“Syriene was right,” I said, lifting my voice so all could hear. “Time and our lust for things we do not possess have blinded us. There is another way.”
“There is no other way!” Luine hissed. “This is our night, sisters! Let us glean these songs!”
I stepped beside the thief. “No. Their songs are their own. It is time we made our own songs.”
“But our voices…” a sister chimed in.
“For millennia we’ve believed the stories that tell us if we do not take the songs, we will lose our voices.” The thief glanced over and nodded, acknowledging my choice. “Mother Ocean can be cruel, and she can be kind, but she is always fair. She gives, and she takes. This is the ebb and flow of our lives, sisters. We have no right to take and not give. And so, as surely as the tide gives back, so must we. We cannot take these lives, not tonight. We must know the truth.”
A growl rumbled through Luine’s chest. “Get out of our way, Blue, or die like Syriene.”
“No.” My sisters’ faces all told the same story. They were no longer sure. Maybe they never had been, but it had taken one lost thief to show us the way. This was right. It felt right.
Luine roared and flung the trident. The thief yelled something, but it was too late. The fork punched into my chest as it had Syriene’s. Blood bubbled up my throat and coated my tongue. Yes, this was my song, my choice, and it had been the right one. The cycle had to be broken.
“No!” The thief flung his dagger. It cut through the fire-licked night and slammed straight into Luine’s chest to a chorus of cries and moans. Her gaze found mine, and the fierceness drained away.
“Why?” she mouthed, her voice silent.
“I remember… it all now. We were once guardians of all songs.” Blood cooled where it ran from my lips. “And this Night of Bleeding Hearts was a gift from Mother Ocean so we might walk among those we protected.” I fell onto my knees and sank to my hands. “But we coveted their songs… I remember now. I see what we have forgotten… Sisters, let these people go free. This was not Mother Ocean’s wish. She weeps for them.”
My salted tears fell too, but my song would live on, alongside the thief’s. I was part of him now. He would not forget. And he would live…
Curtis Vance
A sky bled across the ocean as dawn approached. We watched as, one by one, the sirens walked into the surf and disappeared beneath its surface. But not all.
In my arms, I cradled the siren named Blue.
She had died for us and for change. I knew another who had once made the same sacrifice.
So light and fragile a thing, Blue was. It didn’t seem possible that any of this was real, and I wondered, when the sun rose, would this girl from the sea vanish like a dream.
“Vance,” Tassen’s low voice grumbled. “The tide is coming in. We need to get the Lady Jane afloat.”
“Leave him a minute,” Molly uttered.
I drew in a breath and waded into the shallow water.
Her life shouldn’t have ended this way.
I looked down at her sleeping face and wiped the blood from her chin. I’d tried to save her…
My coat fanned outward on the water’s surface, and the dagger in my pocket bumped against my hip.
“No,” I told the ocean.
Not again.
I wouldn’t allow it.
Holding her close, I pulled the blade free and brushed my thumb over the gems in the handle. There would be a high price for this.
Mage, the siren had called me.
But in my head that word meant monster.
I pressed the dagger flat against her chest, over her heart, and spread my hand. Her head lolled, but with a little help from the push of the waves, I shifted her in the crook of my arm, bringing her back against me. Maybe her Mother Ocean wanted this too.
I smiled at the thought and closed my eyes. “Heal her like you healed me.”
Nothing happened.
A knot formed in my throat. No, her song could not end like this.
“Heal her…” I said again through gritted teeth. “Dammit, if anything makes any sense in this world, heal her.” I didn’t know if anyone heard, or if the words were meant just for me.
Warmth sizzled against my lower back. The tingling spread outward, reaching, searching, coming alive. Blood, life, power. Yes, heal her.
Magic was a breathing thing. Wicked, deadly, hungry. I’d never wanted it. Half my life I’d shunned it, denied it even existed, until it had swallowed me whole and altered my fate. Mage. Monster. Maybe. But I’d be damned if I left another death behind me.
