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“When?” he demanded.
I gasped when three winged shadows appeared above us. “Now!”
“Flora!” My father shoved Aurora into my mother’s arms. “Take the girls and go!”
My mother cried out, stumbling toward me while clinging to the girls.
I took Aurora and Ember from my mother, side-stepping her when she grappled for us. “No!”
My father jumped in front of us, his massive black wings snapping open while twin flames burst from his hands.
“Shiri,” my mother snapped, her eyes wide with fright. “Listen to your father!”
“I said ‘no!’” I boomed, my siren’s call taking over my voice and echoing through the forest like a roll of thunder.
The girls clung to my skirts, trembling. I grasped their faces. “It’s okay,” I mouthed to them.
My father spun around, his fires extinguishing as he gaped at me.
“Shiri!” my mother gasped, looking at me as if I was the reincarnation of Malvolia herself.
I scowled at my parents. I didn’t have the time or energy to explain why I’d hidden my siren’s call from them all these years. Not that they deserved an explanation after they’d lied to me about Tari.
My father spun back around when the other mages hit the ground hard, their fire shooting into the air like flaming geysers.
I released a deep breath and summoned every ounce of siren magic I possessed. “Malvolia’s mages!” I hollered, my powerful voice reverberating through the forest and shaking the tree limbs. “Hold your fire! On your knees!”
The mages’ flames extinguished as they dropped to their knees like birds with clipped wings. I tried to get a glimpse of them from over my father’s feathers, but I saw nothing but dark, winged silhouettes.
My father jumped into the air, his flame spouts arcing high above him, and I knew he was going to turn the other mages to dust. But then a shaft of moonlight struck one of the mage’s faces, and my whole world came to a standstill as I looked into his dark eyes. We locked gazes, and for a moment, there was just him and me; my parents’ screams faded into the background, and the world wasn’t burning.
And I knew. Iknewhe was my fated mate.
Just as my father’s enraged war cry reverberated in my skull, I threw out my hands, the siren inside me completely possessing my body. I couldn’t let him kill my mate! “Father, hold your fire!” I hollered, the rumble shaking the ground beneath me. I looked up at my father as if I was a voyeur peering through the windows of someone else’s eyes and jutted a finger toward the ground. “On your knees!”
My father landed with a curse. He snarled up at me. “Shirina, what the fuck?!”
“What are you doing?” my mother screeched, snatching my shoulder.
I shook her away like her hand was on fire. “Mother, on your knees, too!”
She fell to the ground like a puppet with cut strings. “Shiri!”
“Quiet, Mother!” I snarled.
She looked up at me with frightened eyes, her lips pressed together as if they were glued shut.
My father fought his invisible restraints. “Let me up so I can finish them.”
“Quiet, Father,” I commanded.
The murderous look in his eyes when his lips clamped shut was enough to make my knees go weak. Pulling back my shoulders, I reminded myself I was a powerful witch. Though my parents hadn’t been there to witness, I’d used my siren’s call on others before and knew my father couldn’t hurt me or my mate unless I let him up.
The girls still clung to me, their tremors shaking my legs. I knelt down beside them, stroking their cheeks. “It’s okay, girls. Auntie won’t let anyone hurt us.” I nodded toward the three fire mages still on their knees. “I need to talk to them. Okay?”
They both nodded, and I took their hands while cautiously approaching the winged Fae. As if obeying my silent command, the clouds overhead parted, and more moonlight cut through the trees, revealing all three mages. Bile rose into my throat, and I squeezed my nieces’ hands tighter when I felt the pull from not just one, but all of them.
How? My mother had told me that strong witches usually took two lovers, but only the most powerful white witches had three fated mates. The goddess Maiadra had three mates. Did this mean I was a white witch, too?
