Call of the Siren (17 page)

“Fuck!” It was an ishtari demon. One of Belpheg’s guards set to stop him. Which meant he was up shit creek without a paddle.

Dagan tensed, preparing to set Lina down so he could fight off the two guards that were almost upon him, when something swooped down from behind and lifted him up into the air. He yelped and almost dropped Lina, but readjusted his grip at the last moment.

“You okay?” Ronin’s voice sounded out from right behind him.

“Shit, bro!” Willing his heart to slow its fierce, staccato pounding, he glanced back to see the outline of his brother’s face in the night sky. “You scared the ever-living piss outta me!”

“Sorry,” Ronin said. “Got caught in the fray when the ishtari started fighting the mercenaries we hired.”

Dagan glanced behind them. Though the ishtari followed, Ronin’s speed was much faster.

“He’s a fair distance away now,” Dagan said.

“Good.” Ronin’s gaze went momentarily to Lina, and his mouth tightened. “She okay?”

Dagan couldn’t blame him for asking. Even though the three of them soared through the sky, she hadn’t regained a bit of conscious. With her head and hands hanging limply, she could very well be dead.

“Drugged,” he said simply.

When they’d traveled more than halfway across the lake, Dagan tensed. “What about the shield?”

“After Keegan tore the first hole in the shield, he flew around tearing more holes on each side.”

Would be helpful if they could actually
see
the holes.

As they neared the rear of the property, Dagan found himself holding his breath. If Ronin missed the tear in the invisible shield, they’d go bouncing back into the ishtari’s arms like a ping-pong ball.

To his surprise, they flew through with no more than a slight jostle when one of Ronin’s wings caught on what must have been an edge.

“How’d you know exactly where it was?” Dagan called back to Ronin.

“I was with Keegan when he did it.”

Dagan whistled. “Great memory.”

“Nah, mostly a good guess.”

What?

Not knowing how to respond to that particular bit of information, Dagan glanced behind them once again. “
Shit
. The ishtari followed us through the hole.”

“Damn,” Ronin muttered.

He weaved to the left, and within a matter of moments, they came upon Keegan and the three rayamaras he’d hired. The rayamaras’ leathery, bat-like wings flexed and flapped as they helped Keegan fight off the ishtari. They were outnumbered four to six—seven now that the other ishtari joined in their scuffle—but Dagan had the utmost faith in his eldest brother. Thanks to Keegan’s bloodline on his mother’s side, he had the strong, majestic wings of a dragon-shifter, and his movements were swift and sure as he blocked punches and handed out a few of his own to the two ishtari who’d ganged up on him. Not only that, but every time one of the ishtari tried to hit back, a fierce and sudden wind would blow him away.

Dagan smiled at the sight. Taeg couldn’t fly, but it looked like he’d found a way to help Keegan out anyway. Had to admire his creativity and his ability to morph into air form. Came in awful handy sometimes.

Keegan glanced their way and noted Ronin had hold of both Dagan and Lina. “We’ve got this. Go!”

After ensuring the ishtari who’d followed them was now occupied, Ronin soared away, keeping low to the forest to disguise their tracks. He expertly wove through the thick trees, moving with a speed that made Dagan nauseous. He wasn’t going to complain, though. His main objective was to get the hell out of here, as soon as possible. The fact that Lina was still unconscious disturbed him more than he’d care to admit.

“Almost there,” Ronin said, as if he understood Dagan’s concern, or more likely felt the same way himself.

Minutes later, Ronin flew even lower, rustling through the trees until a lone figure came into view.

Maya.

She paced through the hidden clearing in their direction, impatience written all over her face. He didn’t envy Taeg the fight he must’ve had getting her to stay put. Maya wasn’t the type to idly stand by while others placed themselves in harm’s way.

“About freakin’ time,” she said when they landed, jamming her hands on her hips for emphasis. “I was really worried.”

“Sorry,” Ronin muttered as he set Dagan to his feet and quickly healed the knife wound in his side. “Got caught up in the fight.”

“Everything okay?” she asked, her forehead crinkling with anxiety.

Dagan chuckled. “Not to worry. Taeg looked to be kicking plenty of demon ass in his air form.”

“Good.” Her face cleared, but then she got a look at Lina. “Hold on. Put her down on the ground.”

