“Did you heal him first?” I snapped at my sibling.
She leaned back on her haunches, wiping the sweat from her brow. I refrained from yelling at her to get back to work simply because Vanessa was breathing more steadily in my hold.
“Just enough.” The halfling waved behind me. “I’m drained because I needed to save my strength to finish off Ilia.” A quick glance over my shoulder showed what was left of my father. Perhaps the halfling and I truly were related, because the sightof my father’s dismembered state, even down to the loose fingers scattered on the stone, staining the ground with his blood, made me want to grin with joy.
I glanced back at the halfling, “You should remove his head, too. His corpse doesn’t deserve it.” I also couldn’t put it past the monster to find a way to recover from being dismembered, since he was able to figure out how to weaponize his sinndra on his own people.
Her red brows, so similar to my own, rose, “What?”
A whoosh and athunkmade us all flinch, before we looked back at where my father’s remains were. Dozens of siren females—women, I corrected myself. Vanessa would want me to refer to them as women—were continuing to tear my father’s body apart in rage. Thethunkthat caught our attention was the sound of a small siren woman, a frail-looking thing, swinging his own sword through his neck.
Separating his head from what was left of his body.
Surrounding the scene, my father’s soldiers slowly lowered their masks as they stared wide-eyed at the sight of their people dismembering their king’s corpse before them.
Ash continued to fall from the air, and nothing but char scorched the courtyard. Flames were quietly dying down, and some soldiers who were caught in the flames were helping each other put out their clothing.
In the distance, I noticed Leon’s shitty sibling observing the chaos from a hill on the other side of the courtyard wall. How she and her unit escaped the battle with little to no injuries was beyond me, but when we made eye contact, I bared my teeth at her in a clear and undeniable threat.
Unsurprisingly, my father’s loyal crones turned on their heels and fled.
A problem to be dealt with later, then.
Vanessa gasped, and I whipped my head around to study her face. Her eyes still weren’t open. The halfling slumped, falling to her side on a pile of ash.
My mate was sobrave. So brilliant. Willing to risk her life to burn my father’s empire to rubble. Cursing him with her last breaths.
I still needed to scold her for risking her life, but I figured I could wait to do that until she was fully recovered.
“She needs more.” The halfling breathed. “But…she’ll live.” An irritated sob tore from my throat at her words, and with Vanessa’s mostly healed body still draped in my arms, I buried my head in her neck. Grounding myself in my mate’s scent. The sound of her heart beating more steadily. The heat of her blood pumping in her veins, trying to pick up where her friend left off.
Soaking in the euphoria of simplyholdingmy mate like this.
“…We—” the halfling cleared her throat. The sound made my eyes flash open to stare at her. She jumped at my gaze, recognizing the danger in it.Good.
“We should take her,” she muttered, reaching her hands out toward my mate.
“I will kill you,” I muttered against my mate’s neck.
“Let them,” Caelena argued. “She’s fragile. She needs to properly rest and recover, Dru.” I glared at all of them, ignoring the flakes of ash falling on us.
“No,” I replied.
“We have work to do, you stubborn male,” Caelena grumbled. Another soldier ran to her side, waiting for orders. But she continued to scold me, “Our people need you. Us.” She glanced behind me again.
Keeping my mate safe in my hold, I followed her gaze. The flames had all died out. Sirens littering the courtyard spoke in quiet, reverent voices. Hundreds of gold eyes locked on us, as if they were waiting for something.
Everyone calmly rested in the aftermath. The sound of our breathing filled the air, accompanying the soft melody from the gentle touch of ash flakes falling from the sky like snow. Landing on us. The ground. The stone. A hymn of ashes cascading around all of our people. Penned by my mate’s determined hands.
A song conducted by nature herself, consecrated by Tynara’s desires being fulfilled. Hope bloomed in my chest that it wasn’t too late to turn things around.
For my people. For me. For my Vanessa.
“Let us take her,” The halfling’s tone was quieter, reserved. “…Please.” Her hands were still out, waiting for my compliance. Beside her, her mate glared at me. I refrained from rolling my eyes at him.
“Drustan,” Caelena regained my attention with her determined tone, “They know she’s yours.” She nodded toward the halfling and her mate, who both dipped their chins in understanding, albeit reluctantly. “Let them take her. Let her rest. One step at a time.”
I pressed my lips together. I loathed this. The thought of letting Vanessa go, of her friends taking her back to the human realm without me, felt wrong. So deeply, horribly wrong.
