Embraced it, even. But I needed to know the reservations she’d had when I first met her were gone.
A small porch light illuminated her face in the dark chilled evening air. Her eyes were downcast, and her mouth tight. Exhaustion pulled at her small shoulders. She was so small and petite, giving the impression of weakness, but she was one of the strongest women I’d ever met—no matter what body she inhabited.
“How are you?”
She shook her head and looked off at the horizon. “I’m good,” she said, her voice a soft murmur. “It doesn’t quite feel real.”
“What?”
“All of it. We’re here. I’m with my sisters. They are mated. We’re mated… My father’s dead. After all this time, all these years of hiding…I’m free. And free to be with you,” she said, laying her palm flat on my chest. “I’m so sorry I cost you your Djinn. It wasn’t fair of me to keep that from you. I was being selfish and scared, and gods, I’m so sorry. If I had told you…” Tears poured down her cheeks.
“You were afraid I would leave you?” As messed up as it was, it made me feel good to know that her hesitation had been from fear of losing me. She hadn’t been immune to the same mate pull I’d felt. She’d just been fighting it harder.
She pulled her hand away from my chest, and I missed the touch immediately.
“Why would you have stayed with a woman that you could never have? After I stole my father’s essence, he cursed me as punishment. The heart of any man I loved and joined with would die. I kept myself apart from everyone. Never let anyone get close. But then you were there…and I wanted you like I’d never wanted anyone.”
“I would stay with you, Calliope, even if I were never able to touch you again. You are the other half of my soul. The light in my darkness. My family.” I cupped her face, wiping her tears with my thumbs. “I would die all over again if it meant I got to be with you. Fate had a plan, Calliope. I never believed that until the first glance I got of you back in Sanctuary.”
“I’m not her, though. I’m so different.”
I shook my head. “On the outside, perhaps. But I still see the same spirit shining through those big beautiful brown eyes.”
“What about your sister? And the town? We just left them,” Calliope asked.
“I will grieve for my niece in time, and for the loss that will forever haunt my sister, but I’m grateful to her for bringing me to Sanctuary. To you. I just want to be with you. Wherever that is. We can stay here in Russia with your siblings, or go back to Sanctuary. It’s up to you.”
“I don’t know what I want. I-I’ve never had a choice before. I’ve lived my life on the run. When I met Rose and joined Sanctuary, I was bound by the deal I made with her to protect myself and my sisters.”
“Why don’t we go inside and help your sisters and their mates clean up? Then we can take a breath and decide. There’s no hurry. And I can’t teleport,” I said with a chuckle, “so unless Asa tracks us here, it’ll take weeks to even get back to Sanctuary.”
She took a deep breath and pressed her cheek into my hand. “Thank you.”
I bent, pulling her face closer and covering her mouth with mine once more, relishing the sweetness of her taste.
Chapter 47
KILLÍAN
Alek and Miles flanked me as I stared down into the massive crater again. I kept looking, half-expecting to see people climbing up out of the hole. But they weren’t. They never would. The castle was gone. There was just…nothing. We’d been burying the dead who hadn’t been obliterated in the explosion Naram and Xerxes had created. There were still so many. They’d trusted me, and I’d let them die. I’d failed again, and people had died.
So. Many. People.
Why did war have to be so costly?
“How do we move on from this?” Alek asked.
“One step at a time. First, we finish burying our dead. Then we return to those that survived and hold them tight and thank the gods we made it through.” Miles’s craggy voice was deep and laced with pain. After the heavy infusion of blood from Erick, Miles had revived, and his skin had already healed from the massive burns. But even though the outside had healed, he was still in a great deal of pain.
“Miles is right. We must find victory in defeating our enemy and remember that our friends did not die for nothing. We not only won the battle today, Naram won us the war…even if he did it in a way that cost us dearly,” I said, releasing a deep breath. I needed to believe my own words. I needed to stop blaming myself for failure. This wasn’t a failure. All our lives could’ve been lost if Naram had not killed Xerxes today.
“Have you found any more alive?” The familiar female Djinn voice called through the stillness and silence surrounding the battlefield. Asa had returned.
“How is everyone at the portal?” Miles asked.
She nodded and peered over the edge of the crater into the deep, dark hole. “They are safe and well. There were a couple of guards, but you were right. Sita and Marcus didn’t have a problem disposing of them.” She gestured at the small group standing a few yards away.
“Should I take them now? They look pretty tired.”
“No, they’ve asked to remain and help finish burying our friends.”
“Of course.” She studied the small group of survivors, and then her gaze trailed to the scattered bodies, littering the ground for hundreds of yards in every direction. It was like she was searching for something. Or someone.
“Who are you looking for, Asa?” I asked.