The note of fear in her voice put Dagan’s guard up. His heart palpitating, he knelt on the ground and softly deposited Lina onto her back, then smoothed limp locks of hair from her face. When she moaned and shifted, one of her shaky hands absently lifting to wipe the sweat from her brow, he breathed a sigh of relief. This was definitely an improvement over her prior comatose state.

“Oh my God,” Maya whispered, slowly taking several steps backward.

“What’s wrong?” Ronin asked, his brow furrowing as he knelt beside Dagan and felt Lina’s throat for her pulse.

“She—”

Before Maya could utter her response, Lina moaned again and her eyes fluttered open. This time there was recognition in her gaze when she looked first at him, then Ronin. “Wha—what are you doing here?”

“Thank the devil,” Dagan murmured.

Lina glanced around, taking stock of her surroundings. He could see clear as day the moment she realized they’d saved her. But to his surprise, it wasn’t relief or gratitude that transformed her face, but rather a look of horror.

“Oh, no.” She sat up and scrambled backward with her hands and feet. “No. Get away.”

“What’s wrong?” Dagan asked, exchanging a puzzled look with Ronin.

When Ronin rose and tried to go after her, she only scuttled further away. “No, stop!”

Ronin froze and turned to lock gazes with Dagan, who slowly straightened to his full height.

What the hell was going on?

“There’s something inside her,” Maya said, her tone laced with apprehension.

Dagan’s gut clenched. “What?”

Maya hugged her arms to her chest, looking uncharacteristically sick to her stomach. “A-a magical device of some sort.”

“A bomb,” Lina croaked, her voice cracked and bloated.

Dagan turned back toward Lina, who now rested her back against the trunk of a tree. Her whole body shook, and she slid her legs back so her feet touched the ground, wrapping her arms around them.

“A
what
?” Ronin made to move toward her once more, but she shook her head, a drug-induced spasm momentarily causing her features to crumple with pain.

“Please, don’t come any closer.”

Ronin cursed and ran a hand through his hair. Dagan couldn’t blame him. He’d never felt more helpless, except perhaps the time Mammon had kidnapped and tortured Keegan, Taeg, and Ronin.

“What do you mean, a bomb?” Dagan forced himself to remain calm as he asked the question. All he wanted to do was panic. Pace the clearing toward her.
Something.

“Belpheg, the dark fae.” She closed her eyes when her body was racked with another convulsion, remaining silent until she’d gotten herself under control once more. “He surgically implanted some sort of magical device in my stomach. That way if you tried to save me, he could detonate it.”

Comprehension dawned on Dagan with a growing sense of horror. “He
turned
you into a bomb?”

“Yes,” Lina said dully.

When Dagan glanced back at Maya, she gave him a glum nod. “I see a magical device glowing inside her stomach. It’s small, but I can see even from here it’s filled with energy and extremely powerful.” Maya’s gaze flitted to Ronin and she swallowed hard. “I’m sorry.”

Holy fuck.

His whole body tensing with emotion, Dagan turned to his brother, but Ronin’s face was aimed at the ground. From the way his fists clenched, it wasn’t hard to read his body language. He was pissed and worried and probably feeling every bit as helpless as Dagan was.

“There’s something else at her side, too,” Maya volunteered. “Smaller, but also glowing.”

“Tracking device.” Lina rested her head against the tree trunk, her eyelids fluttering shut. “Courtesy of Sam. Belpheg has been tracking your movements through me for the past couple months.”

What the hell?

Dagan asked the obvious question. “Why?”

Lina shook her head. “I don’t know what his master plan is, but he’s obviously got one, and it involves the four of you.”

Sudden movement rustled in the forest beyond them, and Keegan appeared, flying low to the ground. He saw them and landed, absorbing his leathery wings in one quick snap. His face was bruised, and his shirt had all but disintegrated in his fight with the ishtari, but he didn’t look too bad, all things considered.

Keegan took a look around, his expression clearing when he spotted Lina by the tree trunk. “Good. We need to move out. The mercenaries I hired are holding off the ishtari, but they’re headed back to the portal. We need to be long gone before they get there.”

A breeze blew in behind Keegan, coalescing into one swirling mass of energy. It materialized into Taeg’s form, naked as the day he was born. A grin transformed his face as he caught sight of Maya. “Miss me, slayer?”

