Sirens in Steam: Alliance of Silver & Steam Book 3

by Lexi Ostrow

  There was no need to wait. She had no concern for Izazal’s response, just in reminding him where he stood with her. Seraphina flashed to the dungeon area and nodded as Muriel stepped inside a cell holding a Pure Angel. Ian had returned successfully with new Fallen if they had returned to forcing the Pure to fall. A smile crept across her lips. Everything was falling into place. All she needed was for this to work.

  Pushing open the door to Kellan, she took a deep breath. It was running a gambit to enter the cell, and she had no idea which version of the corrupted hunter she would find. She was expecting to see him still cowering in a corner, but he sat in the bloodstained chair, his eyes focused past her, staring at nothing.

  “You’ve returned,” his voice was eerily calm, steady.

  Seraphina offered the vial to him and watched as his green eyes flashed darkly. He was out of the chair and holding her wrist in his hand before she could even blink. It thrilled her. Kellan was hers, and he would be the key to finally avenging Demetrious’ death. For a moment, she flashed to a random encounter she and Kellan had near the beginning of the blood craze setting in.

  Things had been so, well, tender, betwixt them. She worried at the time what would happen to her if it kept along that path. Twice more after, she had had softer moments with the hunter, and thinking about them now made her head hurt as a spike of anger at herself crashed through her senses.

  Blood begets blood, she thought wryly, with a small snarl as she shook the vial at Kellan.

  “You’ve brought me blood.”

  She realized his accent was covered. Not enough time had passed since she had last come to him. He still craved her blood, but he was able to garner some control over himself. Which means he’s not as perfect of a soldier after all. She snarled at the thought, and let her grip on the vile loosen.

  “Yes. I have word your little family has come for you. Whilst it is more than likely all, but the two females are dead at the bottom of the sea, I have to be prepared for the likelihood that, like with Odette, they will make it to you.”

  She stuck her nail tip into the cork and pulled it out. Blood leapt from the vial, and Kellan growled, dropping to the floor as if he was going to lick it. Very slowly, he rose up, anger in his eyes.

  “What have you done to me?”

  She smiled wide. “I’ve made you mine.”

  “I belong to the Alliance.”

  “You belong to Hell. You’re strong; my blood still swirls within you. You will come to be nothing more than the cowering boy in the corner shortly. Your masked accent will slip away, and your eyes will see nothing but me.”

  Her hand wrapped around his throat and Seraphina slammed Kellan into the stone wall. The hand holding the vial waivered, and the dangerous contents inside almost spilled. She raised the container to his lips, and there was no need to pry his mouth open as she had in the beginning.

  In an instant, his eyes hazed over with desire, and his lips opened on their own. Seraphina did not hesitate to tip the vial into his mouth, releasing the contents of Izazal’s blood. Kellan made a sound torn betwixt a snarl and a groan as the vial rapidly emptied. Smirking, she dropped it to the floor and relished in the shattering sound. To Seraphina, it was the sound of the Alliance falling. Kellan was blood crazed, and whether her idiot servants failed or not, he would be topside next month, and everything would truly begin.

  She was distracted, focusing on her victory, not the man in the room. Kellan was half-starved, but he hadn’t been beaten in months, her kindness proved to be a mistake, and some of his mental strength had returned due to feeding him too close together. The combination was a problem. He took her off guard, almost.

  His hand shot out, but hers was faster, and she caught his fist in her hand. Tension radiated through his body, and she almost felt badly for him. If he had not been Irish, her compulsion would have worked on him, and the process would have been so much simpler. Alas, she would have to remind him of the torture that he had endured his first seven months in Hell.

  Her wrist turned, jerking his entire body to the side. Kellan slammed into the floor with a curse. His head hit the concrete and dirt floor, and she watched as it bounced slightly off the ground from the impact. A twinge of pain went through her, pain that had nothing to do with the blood connection, and she snarled.

