Blood of Sirens: Book 13 of The Witch Fairy Series (19 page)

“If your slavery comes with one of those giant pillows, I’m in,” Taz informs me.  Felix growls at him. 

This brings Irena’s gaze to them.  A look of pure disgust covers her face.  “What are those things?”  Before I can respond, she turns to one of her warriors.  “Kill them and throw them in the ocean for the sharks.”

The warrior steps forward but hesitates when both of my Familiars bare their teeth and snarl at him.  Deciding the killing should be done from afar, the warrior takes an arrow from the quiver on his back and loads his bow.  Taz and Felix are on him before he can pull the string back.  Several other warriors move to help their fallen comrade, but I shove them back with magic. 

“Taz, Felix, leave him alone,” I order.  My heart’s not really in it, the guy was going to kill them, after all.  Regardless, the Tasmanian devil’s return to my side.  Shifting my gaze to Irena, I say, “They are my Familiars.”

Surprised and then delighted, Irena claps her hand.  “I love it.  Now that I see how ferocious they can be, I can think of many uses for them.”

“I hope you have a lot of bacon,” I mutter under my breath.

“What?” Irena asks. 

“Nothing.”

“Irena,” Isla says, dragging the Siren’s attention away from me.  “We have come to negotiate with you.  We can find a way to settle this situation without war.”

Irena eyes her, the gears in her mind racing.  Finally, she says, “You have nothing I want.  How can you negotiate for peace?”  She reconsiders.  “Maybe there is something you could trade.”

Isla’s eyebrows rise.  “Yes?”

Irena points a finger at Tana.  “Take her life right this moment and I will consider peace negotiations.”

Tana’s eyes sparkle with anger and what might be the beginning of a psychotic break.  Before she can do something stupid, I step closer to her.  “No deal.”  She’s not the greatest step-mom in the universe, but she’s not the worst, either.

“Would you take me instead?” Dagda asks.

“Why would I want you?” Irena snarls.  Wow, bitter much?

“That’s not what she was saying a few centuries ago,” Kegan mutters.  His mouth is almost as hard to control as mine is.

Irena glowers at him.  “I may have wanted him in my youth,” she admits.  “But he showed me how weak of character he is when he chose this meek, ugly creature over my beauty and strength.”

“Wow, someone bring the narcissist a mirror so she can do a better job of worshipping herself,” Taz snarks.

“Do those beasts truly speak to you?” Irena asks.

I’m surprised by the sudden change in topic so it takes a second for me to respond.  “Yes, they do.”

“What did he say?”

“He called you a narcissist and suggested someone should bring you a mirror to better worship yourself.”  The best relationships are based on honesty, after all.

Irena’s silver eyes turn icy.  “I will make you watch as I take your husband to my bed every night.”

That definitely isn’t going to work for me.  We need to get on with things before I do something stupid.  Sensing where I’m at, Isla agrees.  “Irena, this is the last chance we will give you.  We can settle this peacefully.”

“Last chance?  My warriors number in the thousands.  My Sirens can bring even the bravest of males to their knees or make them commit suicide depending upon their mood.  I can do the same with your females.  How can you possibly believe you have any chance of survival when I give the order to attack?  And trust me, Fairy, I will be giving the order to attack.”

There is not a doubt in any of our minds that she is telling the truth.  My guess is she has her warriors prepared for an invasion of the Fairy lands tomorrow night.  With orders to kill everyone they find.  Considering how she left children of her own clan to fend for themselves amongst her enemies, there would be no qualms about killing Fairy children.

“Irena, the decision you make right now will affect your race forever,” Dagda warns.  “Things will never be the same.”

Unperturbed by his threat, Irena smiles.  “You are correct.  I will change everything.  I will conquer each realm one by one until I have them all under my control.  There is no force that can stop me.  Even your precious Witch Fairy cannot stop me.  Putting your males to sleep is the best she can do and she cannot do it forever.”

I hate it when people underestimate me.  “I have a few other tricks,” I correct her.

