Siren Song

21

“I don’t like this, Celia.” Queen Lopaka’s voice was cold and harsh. Two spots of red had appeared high on her cheeks and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the storm gray of her eyes would’ve been flashing with lightning, given her expression. “If it had not been for pure chance and Okalani’s extraordinary talent, I would have lost my daughter and many of my people. We have a traitor in our midst. Proceeding further is simply too much of a risk.”

We were in the palace, in the beautifully appointed office where Queen Lopaka did the work of running the siren kingdoms. The floor was covered with thick carpet the color of sand, carpet that felt the same underfoot as walking across a quiet beach. Two entire walls were windowed, looking out over manicured gardens and, in the distance, the Pacific. There were curtains, but I got the impression they were seldom closed. I would’ve had to close them. The view would’ve been too distracting. I’d never get anything done.

Now, however, I was having no trouble focusing at all. Because the queen and I were having issues. “I understand, Your Majesty.” I kept my eyes down, my voice even. “But the jet had been inspected, thoroughly inspected, by your people and mine just minutes before. The only way someone could’ve planted that bomb was by teleporting.”

“There are others with that capability.”

And thank God for that, I thought. But I didn’t say it. Gran would be so proud. She’s been working with me on not mouthing off since prepuberty. Of course I was dealing with a telepath, so Queen Lopaka probably heard me anyway. Maybe she’d appreciate the effort.

“You believe that Eirene is the siren involved in Kristoff’s coup.”

Hell, yes! Her mother, too. And we only have one chance to defeat them. I kept my lips zipped, but I thought it loud. Gulls began to swoop outside the window as I got more agitated.

The queen paused, glaring at me. I had told her my suspicions about Ren and Stefania before. When the evidence was circumstantial, she’d been willing to take the steps of switching landing sites “just in case.” Yet now that we knew we were betrayed she was reluctant, not wanting to risk any of her people on what she considered a bad bet—even if she might secure a strong European alliance and flush out a pair of dangerous and highly placed traitors.

Creede, Adriana, and I were arguing in favor of Plan B: acting as though everyone on board had died and hiding us out of sight until Kristoff’s press conference, then having Okalani teleport us into the middle of it.

It was bold. It was crazy. And it just might work. If the queen would let us do it.

Adriana spoke up. “Your Majesty . . . Mother. If our enemies believe they’ve succeeded, they’ll let their guard down. If we are going to attempt to help King Dahlmar, this could be a priceless advantage. I’ve seen an eighty-five percent chance of success with this new plan.”

“And if we’re wrong? If they are innocent?”

I thought—but quietly—You have got to be kidding me! She couldn’t be that deep in denial. What did I have to do to make her believe me? Show her the memories?

Yes. Adriana answered my thought.

Well, shit. Of course. Who could do the deed? Pili was down for the count.

Adriana answered me. I guessed she was projecting to both of us at once given the look in Queen Lopaka’s eyes. Nifty.

I can do it. I might not be strong enough to take you through all of your memories, but we know what to look for now, know when it happened. If I show you, Mother, if you can see this for yourself, will you give King Dahlmar the aid he seeks?

Queen Lopaka let out a frustrated breath and slammed a fist down on the desk, eyes flashing. She looked just like . . . me in that moment. Why is this so important to you, Adriana? Why do you press so?

Adriana let out a low noise that was like a refined growl. Her eyes glinted with righteous anger. She cursed children, Mother. She brought demons onto the soil of our island. This cannot be allowed to stand. If in helping ourselves we can help an ally as well, then it is well and good.

Queen Lopaka stared into her daughter’s eyes for a long moment. When she finally answered, it was as if she’d aged a decade before my eyes. “Show me.”

It took very little time. We knew the memory we needed, so there was no searching, no spooling through my life and the damage the curse had inflicted. Adriana simply took my memories and played them out as an image above the tropical fish tank against the wall.

Queen Lopaka sat, silent and still, for a long moment after the scene had played out. Neither Adriana nor I dared move.

