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She winced as I stepped over to the fireplace. My clothes clung to me, and the freezing rain left me shivering. I had to imagine Lira was miserable. I grabbed logs from where they sat stacked on the floor and was grateful there were some remaining. They’d be dry, at least, and would burn nice and hot. I stacked them inside the fireplace and grabbed piles of leaves to place in the middle before grasping the flint and striking it. A spark flamed to life but quickly died. I struck it again. Nothing. Another time with the same result.
Damn it. I rarely lit fires. Neia was brilliant at it, and I relied on her when we needed one.
“Do you want some help?” Lira asked.
I stood and held the flint out. “Are you any good at this?”
She didn’t accept it. Instead, she opened her mouth, and her voice poured out. The note pulsed as luscious as silk and intense as a volcano exploding, flames that would rip the world apart. I wrapped my wards around me like I’d suffocate myself with them. Sirens’ magic took over not only the mind, but the body as well. Once a siren had a being under her control, it was nearly impossible for them to break the spell. I’d done some of my training around wards with sirens and counted many as friends, but I didn’t know if I could trust Lira. Her attention wasn’t on me, though. Her gaze rested on the fireplace, where flames burst to life with her song.
I gaped and took a stumbling step back. “You’re… you’re elemental?”
She shrugged, her hair glowing orange in the light of the massive fire. “I’m a siren.”
“I thought you didn’t like to use your magic.”
She gave another dismissive lift of her shoulders. “I hate being cold and wet even more.”
I considered what she’d just told me. I knew plenty of sirens but not one of them could do that. Was her entire troupe elemental? How did the Maharani not know about this? I thought of the prophecies my mother had told me about.Our world changes when the rise of two elementals, a brother and a sister, awaken and alter everything.
I’d once scoffed at her. “Elementals haven’t existed for hundreds of years. They’re probably gone.”
“The magic is still there, Sai,” she’d answered patiently but with a touch of contrition in her voice. “It’s waiting for the right time to come forth again.”
Lira wrapped her arms around herself as though she’d done something wrong, and the desire to pull her into an embrace deepened. Even if she was a fucking elemental and could destroy me with the wave of her hand, or a note of her song, I supposed. “I haven’t heard of elemental magic existing in centuries.”
Her eyes darted to the fireplace. “That’s wrong for me to do, then?”
I took a step closer to her. “Not wrong. Powerful.”
A blush crept up her cheeks. “That sounds dangerous. Like something others would want to have for themselves or destroy.”
“That’s true.”
She sat on the hearth, and her eyelashes dripped like tears. She was intensely beautiful sitting there, glowing in peachy light, the rain-soaked clothing clinging to the soft curves of her form. “Perhaps that’s why my mother sent me away to Madalia during my formative years.”
Her mother knew, then. “Are you sure you don’t have any siblings?”
She darted her face back towards me. “I’m positive. Sirens can only birth one child and…” She hesitated and then looked up at me as though wondering if she could trust me. It was a mutual feeling, but I gave a gentle nod, hoping she’d finish what she was saying. “Sirens always kill the fathers of their children.”
I gasped before I thought better of it. The sirens I knew never would kill, much less their children’s fathers. I wanted to ask more questions, see what all she knew. But the heaviness in her expression weighed on me. Rain clattered against the roof and the fire crackled. Lira trembled and curled into herself.
“You’re freezing. I know I am. Let’s get out of these wet clothes.”
She jumped from her seat, her eyes wide. “There’s only one room in this cabin.”
“Well, it’s not like we’ve never been in a room alone together before.” I shot her a wry look, and a small smile broke her expression. “I’ll turn around while you change. You can trust me.”
“I have nothing to wear.”
“You can borrow something of mine while your clothes dry through the night.”
She turned towards the fire again—the Goddess’ forsaken magical fire she’d sang into fucking existence and which I was trying very hard to not think about. “Okay,” she whispered. A shiver slipped down my spine. She seemed so meek and harmless, but the magic lying within her had to run deeper than the sea. I didn’t know if I could trust her. Something in me, that nagging feeling that kept drawing me closer to her, made me want to believe I could.
I walked over to my bag and pulled it open. Water that had pooled into the wrinkles of the fabric spilled onto the floor. Thankfully, the bag was weather tight, because the rain had drenched everything we wore to the skin. I pulled out a long kurta and handed it to Lira. She unraveled it and grazed her fingers over the silver patterns sewn on the ebony fabric. I turned around so she could change and peeled my sopping jacket and shirt off. I lifted them and wrung water out. We’d be lucky if our clothes were damp by morning. I couldn’t help but wonder if Lira could use her magic to dry them. Then again, I wasn’t certain I wanted to see her elemental magic on display once more. I didn’t know if I could sleep beside her if I thought about it too much.
“I’m done,” Lira said, her voice soft and lacking all the silken powers that had lit the fire. “I’ll turn so you can change now.”
I pulled the pants off, grateful to remove them. My flesh felt swollen, like it had absorbed the water alongside the clothing. If I was alone in the cabin, I’d sit naked before the flames until I felt warm to the bone again. But I was most definitely not alone.
