by Bonnie Lamer
There are a ton of tents covering the island but it’s not difficult to determine which one is hers. Most of them are white with a few colored ones here and there. But, there is only one the color of a Siren’s hair. The red tent is massive; easily five times the size of the other tents. We follow Irena in silence, ever conscious of the garrison of warriors surrounding us.
The inside of the tent is beautiful. All of the furnishings are vivid in color and designed for comfort. Large pillows are scattered around with several Sirens lounging on them in various stages of undress. The rugs beneath our feet are plush and a large fire pit in the center of the tent is keeping out the night’s chill. At the far end of the tent there is one large bed. Chained to it is my mostly naked husband.
Kallen doesn’t make eye contact with me. In fact, his eyes appear hazy and unfocused. Is he truly under Irena’s spell? If so, what has she been doing with him on that oversized bed? Anger bubbles up my spine and with it, magic gushes into me. Immediately, I am flanked by Dagda and Isla. A not so gentle pinch in my side reminds me I’m jumping ahead of the plan. I force the magic to seep from me. Each drop that returns to the earth takes with it a piece of my sanity. I find Irena and the self-satisfied grin on her face is almost enough to start the process all over again.
The Siren’s voice is a perfect combination of amusement and malice. “Your husband has been quite entertaining in the short time we have been together. If I had known what an incredible lover he would be, I would have escaped years ago.”
I feel the blood drain from my face. So much of it, I’m convinced there will be permanent damage to my brain. Kallen and her together? He slept with her? Well, from what she’s saying, there wasn’t any sleeping involved. Could it be true? I find Kallen again and he is sitting with the same dazed expression staring at nothing in particular.
“Pull it together,” the Angel of Death behind me orders. “She is lying.”
She is? It dawns on me that the sensations my body is feeling are not from the devastation of her claim. It is because of the magnitude of her lie. She and Kallen didn’t have sex. I am so relieved, I actually giggle a little. I get a lot of strange looks from Fairies, Angels and Sirens because of it. I don’t care. My husband didn’t touch the red haired vixen in front of me. “I guess no one mentioned my ability to detect lies,” I tell Irena. It is my turn to have a self-satisfied grin on my face.
It takes Irena a moment to recover. Nope, she had no idea I could detect lies. Sucks for her. She tries to recover. “I believe our magic is interfering with your ability, then.”
I snort. “Not likely.” My eyes travel from her to Kallen. His eyes are suddenly clear as ever and he is staring straight back at me. Now that he doesn’t need to play along with the charade, he dresses himself in jeans and a black t-shirt, my favorite combination on him. He also breaks the chain holding him to the bed.
Irena whips around when she hears the chain snap. “No!” she growls, stalking toward Kallen. “You are mine.”
“Sorry,” Kallen tells her. He doesn’t sound like he’s sorry. “My heart belongs to someone much more powerful and beautiful than you.”
Irena screams in anger. I cover my ears. The Siren really knows how to scream. Her voice brings Sirens and warriors rushing into the tent. They surround her, weapons drawn. There are so many of them, they block Kallen’s access to us. I want to use magic to shove them aside, but I can’t. It would spark a fight and we didn’t come here to fight.
“Irena!” Dagda shouts over her screaming which is apparently her way of calling her troops to her. She should seriously consider a cow bell. Much easier on the ear drums.
The Siren lets her voice fade until there is blissful silence in the tent. After a moment, she finds Dagda. “You bring your Fairy bitch before me then dare to speak my name?” Now it’s Dagda drawing magic he shouldn’t be drawing.
Isla steps forward. “We have not come to discuss the past. We have come to discuss the future.”
A malicious smile spreads across Irena’s red lips. “You have no future, Fairy.”
My turn. I do my best to sound fearful. “Yeah, about that complete annihilation plan? We’d like to avoid it.”
Irena laughs. “I am certain you would, little Witch Fairy.” Little? She has maybe an inch on me. “But do not fear. I have no intention of killing you.”
