Tasar gasped for breath. Halen brushed the wisps of curly hair from his eyes.
“Lina, we need my mom. She can help him.”
Lina spun, her arms outstretched, and her body disappeared in a whirl. Wind whipped around Halen and she shielded her eyes. When she opened them, a little brown wren had taken Lina’s place.
“Go,” Halen said. “I’ll watch him.” Lina flew away, her slight wings vibrating in the air.
Tasar’s eyelids fluttered open.
“You shouldn’t have done this,” she cried.
He choked a few words—one of them was spring.
“Why would you do something so stupid?” Halen now screamed. Tears streamed her cheeks falling to his chest. “Damn you, Tasar!” This was what she had wanted to prevent. No one should die for her.
She searched the woods for signs of Dax. Dax had done this. He had led the hunter right to her. He was probably running back to the other hunters.
“How could you!” She screamed so loudly the trees trembled and the cloud rumbled with thunder. The stone hunter tilted, rocking back and forth. She screamed louder, and a crack ran from the hunter’s toes to his chest. She met his stone stare and Dax’s face flashed before her eyes. “I hate you!” she screamed and the stone hunter’s head split down the center.
“Enough.” Tasar reached for her hand, and when she looked at the arrow sunk into his flesh, she cried again. She folded over him, listening to his faint heart. “Oh, Tasar. I’m so sorry.” She pressed her cheek to his bloody chest. “My mom will fix you—I know she will.”
“Tasar!” Halen’s mom ran through the woods, her doctor bag clutched in her fist. Daspar tore Halen away from his body. “Let your mother help him,” he said.
The little wren now hovered over Tasar’s head. She settled down on his shoulder and picked through his curly hair.
“Where is all this blood coming from?” Daspar held Halen back, examining her.
The front of her hoodie was now sticky with blood. “It’s not me. I’m fine. It’s Tasar.” She glanced back and winced. He was a mess of fur, flesh and blood.
“Come on; let’s go back to the church.” Daspar went to wrap his arm around her shoulder and she shrugged him off. With the thought of him placing the gravestone with her name on it, he made her skin crawl. He wasn’t the only one. She swiped her mouth where Dax’s lips had once touched hers.
Oh geez. Halen realized with a rush that Dax was missing. What if he had gone to gather the rest of the hunters? They would be back soon. She snagged Daspar’s sleeve. “There was a boy with the hunter. I knew him. I met him in Elosia.” Her words rushed out at once. She had to hurry and get them out before he returned.
“Who is he?” Daspar asked.
“Dax. He’s working with the hunters. The Tari have a traitor.”
“Dax?” Daspar asked. “The Elosian boy?”
As much as it pained her to think he had sent the hunter to kill her, there was no denying it was Dax. “It was him. You have to warn the others. They’re not safe. He’s working with the hunters.”
Daspar met her gaze. His lips pressed together as if he were fighting what to say.
“We have to go,” Halen pleaded.
“Dax is not working with them,” he finally said.
“You’re wrong.” Boy was Daspar wrong. He had not seen the way he slit the crow’s throat and the way he looked at her with hungry eyes. “Listen to me—we need to get out of here. He’s coming back with the hunters.”
Daspar shook his head. “We aren’t going anywhere right now. And Dax is not a traitor.”
Halen was losing her patience. He wasn’t listening. “You’re wrong!” She walked away from him, fuming.
“Halen!” He grabbed her elbow, and his eyes narrowed. “Dax can be trusted—he’s my son.”
Thirty
Daspar’s words fell on her ears like a car dropping from a bridge. Dax was his son? He couldn’t be. He had never once mentioned a child. Her chest tightened as she drowned in the meaning.
Daspar opened his mouth to speak, but she cut him off. “Don’t even say, you should have told me. You should have told me a lot of things.”
“I’ve told you what you needed to know.” He started to walk. “Let’s get back to the church. We can talk there.”
“Why would Dax bring a hunter here? Aren’t you even curious? Maybe you don’t know your son as well as you think.” Halen caught up to him.
“Dax is dedicated to the Tari.”