When the queen finally spoke, it was in an intense whisper. “It’s her. I recognize her, even without seeing her face. I knew she was desperate for Eirene to rule, knew she was capable of much to achieve it. But cursing our own children? Such evil—” She shook her head and a single tear trickled down her perfect cheek. “Dear Goddess. Stefania . . . why?”

I didn’t know what to say in the face of her obvious pain. I’d expected her to be angry. God knows I was. Then again, for me it was personal.

She wiped the tear away with an impatient gesture and turned to me. “Do what you will. You have my support.”

I gave a low bow and started toward the door. I’d barely gone three steps when her voice stopped me. I turned back to see an expression on the queen’s face that I’d seen in the mirror more than once. Contrite, pained. “I’m sorry, Celia. I should’ve believed you. Know that I would’ve protected you had I known.”

There was nothing to do but shrug. “You didn’t know.”

“But I should have.” Something in her voice told me that this failure would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Just like me.

They put us in a large conference room with attached restrooms. Everyone who had been on the plane was there, along with a couple dozen more of the queen’s Elite Guard—a special-forces unit that worked together like a well-oiled machine. Creede is one hell of a mage. His concentration and attention to detail were impressive. He, the guards, and the mage squad formed a force to be reckoned with. The minute we were all behind closed doors, the mages set up a magical perimeter so tight that even Okalani couldn’t have teleported through it. Nothing was going to break that barrier: not sound or sight and certainly no magic. The power of it burned across my senses when I tried to test it, and the air in the room felt thick enough to drink. My ears actually popped two or three times, adjusting.

I wasn’t part of the military end of things. The queen had given her orders; General Carson and his staff were calculating the best means of carrying them out. They went through the plan minute-by-minute, covering contingencies that might arise and what the response would be. The loss of the plane, despite their precautions, hadn’t shaken them as much as made them angry and even more determined to succeed. Before, they had been content with implying that the civilians should stay back. Such subtlety had been abandoned now, with Thompson taking Creede and me aside and bluntly telling us to “stay the fuck out of our way.” They didn’t like that we were being brought along. But Okalani was our transport and King Dahlmar had insisted that Creede and I be his personal bodyguards.

The clairvoyant was starting to display the image of the press conference on a wall of the conference room when I felt a massive blow hit the shield. It had a pinpoint focus and two of the mages responsible for the protections nearest the doors fell in their tracks, eyes rolling back in their heads. A third staggered, only keeping himself upright by force of will—and because he had a table to lean on.

No one knew what was happening. Medics rushed to aid the fallen. Creede looked grim and rushed toward the door with me at his heels.

A second blow, followed by a sensation like maggots crawling across my skin. I smelled sulfur, tasted bile. I started swallowing convulsively to keep the contents of my stomach in my stomach.

Someone out there meant business. With the shields crumbling I could hear the sound of fighting in the hall. Gunshots, boomers, and screams of pain were all clear to me.

“What is it?” Okalani stared at me wide-eyed.

“Get to the other side of the room, now!” I ordered as I pulled the 9mm I’d been given to replace my trusty Colt.

“It’s going to fall,” Creede announced. “I can feel it.”

“Carson, you hear that?”

“Civilians to the far side.” He barked out other orders and his people moved into place with crisp efficiency.

Okalani ran to the far side of the room to join Princess Adriana, King Dahlmar, and most of the others.

Carson sidled up beside me, weapon at the ready. “You do realize that you’re technically a civilian,” he said coldly.

“Bite me.” I flashed fangs. I felt the shield wavering. It wasn’t going to last much longer.

Creede’s grin flashed bright for just an instant, fading as he started counting backward. “In three, two, one—”

The shield fell and the door and a fair part of the wall were blasted into pieces—not by the demon I’d been expecting but by good old-fashioned explosives.

The ground shook and I dropped to one knee. The blast deafened me and the combination of billowing brick dust and smoke was thick enough to make me choke. Chaos reigned. I could barely see through my streaming eyes. Adrenaline kicked in and with it vampire powers. My vision shifted into hyperfocus and time seemed to slow so that it felt as though I had an eternity to take it all in.

Carson was on one knee beside me. He raised a fist in a signal to hold positions. We froze, guns ready.