“I keep thinking I’m going to see Godric. But if he and that Siren had made it back, they would’ve appeared long before now.”
“You said they died,” I snarled, angry that she’d lied.
“They did. Well, Calliope did. I didn’t see Godric go down. But he wouldn’t have left her. He thought she was his mate.”
“I haven’t seen him,” I answered angrily.
Her face blanched, and for a moment, I regretted speaking so harshly.
She blinked away, reappearing a dozen yards away. Then again and again. She blinked over and over until she was only stopping for a second next to each body. Asa paused on top of a mountain of stone rubble in the middle of what was left of Main Street Circle. A second later, she was standing in front of me, her eyes glassy with unshed tears.
“Does the Siren have a house in town?”
I pointed to the one remaining shop across the street near the café. “She lives above her shop. Why?”
“If he go
t out, he might’ve brought her body back.” Her voice was low, and her gaze darted every which way but forward.
“I’ll go look with you, Asa. Maybe he made it back,” I said, laying a hand on her small shoulder. She took a ragged breath and jumped us all the way across the street. I sucked in air and shook my head, trying to right myself. Who was I to deny her hope? After a thousand years, I’d found Eira after thinking I’d killed her. Now we were mated and had a baby on the way.
In this crazy world, anything was possible.
I climbed over broken boards and glass to the front of her shop. Asa walked right behind me. Pulling open one of the front doors, I stopped short. Calliope’s body lay carefully arranged on the floor not five feet in front of me. She’d always been a bit of a mystery, but the town loved the snarky siren, and she would be sorely missed. At least we’d be able to honor her with a proper burial.
Asa shoved past me. “Godric!” She gave Calliope’s body space and climbed through the rubble of the shop into the back storage area.
“Where are you going?” I shouted, kneeling at Calliope’s side. She’d been placed here—lovingly. Her hands were crossed over her chest. Her eyes were closed. A wide gash in her dress through her stomach told me a Djinn scimitar was the likely weapon that had ended her life.
“He brought her back. Godric has to be here somewhere.”
I heard some rubble crash in the back. “You okay?”
“Yes,” Asa shouted back. “Found something.” She emerged from the back waving a folded piece of paper. “Get up. Your friend’s not dead.”
“Fucking hell, woman,” I stood and shouted. “Show some respect. She’s right here.”
“She’s a Siren, right?”
I nodded. “As far as I know. She never really talked about it.”
“Sirens body jump when they die.”
“What?” I swallowed. “Her body is right here.”
“Sirens take new bodies when they die.
“How do you know?”
“I’m old. I know things.” She waved her hand in the air like it wasn’t a big deal at all. Like my wife’s dead friend was perfectly fine…somewhere else.
I ran a hand over the stubble on my face. “I don’t…this doesn’t make sense.”
“Godric found this.” She waved the letter. “It talks about sisters—Calliope’s sisters. And about a little town called Krestoveya. If that’s her home. Maybe that’s where she will come back in a new body. I’m not exactly sure how that all works. But Godric would’ve gone. The letter is freshly opened. It had to be him.” She grabbed my hand and tugged me back outside. “Where can we find a map in this burnt-up place?”
I yanked my hand free and walked back inside. I lifted Calliope from the ground and gently cradled her in my arms. I wasn’t going to leave her just lying there. Unprotected. In the open. She deserved more than that. As far as the body jumping…I wasn’t convinced.
“What are you doing?” Asa said, griping like a spoiled teenager. “I have to find out where this town is.”
“It sounds Russian,” I answered, walking past her through the rubble of Main Street and lifeless bodies of Xerxes’ soldiers who’d been caught in the blast. Gods, this place was a mess. Bricks had been ripped up from the road by the blast. Nearly every building on the circle had its windows busted out or the entire front wall caved in. Some were on fire. Some were just…flat.
“I know Russia. I’ve been all over the world for the last few months, looking for my brother. I’ve been to many towns in that country.”
I stopped walking and turned to face her. “I don’t care. My home was destroyed. People I knew and cared about are dead. And currently, I’m separated from my mate by an entire continent, so don’t you dare go disappearing off anywhere until we settle some things.”
Asa narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips together. “I helped you people. Risked my life evacuating all of them. Your wife included. A little gratitude would be nice instead of threats.”
I started to walk again and stopped suddenly when she moved to block my path. “Tell me where I can find a damned map.”
I waved at the void behind us. “There’s nothing left.”
I couldn’t help the scenarios that ran through my mind of how this could’ve been worse. If we hadn’t already started moving people to bunkers and then to the castle. The blood of the people Naram had killed by going nuclear on Xerxes was on my hands, but there could have been so many more if Asa hadn’t helped.
That pain-in-the-ass Djinn had saved my wife. My soul. I owed her.
“Asa,” I shouted toward her retreating figure.