  Leaning down, she slapped him across the face and landed a kick to his torso. She felt something for Kellan. Something that was crying out in anger with every hit she landed, and it terrified her. Over and over, she kicked and raked her nails over his face, chest, and arms. His strength shone through with every lash back at her. One punch succeeded in crunching into her nose, and she cursed before flashing across the cell.

  They stood facing one another, wracked with heavy breathing and blood dripping from Kellan’s body. She admired the way he stood against her, as vigorous and defiant as a Pure Angel would. There had been rumors that there was a line of Pure Angels that had lain with the Irish centuries before, and that was why mysticism was strong in their culture.

  Seraphina didn’t care what it was, just that over the past months she had grown impressed with a fucking human. A hunter of her kind, and a destroyer of more lives than she had likely ever taken when she had been Pure, despite how righteous the Alliance members thought they were. Anger warred with a need to apologize, and she bit the inside of her cheek.

  “You will have noticed that what you just consumed was not mine. Welcome to the first stages of your trip back to partial sanity.” She walked towards him, put her hands on her knees and bent down to lean over him. “You’re going home, Kellan the hunter.”

  Nineteen

  McKenna was finally able to breathe normally. Her chest still burned furiously, but she was no longer gulping in air. Her goggles sat on the sand next to her, and both Philippe and Lucius paced in back and forth.

  Jacob coughed again, sputtering water everywhere, and McKenna flinched. She had hardly thought of him in the past five minutes since they’d broken the surface. Felicia had revived him only a moment before, but McKenna had been so focused on herself that she’d forgotten. Regret sliced through her, and she pushed herself upright, grabbing her goggles. She turned and saw Jacob for the first time.

  He was dripping wet and looked as if he could be felled by a gentle tap. His color was far too pale, and his eyes were rimmed with red, likely from the salt rushing into them as the demon bitch had dragged him down. Jacob looked at her briefly, offered a small smile and choked again. No water came from his mouth this time, after over a minute of coughing, his lungs were finally clear as well.

  She wasn’t certain of anything anymore, except that Jacob was not suited to go into Hell. He should have never gotten out of the submersible, even to ensure that they made it into Hell okay. Jacob was a liability to them all. Jacob was a liability to her because she had jumped into the water with no thought or foresight to save him. Her judgment was skewed because she loved him.

  And she would not leave him behind.

  McKenna shuffled towards Jacob, partially to stall and partially because the cave spun slightly from her not being fully recovered. She stopped with her boots practically touching his fingertips and offered him a weak smile. Felicia nodded and stepped away to join the others a few meters away.

  “I don’t think I can take credit for saving your life this time,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

  “No, but I could see you, McKenna. I knew a demon had me. I knew it was you swimming towards me. I was fighting her.”

  He sounded terribly angry that he hadn’t succeeded, and she put her hand on his shoulder. “It’s not your fault, Jacob. Philippe only managed to not give in because of Layel, Felicia and I. Lucius was lost, he stumbled past me. You held out as long as you could. She took you down, you didn’t walk into the water.” She looked into his eyes and held his gaze. “You didn’t betray me.” The words were almost inaudible.

  “Yes I did,” he growled and tried to stand. “I love you
, McKenna. I don’t say that lightly, and yet, I was convinced another woman was better than you. I knew she wasn’t you. It was like I thought she was a better version of you.”

  Jacob’s head fell to his chest, and a sigh tore through him. She felt her heart breaking, not because he had ruined them, but because he had made them whole. Jacob was a Royal, and he was in love with a common orphan. He had given her everything she’d ever dreamed of, aside from getting her parents back from the dead.

  McKenna knew more than ever that she could not leave him. Not if all they had was now, away from Court.

  “I’m not going into Hell,” the words were blurted much more callously than she had meant too.

  “Mon Dieu! Have you all gone crazy?” Philippe asked as he walked towards them. “This has already been decided, McKenna. You do not simply undecide it because you almost died. You are a hunter, not a little girl. You are going.”

  It took everything in her not to slap Philippe. “You are rather sure of yourself, Philippe. And rather wrong.”

  “I fail to see how I could be mistaken.”

