The Siren's Son (The Siren Legacy Book 1)

by Helen Scott

  “Very wise of you, my lady. Is there any way myself or my brothers can assist you with your task?”

  “Give me a quiet place to work, and bring me with you when you go to retrieve the torches?”

  “The first I can do, the second I cannot guarantee.”

  Hecate raised an eyebrow at him. She wasn’t used to being denied her wishes.

  “My lady, Circe is unpredictable—with your torches and access to your power, Circe’s own magic appears to have flourished. She has been raising the dead and has possessed a friend of ours twice now. With all due respect, we cannot go after her and have to worry about your getting hurt if you are there.”

  “I knew she was up to something. I could feel the tugs on my power as one feels touch even though the skin may be numb. This friend, is she free of her control now?”

  “Yes. She has received a tattoo of protection; however, it is taking a few days to get to full strength. The first time, she was unable to do anything, but this time she was able to expel Circe’s control. That has hopefully more to do with the tattoo than her presence on our island.”

  “She is here?” Hecate was surprised they were so open about bringing people to their sanctuary.

  “Not in this house, but she is on the island.”

  “She may be of use to me when working on the spell. If you have a workspace for me, then I will let you know if I need her.”

  Hal held the glass to his mouth and marveled as the rich smell enveloped him. The deep garnet of wine in a glass was one of his favorite sights. He took a sip as he thought about where to have Hecate work. The heady mixture flowed into him, making him want to drink all of it immediately. He couldn’t do that though. Chateau de Dieu was known for lacing their wine with nectar, the drink of the gods, which could be toxic to humans. Since he was a half-breed, Hal preferred to be cautious.

  “Very well, if my lady will follow me, I can show you to our workspace.” Hal set the glass down and led Hecate through a series of rooms and down into the tunnels that connected the brothers’ houses.

  Although they loved living on an island off the coast, it wasn’t always the most pleasant in winter, so they constructed tunnels to allow them to walk to each other’s houses should they be unable to jump for some reason. The houses were on the corners of the island, and their training center and workshop was in the center. The tunnels connected from house to house, forming a diamond-like shape, with separate tunnels connecting them to the training room in the middle.

  Hecate obediently followed Hal through the tunnels, but it was only the clicking of her dogs’ toenails that let him know she was still behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her as they turned toward the training center; she was behind him, and although she was moving, he couldn’t pick up any signs she was actually walking. There had been rumors of her having all kinds of powers—she was the goddess of magic after all—but he still expected her to have to walk for some reason. She glided along, coming up next to him as he stopped and held the door open for her.

  As the lights in the training center sensed movement, they flickered on. The glow of electric light filled the cavity that was their workout area combined with their workshop and a small gun range. The familiar scent of concrete, leather, sweat, and metal filled his nose. For a moment Hal wondered if he had made a mistake, but Hecate nodded approvingly at the space.

  “This will work wonderfully. It reminds me of my old home, before I moved to the underworld permanently. It was just a cave with a few torches and the necessary items. I spent most of my time working with magic, letting it consume me and obsessing over it.” She sighed. “Needless to say, this is my preferable workspace.”

  “I’m glad you like it, my lady. We have a workshop area in the back to the left and a very small gun range in the back to the right. We don’t keep any of the weapons or bullets down here, so you will be safe. And please don’t be alarmed by the cage in the back. It is there only for safety purposes.”

  “I shouldn’t damage anything, but I apologize in advance is some of my magic gets out of hand.”

  “If this place can withstand my brothers and I sparring, then it should be able to withstand whatever you have to throw at it.” He smiled lopsidedly at her, and the glow she had in the crossroads returned slightly.

  “You are welcome to stay and observe if you want; however, I do not wish to injure you.”

  “I will take my leave from you and inform my brothers of the situation.”

  Hal bowed deeply and departed, glancing over his shoulder once to see a blinding light coming from the training room before texting his brothers for a meeting.

  Chapter 16

  The brothers met at Alec’s place again, which was unusual since they only ever came over for movie nights. But he couldn’t stand the idea of leaving Ellie alone without any protection even if she was here on the island. He had succeeded in corralling them into the library. Ellie hovered by the door as though she either wanted to make a run for it or wasn’t sure she was welcome. Alec couldn’t tell which.

  “So Hecate is here? And you didn’t think to check with us before you brought her to the island?” Dem was starting to pace, which was never a good sign.

  “Dem, chill out. She’s the goddess we are helping. She’s not a threat.”

  “For now. I don’t know what’s up with you two, but this isn’t okay with me.” He looked at Hal and Alec and back again.

  “I brought her here, and I will escort her off the property when she’s ready to go. Right now she is working on a way to separate her power from the torches, which will be pretty damn important when we face Circe.” Hal rarely let his temper get the better of him, but his frustration made his words clipped.

  “Hal’s right. We need to have Circe’s power lessened before we can attempt to retrieve the torches—if we can find her, that is,” Alec said, trying to calm Dem down.

  “Actually”—Thaddeus spoke for the first time since they had gathered—“after Dem and I tried—and failed—to make a weapon using electricity that was better than a stun gun, I spent some time trying to figure out where Circe might be holed up. I think I may have tracked her down.”

