Siren Song

should stay here, rest, and recover.”

I managed to half sit up. I didn’t vomit. Yay, progress! “Would you, if the situation was reversed?”

“Yeah, I would.”

“Liar.” I smiled when I said it, to take the sting from the words. He didn’t smile, but the corner of his mouth twitched.

Queen Lopaka shifted in her seat. She was still in her ruined clothing but, to my amazement, managed to look regal despite it. If you are going to do this, you will need to go to the staging area.

Do you think this is a bad idea?

She paused for a long moment before responding, I think it is foolish but necessary.

I blinked a little. Maybe it was the shock, but that didn’t make a bit of sense to me. Lopaka gave me a gentle smile and explained, Eirene must be stopped before she sets loose great evil on the world. The prophets told us there was a tainted child of our line who would destroy all traitors among the sirens and save the world from evil. When you were a child, Stefania’s prophet must have told her that the savior would be you or your sister.

That’s why she cursed us and why she was willing to run a suicide mission to take me out in the conference room.

Precisely. So, foolish or not, you must go. This must end. When the time comes, you must not hesitate.

I won’t.

She rose from her chair. Then she did something that shocked all of us. She hugged me. She let me go very abruptly and turned to her daughter. “I would speak to you for a moment.” She drew Adriana to the far side of the room. She spoke softly—aloud rather than mind-to-mind. I didn’t know why. Still, no one without vampire hearing would be able to overhear. I pretended I couldn’t, either, gathering up my things as noisily as I could to make it harder for everyone else to hear what they said.

“I really wish you wouldn’t do this, Adriana. I don’t want to risk losing you.”

“I’ll never rule, Mother.”

Queen Lopaka gave a gusty sigh, as if her daughter was being particularly dense. “I’m not worried about losing you as a princess. I’m worried about losing my daughter. I love you. It would kill me to lose you.”

Adriana smiled. “You won’t die, because I’ll be careful.”

“I could order you to stay.”

The daughter and subject acknowledged that with a nod. But then she touched her mother’s cheek softly. “Please don’t. I want to do this. It’s important. I need to be . . . to do . . . something important.”

I didn’t miss the change in wording. Neither did Lopaka.

Creede checked his watch, his voice all business again. “If we’re doing this we need to get going.” He strode toward the door. Okalani was right behind him. I followed her, stopping to hold the door for Adriana.

She gave her mother a fierce hug. “I love you, too. Try not to worry.” She hurried past me and down the hall.

Hiwahiwa looked at me for a long moment, her brows furrowed and her face intent as she looked after Okalani. Take care of the child. I’m no prophet, but I believe she’s important. More important than we know.

I’ll do my best.

“Five minutes. Take your positions.” The commander’s voice cut through the confusion like a razor. King Dahlmar rose from his seat at the table where a group of us had settled in to wait, moving to take up a position in the center of the group. Creede rose next and reached his hand down to me. Normally I wouldn’t need the help, but I really did feel like I’d been hit by a truck. Whatever Matty had done hadn’t killed me, yay. But it had done me some damage. What remained to be seen was whether or not it was worth it.

“I’m coming with you,” Matty said in a tone that brooked no argument. “You need me in case she summons that demon.”

Creede looked at King Dahlmar, who gave a curt nod. Matty had blessed each and every person in our group. Those who weren’t Christian weren’t really sure what to think about the man in black with the cross, but a holy man is a holy man in pretty much every religion. It also surprised me that Matty was able to switch between languages easily and that the prayer he offered was slightly different for each person.

Creede stood directly in front of the king, Matty and I immediately behind Dahlmar; the four of us and Adriana were surrounded by a thick ring of soldiers. I felt my stomach tighten with nerves as a deep voice in the far corner began to count down from ten. At “one” I felt the familiar lurch, as if the world were moving sideways. I barely heard the word “now” and we were there.

23

It’s one thing to see a plan play out in a clairvoyant’s bowl. It is another to have it happen in real life. I’d half-expected Okalani to run into a magical shield like the one we’d erected earlier around the conference room. Whether Kristoff was too arrogant, didn’t have mages with enough oompf, or there were too many people going in and out of the room, he hadn’t bothered.

We materialized into absolute chaos. The press conference was being held in a large room, but the space was crammed with press and equipment. The only clear spots were a small area in front of the stage and another small space between the table where Kristoff sat behind the microphone and his uniformed men stood guard.

We appeared in front of the stage, weapons at the ready. Okalani disappeared immediately and the mages who’d replaced those injured by the demon attack raised a barrier, sealing the room.

There were screams and the flashing of cameras. Kristoff’s guards went for their guns and curses—and froze in place when King Dahlmar stepped into view.

Kristoff staggered to his feet so abruptly that the chair clattered to the floor behind him. He didn’t realize the mike was live when he gasped, “No. You’re dead,” in a tone of unmistakable horror that made it absolutely clear just how unhappy he was that his father had made it home. Kristoff reached inside his jacket, probably for a weapon, only to be knocked to the ground and subdued by one of his own guards—a man loyal to the rightful ruler of the country.

In all the confusion, I shouldn’t have been able to hear Matty’s horrified gasp: “Irene? Emma?”

I turned and stared at the familiar faces that Matty was addressing . . . Eirene? Eirene, Irene, Ren. How stupid could I be?

Her perfect features were twisted in rage. Emma screamed in shock and outrage as Eirene grabbed her from behind and wrapped an arm around her throat. Emma kicked and struggled, scratching at the siren’s arm, but Eirene had preter-natural strength and knew what she was doing. She’d cut off enough of her captive’s oxygen that Emma couldn’t fight for long before she passed out from lack of oxygen. Still using Emma’s limp body as a shield, Eirene pulled a small ceramic disk from her pocket. “You will let me go, now. Or I will summon the demon to destroy you all.”

Kristoff reached out a hand toward her, panic etched on his face. “Irene . . . beloved, wait! Take me with you!” Great, just great. The prince struggled against the guards holding him, but they shoved his face to the floor with considerable force. When the guard jammed the barrel of his 9mm against the prince’s temple, Kristoff stilled.

“Tell them, Celia. They do not believe me, but they should. I will loose the demon.” She smiled and it sent chills down my spine. God help us, a part of her wanted to do it. She’d used the demonic too often. The demon was gaining the upper hand. She thought she controlled him, but she was a fool. I could see it in her eyes.

“Let Emma go and I’ll tell them to let you leave.”

She laughed, just like I expected her to. But hey, nothing ventured— “You don’t get to give me orders, Celia. No one is ever going to give me orders again. Adriana may be satisfied with the scraps of power the others are