Power filled me up with a buzzing, beating heat too big for me to contain and forever watchful, like it saw me, knew me, and could crush me in its grasp. I pushed it all into Blue until it became almost too much to bear.
She gasped and jolted awake. I almost dropped her in the surf.
Her eyes searched my face, and then her hand settled over mine on her chest.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
I swallowed, afraid my voice would fail me, and lowered her into the water. She twisted out of my arms and slipped beneath the surface, tail flashing its pearlescent colors. She reappeared a short distance away and called, “Remember me in your song?”
“How could I forget?”
She smiled and bowed her head but kept her eyes on me. Then, inch by inch, she sank out of sight, leaving the silvery unbroken ocean surface behind like she’d never existed.
I waded back to shore and up to where the waves almost lapped at the Lady Jane’s hull. Tassen waved me on board while several crewmembers waited on the beach to shove the ship back out to sea.
Molly stood on the tilted deck, watching the tide creep closer.
I drew up next to her and tossed a pebble in the air, catching her eye. “Hold out your hand.”
She scowled, naturally, and reluctantly offered her hand. I dropped a new pebble into her palm and closed her fingers around it.
Heavy suspicion further darkened her eyes. “Why are you giving me this?”
“Because if I gave one to Tassen he’d get the wrong idea.”
She opened her fingers and poked the pebble like it might bite. She looked like she might ask something, but deciding against it, she dropped the pebble into her pocket.
The Lady Jane groaned beneath my feet, and Tassen let out a rallying yell. We’d soon be off this island and on our way to another life in another land. Tendrils of power settled low on my back where the mark hummed, sleeping but ready to wake again.
Molly slipped her hand into mine and squeezed.
Whatever awaited us over that horizon, I was ready for it. After all, my song was just beginning.
The End
About Pippa DaCosta
If you enjoyed this short tale, why not check out where it all began with Pippa DaCosta’s USA TODAY bestselling novel and DragonCon Awards Finalist, The Heartstone Thief.
https://www.pippadacosta.com/heartstone-thief
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Author’s Note:
This epilogue-novella is set some years after the conclusion of the Kit Davenport series. It’s strongly recommended that you read those books first for context, although it’s not strictly necessary.
Happy reading!
Chapter 1
Gritting my teeth, I tried to swallow down my irritation. The new security measures on portal travel were annoying, to say the least, but considering I'd recently been appointed the leader of the supernatural world, I really had no one to blame but myself.
Well. Myself and the twins.
"I thought you said this would be seamless," I snapped under my breath as my foot tapped out a staccato beat on the marble-tiled floor. We'd probably only been waiting ten or fifteen minutes, but I was already anxious enough as it was about taking a vacation without witnessing this mess.
Caleb puffed out a sigh and slung hi
s arm around my shoulders. "It will be, but there were always going to be teething pains. Just like in any new system of regulation, right, Kitty Kat?" He tipped his head down giving me a pointed look. I grumbled under my breath.
The three years since our showdown with Bridget had been... challenging. With so many newly minted supernaturals trying to find their way in the world, we had been forced to take action—creating laws, building a police force that could handle magical beings, and implementing regulations. Most of them had been successful, after a while, but some had taken a bit more tweaking than others.
What Caleb alluded to, though, was my own fantastic idea of pairing opposing supernatural races into counseling groups—to teach tolerance—that had completely imploded and left hundreds of supernaturals on the verge of a Shakespearean style feud.
"Well, regulating portal travel seemed like a much simpler idea," I argued, scowling toward the freshly uniformed officials who were fumbling with keys behind their desk where they thought I couldn't see them.
The concept seemed a sound one, when Caleb and Austin had proposed it, and it had been necessary. With more and more supernaturals coming out of the woodwork every day, portaling had gotten... messy. It hadn't taken long for humans and other supers to protest, demanding regulation to prevent ill-mannered mages or demons from popping into their living rooms—or robbing banks.