Doubtful of her claim, I ask, “Really? Why not?” My curiosity is probably going to get me killed someday. Not today, but someday.
Moving until she is only a few feet from me, she says, “Because I am going to use you in my rise to ultimate power.”
I consider her words for a moment before shaking my head. “I’m not really onboard with that plan.”
She laughs again. “You have no choice in the matter. I hold your dear husband captive. You will do whatever I tell you to do if you do not want me to put him permanently under my spell.”
I purse my lips. After a moment, I shake my head. “No, still not feeling it.”
A feral growl escapes Irena’s throat. Spinning around, she gestures for her entourage to split apart until she can see Kallen. He is standing with his arms crossed over his chest and his expression is the direct opposite of the dopey adoration the Fairies I’ve seen under the Sirens’ spell have. Stalking toward him like he is prey, she begins to sing.
I cut her off before she gets the first word out. “Irena, please don’t.” Kallen’s eyes widen in surprise before darkening in anger. He sees my words as a betrayal, that I believe him capable of falling under the Siren’s spell. Well, he’s the one that left me to come here so he can believe that all he wants. At least, for a while.
Believing the power has once again shifted in her favor, Irena turns back to me. “Not as confident in your love as you want to appear, I see.” She strides forward, smug expression in place. “As Queen of the Sirens did you know I have the unique ability to seduce females with my voice? I will make you my slave, Witch Fairy.”
“If your slavery comes with one of those giant pillows, I’m in,” Taz informs me. Felix growls at him.
This brings Irena’s gaze to them. A look of pure disgust covers her face. “What are those things?” Before I can respond, she turns to one of her warriors. “Kill them and throw them in the ocean for the sharks.”
The warrior steps forward but hesitates when both of my Familiars bare their teeth and snarl at him. Deciding the killing should be done from afar, the warrior takes an arrow from the quiver on his back and loads his bow. Taz and Felix are on him before he can pull the string back. Several other warriors move to help their fallen comrade, but I shove them back with magic.
“Taz, Felix, leave him alone,” I order. My heart’s not really in it, the guy was going to kill them, after all. Regardless, the Tasmanian devil’s return to my side. Shifting my gaze to Irena, I say, “They are my Familiars.”
Surprised and then delighted, Irena claps her hand. “I love it. Now that I see how ferocious they can be, I can think of many uses for them.”
“I hope you have a lot of bacon,” I mutter under my breath.
“What?” Irena asks.
“Nothing.”
“Irena,” Isla says, dragging the Siren’s attention away from me. “We have come to negotiate with you. We can find a way to settle this situation without war.”
Irena eyes her, the gears in her mind racing. Finally, she says, “You have nothing I want. How can you negotiate for peace?” She reconsiders. “Maybe there is something you could trade.”
Isla’s eyebrows rise. “Yes?”
Irena points a finger at Tana. “Take her life right this moment and I will consider peace negotiations.”
Tana’s eyes sparkle with anger and what might be the beginning of a psychotic break. Before she can do something stupid, I step closer to her. “No deal.” She’s not the greatest step-mom in the universe, but she’s not the worst, either.
“Would you take me instead?” Dagda asks.
“Why
would I want you?” Irena snarls. Wow, bitter much?
“That’s not what she was saying a few centuries ago,” Kegan mutters. His mouth is almost as hard to control as mine is.
Irena glowers at him. “I may have wanted him in my youth,” she admits. “But he showed me how weak of character he is when he chose this meek, ugly creature over my beauty and strength.”
“Wow, someone bring the narcissist a mirror so she can do a better job of worshipping herself,” Taz snarks.
“Do those beasts truly speak to you?” Irena asks.
I’m surprised by the sudden change in topic so it takes a second for me to respond. “Yes, they do.”
“What did he say?”
“He called you a narcissist and suggested someone should bring you a mirror to better worship yourself.” The best relationships are based on honesty, after all.