  “Well, why the hell didn’t you tell us sooner?” Dem snarled, clearly spoiling for a fight.

  “I knew we would have to weaken her first. If she can possess people at will, has the power of necromancy, and can transform people into beasts, then I think she might be a little much for us to handle. Don’t you?” Thad bit back.

  “Fair point.” Dem reluctantly agreed and sat down, temporarily assuaged.

  “I spent some time watching the few magic stores on the east coast that hadn’t yet reported undead sightings to us. I saw one break-in to Divination by Design in Cambridge. I made sure no one was hurt, don’t worry. I followed the thing to wherever it was going and discovered one of the cemeteries near Cambridge has a large number of mausoleums—not just graves—along with some other large structures people actually visit for fun, which seems weird to me. Anyway, the creature went into one of the mausoleums. I stuck my head in when it didn’t come out after a while, and it looks like someone had removed the family that was there and has tunneled somewhere. I didn’t see Circe, but I have a feeling she’s hiding out wherever that passageway leads.”

  “Well, let’s go and investigate.” Dem was clearly done with this meeting.

  “Shouldn’t you wait for Hecate to finish unbinding her power?” Ellie squeaked from the doorway.

  Demetrius shot her a dirty look, and Alec was out of his chair before he could stop himself. Dem stood up, ready for the fight, craving it.

  “Don’t look at her like that in my house. She is under our protection. That means you need to be on your best behavior.” Alec stuck a finger into Dem’s chest to emphasize his point.

  “I’m going to go investigate this tunnel. If you want to come, that’s fine, but I’m more than happy to go alone. What’s the name on the mausoleum, Thad?”

/>   “Dem, chill out, man, this isn’t something you should rush in to.” Hal put a hand on Dem’s shoulder. He had been putting calming waves out ever since they started the meeting, but Dem seemed to be immune to them today for some reason.

  “Never mind, I’ll find it myself.” Dem jumped out.

  “Oh, hell, I guess I’ll go after him.” Thad jumped out to go after Dem.

  “I’m going to go and check on Hecate. Now we know a rough idea of where Circe is, we need her powers separated.”

  Hal pulled on a book, and the library opened up into a stairwell. Ellie’s jaw dropped. She had always dreamed of living in a house with secret passageways.

  Alec was alone again. His brothers had all gone off, and Ellie had disappeared into the kitchen. He followed the sounds and found her making a cup of tea. The steam rising off the hot liquid looked like it was caressing her face, and he became irrationally jealous. He wanted to do all that, damn it. He shook his head, trying to get clear thoughts for the first time since he met this woman who drove him insane.

  “Do you want some tea?” Ellie’s voice had a musical cadence to it. He could listen to her talk for hours, hell, probably days, and he wouldn’t get sick of it.

  “That’d be great, thanks.”

  “Should you be helping Hal?”

  “Nah, he seems a little too interested in Hecate, and I don’t want to get in the way of that.”

  “Oh, I see.” Ellie blushed faintly as she stared down into the tea, moving the tea bag around with her spoon. Something was on her mind.

  They both started at the same time.

  “Ellie, I—”

  “Alec, I—”

  Alec held up a hand. “If you don’t mind, I need to get this out. It’s been weighing on me for a while.” Ellie nodded him on. “I want to apologize for what happened. I want you, Ellie. I don’t want any second-rate version of you. I don’t want anyone else in your head. I want you, in all your stubborn glory. I would never do anything you didn’t want me to; I want you to be sure you can trust me, so from now on. I will be hands-off unless you give me permission. I want you to be comfortable around me. In fact, I just want you around me period. I love being around you and having you here. I love you.”

  It just popped out. He hadn’t meant to say it. He couldn’t make eye contact with her; he was foolish and knew this was way too soon for that kind of talk, but he couldn’t help it. Every time he looked at her, his heart squeezed a little tighter and his breath came a little shorter. His body reacted to her in a way it had never done with anyone else in his long life.

  Ellie’s voice, hoarse with unshed tears, was barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry, Alec, I can’t do this. You can’t just proclaim your feelings like that when we’ve barely had a chance to get to know each other. I can’t accept what you’re offering right now. I’m sorry.” She turned from her tea and ran from the room.

  Alec stood staring at her mug of tea. He had bared his soul to her, and she had rejected him. It hurt worse than anything he could have imagined. He felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room as he sat heavily on one of the chairs around the kitchen table, with his head in his hands.

  The pain in his chest seemed to squeeze his very heart. He thought he had understood what was going on between them. He knew he had screwed up with the whole Circe-possessing- her-body thing, but he hadn’t known. He sat there for who knows how long, replaying their conversation, hell, replaying everything since he met her until his phone buzzed in his pocket, startling him out of his circular thoughts. Reluctantly he pulled it out. It was a text from Thad.

  911 my location

  Alec quickly scribbled a note for Ellie, stuck it to the fridge, and jumped out.