This new system used a web of my guys’ magic that prevented anyone portalling from anywhere other than designated portal depots. Like airports, but more magical.
Frustratingly, though, we couldn't exempt ourselves from the magic, and so here we were. Waiting for the newly appointed "customs officers" to work out how to open the portal chamber doors so that the seven of us could go on a fucking vacation!
"This was a bad idea," Austin muttered, just as pessimistic as I.
Caleb cuffed him around the head before I could agree, and Cole whacked him in the arm, causing him to stumble a little.
River turned to glare at us from where he stood beside the officer’s desk, and I bit back a smile. As much as I really did think this vacation was a bad idea—given how much damn work I had piling up on my desk, not to mention the death threats we'd been getting lately—I kind of was looking forward to a Valentine’s Day getaway with my boys.
"Really sorry about that, ma'am," the red-faced officer apologized, coming out from behind his desk and bobbing his head to me respectfully. "Just a mix up with the keys. Should all be sorted now."
I gave him a tight smile but was too damn tired to exchange pleasantries. I'd been awake for almost twenty-two hours straight, and River had cut me off from coffee after my eighth or ninth cup some six hours ago.
Fucking sadist.
We followed the officer to the portal chamber and waited while he used the spelled key to unlock them. Despite the fact that the doors appeared glass, they were actually a concentrated mesh of pure magic, which made up part of the webbing that contained portal magic. Supers could only use portals inside one of these chambers, coming or going.
"Sorry again, ma'am," the officer gushed as the guys filed into the chamber and stood on the decorative rune circle. "Have a safe trip to"—he glanced down at the travel papers in his hand—"to Australia! Nice. Well, enjoy. Watch out for those, uh, kangaroos."
He blushed a hot red, clearly realizing he was rambling, so I patted him awkwardly on the shoulder and gave a weak smile. "You're fine. Grab a coffee, and this day will get a whole lot better."
He nodded his agreement, and I let the "glass" doors close behind me as I stepped in. Vali was grinning at me, so I narrowed my eyes at him in a glare.
"What?" I snapped, a little sharper than intended, but hey, that was what they got for taking my coffee away.
His grin widened, and he snorted a laugh. "Everyone is so intimidated by you, draga. It's such a turn on."
I rolled my eyes but couldn't fight the smile in response. Cranky as I was, I still wouldn't say no to a quickie in the portal chamber if the situation presented itself...
"Come on, let's go," Wesley spoke up, grabbing my hand and tugging me onto the decorative runes with the rest of them. Not that the runes did anything, but Caleb had thought they looked cool, so every portal chamber had them. "The resort was expecting us an hour ago, and we still need to get there from the nearest portal chamber."
"Whose smartass idea was it to restrict portaling again?" Cole murmured, and Austin returned his punch in the arm.
"Enough," River warned us with a note of steel in his voice. "Cal, if you please?"
"Yes, sir," Caleb saluted with only a touch of sarcasm, then flicked a drop of his blood to the floor. We immediately relocated from Seattle, Washington all the way over to Ballina, Australia in the blink of an eye.
"Good morning, Madam Fox," the Australian official greeted us as the doors opened again. "Welcome to Australia."
"Dammit," Caleb whispered, fishing a hundred dollar bill out of his wallet and slapping it into a smug looking River's open palm. The other guys snickered as we left the portal center and made our way to the waiting limo.
"What was the bet?" I asked them as we climbed in and got comfortable. I ended up sandwiched between the twins. Some would call it a regular twin sandwich.
Damn. Was it possible to get turned on and hungry at the same time?
"Caleb was adamant that all Australians greet you with g'day mate," River explained with a small chuckle. "He's been watching too much TV."
Caleb heaved a sigh and stretched his arm along the seatback behind me. "Whatever. I still want to stop at a gas station for one of those legendary pies."
