Page 78 of Kingdom Of Veil And Vow

“Siyala hasn’t shown interest in anyone since she got home. It’s honestly strange.”

“It is not strange. Just because I’m not concerned with—”

“Everyone is concerned with that! It’s instinct, Siyala!”

Kai’s head snaps our way, his face contorted in disgust. Jahlee wiggles her fingers at him, and that makes him roll his eyes as he orders the small boat on a pulley system to be prepared to lower the males into the water. Within a few minutes, they are rowing towards the docks.

“And now we wait,” Kai says, and even though I had accused him of moving too slowly, I can’t help but hear the note of urgency in his own voice.

Siyala

Kai, Jahlee, and Inessa decide to grab something to eat while they wait for Lano and Taika to gather information. As nervous as everyone seems, I might have expected a war to be present in the Mage Kingdom or some other outward indication as to why no one has answered Kai’s summons through the Mirror the past few months. Instead, everything appears to be fine. Normal even. Lacking any sort of urgency.

Sighing, I cast my gaze down over the water, where movement beneath the surface catches my attention. I squint against the sunlight from above at what looked like a reflection off of a fish scale. My eyes drift a little farther towards the beach when I see it again—a burst of color.

Leaning more into the railing, I try to make out what I’m looking at. A school of fish? But these are larger than any I can remember seeing, and— I gasp as I jolt backwards at the pair of deep blue eyes that surge through the lower layer of the Spell towards the surface of the water. They’re framed by dark skin, the same shade of blue braids floating around her head as she stares up at me. My heart pounds in my chest, my throat drying as a single word floats into my mind just as she smiles. Siren. More color zooms past her on both sides, glimpses of pink and orange and green and yellow so fast I barely have time to mark them all. Sirens. Stars above, there are sirens in the water.

“Sirens!” I shout as I sprint across the deck, my boots clomping against the wood. “Sirens are here!”

Magic glows in quick flares for those who can shift into their animals, while those who can’t stuff the thick cotton back in their ears, the few females on board bracing for the sirens’ song. Bursting through the dining room doors, I find Kai, Jahlee, and Inessa seated, their eyes darting my way at the dramatic entrance.

“Sirens,” I breathe, marching towards them. “There are sirens in the water.”

Jahlee jumps up from her chair, smashing her hands over Kai’s ears as fear trickles across her face. He grumbles something, to which she responds with a dark look, before yelling for Inessa to grab him some of the cotton blend the others are using.

“This close to the shore, we shouldn’t have to worry about the sirens,” he muses, his eyes meeting mine. “You’re sure that is what you saw?”

I nod, and Inessa returns, the three of us making sure we don’t hear the siren song before Jahlee removes her hands from his ears and Kai quickly stuffs them with the cotton stoppers. He doesn’t say anything else before sprinting towards the exit, stopping only to grab a nearby notebook and pen. But his steps falter when he makes it to the bow of the ship and takes in the scene before him.

“What the hell,” he murmurs, hands clenching into fists.

Wave after wave of sirens rise from the water, some clad in what looks like tan-colored armor, silver weapons in hand. Others appear nude. But they all run directly towards the Spell and then cross it.

“They’re killing themselves.” It’s a question just as much as it is a statement from Jahlee, and when I glance her way, her light brown eyes are blown wide as she watches them. “I don’t understand.”

Kai dives a hand into his hair. “No. This is an invasion of some kind,” he says, looking at Jahlee. “There is no siren song?” Despite his question being aimed at her, the three of us all tilt our heads to listen for any note of the siren magic. But there is nothing beyond the beat of our hearts and the low roar of the ocean beneath us. When she shakes her head in answer, he dips his own in thought. “This isn’t about us or anyone else,” he says softly, his eyes lifting back towards the beach. “This is an attack specific to the mages.”

The weight of Kai’s words crash over us all as more sirens rise from the sea, streaks of color that flood the nearby dock and burst through the Spell. My attention is torn between watching the sirens continue inland as if the Spell isn’t affecting them and hearing the faint shouts of men, small bursts of mage magic zipping through the air as they attempt to defend themselves. Water splashes around the ships that are anchored there, but though I assume the sirens must be singing, I still don’t detect a hint of their song on the wind.

“Lano and Taika,” Inessa says, her slender fingers curling around the railing. “What will happen to them?”

Jahlee takes the notepad and pen from Kai and writes their names down before showing it to him.

His brows lower, anger streaking across his gaze as he looks back out to the docks. “We have to wait until the sirens are no longer in the water,” he says, his jaw working. “Then we can go after them.”

It makes sense. What good would getting in the water now do if a siren could just flip the boat and pull us into their queendom? Still, just standing here as people fight for their lives—our scouts somewhere in the mix—feels wrong. The minutes pass haltingly, and finally, it looks like the last of the sirens are through the Spell. Kai then leaps into action, signaling a few males who are still in their mortal forms to join him below deck, while Inessa, Jahlee, and I help prepare one of the larger boats.

“Why would the sirens attack?” Inessa asks in a quiet hush. “And to what end? They’ll die before they can do any real damage.”

At least, they should. But I am proof that, sometimes, the rules of magic can be bent. It seems the sirens figured out how to do just that. As to why they are using their newfound ability to attack the mages specifically, I can only guess. I run my fingers over the worn leather at the end of my messy braid as I stare across the ocean towards the Mage Kingdom. Whatever the reason for the sirens’ attack, selfishly, I hope that there will still be someone left to help me make my case for rescuing Rhea. And if there isn’t, then I hope whoever remains won’t stand in my way.

When Kai returns, a sword is strapped to his body, same as the three males who follow him. He intercepts my path towards the boat, using his large body to block me from climbing into it.

“What are you doing?” he asks, fishing out the stopper from his ear.

I arch a brow and try to move towards the boat again only to be stopped once more. “I’m going with you.”

“No, you aren’t.”