The Siren laughs at me.  “You can show me your little tricks after I have killed every Fairy in this realm.”

“Every Fairy?  Does that mean she’s killing the wanker now, too?  I’m good either way, I just want her to make up her freakin mind,” Taz complains.  I don’t believe him for a second. 

“Is that your final answer?” I ask, sounding like a host on a game show.

Irena is growing irritated with me.  I have that effect on people a lot more often than I would like.  “The first order I will give you when you are under my spell is to keep your mouth closed until I command you to speak.”

“Ha!  Even she doesn’t have enough power to keep your mouth from saying stupid things.”  Why do I have such an annoying Familiar?

“Xandra,” Isla says, “I believe the Queen has made her decision.”

I nod in understanding.  Time to get things started.  “Hey, Irena,” I say pleasantly.  “Did you know I can teleport?”  While her eyes are busy widening, I teleport across the room, grab Kallen’s arm and teleport back to where I was.  Now that everyone is where they are supposed to be, I put up a wall of magic around us.  I also don’t let go of Kallen’s arm even when he tries to pull away.  He’s still a little peeved because he believes I didn’t have faith in him.  “The other thing I can do is very powerful spells,” I continue.

Irena isn’t convinced.  “Your magic pales in comparison to that of my race.  We were created to be stronger, to be better than you.  All of you.”  She waves her hand toward all of us.  I don’t know if she realizes that two in our group are Angels.  They don’t like it when lower beings claim to be better than them.  For the first time, I have to keep Adriel from doing something stupid when she tries to get past me.  Raziel puts his hands on her shoulders to help hold her back. 

“You know, letting your mouth spew such stupid things only makes people not like you,” I inform the Siren.  As soon as the insult leaves my mouth, her warriors take up arms.  Good thing I expected it.  They can’t penetrate my wall of magic.  Irena screeches in frustration when the first warrior bounces off it.  That will teach him to hold his sword with two hands directly in front of him when attacking.  The hilt of the sword stabs him so hard in the stomach when it refuses to move forward through my wall that he falls to the ground writhing in pain.  I think he did serious damage to his spleen.  Irena’s screeching grows louder.

Ignoring her voice the best I can, I glance around our group.  “Ready to change the order of things?” I ask.  Kallen looks at me in confusion but everyone else nods.  I try not to think of the possible ramifications of doing what we are about to do.  Will Raziel, Adriel and I lose our wings? 

Taking a deep breath, I hold my hands out.  Even though he has no idea what the plan is, Kallen takes one.  Dagda takes the other.  The others grasp hands until we are all connected.  Each of them prepares for the pain they are about to feel.  In front of us, Irena is studying what we are doing.  She’s not scared yet.  I bet she’s faced situations like this before where a group of beings tried to use magic against her and failed miserably.  Failure is not an option for us.  If this doesn’t work, the Fairies and every other humanoid race may be forced to submit to Siren rule.

Sounding bored, Irena says, “Play your petty magic tricks.  You will tire long before you find success.”

Maybe.  Maybe not.  Hopefully not.  Closing my eyes, I murmur, “Sorry, everyone.  This is going to hurt.”

I have pulled magic from others before.  Others in this very group.  But I’m not simply pulling their magic through them to merge it with mine, I am stealing their magic.  Their magic is being stripped from their very souls until every last drop belongs to me and me alone.  Kegan and Garren are the first to fall.  Tana and Tabitha are next.  I admit I am surprised when Adriel slumps to the ground before Kallen, but only a second before.  Dagda and then Isla follow until it is only Raziel and I left standing.  He squeezes my arm and relaxes against the pull of my magic until he, too, falls to the ground.  Even Taz and Felix lie unconscious at my feet.  I only have a few minutes until my pull not only takes their magic but their life forces, as well.  I need to get started.

By this time, Irena is staring at me agape.  When Raziel falls to the ground and I let the magic wall surrounding us go, she takes an unconscious step backwards.  She doesn’t know exactly what I did, but she knows I am a good deal more powerful than she is at the moment.  “You cannot win.  Even if you take my life, others of my race will step forward and finish what I have begun.”