Dax fights his path. Nelia’s words pricked her memory. Maybe Daspar was forcing him to be Tari. Maybe Dax felt differently.
They were nearing the church. “Not everyone does what you want. You can’t go around planning our future or our deaths for that matter.” She pointed toward the graveyard. “Did you erect those gravestones with Tage and my name on them?” Her voice was shrill, but to her surprise, no sparks tingled under her skin. This was a new feeling entirely and she wasn’t sure how she was doing it, but she felt—in control.
“Tage told me you saw the gravestones. I told Huron they were a bad idea.”
“Huron—my da,” she stopped short. “He put them there—why?”
“We erected them because of Natalie and the hunters. Despite everything we could do, there were rumors a second blue moon siren had been born at the same time as Natalie—a twin. Your father thought that if she did one day discover who you were, she would think you were dead. So would the hunters.”
“You think keeping us apart was the right thing to do?”
“I struggled with the decision, but now that she is dead and you’re standing here I know that yes, it was definitely the right thing to do.”
“For the Tari,” Halen said under her breath.
“For you,” he said. “Look I know you’re mad, but we love you, Halen.”
“And what about Natalie? Did you love her too?”
“She didn’t let people in. She was not the kind of person you loved. I took care of her as best as I could.”
This didn’t sound like the Natalie Catch and Pepper spoke about. This was certainly not the Natalie Dax was pining over. “And why did you put up a gravestone for Tage? Wasn’t she Natalie’s guardian? Surely Natalie would think that was kind of strange if she saw it.”
“Not really,” Daspar said. “I would have explained to her that it was to throw the hunters off. If they believed the blue moon siren and guardian were dead, they would not seek you out.”
Lies, lies, and more lies. Lies came out of Daspar’s mouth as easily as air flowed in and out of his lungs.
“If it weren’t for Tasar, we would be burying you there.” Daspar wiped his brow with the back of his hand. He looked worse for wear. Beads of sweat rimmed his temples, his eyes red with lack of sleep, black half-moons shadowing his eyes; for once he looked his age.
Halen thought of the missed arrows. “The hunter mentioned someone named Emil, that he wanted me alive. Maybe Natalie’s not dead. Maybe they are keeping her hostage.”
“That hunter was strong. Don’t think for one minute he would have let you live. Natalie is dead. Let it go.”
“His arrow. I tried to stop it with the wind, but I couldn’t. No matter how hard I concentrated, the arrow sought me out. It was like it had a will of its own.”
“There’s nothing you could have done. His arrow would have killed your physical body, but your soul would have remained trapped within the golden arrow, with all the other sirens he has killed.”
“You’re saying that arrow has souls inside it?” She pinched the bridge of her nose. She felt a new headache coming on. The more she learned, the harder it was to accept.
“The souls are in a sort of purgatory until the curse is broken.”
Thinking of the trapped souls reminded her of the soul Daspar had consumed. She wasn’t even sure how one did such a thing, but she wanted to know. “Who is Pura?”
Daspar let out a heavy breath, as if she had punched him in the g
ut. He leaned against the church. “How do you know about Pura?”
“I overheard Dax’s mother and Huron talking about her. They said you consumed her soul.” Halen pointed toward the graveyard. “Is she buried there?”
He nodded. “Her body is. Her soul is in me.”
“In you, like you have two people in you?”
“Her spirit is in me and yes, we coexist in this body.”
Halen’s head hurt more. “I don’t get it.”
“A siren’s soul, if consumed by another, can live within you. There is a moment, just before death, when the souls must agree to live together in one body. Pura and I have a symbiotic relationship. I have the abilities of a siren because of her. I can protect you and Dax in ways I never could as a simple human. This was Pura’s gift to the Tari.”
The wooden doors creaked open and Tage popped her head out.
“I thought I heard you two.” Her eyes shifted from Halen’s shirt, then her face, until settling on her earlobe. “Did you get hit?”
“Just a nick,” Halen said, though her ear was throbbing.
“Hey, your first piercing.” Tage smiled and Halen narrowed her gaze.
