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I stepped forward into the room, folding my hands in front of myself and giving my best smile.
“Thank you all for coming,” I said. “I can’t believe only a few brave souls came to rise to the king’s challenge.”
“What are our orders?” Neva asked.
“There are demons on the island north of here,” I said. “If they get too close to the Eros, they’ll gain in power. They’re a threat to the king himself.”
They all nodded seriously. Such loyalty to the king. My chest burned as I thought about his loyalty to them as well.
“Are you ready?” I asked. “Because even though all of you will try, only one will succeed in reaching the top.”
I smiled, knowing that person was going to be me.
***
The storm hit the same time the ship was out at sea.
Of course, the crew of Guardians had become so divided—so paranoid and competitive with one another—that they couldn’t survive the storm. The ship hit the rocks before it reached the island, and they didn’t come back to the surface.
But I had missed the one who had survived.
I missed the one who had swam back to the king and told him of what I had done.
And I hadn’t expected to be held responsible for their division.
But I was.
The humans and I both caused our own destruction: me by instigating the divide, and them for following it. My job as a siren was to separate good from evil, but I had failed to do that even in my own soul.
And now that I was an incarnate—now that the king had declared me a Guardian—I was going to do my job correctly.
I put a hand on the sword at my side, fingering the handle. My hands were beginning to sweat the more and more I climbed the rocks toward the room where Henrik had been before. He had probably moved by now, but I could pick up clues to where he had been. I tore new earplugs and put them in, hearing only my own breathing as I walked through the hallways. There was no one here. Everything was silent.
Suddenly, someone yanked my hair. I fell to the ground, looking up to see sirens reach for my arms. I couldn’t hear what they were saying because of the ear plugs, but I had a good idea of what they were doing as they dug their hands into my flesh and dragged me to the open part of the cave.
When I looked up again, I saw Henrik in the front of the vast room, his eyes yellow again, a paleness to his skin that tinted it blue.
He gave a command, and the sirens held me fast, plucking the earplugs from my ears.
The demon in Henrik’s body smiled.
“Littlesssiren…” the demon hissed. “Say hello to your new master.”
CHAPTER 45—LOST
“Hello, master,” I said.
I shook my head, wondering how my tongue could form such disgusting words on their own. The demon laughed, holding up the Eros. The stone had no particular shape, but the flaming swirls deep in the stone showed just how unique and powerful it truly was.
“Your mind may be yours for now,” the demon said in his raspy voice, “but everything elsebelongsssto me.”
I took a step back, but he shook his head sharply.
“Holdssstill,” he commanded.
My feet and knees suddenly locked, gluing me to the floor. He stepped in closer to meet me, a wild look of pleasure in his eyes. He then brought a hand to my cheek. I flinched, the coldness of his skin nothing like Henrik’s touch at all.
“The questionisss,” he continued, “what should I do with you, exactly?”