When I speak, my voice has a weird echo to it.  It’s like several voices are speaking at once and not in exact sync.  “No, Irena, you and your kind have strayed too far from your noble beginnings.  Once, you championed the weak.  Now you prey upon them.  You are motivated by greed and power and lust.  You feed on the souls of the innocent to make yourself more powerful.  No more.”

Despite the fact there is no longer magic separating us from the Sirens and warriors, we have been given a wide berth.  It could be because I’m vibrating with power.  Literally.  And I’m levitating which I think is a side effect of trying to contain such power.  As strong magic always does, it wants to be released.  It wants to lash out and do what it was called to do.  But I can’t let it go quite yet.  The book I found in the dark magic section was very specific about the fact I need to ask a few questions before unleashing it. 

My voice is eerily calm as I ask the first question.  “Irena, Queen of the Sirens, do you take responsibility for the actions of your race?”

Confused, she asks, “What are you talking about?”

The question was quite clear.  I ask it again.  “Irena, Queen of the Sirens, do you take responsibility for the actions of your race?”

More angry than afraid now, Irena takes a brave step in my direction.  “I am Queen.  What my Sirens do is my business.”

I need to clarify.  “Is that a yes?”

Hands on her hips she hisses in frustration.  “Yes, of course I take responsibility for my race.”

Not exactly what I asked.  “For their actions, as well?”

“Yes, damn it!”

“Your race has terrorized others for millennia.  Your power has grown exponentially as you brought chaos and calamity.  Do you agree?”

Irena rolls her eyes.  “Are you looking for a history lesson?  Everyone knows how powerful we are, Witch Fairy.  Everyone.  We will continue on as we always have until our power has no match in the universe.  There will not be a living soul which is not under our command.”

“Do you sacrifice your own, including your offspring, to this craving for power?”

Glancing around the tent at her warriors, she asks, “What game are you playing, Witch Fairy?  You are the one with kin lying at your feet, sacrificed to your need for power.”

She can’t get me on a technicality.  “What I took was given to me willingly.  Can you say the same?  Are any here free of mind to do as they will?  Can they refuse you?”

If it was possible to self-destruct from pure anger, Irena would be on the brink of it about now.  “I am their Queen!  They do as I tell them.”  There is a lot of uncomfortable shifting amongst the Sirens.  They suspect there is more to my questions than simply seeking knowledge.  Irena is too angry to see it.

“Irena,” a Siren to her left says softly, “She is baiting you for a purpose.”

Irena whirls on her.  “Do I seem ignorant to you?  Of course she is baiting me on purpose.  But whatever her agenda is pales in comparison to the power we hold.”  The other Siren isn’t convinced but she holds her tongue.

Okay, if I want any chance of saving my wings and those of Adriel and Raziel, I need her to answer my question.   This one is key.  “Do they act of their own free will?”

Irena gives me her full attention again.  “It is my will which determines their fate.”

Finally.  “Irena, Queen of the Sirens,” I begin in my eerie new voice.  I’m glad this is only temporary.  “I have heard your crimes spoken by your tongue.  I claim the right to cleanse you of said crimes.”

Irena laughs.  She actually laughs.  “Cleanse me?”  She shakes her head.  “Here I thought maybe, just maybe, you were a worthy foe.  No, you are simply a child making threats you do not have the power to fulfill.”

“Your race came into the universe to serve a purpose.  That purpose has been lost.  I claim the right to cleanse your race so you and yours will once again follow the path of righteous warrior, protectors of the weak.”

“I have heard enough.  Take her,” Irena orders her guards. 

With the raising of my hand, her warriors fall.  “
Irena, Queen of the Sirens, I invoke the ancient rite of judgment upon you and your race.”

“What is she talking about?” a Siren asks Irena
.

“She is speaking nonsense,” Irena assures her, but the conviction is gone from her voice.