Tage turned to Daspar. “I’ll take her to the bathroom and stitch her up if necessary.” She pulled Halen by the arm.
“No, I’m fine.” Halen shrugged off Tage’s hand. She still needed a few more answers from Daspar. “Lina turned the hunter to stone? How? I thought they were immortal.” Thoughts of the hunter made her angry, but to her surprise she didn’t have the desire to toss the church to bits. She was able to get angry without wrecking the place. Was it the close proximity to Tage or was she really starting to get ahold of her emotions?
“Go with Tage and get your ear looked after.” Daspar ushered her inside. “We can talk later.” He looked past her and Halen followed his gaze.
Dax stood leaning against the church pew, the blood of the bird still staining his hands.
The control she thought she had gained crumbled as her fingers flecked with sparks. “What are you doing here?” She lunged toward him.
He held both hands up. “It’s not what you think.”
“Did you know he was here?” She reeled around to face Daspar.
“He came right away, with Lina.”
“Lina? I don’t understand?”
“Lina watched you through the night,” Daspar explained. “We wanted to bring you back to the church, but she thought you needed some space. When she saw the hunter, she led Dax here and alerted Tasar.”
“Dax led the hunter to me,” Halen reminded Daspar. “He may be your son, but he’s a traitor.”
“The hunters came to Elosia,” Dax said. “Looking for you, but they found me instead.”
“Why would they want…?” She thought of Samira. Dax’s mother was Elosian. She turned to Daspar as she pieced the puzzle together. Daspar was once human. That meant Dax was a siren like her. He had lied about only being able to spend a few hours on land. “Why didn’t the hunter kill you?”
“He tried.” Dax’s strong stare met hers. “Nelia fought him off, while Catch and Pepper diverted Rania’s attention, so I could escape. Rania’s head was spinning trying to figure out what was going on. She never knew I was a siren. I’m might not be able to go back to Elosia ever again.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you brought the hunter here.” Halen wasn’t giving in, no way. Not after nearly being skewered and not with Tasar fighting for his life.
“I made my way to Rockaway Beach. When I found Daspar’s apartment empty, I figured he must have come here. I tried calling his cell phone but there was no answer. I was halfway through Portland when the hunter caught up to me.”
As he was talking, Dax removed his jacket, which Halen recognized as Daspar’s. He also wore a pair of Daspar’s dark-washed jeans and a gray T-shirt. From his wrist to the crook of his elbow was a thin, raised line of red and another red welt intersecting, so the two lines made a cross.
“He marked you!” Daspar hands closed to fists. “Son, I’m sorry.”
“What?” Halen looked between the two of them.
Tage grabbed her arm. “You should get cleaned up.”
“What is it?” Halen asked Dax. “What’s on your arm?”
Tage spoke, “He didn’t have choice. When a hunter marks you, you are under their command. I’ve never seen them do it to a siren before.”
“Luckily Lina made sure that hunter won’t be speaking for quite some time,” Daspar said.
“Are you talking about me?” Lina’s high-pitched voice filled the church.
Tasar stood beside Lina with a fleece blanket draped over his shoulders. A pair of sweatpants hung around his midriff. The fur was gone from his muscled chest which Halen could see was heavily bandaged.
“Tasar!” Halen ran up to him and flung her arms around him. “You’re okay.”
“Careful,” he groaned. “I’m not dead, but I kind of wish I were. Doesn’t your mom believe in pain killers?”
She pulled back and he smiled. Blood flecked his cheeks and his curly beard.
Lina stepped forward and slightly bowed. Halen’s cheeks flushed. It was a moment where someone does something so out of character, you don’t know whether to acknowledge it or pretend it never happened.
Ezra noticed right away. “Starting to believe?”
Lina met Halen’s gaze, her black eyes flashing under an umbrella of lashes. Halen had seen these eyes in the forest staring back at her.
“You saved my brother,” Lina said. “Thank you.”
“I didn’t. He saved me.”
“You diverted the second arrow. You could have stayed hidden behind Tasar. If you hadn’t stepped in front of him...” She inhaled a quick sharp breath. “Thank you.”
