But I was too afraid to tell him that all of this was only for him—only to have him push me away again, to put up a wall between us. To break my heart.
I crossed one leg over the other, and the skirt of my dress rode up my thigh. Suddenly, his hand was on my leg. I could see the temptation in his eyes, the battle playing out between his desire and his will.
I didn’t want him to fall victim to desire. I wanted him all, heart and body and soul. I wanted him to be with me by his own free will, not because for one short moment, his lust overrode everything else. So I slid away from him. His hand dropped from my leg.
We sat there, staring at each other in silence, the air thick with so many unspoken words. The best laid plans of the Angel of Chaos inevitably went to shit. At least that was how it felt right now. It felt like anything I did only made matters worse.
My phone buzzed, and this time the message didn’t make my heart jump with joy. It made it sink deep down into my stomach.
“There’s been another incident,” I told Nero, standing. “Involving sirens in Purgatory this time. I have to go get my team.”
He was already on his feet. His gaze flickered to the message on my screen, then back to me. Indecision shimmered in his eyes for a moment, then was silenced.
“It’s faster if we go there directly,” he said. “Come on.”
20
Five, Six, Seven, Eight
My excitement at getting to spend some time with Nero again was overshadowed by the seriousness of the situation—and by the crowd of protestors and paparazzi waiting right outside the tape that blocked off the alley. We moved past the crowd, ignoring their questions. But Angel didn’t ignore them. She snarled, causing a few of the people to take a step back. Considering that my cat was fast approaching the size of a small cheetah, their alarm was understandable.
Alec met us in the alley. “Nerissa’s on her way,” he said as we walked. “But I don’t think there’s anything she can do for the siren.”
“Siren?” I repeated. “I thought there were multiple sirens.”
“There are. There were. Most of them are already dead. Only one survived. And she’s shaken.”
“What happened to the sirens?” Nero asked him.
“They were prisoners of Dante Drummoyne’s rogue vampires. The night the vampires died, the sirens attempted to escape. But the vampires weren’t the only ones keeping the prisoners trapped. Drummoyne hired some shifter mercenaries to guard the nest during the day, while the vampires slept. The sirens tried to compel the shifters to let them go.”
“And their magic backfired,” I guessed.
“Yes,” Alec confirmed. “The sirens’ magic backfired. Instead of compelling the guards, they became compelled. They did whatever the guards said. The guards realized the power they had over the sirens and decided to have some fun with them. They commanded the sirens to do all kinds of tasks. Most of those tasks ended in a siren’s death.”
“Only four of us made it past the shifters and out of the vampires’ nest,” the siren spoke up.
She was crouched deep in her knees at the end of the alley, rocking back and forth on her feet. She held tightly to herself, as though afraid that she’d suddenly lose control over her own body and do something dangerous. Given what she’d seen happen to the other sirens, that fear wasn’t unfounded.
“The other three didn’t make it.” She glanced at the dead bodies sprawled across the cobblestone street all around her. “They died from the injuries the shifters’ game inflicted on them.”
“But not you,” Nero noted.
The siren didn’t stop rocking back and forth, even as her body trembled from head to toe. “I saw what happened to the first of us who tried to compel the shifters. The others double-downed on magic. I chose not to use any at all. The shifters could not control me.”
“How did you get past them?” I asked her.
“Eventually, after a few hours of playing with the others, making them do…grotesque things…” She cringed. “…two of the shifters went for a smoke outside. That left only two to watch us.” She rocked faster, talked faster. “They were holding us in the kitchen. More toys there. They could make the other sirens stab themselves, set themselves on fire, hang themselves.” She was rocking so fast, so uncontrollably. “I grabbed a frying pan and whacked the two shifters over the head.” She was squeezing herself so tightly that her fingernails cut into her arms, drawing blood. “Then I gathered all the other shifters who were still alive, and I ran. One of the shifters outside saw us run and fired his gun at us.” She tore open her jacket, revealing a bloody shirt. “I hardly even felt the bullet go through me.” Madness danced in her eyes.
“I need to heal you,” I told the siren gently.
Manic laughter poured out of her mouth.
“Ok.” I took her hand, squeezing it. “You’re safe now. No one is going to hurt you.” I set my other hand on her bleeding abdomen and used my magic to start healing her wound.
I didn’t make it far.
“You can’t use magic!” she hissed. “It will kill you.”
“Don’t worry. I’m an angel.”
“You don’t understand.” She grabbed both of my hands in hers. Terror widened her eyes. “We are all going to die.”
“No.” I set my glowing hand back on her bleeding stomach. “Because I’m going to stop this.”
The siren shook her head. “It can’t be stopped. None of us are safe anymore. Magic isn’t safe anymore.”
“It will be all right. See? I can use magic, and so I can fight this,” I said.
I’d finished healing her body. Her mind, however, still lay in pieces. If only Ivy were here, maybe she could have calmed down the siren. But Ivy wasn’t here. I’d sent her and Drake and Basanti away to Storm Castle to check on Leila.
The siren’s hands lifted to my shoulders and she clutched me as tightly as she had held on to herself. “The fairies tried to help us too. ”
“What fairies?”
“They found us here. They tried to heal us.” Her voice stuttered. “They tried to heal us from this curse.” The siren’s eyelids slammed down. “I told them not to use their magic, but they were so sure they could save us.”
“Where are the fairies?”
“When the curse got them, they tried to run.” Tears pooled in her eyes. “But they couldn’t run from what had already taken hold inside of them.”
“Where are the fairies?” I asked her again.
The siren lifted up a shaking hand and pointed into an abandoned house. “There.”
I jumped up and ran toward the house. Angel ran beside me. Nero had thrown open the door and was already inside. The first thing I saw when I entered were two dead fairies on the floor. I rushed forward.
Nero caught my wrist, stopping me in my tracks. “It’s too late.”
I shook my head in stubborn defiance. “Maybe I can save them.”
Even as I said it, I knew it wasn’t possible. The fairies’ bodies were pale, lifeless, and completely covered in pox.