The sirens, Luke, Lacelle, and Orca stepped from their car. Their hands raised to strike.
Ezra shook his head. “What’s wrong with you people?” He ran out to Halen, catching her as she stumbled into his arms. The water stone glowed from the crook of her arm.
She glanced up. "Ezra?" Her voice sounded the same, not a trace of hell, but still they remained prepared to fight.
"Is he dead?” Ezra asked.
She nodded, stumbling against him.
“It's okay. You did it.” Ezra wrapped his arm around her. “The portal’s open. The curse is broken. I have my body back. You saved my soul." Ezra’s smile reached his eyes.
She leaned her head on his shoulder as he guided her from the water.
"Asair!” At once she broke her embrace with Ezra, the water stone slipped from her grip, landing in the sand. She folded into his arms.
“I thought you were dead. I thought Dax had your soul.”
“What are you talking about?” He held her back to gaze into her eyes. He looked from eye to eye, which were as green and bright as the day he met her, not a trace of dark magick inside.
“What’s wrong?” She tightened her grip on his waist.
“Nothing, darling. I’m just so glad to see you.” He held her against his grateful heart as the waves crashed along the newly formed desert shore.
"Asair!" Natalie shouted, her hands thrust toward the water.
Before he turned, Tasar shifted; the grand bear raised on his hind legs, releasing a thunderous roar.
Halen bent clutching her chest. She collapsed to her knees, reaching for the stone.
With his sparks, spinning to flames, Asair faced the water. Leathery stark bodies emerged from the waves. Rania stood in the center of her army with Huron by her side. She shoved him forward as she strode from the water. When the beasts aim their sickles, Asair nudged Halen behind him. He lifted his hand to strike but felt nothing. He wriggled his fingers, he shook his fists, but it was as if the sparks had been stripped from his veins. A flash of a boy on his seam, the chains, and a boat plagued his mind.
“Do something.” Halen shouted.
He stared wide eyed as Rania’s army advanced. “I can’t. My magick’s gone.”
*
“DAX!” HALEN CLUTCHED the stone. The stiches along her seam tightened suffocating her magick. Though she understood the consequences, she called to the stone once more for strength. The darkness of her seam rose with her breath lashing the Guardian binds. She righted herself, stepping around Asair. She rolled her shoulders back and thrust the stone toward Rania’s army.
The savage beasts halted in unison.
“We mean you no harm.” Rania shoved Huron toward her. “Take him as a peace offering.”
Huron’s’ gaze snapped to Halen. She didn’t want him. She wanted nothing to do with her father, but the stone reminded her of his faults: how he manipulated her mother into having a child; and how when she had two children, he made her chose one, and if not for her mother’s cunning grace, he would have acted on her death sentence. His faults all lay before her, jagged rocks in her path, each one cut more deeply as she recalled his actions. All he ever wanted was her power. Even now, his greedy gaze fixed on the water stone, not his daughters. She would give him all he desired and more. She shifted the stone toward him.
He buckled to his knees. “Halen, no. Please.” He reached for her. “Galadia!” He shouted before his mouth banded, crisscrossing with black stiches. She waved, and his body flattened to the sand. His legs folded to his chest as he writhed before the terrified army. His skin coated with a black sheen and a tail sprouted from his back. His arms grew to pinchers; his head all but vanished. The transformation lasted but few seconds, but Halen would have enjoyed watching him transform to a scorpion for hours.
She aimed for the insect, when Asair guided her arm down. “Enough.”
She turned, cocking her head to the side. She blinked, spreading the fog in her mind, bringing herself out of the stone.
Rania stepped back commanding her army to lower their weapons. “The stone belongs in Elosia. Let us take it back.” She nodded, and a Krull commander walked forward with a crystal box the color of a spring sky. In her memories, Halen recalled the box crafted by her dear friend Xera, the first of the Elosians to show her compassion, to bring back the goddess she was born to be. Xera understood the wand’s thirst for power and how Galadia would bend to its desires. It took Galadia many years to wean herself from the stone’s powers, but with Xera’s guidance and love she had found a way.
