Page 57 of Siren’s Secret

Wave shrugged. “Grandfather has a yearly lunch with him. I was mandated to show up. That’s how I met Uncle Essi.” She smiled at the memories of the huge demon towering over her toddler form, teaching her how to shield and protect herself from Hell creatures.

“And the fact that you are smiling when you talk about High Duke Esserieh in that tone is equally creepy.” Risha shuddered and Jarred mimicked him behind her back.

“Anyway, Hellion and his family is a moot point,” Wave pointed out. “We are definitely broken up. Not that we were together to begin with.”

“Not to burst your bubble,” Risha began, but Jarred cut him off.

“Let’s leave that discussion for later. I’m not helping those two idiots out.”

They fell silent again, and Wave relaxed against Jarred’s chest. He kept stroking the claiming mark and Wave couldn’t help the little, happy hums that escaped her throat. Careful to keep her siren voice in check, she wrapped the stormbringer aura tighter around herself.

Irishen snarled when he felt the change in her aura, but it was Jarred who finally broke the silence. “Love, we can take it.”

When Risha growled under his breath again, Wave threw her hands up, dislodging Jarred’s hold. “I can’t help it,” she snapped. “It feels unnatural to just… let it all hang out.”

“It’s unnatural to keep it contained like that,” Risha shot back.

“Love”—Jarred tried to calm her—“we just don’t like knowing it’s causing you strain.”

“It’s not,” Wave argued. It wasn’t her stormbringer side that was the issue usually. So, the heir apparent power had claimed her back and was coursing through her veins, but it had also brought with it the fortifying well. A strong base to lean on.

“Why are you so resistant to this?” Irishen growled. He had been snappy about this subject since the beginning and Wave’s patience was starting to run a bit thin. Especially on top of all the emotional turmoil and having to adjust to two fucking bonds swirling and twirling around her insides. Fuck butterflies. The feeling in her stomach was a buzzing beehive. Probably some dangerous fae realm species of them.

“Because I don’t know any other way,” Wave snarled right back at him.

The silence that followed was stunned. Slowly, Risha turned to face her more fully and Jarred stiffened behind her.

“What do you mean?” Irishen asked quietly.

“What I said,” Wave replied. “Now, can we move on?”

“No, we can’t,” he said. “Please explain because I must be misunderstanding.”

“Love?”

“Sheesh. You are making a big deal out of nothing.”

“Morsel, are you saying that you don’t know how to relax your aura?”

“Of course I know how,” Wave grumbled. “In theory.”

Now Jarred moved to lean around her to see her face, too. “Precious, when was the last time you let it unravel? All of it.”

Wave looked at him and quirked a brow. What did he expect? That she could just go around with siren powers flaring all over the place?

“Morsel?”

“That would require me dropping my shields,” she finally said.

Jarred frowned, clearly thinking about something hard.

“Yes,” Risha said. “When’s the last time you let them drop?”

Now Wave looked at him like he was an idiot. How were they not getting this? Did she really have to spell out such basic precautions? “Why would I do that?”

Risha looked stupefied. “Because of the strain and pressure? You can’t go around shielded all the time. The pressure it would…” His eyes widened.

“Never,” Jarred growled softly. He moved to kneel in front of her on the floor. “You’ve never let them fully drop. That’s why you can’t grasp the shielding Marc and I were trying to teach you. It requires you to build the shield on top of your core, but your core is already fully shielded. All the time. Is that it?”