Wesley looked up from the Lonely Planet guide he was reading and frowned. "I believe they're called serve-ohs. No idea why."
"Yeah, that." Caleb pressed the little intercom and requested the driver stop at the next "serve-oh" for a pie.
I grinned at his enthusiasm for foreign cultures, then yawned heavily.
Austin reached up and smoothed some of my messy red hair behind my ear. "Have a nap, Princess. It's at least a half-hour drive to the resort from here." I blinked at him, realizing suddenly how crazy-tired I was. "I promise I'll wake you up to witness Cal's pie."
He cupped my cheek and pressed a quick kiss to my lips, withdrawing before it got a chance to become too heated. Damn. I could have definitely gone for a hot, limo orgy.
It seemed like I'd barely closed my eyes when Austin gently shook me awake again, so I was still half asleep when I dragged my ass into the brightly lit gas station.
Caleb was chatting animatedly with a handsome, tattoo-covered guy beside the food counter. From the sounds of things, this guy was American too. Somewhere south, I'd guess.
"Here, Kitty Kat." Caleb beamed at me and offered me a circular pastry creation. "I got you one too. Four’n’Twenty is the brand. They're good!"
Stifling another yawn, I took the hot pastry and brought it up to my mouth to take a bite.
"Woah, woah!" a woman yelled, sticking her hand in front of my mouth and blocking the food from entering. "Babe, I can see you're tired and shit, but damn, you almost killed your taste buds for the next four days!"
I frowned at her in sleep-addled confusion. She was cute as shit, with bouncy, blond curls and moss-green eyes. "What the fuck are you talking about?" I pleaded. Now that I'd smelled the food, my stomach was rumbling loud enough to raise the dead, and this woman was the only thing standing in my way.
She gave me a stern look, propping her hands on her slim hips and popping a hip. "That pie has been in the warmer for hours, it's possibly thermo-nuclear by now." Like her description explained everything. I squinted at her a bit more, and she sighed dramatically. "Blow on the pie before you eat it. Honestly, it's like I'm saving the world, one clueless American at a time."
I gave her a tight smile, then did as she suggested—blowing on my pie before I took a huge bite and groaned. It was filled with delicious and seriously hot meat and gravy, and the pastry was buttery goodness.
Yum.
"Thanks," I mumbled around my next huge bite.
The blonde gave me a smirk. "No dramas. I'm Ari, by the way. This sexy thing is Shane." Instead of just indicating to the tattooed man, she slapped him on the ass and squeezed.
"Kit," I introduced myself, swallowing my mouthful and smiling.
She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Uh yeah. No shit. You've only been all over the news for, like, three years. Madam Fox, supreme leader of the supernatural race."
I cringed. The title still wasn't sitting well with me, but my opponent in the election had been a total misogynistic asshole, so I hadn't had much choice to decline the role.
"Your hubby was telling us you're coming to stay at the Mystics of Byron for a V-Day getaway, so we might see you around! I'm there with my six for a holiday, too." She looked up at the tattooed man—Shane—and batted her lashes. "Speaking of the others, we should be getting back. Did you get everything, honey bunny?"
He nodded, giving her a smitten smile back. "Sure did." He held up a plastic shopping bag, which clearly held several bottles of wine and a large tube of lube.
"Sweet!" Ari enthused. "Catch you around, Madam Kit! Oh, that makes you sound like a dominatrix." She narrowed her eyes at me in thought and cocked her head. "Yeah, you look like you'd be a freak in the sheets."
With a wink and a hip bump, the blonde swaggered out of the gas station with her man and left me gaping after them in stunned surprise.
Caleb grinned at me. “Good pie, right?”
Mumbling my agreement, I took another huge bite and made my way back out to the limo. If all went according to plan, these next two weeks should be nothing but relaxing by the pool, learning how to surf, and sex on the beach, literal and alcoholic.
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