“Seal the box with Galadia’s words.” Rania nodded to the open box. “We will return the stone to Elosia where it belongs. No one,” her gaze darted to the scorpion scuttling away, “will ever take it again.”
"It's over.” Jae stepped beside Halen and Asair. “Promise no discourse between the realms."
Rania bowed to the dragon. The movement was slight, not over-exaggerated, but from Rania it meant a hell of a lot. "The war with the sirens will cease." Her gaze shifted to the water stone. "But you must return Galadia's wand to Elosia.”
Halen glanced at Jae and she nodded. “Let her take the stone. She cannot open the box. Only Galadia can touch it.”
Halen waded into the water. When she placed the stone inside the cage, the wand squealed like an abandoned a child. She blocked its cry, and with a wave of her hand, spoke the words from her soul’s remembrance, sealing the stone and its powers in the box.
“Thank you.” Rania nodded.
The stone sung within the crystal walls, begging Halen to open the box.
Rania grasped her arm. “I will always do what is right for Elosia. The stone is safe. Elosia is your home too. I see this now.” Rania’s gaze drifted to Asair—to the body of the siren boy who was once her son Quinn. “My son always knew this. He sacrificed so much because he believed in you. When you are ready, I would like to show you Elosia. Maybe we can start over.”
“I would like that. Thank you.” Halen stepped away.
Rania waved, and her army followed her into the ocean. They dived, and as the remaining Krull disappeared, Lina shoved the portal closed. The water spiraled, cinching until nothing but sand remained.
Halen leaned into Asair. “You did it.” He kissed her temple.
She didn’t dare tell him the consequences of defeating Tarius. Already, the desire for blood pricked her skin. She bit her lip as Asair’s pulse called to a new hunger. She shifted away.
He tugged her back, cupping her face in his hands. "What’s wrong?"
She leaned into the warmth of his hand. “I don’t know, but I feel different.”
“I’ve got you now.” He pulled her against his chest.
In his arms, she fought the evil knotting her gut, the hunger to consume his flesh and soul; no matter the distance, she could not drown the song of the stone. She was one with its powers, not locked away in some crystal box beneath the waves, but finally free.
ONE WEEK LATER
Fire light flickered along the shore, the embers drifting into the night sky like fireflies. As Natalie scattered the ashes of the one's she loved into the ocean, Asair pulled Halen closer. Once, Selene may have shed a tear at such a tender moment, but dark magick stole her compassion many moons ago. Now her heart beat only with the steady call of revenge.
"We should collect the ashes." Kye’s fins swept the water, directing the current their way. "The ashes of the dead hold great power."
"No sister." Selene’s black lips spread with a smile. "We have all we need." She pushed back the damp hair from the young man's face and over the antlers budding his skull. Pressing her lips against his parted mouth, she inhaled his spirit, taking him deep inside. She jerked as the heavens and hell battled for his soul, but she would not let them claim him. Not yet. She fanned her tail, slowing the drift, inhaling every lifetime—capturing his sacred magick. When her lungs expanded with his soul, she let go, allowing the waves to bury his corpse.
&nb
sp; Diya guided the Guardian boy's body into her arms. Selene welcomed the listless boy, pulling his body against her scaled chest. His birthmark glittered in the moonlight, sending chills of delight to the tips of her fins. With her sharp gaze fixed on the couple wrapped in an embrace on the beach, she exhaled, whispering against Dax's lips, "Breathe…"
THE END
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
A heartfelt thank you to my incredible editor Jill Benson. I can’t thank her enough for her dedication, encouragement and for pushing for excellence. A very special thank you to Eight Little Pages aka Claire Lucas for the stunning covers. Thank you to the amazing Ben Alderson and the Oftomes family for taking a chance on an evil mermaid tale and me. Hugs and thanks to my family of readers who are my everything. Thank you for all your kind messages, fan art and for sharing your bookish love of the series. And lastly, thank you to my husband and son for sharing me with the story and for your loving support from the first word to the last.
Smoke and Ruin Page 18