She didn’t answer, and he frowned when he took a good look at her. “What’s wrong?”

Keegan glanced from Maya to Ronin, no doubt reading their worry and despair. “What is it?”

“The dark fae implanted Lina with a magical bomb,” Dagan muttered when no one else spoke up.

Keegan’s mouth fell open. He did a double-take, returning his gaze back to Lina. “Serious?”

Lina, who grew more and more conscious with every passing moment, nodded. “Yes. It could detonate at any moment.”

“Fuck me,” Taeg whispered. He pulled Maya to him, giving her a quick hug before digging his clothes out of the pack on her back. “What the hell does that mean?”

“I can’t come with you guys, that’s what it means,” Lina said in a shaky voice.

“No,” Ronin growled, lifting his hands to grasp his head.

“Screw that.” And screw treating her like a pariah. Dagan closed the distance between him and Lina with sure, steady steps.

“St-stop,” she said, her eyes widening.

“No way in hell.” He dropped to a squat right in front of her, wiping the sweat from her brow. Her eyes glinted with momentary heat, giving him a glimpse of the strength she normally held.

That’s my girl.

He gave a silent prayer of thanks that the Lina he knew and cherished was slowly returning.

“You know I can’t,” she whispered low so that only he could hear. “I can’t endanger all your lives. Just leave me.”

“No.”

Her hand crept up and closed over his, and her gaze locked in on him. “I don’t want to die, Dagan,” she whispered. “But I won’t be responsible for all of your deaths, either. You know there’s only one way to stop this. Leave now.”

Fuck that.

“I’m not leaving you, Lina.”

“
We’re
not leaving you,” Ronin said from behind him. When his footsteps crunched along the forest floor, Lina shook her head.

“Ronin, no. Think of Amara.”

Her words had the intended effect of making him pause in mid-stride. Hell, at this point mention of Amara was probably the only thing that would have stopped him.

“I don’t want to rush this, but we need to leave,” Keegan spoke up, his voice gruff with worry.

Keegan was right. They hadn’t made it all this way only to let Belpheg find them now. They needed to move out.

Dagan turned his gaze to Ronin. “Lina will need to go into hiding until we can find a way to remove the bomb.”

“I could talk to that mage we worked with a few months back,” Taeg volunteered. “He might know how to disable or remove it.”

“But none of that helps right now,” Keegan said. “Is she staying or going?”

“Staying,” Lina said, at the same time Dagan and Ronin said, “Going.”

She shook her head firmly, resolve shining bright in her eyes. “What if he sets the bomb off while we’re traveling to the portal? Or after we get to the other side? No, I’m not going with you.”

Damn it, much as Dagan hated to admit, she was right. It was far too risky for her to travel with all of them.

But there was one thing he could do.

He rose and turned to face his brothers. “You all go. I’ll wait a few minutes, then take Lina and cross the portal. Once we’re back on Earth, I’ll get her somewhere safe and wait to hear from you.”

Ronin shook his head, his eyes bright with unshed emotion. “She’s my sister. I’ll do it.”

“What about Amara?” Dagan murmured. “She needs you by her side.” When Ronin opened his mouth to argue, Dagan added, “Plus, of the four of us, I’m the most expendable.”

Ronin gave him a deep look, but finally he nodded. “Okay. You stay with her.”

Dagan’s follow-up argument died on his lips.

No shit, really?

Color him shocked that Ronin had given in so easily. This might be a fool’s mission, but he knew in his heart it was one Ronin would have gladly accepted.

“But you’re wrong. You’re not the most expendable.” Heedless of Lina’s murmured protest, Ronin closed the distance between them, pulling Dagan in for a hug. “And I know you’re fully capable of handling it.”

Sudden pressure blurred Dagan’s vision at Ronin’s unexpected words. At his brother’s faith in him.

“I also know you’re going to
protect
her,” Ronin whispered into his ear, “Which includes keeping your hands to yourself,
right
?”

Dagan stiffened at the undercurrent of warning in his brother’s voice. Of course. Just because he was good enough to risk his life for Lina didn’t mean he was good enough for
her
. Not in Ronin’s eyes. He never would be.

Knowing Ronin expected it, he gave a grunt of assent.