She paused and looked back at me over her shoulder.
“Give me a moment. I’ll help you find a map.” I wove through more rubble and more bodies. She stood still, waiting for me to catch up. The others looked up from their digging when we approached. A painful cry came from Bailey, and a second later, the little brunette vampire was at my side, dragging Calliope’s body from my arms. The little human-turned-Protector had probably been the only person in town who Calliope made time for on a regular basis.
Asa stared at me and then at Bailey. “Aren’t you going to tell her?” she asked, tapping her foot on the blood-soaked grass where Alex and Miles and the others were digging graves.
“Tell me what?” Bailey sobbed, looking up from Calliope’s body. It was strange to see such a small woman holding Calliope without any effort. I forgot how strong vampires were until they did something that really showed it off.
“Calliope’s not dead. She’s just in a different body.”
“What? Where?”
“I don’t know that. I just know that Sirens body jump when they die. She could be anywhere…anyone, actually.” Asa turned her attention from Bailey and waved the letter in my face. “Map?”
“Yes, yes.” I turned back to Bailey as Erick joined her. “I’m sorry, Bailey, I need to help Asa find a town in Russia called Krestoveya. At least, I think it’s Russian.”
“Sounds Russian to me.” Then Erick shook his head. “An atlas would be better, though.” He laid a hand on Bailey’s shoulder. “Why don’t you take Calliope’s body to Alek. He’ll make sure we lay her to rest in the next grave.”
She released a small sigh before striding off with Calliope in her arms.
Erick turned his focus back to Asa and me. “Give me a moment.” The large blond vampire blurred from sight, running faster than my eyes could track. And within a minute, Erick was back with a large book in his arms.
He opened to the back index and ran his finger down column after column until tapping the paper. “Page 228. Krestoveya.” Flipping through the pages, he stopped and scanned the map. “Here,” he said, pointing to a tiny dot on the northern face of the continent. “Have you ever teleported with only map coordinates?”
She looked down at the map. “I don’t need coordinates. Just let me see the map.” She scanned the area around the dot and then pointed to a small dot near the town in question. “I’ve been to this neighboring town. And to answer your question, yes. When Miles gave me the longitude and latitude of the portal today to evacuate your people.”
“Why did Godric need to follow you to the tomb then?”
“Because the damn thing was hundreds of feet below ground level. You try doing that blind.” Her voice held a tinge of annoyance. “Teleporting without previous knowledge does come with some risk, though. Sita and I were lucky when I took her first to the portal. We came out of my vortex in the middle of a lake.”
“We need you to get the rest of us to the portal,” Erick said, closing the atlas.
“I’ll come back for you. It shouldn’t take me more than a few hours to get from the neighboring village to the coastal one mentioned in the letter. If he’s there, I’ll find him. Bury and say goodbye to your dead. I have to know if Godric is there. He held up his end of the deal. Even though I lost my daughter, I owe him whatever help I can give him. I know the pain of losin
g a mate.”
“I understand. Just don’t stay gone too long,” I said.
With a quick nod, she disappeared into a vortex, leaving Erick and me standing alone.
Chapter 48
GODRIC
I had helped Stavros and Lander bury Ajax’s body and cleaned up the house. I’d watched in amazement as they used magick to repair the damage he’d done to the front door when he broke through. Once we’d finished, the cabin looked as though it’d never been disturbed—inside or out.
Calliope walked to my side. I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, and she leaned against me, holding out her open palm in front of me. A large gold signet ring lay in its center. Unfamiliar but beautifully crafted with a large ruby in the center.
“What’s this for?” I asked, stealing a glance at her sisters from their place on the couch. Both Rhea and Demetra were watching me, though Demetra’s attention was split just slightly between me and the small bundle in her arms.
“My sisters and I made you a charm to protect you from the sunlight. Actually, from fire in general.”
I scrunched my forehead in surprise. “You can do that?”
“Not alone, but with three of us directing the magick, it was quite simple...”
“Thank you. I was worried that it might be a while before I’d find someone.” I stopped talking and pulled her tighter. “Thank you.”
She slipped the ring onto my index finger and smiled. My stress about how to get us where we needed to go dissolved into the ether. Whether it was the ring or the power of her smile, I felt at peace, and sunlight was no longer my enemy. Or fire. I glanced again at her two sisters and mouthed another thank you over Calliope’s head to them.
They nodded and rose from the couch to go to their respective mates. Lander and Demetra disappeared into one of the back rooms of the cabin, but Rhea and Stavros headed for the kitchen.
“I don’t know about you two, but I’m famished after using all that magick,” Rhea said, opening the fridge and pulling out some fresh vegetables and a roast the size of my head. I released Calliope and gave her a tiny push toward the kitchen.
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