Irena’s silver eyes turn icy. “I will make you watch as I take your husband to my bed every night.”
That definitely isn’t going to work for me. We need to get on with things before I do something stupid. Sensing where I’m at, Isla agrees. “Irena, this is the last chance we will give you. We can settle this peacefully.”
“Last chance? My warriors number in the thousands. My Sirens can bring even the bravest of males to their knees or make them commit suicide depending upon their mood. I can do the same with your females. How can you possibly believe you have any chance of survival when I give the order to attack? And trust me, Fairy, I will be giving the order to attack.”
There is not a doubt in any of our minds that she is telling the truth. My guess is she has her warriors prepared for an invasion of the Fairy lands tomorrow night. With orders to kill everyone they find. Considering how she left children of her own clan to fend for themselves amongst her enemies, there would be no qualms about killing Fairy children.
“Irena, the decision you make right now will affect your race forever,” Dagda warns. “Things will never be the same.”
Unperturbed by his threat, Irena smiles. “You are correct. I will change everything. I will conquer each realm one by one until I have them all under my control. There is no force that can stop me. Even your precious Witch Fairy cannot stop me. Putting your males to sleep is the best she can do and she cannot do it forever.”
I hate it when people underestimate me. “I have a few other tricks,” I correct her.
The Siren laughs at me. “You can show me your little tricks after I have killed every Fairy in this realm.”
“Every Fairy? Does that mean she’s killing the wanker now, too? I’m good either way, I just want her to make up her freakin mind,” Taz complains. I don’t believe him for a second.
“Is that your final answer?” I ask, sounding like a host on a game show.
Irena is growing irritated with me. I have that effect on people a lot more often than I would like. “The first order I will give you when you are under my spell is to keep your mouth closed until I command you to speak.”
“Ha! Even she doesn’t have enough power to keep your mouth from saying stupid things.” Why do I have such an annoying Familiar?
“Xandra,” Isla says, “I believe the Queen has made her decision.”
I nod in understanding. Time to get things started. “Hey, Irena,” I say pleasantly. “Did you know I can teleport?” While her eyes are busy widening, I teleport across the room, grab Kallen’s arm and teleport back to where I was. Now that everyone is where they are supposed to be, I put up a wall of magic around us. I also don’t let go of Kallen’s arm even when he tries to pull away. He’s still a little peeved because he believes I didn’t have faith in him. “The other thing I can do is very powerful spells,” I continue.
Irena isn’t convinced. “Your magic pales in comparison to that of my race. We were created to be stronger, to be better than you. All of you.” She waves her hand toward all of us. I don’t know if she realizes that two in our group are Angels. They don’t like it when lower beings claim to be better than them. For the first time, I have to keep Adriel from doing something stupid when she tries to get past me. Raziel puts his hands on her shoulders to help hold her back.
“You know, letting your mouth spew such stupid things only makes people not like you,” I inform the Siren. As soon as the insult leaves my mouth, her warriors take up arms. Good thing I expected it. They can’t penetrate my wall of magic. Irena screeches in frustration when the first warrior bounces off it. That will teach him to hold his sword with two hands directly in front of him when attacking. The hilt of the sword stabs him so hard in the stomach when it refuses to move forward through my wall that he falls to the ground writhing in pain. I think he did serious damage to his spleen. Irena’s screeching grows louder.
Ignoring her voice the best I can, I glance around our group. “Ready to change the order of things?” I ask. Kallen looks at me in confusion but everyone else nods. I try not to think of the possible ramifications of doing what we are about to do. Will Raziel, Adriel and I lose our wings?
Taking a deep breath, I hold my hands out. Even though he has no idea what the plan is, Kallen takes one. Dagda takes the other. The others grasp hands until we are all connected. Each of them prepares for the pain they are about to feel. In front of us, Irena is studying what we are doing. She’s not scared yet. I bet she’s faced situations like this before where a group of beings tried to use magic against her and failed miserably. Failure is not an option for us. If this doesn’t work, the Fairies and every other humanoid race may be forced to submit to Siren rule.