Through the smoke I saw Queen Stefania, with more than a dozen of her personal guard surrounding her. They had taken out the half dozen of Queen Lopaka’s Elite Guard who’d been hiding behind magic in the hall. But more than a few black-clad bodies were down as well. Stefania had to know she was almost out of time, that reinforcements were coming. But she refused to give up. Eyes blazing, she turned and pointed directly at me.

Me? Why me? What the hell?

I used every bit of vampire speed I had to hit my belly and crawl as fast as I could, moving toward the limited shelter offered by the nearest pile of debris as guns fired, aimed at where I’d been an instant before. Whether I’d moved too quickly or just benefited from the smoke and confusion, her men lost track of me for a second. I used that second to fire directly at Stefania. The shots should have taken out most of her chest, but they didn’t even hit. She had some sort of shield, a force field protecting her. My bullets just bounced off as she laughed.

Well, wasn’t that just dandy?

I ducked down again and scurried to another pile of debris as her people turned their sights on my position.

Our troops had moved forward, cutting off Stefania’s soldiers, forming a wall of resistance between them and me. I was grateful for the cover and for the time. I needed to think. We needed to take down Stefania.

But a force field? That was freaking impossible. No way in hell should she be able to do that. And then it occurred to me—it was exactly that: the power of hell, the magic of a demon, protecting her.

The nine clicked empty. I slid it back into its holster. I drew a different pair of weapons and began moving carefully, keeping under cover as best I could, using the chaos to my advantage. I couldn’t get too close. But with the right angle, I didn’t have to be close. I adjusted my weapons, gauged the angles, and emptied both One Shots of holy water against her shield.

The invisible barrier flared like magnesium, then fell. When it did, I pounced.

The thing is, when you rely on a demon’s magic for too long, you get overconfident. She’d lost her ability to fight. Taken by surprise, she went down hard. It was amazingly satisfying to punch her right in the face with every bit of my strength. Her cheek collapsed under the weight of the blow and blood rushed to the surface of her skin, instantly forming a blackish-purple bruise.

But she got her wits about her quicker than I’d anticipated. She got her legs under me and kicked me off, hard enough to send me flying at least ten feet. She stood and started to stalk forward.

Bullets began to rain on her from a dozen different directions. Blood and flesh exploded from each impact as her body did a gruesome, jerking dance before toppling face-first onto the ground.

A male voice filled my head. I recognized it as the voice of the greater demon, no longer syrupy sweet but so angry his very voice was a bludgeon. This isn’t over, Celia. I will have you.

I retched from the force of the intrusion. If Creede hadn’t caught me, I’d have fallen. He helped me to sit, shoved my head between my knees, and surrounded us both with a shield that pushed the demon away.

Those few of Stefania’s troops who were still alive laid down their arms as Queen Lopaka arrived with the reinforcements. They kept her guarded behind a wall of troops until every last enemy was bound. Only then did she step out from behind her guards to walk over to where Stefania lay.

I rose, a little unsteadily, and went to join her, as did Adriana and Hiwahiwa.

“She’s not dead.” I was shocked. There was no way Stefania could possibly have survived her wounds; from the look of things, most of the blood had drained from her body. Yet that same body still drew ragged breaths. I felt my stomach heave again. You’d think the vampire in me would be attracted to all the blood, but it wasn’t. She was just raw, bloody meat and I wanted none of it. I asked, of anyone who could answer, “Why isn’t she dead?”

Queen Lopaka spoke softly. “We are immortal, for the most part. Jealousy can kill us. That, and certain special magical weapons.” She knelt on the bloody ground, her trousers instantly becoming soaked with gore. Reaching beneath her jacket sleeve, she drew a knife—the knife I had given her. Thrusting her left hand into Stefania’s hair, she pulled the wounded woman’s head up sharply, exposing a length of pale neck. Their eyes met and Lopaka’s went frighteningly cold.

“You are relieved of your throne, sister.” She slashed the knife across that pale expanse of skin, but there wasn’t enough blood left in Stefania’s body for it to spray.

The vanquished siren gave one long, violent shudder and was still.