  “She’s in love with him,” Lucius said. “Sorry, I might have poked around where I didn’t belong.” He offered her a shrug.

  “Love has what to do with this?” Philippe demanded.

  “Dear heavens. It is amazing to me that you are in love, Frenchman. Would you leave Odette if you thought she couldn’t protect herself? If there were an entire species of demons with their sights on her?” Lucius countered.

  McKenna smiled fondly at Lucius for defending her. Lucius was truly the biggest conundrum she had ever encountered. A demon in love, a demon betraying his own kind for love. She supposed Greyston was the same, but he had never been employed by Hell to begin with, it was different with Lucius.

  Philippe’s eyes softened briefly and narrowed again. “It doesn’t matter. The decision was made, and Felicia does not have a communicator. I do not want her using McKenna’s. Think of the chaos it would cause if someone reached out to McKenna. They would think her dead.”

  “Then simply do not separate in Hell. Do you really think it’s smarter to leave Felicia and Jacob here with no communicator?” Images of them being attacked bombarded McKenna as she spoke.

  Jacob’s hand rose in front of her face, and he waved it. “I have a communicator, I was just not allowed in Hell. Remember?” he coughed and gasped in what sounded like pain.

  She winced, thinking about how much pain he must be in from ridding his lungs of the water. The thought of not spending every moment with him was unacceptable. She knew Felicia was more qualified to be a protector. Felicia was also more qualified to go into Hell and rescue Kellan. It just made more sense for McKenna to stay behind.

  “I have no care or concern for who goes in at this stage. We did the most impossible part. We are hunters. We will survive Hell. We have a man in there that’s been there a year. If he’s still alive. We’ve bickered and delayed enough, I want to go get Kellan,” Felicia said as she crossed her arms over her chest, still standing in front of the door beside Layel.

  McKenna sucked in a deep breath. She had trained all of her adult life to be a hunter. She had waited six months to be given a mission, and a year for it to arrive. Could she give it all up to stay behind with Jacob?

  A smile drifted over her lips as she thought about the past year—bumping into Jacob had been humiliating. Getting reacquainted with him had been frustrating to no end, he was arrogant, stubborn and condescending more times than not. But he was smart, loyal and charming when he wanted to be. Then there was falling in love with him—the kisses that heated her from the inside out and both times they had been to bed with one another.

  The answer was as zealous as it had been when she’d first spoken up. “I’m not going into Hell. I’m staying with Jacob, with my original mission, because I love him. Because I will protect him with my life. No one else here will, no matter what you think, you won’t give yourself for him as I would.”

  “McKenna, I can’t—”

  She turned away from Philippe and looked down at Jacob, who was finally successfully getting to his feet. “I will do whatever I see fit. Your shot is horrendous, and physically, in that condition, you cannot take anything on.”

  Layel stepped away from the doorway, and his movement caught McKenna’s eye. She felt her breath taken away by his beauty. It didn’t matter that she had seen him multiple times, he was as effective as a Siren’s song. She put the goggles over her head and tugged them down before she practically threw herself at Layel’s feet. Her vision grew slightly green tinted, but her desire to please the Angel vanished.

  “You will all go into Hell. I was not entirely forthright with you all these months.”

  “You bastard!” Philippe was on top of Layel almost as quickly as Layel launched him backwards.

  “You must learn to control yourself if you think I will find you good enough to marry my daughter. You are rash and ill-tempered. I had heard as much of Felicia, and yet, she is set and focused upon the mission.”

  “What does Philippe have to do with your daughter?” The question was irrelevant, and McKenna flushed the moment she asked.

  The tension in the room felt as if someone had twisted a dial and turned it up tenfold. Layel scrubbed a hand over the back of his neck, Philippe looked down at the ground, and Felicia played with her dagger. Lucius was the only one still looking at her unless Jacob was, but she couldn’t see him from where he stood slightly behind her.

  She had stumbled upon something, and now Philippe wasn’t the only one angry. She balled her hands into fists and cursed. Her vision began to grow hazy, and in her anger, she swore she saw red.