“See.” Tasar winked. He hummed a few bars of Spring is in the Air.
“We are going to tell the other shifters what you have done here,” Lina said. “Tasar needs to heal, and besides, we have seen enough.” Her features softened with a smile. Reaching into one of her many pockets, she pulled out a pouch and handed it to Halen. “Take this.”
“Is this what you used to turn the hunter to stone?”
She nodded. “This is all that is left of my ancestors.” She placed the pouch in Halen’s hand. “You may need it.”
Lina was wrong. She wouldn’t use it, but Lina had given her a gift and she wasn’t about to offend her. This was the nicest Lina had ever been to her, so she accepted the pouch.
“Do you have to leave?” Halen asked Tasar.
He grabbed her up in his arms and her forehead tickled with his beard. “We will be with you in spirit.” He removed his necklace with the red stone, and slipped the cord over her head.
“I can’t take this,” she said. As she held the stone in her hand it warmed and the profile of a bear emerged on the stone. In the center of the bear’s neck was the same symbol she had seen tattooed on Dax’s back and on the church gates, the letter E with the superscripted number three. The stone cooled and the markings faded.
“You are part of Etlis now.” He wrapped his arm over Lina’s shoulder. “We will spread the word.” His lips lifted over sharp teeth. “Free that bastard, Asair, and take him down.”
Halen smiled. “I’ll do my best.”
When he met Ezra’s gaze, he flashed his pointed teeth.
“Okay, you got me.” Ezra held his hands up. “No more wolf jokes. You big teddy bear.”
They burst out in laughter. It felt good to laugh, to hear the sound that had become so foreign. Halen savored the sound knowing, like Tasar and Lina, it would not return soon.
“Where’s my mom?” Halen asked.
“She’s speaking to the hunter’s soul,” Tasar said. “He may be confused. He’s trapped in the stone.”
“Unless…” Daspar said, and then he bolted out of the church yelling, “Corinne!”
“What’s he doing?” Halen asked.
“I don’t know,” Tag
e said.
Within a few minutes Daspar ran back in the church, securing the doors behind him.
“Where’s my mom?” Halen asked. The wind picked up from the other side and Daspar leaned against the doors. The doors rattled as if a hundred men were pounding from the other side. “What’s going on? You left my mom out there?” The window of angels now darkened with black wings, shrouding the entire church in a black veil.
Dax butted against Daspar. “Go get her.”
Daspar held his hand to his chest. “There is nothing to worry about. Corinne is perfectly safe.”
Tasar lay down on the pew. While Lina sat by his side, with her hands in her lap, as if she were attending Sunday service. “She should leave his soul alone. He’s cursed,” she whispered, but Halen heard her.
“What is she talking about?” Halen asked. “Is my mom okay?”
“Daspar?” Tage stepped forward. “What have you done?”
Daspar turned to Halen, his golden eyes glinting. “A little wind never scared your mother.”
Halen paced by the doors. With all the wind it sounded as if the entire forest were being uprooted. She didn’t know how her mom would survive. Her fingertips sparked, and she placed her hand on the handle, when suddenly the door rushed open, shoving her back.
Her mom’s hair was a storm of tangles, her cheeks flushed with crimson and her eyes wide with a wild look Halen had never seen before. She stepped back, a little frightened.
“Here.” Her mother handed the arrow and a glass vial with a silver lid to Daspar. Inside the glass, an indigo smoke shifted to red. When Daspar took the vial in his hands, the smoke turned moldy green.
“What have you done?” Halen asked.
“You’ll be fine, now.” She smiled. She turned to Daspar. “We should go. The other hunters will come for his soul.”
“Whose soul?” Halen stared at the vial in Daspar’s hand, and he carefully tucked it in his top pocket.
“The hunter’s,” Lina said flatly.
“What? Are you saying you have his soul?” Her voice shook. This was no better than what the hunters did with siren souls. This wasn’t right.
Her mom worked a smile to her face. “The hunters would have come looking for him here. They are linked by the curse. Now that we have his soul we can make the hunters think he’s somewhere else. We can lead the hunters away from you.”
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