Page 24 of A Siren of Beasts

A snarl at my side had me jump in surprise until I realized it was just Rhun. “No mate of mine will ever go hungry, I won’t allow it.”

Imp let out a caw of agreement, flapping his wings to show just how serious he was about it. “Shiny will never go hungry, I’ll feed her one of you before I let that happen.”

Both monsters snapped the raven a look that had me fighting back laughter. Clearly, he said that so all of them could hear his gallant offer to keep me fed.

“Imp, you need to stop threatening to kill them,” I warned as I ran my fingers over his head and down his back. “If what the queen told me is right, I’m going to need them, alive, to help get anything done.”

I could feel the raven sulking on my shoulder as he buried his head in my hair, as if refusing to acknowledge what I’d just said. This time I did let out a laugh at his antics but left him to his mood as he snuggled tightly against my neck.

The rest of the way back to the nest we walked in comfortable silence. I found that keeping up with them wasn’t as challenging as I thought it would be. It seemed that my newly altered body was even stronger, faster, and more agile than it had been. I was finally at full strength, or that was my guess, but the small voice I’d now learned was my magic didn’t seem to agree. The more I considered that I suppose I agreed, since I hadn’t even touched the fact that I now had magic, but no idea what to do with it or how it worked.

As we journeyed back to Imp’s nest, I felt like someone or something was watching me. Each time I looked where I felt the presence coming from there was nothing but forest and mist. A mist that seemed to get thicker the later in the day it got, almost as if even if the sun didn’t shine through the leaves of the forest, it deterred the mist during the day regardless.

“Do either of you feel that?” I asked, coming to a halt, frustrated that the sensation wouldn’t go away.

“Feel what, Zia?” Rhun asked, his nose raised and scenting the air. “I don’t smell anything alarming, just the normal forest scent and creatures.”

I rubbed my arms trying to comfort myself, then I was engulfed in Rhun’s furry arms. Imp let out a squawk and wriggled out of his spot on my shoulder that had been squished by Rhun’s hold. The hell-wolf seemed unperturbed by the disgruntled raven who shifted back to his full form.

“What the hell, flea-bag?” Imp muttered. “You knew I was there and you damn well did that anyway.”

The fearsome death-raven fluffed up his feathers and gave a full body shake as if disgusted with the contact. Then I noticed some of his feathers were smoking, as if singed by fire. Rhun’s touch had almost lit him on fire—which now made his ire all the more understandable. Twisting to look up at Rhun I saw the smug look on his face, like he knew what would happen.

“My mate was in distress,” Rhun pointed out. “Her wellbeing was my only concern and I simply forgot that she had a lazy ass bird hitching a ride on her shoulder.”

I wasn’t sure these two would ever be able to come to terms that they had to share me, since both wanted to monopolize my time in its entirety. What I really needed was to make sure they didn’t kill each other, if that threat became real then I would step in and say my peace. Right now, this looked like two spoiled children upset they didn’t get their mother’s full attention all the time.

“Rhun, will you set anything on fire that you touch?” I asked, curious and worried he might light my clothes or something on fire.

He nuzzled his muzzle into my neck, taking a deep breath before answering. “Yes and no, it all depends on my intention. It’s worse when I’m upset or using my magic, which brings my inner flames to the surface. When I’m like this and let’s say I want to sit on a log, or anything else that would typically be flammable, I have to ensure my magic knows to contain itself and it creates a barrier between my ember and the object. For you, Zia, you’re my mate and my magic would never hurt you. The moment my bond was put into place you became fireproof, well from hell-wolves at least. I’d rather not test out just how fireproof you are.”

“That makes two of us, I’d rather not experiment with that either,” I agreed.

“Little Siren, what caused you to stop?” Hisceas asked, turning us back to the original issue. “You said you felt something.”

Taking a second, I looked around us but the feeling was gone, making me doubt I’d felt it at all. “I keep getting the sense that someone was watching me. The weight of their gaze makes my skin itch, but each time I look there’s nothing there.”

Rhun growled at this and hoisted me so I was sitting on his shoulder, with his arm firmly around my legs holding me securely. “It could be nothing, but I feel better knowing I’ve got you here with me, Zia. We need to get back to the nest and put up a protection ward.”

“I’d already planned to do that once she’d eaten her meal, then you had to come bursting into the house chomping on her like a bone,” Imp grumbled. “If only I’d had my power restored like I do now I wouldn’t have had to revert back to the raven after making her food. Then neither of you would be hogging my Shiny and putting claiming marks on her. It’s rude.”

Hisceas reached out and patted Imp gently on the back. “Give it time, Grieth, we all have to adjust to sharing her. Besides, if we wanted to play the game of who found her first, that would be me,” the guardian teased, making Imp squawk with outrage as we moved at a much faster pace now that I wasn’t holding them back.

Within no time at all we arrived back in the clearing where Imp’s home was situated. The carcass of the spider monster was gone and it made me wonder if it was still alive or if scavengers had gotten to it. While not many things unsettled me—spiders were one of them. Rhun set me back down and I headed up the steps, only to pause when I realized the entrance wouldn’t be big enough for Hisceas to fit through.

“Wait, Shiny, come back here I need to reawaken my nest,” Imp called and beckoned me back to him. “Stand with me and I can add your magic signature into the spell so the nest will recognize you as well.”

Returning to where they stood next to Imp, he tugged me to stand with my back to his chest. “Better, right where Shiny belongs,” Imp stated as he hugged me tightly with a little cooing sound.

Rhun cleared his throat making Imp hiss at him, but broke him out of his cuddle mode. “Shiny, I need you to hold on to my wrists and follow whatever movements I make, don’t fight against it. Think of it like dancing with your arms,” Imp explained. “Let your body follow the movements, call to your magic, you said you knew what it felt like, that it wanted to communicate with you. I want you to do just that, ask it for help, tell it what you want it to do, and trust it will be there to help you as it always has.”

“You talk like my magic is alive,” I commented, amazed at his description of how it felt to interact with my magic.

He chuckled, his chest vibrating with laughter. “That’s because it is, Shiny. How do you think each and every one of us monsters were created? I was created out of the spirit of a dead raven that the magic of this land decided to reuse. All of us who walk in these woods were created from something physical and something magical.”

I supposed that made sense and added to why they wouldn’t need to eat like humans do if they were magical beings. With Imp’s coaxing, I grasped his wrists and took a deep breath, relaxing into myself letting my magic come to the surface. Doing just as he suggested, I reached out to it and it greeted me as if I was a long-lost friend, it swirled around my body with happy tingles. I smiled at that, pleased to see it was more than willing to help me as I mentally pictured what it was I’d like its help with. Once it understood what I wanted it raced off to combine itself with Imp’s black magic that was crackling in the air.

Seeing my silver magic, that glittered like a diamond, cheerfully swirling about the dark death magic was beautiful. Everything about it was dangerous, yet mesmerizing, as it grew and formed into whatever spell Imp was weaving. Both worked together creating an intricate pattern that was then tossed at the stone house that Imp had been living in. Like a net cast into the water, the magic spread over the dwelling and morphed before my eyes into something miraculous.