A small smile appeared on Mona’s face. “If you can get one close enough to me, I’ll burn it.”
Cyrus offered a savage grin. “Not a problem.” He turned to Prue. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Prue nodded and took a deep breath, then withdrew her magic. The dome of branches vanished, and the sirens’ screeches intensified, as if they were calling to one another, alerting them to the exposure of their prey.
Feathers tickled Prue’s arms, and she yelped, jerking away instinctively. Beside her, Cyrus tensed, his body poised like a predator. His nostrils flared, and his eyes sharpened.
Another siren dived for them, and Cyrus lunged. He grunted as he tackled the creature to the ground, wrestling with its dark feathers.
Prue sucked in a breath at the sight of the creature. It had the face of an old woman, wrinkled and ancient, with a large, black beak and all-black eyes. The rest of its body resembled that of a giant vulture: raven-black wings and long, sharp talons.
It writhed and shrieked, trying to wriggle out of Cyrus’s grip. But he held fast.
“Now, Mona!” he bellowed.
Mona appeared by his side, and the fire in her palm swelled. She pressed it into the siren’s wing.
The piercing scream that echoed around them was deafening, making Prue’s ear throb and her bones tremble. The keening wail reverberated and seemed to multiply, as if the other sirens were sufferingalong with it.
“Get ready, Cyrus!” Mona warned.
A cacophony of high-pitched roars and cries filled the air, swarming around Prue, Mona, and Cyrus. Frantic flapping of wings sounded nearby. Prue’s body was rigid, prepared for an onslaught of attacks from the sirens. The damn fog was obscuring everything. If she could onlysee…
In a flash, three sirens slammed into the ground before them, twitching and convulsing as if in tremendous pain. Cyrus wasted no time; lightning crackled from his fingertips and scorched the beasts, leaving nothing more than charred husks behind.
The cries grew more angry. More anguished.
“They feel each other’s pain,” Prue whispered.
A dozen sirens fell to the ground, writhing in agony. Cyrus summoned his lightning, igniting the sirens until they were no longer moving.
Prue’s heart stuttered in her chest as she stared at the smoking remains of the creatures.
This wasn’t right.
A swarm of sirens fell before them, bodies twisting in unnatural angles, their faces stricken with pain and fear. Cyrus lifted his hand?—
“Stop!” Prue cried, grabbing his arm to hold him still.
Cyrus froze, staring at her with wide eyes.
A hard lump formed in Prue’s throat. She couldn’t speak. All she could manage was a single shake of her head. Slowly, she lowered Cyrus’s hand and approached the nearest siren. Its wings were folded inward as if it could cocoon itself and hide from the devastation of losing members of its pack.
“Prue,” Cyrus warned.
“This iswrong,” Prue said over her shoulder. “This is what they want! Mona and I are goddesses of earth—oflife. To destroy creatures like this is exactly what the Titans want. But the sirens are not our enemy. If they are only here to divert us, then they don’t deserve to be destroyed for it.”
“They were created with Titan magic,” Cyrus objected. “Their very existence goes against the laws of the gods.”
“They cannot beunmade,” Mona said thoughtfully. “Once created, you can’t undo it. Even if they are killed, it doesn’t erase the fact that they existed. Nothing can.”
“You two aren’t seriously suggesting we keep them alive?” Cyrus’s voice was incredulous. “We won’t be able to get past them without being pecked to death!”
Prue gave him a sharp look. “If there’s one thing I’ve learned from being Queen of the Underworld, it’s that even the most monstrous of creatures deserve to be cared for. You yourself possess Titan magic. Should you also be destroyed for it?”
Cyrus’s mouth snapped shut at that.
“Let metry,” she pleaded. “If it doesn’t work, we’ll do it your way.”