  He jumped to the GPS coordinates of Thad’s phone. Alec had looked at it on the map before he left so he wouldn’t get stuck in a wall or something. The house was in a wealthy area where people spent more money than they should on things that didn’t matter. Hal had texted him from the back of the house so they could—at least theoretically—surround the problem area and retrieve their brothers.

  The house in front of him was huge; it was all modern angles and glass. Alec was willing to bet the inside had just as little personality as the outside. He hunkered down and pulled his dirk from its sheath, noiselessly making his way in through the front door, which was hanging open. Directly inside the front door was a staircase leading upward, and a smaller staircase off to the side that went down. Alec preferred his chances upstairs, and it didn’t hurt that the light was brighter. He softly shut the door behind him and followed his instincts. The top of the stairs opened up into a large living area. The inside of the house was exactly as Alec suspected. It looked like it had been professionally decorated without a hint of personal touches.

  Efficiently going from room to room, Alec explored the main floor of the house. His eyes darted about as he assessed the risks posed to him and traversed the large, very open living room area. He wasn’t sure where his brothers were, and there were no noises giving them away.

  The more of the house he saw, the more his stomach tightened with dread. He followed the stairs in the kitchen down to another living room area. This one was almost claustrophobic with the amount of clutter and color that assaulted him. He could hear movement though, so he knew he was getting close. The other end of the living area contained a set of French doors with frosted glass, which opened as he approached them.

  Circe stood on the other side, and she smiled at him as the doors opened.

  “Welcome! So glad you could join us!” her voice rang out as the honeyed words belied the malice he knew she felt toward him.

  She flung her long auburn waves over her shoulder and turned. She walked, or more appropriately, swayed away from him without so much as a backward glance. She was foolish if she expected him not to attack, but something made Alec hesitate. She knew him well enough to expect that, which meant she had some kind of safeguard in place. Better to play the cooperative ex-lover and discover where his brothers were than attack and be turned into a pig or something similar.

  “Circe.” Alec’s voice was clipped and strained as he began to slowly walk toward her.

  The minute he stepped through the door, he could see exactly why she had been so bold. The room was lined with the undead she had raised, and held in between them were his brothers. He stopped moving, making eye contact with each of them to make sure they were unharmed. When he received a slight nod from each of them, he moved forward again.

  “That’s close enough, lover.” Circe turned around when he was about ten feet from her, holding his eye contact unflinchingly. Alec ignored her and kept moving. “Don’t test me, or one of your brothers will pay the price.”

  He couldn’t help himself. He glanced over, and the undead servants now had blades in their hands. Alec stopped moving. The blades didn’t look terribly sharp, but they were sharp enough to hurt. Even though they were currently pointed at the floor, he knew a word from Circe would have them embedded in his brothers’ chests.

  “What do you want?” he growled.

  “A new toy.” She smiled at him, showing too many teeth. He got the feeling she thought she had won already.

  “Don’t play games with me, Circe. You know I never liked that.”

  “You didn’t, did you?” She pouted momentarily. “You want your brothers unharmed, yes?” Alec nodded once. “Well, I want you to be my plaything until my love and I are reunited.”

  “Circe, I don’t love you. I never did.”

  “You think I want you to love me?” She gaped at him. “I just want to have some fun while I raise the dead. I await the only man who has ever been worthy of me, the only man who knows what it is to hunger for power, and you shall cower before him in time.”

  Alec remained silent.

  “You, my little half-breed, are simply a distraction. That’s all you ever were and all you will ever be to anyone.”

  Alec’s mind couldn’t help
itself as it thought of Ellie and how cold she had been before he left. He loved her, he had never been so certain of anything in his life. But she had rejected him, and now that pain flashed anew within him.

  “Is your pride wounded?” Circe walked to the wet bar that ran along the back wall and reached for a glass of amber liquid. She always had loved the hard stuff. Her eyes slowly ran over his body, making him want to turn away, but to turn his back on her would be the same as turning it on a wild animal. He couldn’t risk it.

  “You aren’t capable of wounding my pride.” Anger flared in him at the helplessness of the situation. “You aren’t capable of hurting me at all.”

  Circe’s eyes slid to the side, and Alec’s gaze followed hers, just in time to see the undead holding Thad bring the knife down on his head, slicing open his forehead and cheek down to the bone. Thad grunted, but that was all. Alec’s breath was coming in short, fury-filled puffs. He wanted to tear them all limb from limb, but there was no way he could reach his brothers before one of the undead servants holding them could do some real damage. They might be immortal, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t be killed.

  “My, we are feeling feisty today, aren’t we?” Circe chuckled, a low rumble that seeped under Alec’s skin and echoed inside him. “Maybe you should listen to my terms before you cause any other injuries, hmm?”

  Alec nodded once, hating himself for giving in to her.

  “Simple. Do what I want, or your brothers and your little witchy friend will suffer for you.”

  “No.” Alec couldn’t give in. He couldn’t negotiate with her, not when she would just betray him in the end anyway.

  “Fine.” Circe flicked her wrist and turned Dem into a big, shaggy black dog. Realizing the change, Dem launched himself at one of his undead guards, his teeth ripping and tearing at the thing in a vicious, purely animal way that only Dem could exhibit. “Stop or your injured brother gets another round with the knife.”