Lily's expression didn't change, but I felt her emotions spike through the bond—anger, disgust, and beneath it all, a cold determination that matched my own. Her fingers curled into fists, her knuckles went pale, and her jaw tightened until I could see the muscle jumping beneath her skin.
"Good." Her voice was ice, cold and sharp, nothing like the gentle warmth I usually heard from her. Her dark eyes glitteredwith something ancient and predatory, something she'd learned from us. "Then we don't just destroy him. We destroy all of it."
I didn’t say anything for a moment, sensing her hesitation through our bond.
"And my parents?" she asked quietly, and I felt another shift in her emotions through the bond—the anger giving way to something older, deeper. Something that hurt. Her voice cracked slightly on the word, and she looked down at her hands, unable to meet my eyes. "Did you find them?"
"I have a lead. A shore-walker in Thornhaven—a siren who lives among humans, who hears things." I reached out to brush a strand of copper hair from her face, the gesture gentle despite the violence we were discussing. Her skin was warm beneath my fingers, her pulse quick at her throat. "She can help us find them."
"I want to come." The words came out fierce, certain, her dark eyes blazing with determination as she lifted her head to meet my gaze. Her whole body had gone taut, her tail lashing once behind her with barely contained energy. "I need to look into the eyes of the people who sold me and see if they feel anything. And if they don't—if they've been living their comfortable lives without a single thought for the daughter they sold—then I need to see that too."
"Then you'll come." The decision settled in my chest like an anchor finding the seafloor, heavy and immovable. I cupped her face in my hands, tilting her chin up so she had to meet my eyes, letting her see the promise there. "All of us. Together. We end this as a pack."
We left that same night, swimming hard for Thornhaven, the five of us moving through the dark water like shadows. The journey took us three days, following currents and coastlines until we reached the busy harbor where Coral made her home.
We found her in the shallows outside the city, waiting for us as if she'd known we were coming. She was a small siren with scales that shifted between deep coral pink and soft sand, and her dark eyes held the strange dual quality of someone who had learned to exist in two worlds at once. Her body was slim and graceful, her features delicate, but there was a sharpness to her gaze that spoke of survival.
"Serath sent word." Her voice carried oddly through the water—too human, somehow, shaped by years of speaking above the surface. She floated before us with her arms crossed, studying each of us in turn with cool assessment. "You're looking for Marcus. And for a pair of humans who sold their daughter."
"You know where they are?" Lily pushed forward, her whole body tense with desperate hope and simmering fury, her copper hair swirling around her face. Her hands were clenched at her sides, her tail lashing behind her with agitation. Coral studied her for a long moment, something like sympathy flickering in her ancient eyes. Her expression softened slightly, though it didn't lose its sharpness.
"The parents—Harrow and Maren Ashford. They live in a village called Millbrook, about two days' travel inland from here. He bought a farm with the gold from selling you, I’m going to assume. She works at the local inn." Her lips curled with disgust, her delicate features twisting with contempt. "They have a comfortable life. New house, new clothes, new status in the community. All bought with omega blood."
Lily went very still. I felt her emotions through the bond—rage and grief and something that felt like a door slamming shut on a part of her that had still hoped, somehow, that there had been a reason. An explanation. Something that would make it hurt less. There wasn't. They'd sold her for gold, and they'd used that gold to build a comfortable life. That was all.
"Marcus?" I asked, my voice cutting through the heavy silence that had fallen.
"Arriving in Saltmere tomorrow. He'll be attending the auction in three days." Coral's smile turned predatory, showing teeth that were sharper than any human's, her dark eyes glittering with anticipation. Her tail swished behind her with barely contained excitement. "I can get you inside. The estate has shoreline access—an underground passage that leads from the sea caves directly into the mansion's cellar. It's how they bring in the merchandise without being seen."
"We'll need to walk among them." I kept my voice level, though my mind was already racing through plans and contingencies. "To get close enough to do what needs to be done." Coral's dark eyes moved to Lily, assessing her with new interest, her gaze traveling over Lily's siren form with clinical precision.
"You've transformed her. She'll need to learn the shift back to human form—it's different than it was before she changed. More painful. Her body will fight it." Her voice was matter-of-fact, but not unkind, and she tilted her head as she studied Lily. "The rest of you know the transformation already, yes?"
"We do." I glanced at my packmates—at Riven's scarred face set with determination, at Vale's silver eyes glinting with anticipation, at Thane's gentle features tight with concern. We'd all walked among humans before, for various reasons over the centuries. The transformation was unpleasant but familiar. "It's only Lily who hasn't done it since she became one of us."
"I can handle pain." Lily's voice was steady despite the flicker of uncertainty I felt through the bond, her jaw set with stubborn determination. She straightened her spine, lifting her chin with defiance. "I've handled worse."
Coral nodded slowly, her dark eyes thoughtful, her tail swishing gently behind her.
"We'll see. The shift back to human is always harder for those who've fully embraced their siren nature. Your body knows what it is now. It won't want to change." She gestured for us to follow her. "Come. We'll do it in the cove where I teach all my students."
We moved to a secluded cove where the water was shallow and warm, hidden from the harbor by a tumble of massive boulders. The four of us shifted first, letting Lily watch, letting her see what to expect. The transformation was never pleasant, even after centuries of practice. I felt my tail split and reshape, felt the burning sensation of scales receding into skin, felt my gills seal shut as my lungs expanded to take their place. The process took only minutes, but each second stretched like an hour, my body fighting against the change even as I forced it to comply.
When it was over, I stood on two legs in the shallow water, my body pale and human and achingly vulnerable. Beside me, Riven rolled his shoulders, testing his human form, his scarred face looking even more brutal without the softening effect of his crimson scales. His golden eyes swept over his new body with familiar distaste, and he flexed his hands, studying the blunt human fingers.
Vale pushed wet silver hair from his face, his beauty somehow even more striking in human form, his features carved with an almost painful perfection. He moved experimentally, testing muscles and joints, his silver eyes taking in everything with cool assessment. Thane flexed his hands, studying his blunt human fingers with familiar distaste, his gentle features creased with discomfort. His amber eyes found Lily immediately, watching her with concern.
"Your turn, little flower." Riven's voice was rougher in this form, lacking the resonance of a siren's speech, but it was still warm as he held out a hand to Lily. His golden eyes—unchangedeven in human form—were soft with encouragement, his scarred face gentle despite its brutality. "We're right here."
Lily nodded, her jaw tight with determination, her dark eyes fixed on some internal focus. She closed her eyes and reached for the transformation the way Coral had described—not fighting her siren nature, but coaxing it to step aside, to let the human she'd once been rise to the surface.
The change hit her harder than it had hit any of us. She screamed as her tail began to split, her back arching, her hands clawing at the sandy bottom. The sound tore from her throat raw and desperate, echoing off the rocks surrounding the cove. I was at her side in an instant, gathering her against me, holding her through the agony as her body reshaped itself into something it hadn't been for months.
"I've got you," I murmured against her hair, feeling her shudder in my arms, feeling the tremors that wracked her small frame. Her fingers dug into my shoulders, her nails breaking skin as she fought through the pain. "I've got you, Lily. It's almost over. Just breathe."
The transformation seemed to last forever, though it couldn't have been more than a few minutes. When it finally ended, Lily lay gasping in my arms, her body pale and trembling and unmistakably human. Two legs where her tail had been. Smooth skin where scales had glittered. Lungs heaving with air instead of water.
"That was..." She swallowed hard, her voice hoarse from screaming, her throat raw. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and her eyes were glassy with residual pain. "That was worse than the first transformation. When I became a siren."
