Page 115 of By the Flames of Her Fury

The siren hummed, her gaze latching onto Everett at my side. “Curious.” Her voice slithered over us. “I thought we had become such good friends the last time.”

His hand found the handle of his weapon. “You can’t trick me anymore, siren.”

Her beautiful mouth curved into a pout. “You wound me, my precious. Perhaps if I looked more like this…” Her entire body shimmered and, as if someone were casting an illusion, she transformed her features into someone else. Blonde hair streaked with red, thicker eyebrows, more pointed chin and cheekbones.

My stomach tightened. She was me.

Everett shifted on his feet, eyebrows pinched in concentration. “It won’t work,” he spat. “You’re not her.”

My eyes roved over him to find any sign of her enchantment, any glimmer that he’d succumb to her, but I only saw steadfast determination. My anxiety eased a fraction. I turned back to the siren, clenching my sword tighter. “Stop with the games. What are you doing here?”

Her pout turned into a snarl. She morphed back into her true form, raven hair gliding over golden water. “I know what you are preparing to do. I have been watching this kingdom for centuries,” she hissed, and her tail fin flicked above the surface. “You will not succeed. The Fates will make sure of it.”

“How, by sending you to stop me?” I took a few steps and spun the sword in my grip. “That didn’t go so well for you last time.”

She chuckled darkly. The two High Elders and Tessa moved farther into the water. Everett and I both jolted, but they stopped, swaying in place like the waves of the river.

“I will not have to stop you for you to fail. You simply do not have what it takes.”

Indignation and pride rose to the challenge. “If that were the case, the Fates wouldn’t keep sending all of you after me,” I snapped. “They’re scared. They know someone has finally come along who can end their reign of terror on these people.”

To my surprise, the siren scoffed. Her hair shook across her bare shoulders. “You are truly naive, golden one. Give up your quest before it is too late.”

The whirlpool picked up speed. Everett inched closer to me. “Vera, maybe you should⁠—”

“Never,” I said to her, gritting my teeth. “This kingdom deserves to be saved.”

With a cock of her head, her full lips tilted into a smile. “Very well.”

Our three companions instantly surged forward as the whirlpool increased, wind whipping my hair into a frenzy. The water rose to their knees, then their waists, their footsteps unknowingly leading them farther into the depths.

“No!” I darted forward and snagged Tessa’s hand, tugging her back to me. She yanked against my hold, body twisting to follow the siren’s silent commands. “Tessa, you have to stop!”

She wrestled from my grip, her bronze arm much stronger than her other one, able to overcome even my Shifter strength. I glanced around for something to latch on to, and I spotted a tree a few yards behind us. Summoning my shadows, I secured a strand of solid darkness around her waist, then lassoed it to the tree trunk. I billowed as much of my shadow magic as I could muster into it until it was so thick, she couldn’t move an inch, despite her thrashing.

I looked back at the Elders to see the water already above their necks. Water poured into Maeve’s open mouth. “Everett!” I shouted, motioning to them.

He hesitated, features guarded as he took in their helplessness. I knew he didn’t trust them, and for a moment, I wondered if he’d refuse. But then he waded forward and grabbed each of them by the arm. They dragged him along with them, sending him sliding on the slick riverbed. He lost his grip on Maeve, barely able to keep Julius in hand, and I rushed toward them. When I threw my arm around Maeve’s neck, something hard bit into my skin.

The chain at her neck glowed in the water, and I remembered—she had the sun amulet. When the kraken attacked us on the ship, the phoenix amulet had warded it off.

I wonder…

“Get her,” I urged Everett, making sure he could hold both of them. I ripped the chain from Maeve’s neck and shifted my phoenix wings from my shoulders. Firelight lit the river with an orange haze as I flew at the siren, who floated in the center of the whirlpool, water surging and rotating around her like a crown. I shifted my fingers into talons, dove straight for her, and wrapped them around her porcelain neck.

“Tell me where the third amulet is!” I seethed.

“You will—not find it—here,” she rasped.

“Fine,” I snarled, then raised the amulet with my other hand. “Then I don’t need you.”

“All rebirth is written in surrender,” she whispered hoarsely.

I paused, amulet halfway to her chest. That triggered a memory—they were the same words written on the scroll left by the original demithes. My grip on her throat loosened slightly. “What did you just say?”

“What are you willing to surrender, golden one?” she asked, eyes flashing. “Have they told you the cost?”

A shiver crept down my spine. It was just another scare tactic—another attempt to get me to give up. But still, her words lingered over me.