  “You all have been keeping secrets from me? I thought I was a part of this team. I can see now how foolish I was. You all can go into Hell by yourself. You are no more my family than my deceased parents.” McKenna spun on her heel and shouldered past Jacob.

  “She’s my daughter.”

  Layel’s booming voice stopped her in her tracks, as did the words. She turned slowly and faced the Pure Angel again.

  “She was not the late Guildmaster’s daughter. She was my own. There are more specifics than you could ever hope to understand. Just know that Odette is a Halfling who does not want her secret shared. These people are your family. They are simply Alliance members first.”

  She let the words sink over her. Odette had looked so much like Master Agardawes, this felt impossible to wrap her head around. Yet, it made sense that Layel was rumored to have never been seen prior to Odette’s return to London. McKenna had accepted crazier things with less of an explanation in her life. Truth be told, she didn’t want to be alone again, didn’t want to be without a family.

  Her head nodded slowly, but she didn’t walk back to them. “Her secret is safe with me. I am still not going into Hell. My place is by Jacob’s side.” Her voice held none of the earlier anger, though some of it still simmered beneath her skin.

  “You all must enter Hell. As I said, I was not truthful. I have a map for you, one that will spell out what happens if you take a wrong turn, and one that I went to great peril to receive from a Fallen who owed me a favor. However, as a Pure Angel, the only way I can go into Hell is if I’m unconscious, and whilst I support this rescue, I will be dead weight. None knows better than Philippe the error in not bringing a big enough party. You will all go, and I will be here to watch your backs.”

  None of them had listened, and they clearly weren’t thinking about how poor off Jacob was. “And what of Jacob? He is more than a mission, and we are all aware that he is yet to kill a demon.” She looked at him and apologized, “It is not to say you can’t, but I remember how frozen in terror I was when I took my first life. Pair that with how ill you must feel, and there is no hope for you in Hell.”

  Layel took a step closer to Jacob and placed a tanned hand over Jacob’s chest. A faint white glow radiated from under Layel’s hand. She cried out and tried to step betwixt the
m, but Lucius grabbed her back.

  “It’s all right, he’s helping him.” His black eyes were filled with emotion, begging her to trust him.

  Tear pricked her vision as she watched the interaction betwixt Jacob and Layel continue. Jacob gasped, but she watched as the pinkish color returned to his cheeks. He seemed so much healthier in just a single instant that she wanted his eyes to open, to prove that Layel wasn’t killing him. When they opened, the red was gone, he was, focused and staring straight at her.

  “You are all ready now. I can do nothing for Jacob’s terrible aim, but he is physically fit, and I’ve seen him spar. He will be all right, so long as he is not forced to rely on his skill with the gun. Keep watch on him, keep watch on all of you. Do not tread lightly, you are about a day’s journey from the center of Hell, where the Queen will be.”

  Layel’s tone left no room for argument, and McKenna’s mouth snapped shut. She knew Pure Angels could heal, but she had never seen it occur before. If Layel were truly Odette’s father, then it would seem foolish the Pure Angels did not help them.

  “McKenna?” Jacob took a small step to her

  “Can you do this?”

  “I can as much as you,” he said with a determined smile. “I love you, McKenna. We only have here, now, to live this relationship to its fullest. If I have to journey into Hell with you to protect me, well my manhood is bruised, but I will do it. Kellan needs us. The Alliance needs their missing family member.”

  She couldn’t believe the depth of sincerity she heard in his voice. Jacob was an outsider, nothing more than a representative to the Alliance, and yet, he was very much a part of it. McKenna's lips parted to speak, but no words came out. She was floored by everything coming out of Jacob’s mouth.

  “Oh bloody hell, if you don’t kiss him already I will.” Felicia laughed.

  Jacob leaned his head down slightly and slanted his lips over hers. She could feel her toes curl in her boots as their lips moved together. Her body tingled as his hands ran over her back, and when he pulled away, she could feel her lips going numb as well.