Page 16 of A Siren of Beasts

“Shiny, why are you crying?” Imp demanded, nudging my cheek with his head. “I don’t like that, it makes me feel upset and bad things happen when I get upset.”

“No, these are happy tears,” I assured him. Taking my plate, I walked out to the common room and sat in the armchair.

Imp jumped down from my shoulder to sit on the arm of the chair, regarding me with speculation. “That doesn’t make sense, why would you cry if you’re happy?”

“It’s a silly thing we women do when we have too many emotions and don’t know what to do with them, good or bad. They need to be expressed in some manner, so tears seem to be the common outcome. Although, I haven’t shed a tear in a long time, so this is strange,” I explained.

Imp sat up tall on his legs and flapped his wings out angrily. “I still don’t like it. It makes me want to rip out someone’s soul.”

I huffed out a laugh and rested my hand on his back. “The souls you’d need to rip out are nowhere close to here. I was on a ship for a week before the storm hit and it sent us way off course. Even if I wanted to send you after someone, I wouldn’t know how to tell you to get there.”

My touch seemed to settle him slightly but I could tell he was more than ready to lash out at any perceived threat that might arise. “I was a slave, a person who was owned by another person, if you don’t know what that is. Not sure if that happens here or not.”

“The humans tried to make us monsters slaves, forcing us to work for them when they first came here. Our queen asked us to help them but they ordered us around like we were nothing more than dirt on the bottom of their shoe. The queen had been told those who worked would be treated fairly and given shelter, food, and compensation for their efforts. They did for a time. Then the humans decided they were superior to us and we stopped treating them well,” Imp shared. “Many monsters to this day hate humans, the madness just made it worse. Now they will kill them on sight, which is why the stupid tree tried to strangle you.”

“Seems no matter where you go, humans are always finding some way to feel powerful,” I said with a sigh and picked at my food. “If monsters want to kill humans then I can’t stay here, I’ll have to find some other place that isn’t near humans either. Seems I’m unwelcome around them because of my eyes.”

Imp let out a screech and flapped his wings furiously. “Absolutely not, you’re not leaving my nest. This is where you belong, Shiny. I found you, and I’m keeping you.”

The utter certainty in that announcement warmed me, even if Imp was just a talking raven. He’d shown more care than anyone in my life. “How can I stay here when I have to fear getting killed or eaten at every turn?”

“That’s simple, we just need to unlock your powers. I’m not sure why they are trapped inside you, but only monsters with high levels of magic can sense it inside you. Once that is free then everyone will know you’re not human.”

“What?” I gasped, my plate sliding out of my hand and crashing to the floor, shattering it. “Shit, I’m so sorry, Imp.”

Dropping to my knees on the floor I started to gather up the pieces, only I nicked myself and hissed. Damn, this was so not my day.

“Shiny, why do I smell your blood?”

Ignoring Imp, I shoved my finger into my mouth as I tried to stem the bleeding. The cut had been deeper than I thought and the damn thing wouldn’t stop. Shoving to my feet, I hurried into the cooking area to run it under water to clean it and get a better look at it.

“Shiny, you need to stop the bleeding,” Imp ordered, a harshness in his voice I’d never heard before. “I didn’t have enough magic to put up a shield around the house after getting you back here. If they catch wind of your scent it’s going to draw them to us.”

Pumping the handle, I got the water flowing and pulled my finger out of my mouth to wash it. “Give me a second. I’m trying to see how bad the cut—”

Looking at my finger the blood coming out of my finger wasn’t red like it had been all my life. Instead, it was black. Fear zinged up my spine as I stared at my finger, the black liquid dripping out of it into the basin.

“Imp,” I whispered, my whole body shaking. “My blood.”

My raven landed on my shoulder and looked down at my hand. “Your body is acclimating to being here in the Hollowed Forest. It’s full of power and magic, it calls to us monsters. It’s one of the reasons we sought refuge here, because humans can’t withstand the mist, it will kill them.”

“So,” I started, then paused, licking my lips and tilted my head so I could see Imp better. “I’m really a… monster?”

“Shiny,” Imp cooed, nuzzling his head against the side of my neck. “I’m sorry this is the way you had to find out, I wanted to ease you into that realization. This is a lot to take in, and I’m sorry but you must stop the bleeding or we’re going to be in trouble. I’m incredibly powerful, but I’m not at my full strength yet to protect us from a whole forest of monsters coming at the call of your blood.”

“Why would my blood be calling them?” I asked numbly as I paced my finger under the water, letting it wash away the strange blood.

“Because you are a siren, not just any siren, a siren of monsters and beasts. Your power is seeped in this land from centuries ago, but the land is thirsty from being abandoned for so long. Now that it knows you’re back it’s going to make sure you don’t ever leave again. Problem is, the monsters your mother once ruled have gone mad,” Imp explained, an edge to his voice that I couldn’t decipher.

“None of this makes sense,” I mumbled, then tried to shake myself out of my shock. “I need something to bind this with. Putting pressure on it should stop the bleeding.”

Imp launched off my shoulder and returned a moment later with a wide black ribbon made from cotton. I quickly wound it around my finger and with my teeth cinched it tightly around the wound. Who knew such a small cut could become a big problem?

“We need to clean up the blood on the floor, cover the scent,” Imp instructed.

Nodding, I went back and carefully picked up the large pieces and raced to the front door to toss them outside. Better to have whatever scent lingered out there than in here. Yanking it open, I flung the shattered pottery into the underbrush only to be tackled by something that moved far too quickly for me to make out. The air whooshed out of my lungs as I was slammed to the floor, letting out a strangled cry.

Sharp teeth closed around my neck, piercing the skin as my hands grasped thick fur to try and shove it off. I screamed as the skin on my hands burned like I’d just shoved them into hot coals. The feel of blood from my neck rolled down my skin but the teeth hadn’t bitten any deeper, almost as if the monster was enjoying my terror. Rage filled me. I’d survived being a slave, getting shipwrecked, a village that probably wanted to burn me at the stake, and a fucking pissed off tree monster. I was not going to be taken down by some razor tooth, fur rug, lava monster just when I was starting over.