Page 2 of A Fate of Wings

She sighed. “There are always two options. Death and destruction. Or love and happiness. You bide your time.”

“If I don’t?”

She lifted the hood back over her head.

“Wait. What’s your name?”

“Saltine.” She cackled.

A puff of dark smoke swirled around her body as though dissolving the very essence of her. Then she disappeared.

I stood. Had I imagined the entire conversation? My skin heated with awareness. The woman in the citrine gown purchased the staff I’d made. Every part of me knew she was my fated mate, but sirens didn’t believe in having a mate. They rarely tied themselves to a mate. It happened, but it was so rare that Saltine’s words made sense. A young rage demon had no hope of claiming a siren as a mate. Once I’d matured and harnessed my powers, though, she would be mine.

The sirens walked toward me. I didn’t move. Rooted to the spot. Her beauty was that of tales. Every inch of her seared into my brain as she strolled past me.

She didn’t even glance my way.

One day she’d be mine and when that time came, no one would get in my way of claiming my mate. Not even the siren herself.

Chapter one

Thea

Earth

A long time ago

The blue of thesky was different here. In the Autumn Court, the sky was a darker blue with an overlay of dusky orange, making it appear more like the twilight hours on Earth. It was more than that, though. The stars shone brighter, as though you could reach out and hold one in the palm of your hand if you flew high enough in the sky.

Melanie and I had tried often enough as young children. Even now, many years later, she could on the rare occasion goad me into trying to catch the stars. Today, she’d taunted me intovisiting Earth. I wasn’t opposed to sifting through the realms and coming here. It was her request to find men and lure them to us I found tiring.

“Thea,” Melanie said, flying back to me after she’d streamed ahead through the baby blue sky.

“Yes?”

“Down there.” She pointed. “A fisherman’s village.”

“I see it.”

“Let’s head there for a bit of fun. We can pretend we’re like Great-Grandmother.” She laughed and flipped into a dive from the heights of the sky to the coastal town below.

I hovered in the air. I was tired of Melanie’s antics, but as her sister, I had to support her. As the siren queen, though, I should talk to her about cutting back her visits to Earth. Humans weren’t the most welcoming to us, which was no surprise since we sang them to enthrallment. Most sirens used the men, then returned them to Earth. Some overused them and inadvertently killed them. There was only so much of our singing a human could take. Other supernatural beings endured more of our voice and were the better choice, but we could never stop singing to humans.

Melanie landed on the ground and lifted her head to the sky. I dove in a flash of my golden wings. The wind whipped back the long braid of my hair. I longed to let the tight braid down and fly with the fingers of the wind caressing my head. As I landed on the ground, I snapped my wings into my body. Some humans ran when they saw our wings because they recognized who we were and how our singing would affect them. Melanie had already concealed her wings and stared at the village with hunger in her gaze.

“Just one today, Mel,” I said.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

“We’ll have fun with one. You know that.”

“I suppose.” She pouted her bottom lip in the way she had since she was a toddler. Only then it had looked adorable. Now, it was a ridiculous expression for a siren of her age.

“Of you go then.” I waved her toward the town.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“In a minute. I’ll give you the chance to choose first.”