Sounding bored, Irena says, “Play your petty magic tricks. You will tire long before you find success.”
Maybe. Maybe not. Hopefully not. Closing my eyes, I murmur, “Sorry, everyone. This is going to hurt.”
I have pulled magic from others before. Others in this very group. But I’m not simply pulling their magic through them to merge it with mine, I am stealing their magic. Their magic is being stripped from their very souls until every last drop belongs to me and me alone. Kegan and Garren are the first to fall. Tana and Tabitha are next. I admit I am surprised when Adriel slumps to the ground before Kallen, but only a second before. Dagda and then Isla follow until it is only Raziel and I left standing. He squeezes my arm and relaxes against the pull of my magic until he, too, falls to the ground. Even Taz and Felix lie unconscious at my feet. I only have a few minutes until my pull not only takes their magic but their life forces, as well. I need to get started.
By this time, Irena is staring at me agape. When Raziel falls to the ground and I let the magic wall surrounding us go, she takes an unconscious step backwards. She doesn’t know exactly what I did, but she knows I am a good deal more powerful than she is at the moment. “You cannot win. Even if you take my life, others of my race will step forward and finish what I have begun.”
When I speak, my voice has a weird echo to it. It’s like several voices are speaking at once and not in exact sync. “No, Irena, you and your kind have strayed too far from your noble beginnings. Once, you championed the weak. Now you prey upon them. You are motivated by greed and power and lust. You feed on the souls of the innocent to make yourself more powerful. No more.”
Despite the fact there is no longer magic separating us from the Sirens and warriors, we have been given a wide berth. It could be because I’m vibrating with power. Literally. And I’m levitating which I think is a side effect of trying to contain such power. As strong magic always does, it wants to be released. It wants to lash out and do what it was called to do. But I can’t let it go quite yet. The book I found in the dark magic section was very specific about the fact I need to ask a few questions before unleashing it.
My voice is eerily calm as I ask the first question. “Irena, Queen of the Sirens, do you take responsibility for the actions of your race?”
Confused, she asks, “What are you talking about?”
The question was quite clear. I ask it again. “Irena, Queen of the Sirens, do you
take responsibility for the actions of your race?”
More angry than afraid now, Irena takes a brave step in my direction. “I am Queen. What my Sirens do is my business.”
I need to clarify. “Is that a yes?”
Hands on her hips she hisses in frustration. “Yes, of course I take responsibility for my race.”
Not exactly what I asked. “For their actions, as well?”
“Yes, damn it!”
“Your race has terrorized others for millennia. Your power has grown exponentially as you brought chaos and calamity. Do you agree?”
Irena rolls her eyes. “Are you looking for a history lesson? Everyone knows how powerful we are, Witch Fairy. Everyone. We will continue on as we always have until our power has no match in the universe. There will not be a living soul which is not under our command.”
“Do you sacrifice your own, including your offspring, to this craving for power?”
Glancing around the tent at her warriors, she asks, “What game are you playing, Witch Fairy? You are the one with kin lying at your feet, sacrificed to your need for power.”
She can’t get me on a technicality. “What I took was given to me willingly. Can you say the same? Are any here free of mind to do as they will? Can they refuse you?”
If it was possible to self-destruct from pure anger, Irena would be on the brink of it about now. “I am their Queen! They do as I tell them.” There is a lot of uncomfortable shifting amongst the Sirens. They suspect there is more to my questions than simply seeking knowledge. Irena is too angry to see it.
“Irena,” a Siren to her left says softly, “She is baiting you for a purpose.”
Irena whirls on her. “Do I seem ignorant to you? Of course she is baiting me on purpose. But whatever her agenda is pales in comparison to the power we hold.” The other Siren isn’t convinced but she holds her tongue.
Okay, if I want any chance of saving my wings and those of Adriel and Raziel, I need her to answer my question. This one is key. “Do they act of their own free will?”