Page 8 of A Fate of Wings

I rounded on her. She took a step back with an audible gasp. Good, they feared me. So they should. The siren queen was mine. Nothing and no one would get in my way. I snapped my wings into my back, as did the sirens. Retractable wings were a notable feature for immortals who possessed the ability to fly. I walked through the gate and down the long corridor to the underground system. Cage after cage of iron-barred cells lined the walls. Each bar-enforced cage held an immortal male. My competitors. I’d have to incapacitate them without killing them.

Hard for a demon, but not impossible.

The guard pointed to a cell at the end. I stepped inside and she locked me in. Every fiber of my being roared in protest at being caged. I gripped the bars and rattled the door. It held strong. I let go and settled on the cold stone floor. The guard walked off with a salacious wink at me. It sent my blood boiling, but I held my rage back as my brother had taught me.

A rage demon was no good if he couldn’t control his rage. The rage would consume him and everything in its path, including entire realms. I searched for the calming center of my rage, the eye of the storm. Focusing on the quiet sensation there, I whispered in my most threatening voice into the cavernous cellroom and all those contained within the walls, “The queen is mine.”

Chapter five

Thea

The Autumn Court

The silk of mygown rustled as I toyed with the staff lying across my lap. My frustration at sitting on this throne-like chair before the masses was clear in the slight gesture only my twin sister saw. Our pair of handmaidens hiding behind the thick velveteen curtains hanging beside us were the only other people who might have witnessed my outward twitch. The gold of the staff was smooth in my palm, but the gemstones were rough under my fingertips as I traced the bulbous shapes.

Beyond us, the crowd murmured with the eagerness of the fights about to come. The blood lust was high amongst sirens. It was who we were. A race of exquisite creatures, with faces like angels and wings to match. Our voices lured any being to their death if we desired.

“Thea, must you insist on this farce?” Melanie patted the length of her hair as though the mere thought of two men wrestling for a chance to win a place beside her was beneath her. “You can sing and lure one of these men to you.”

It was true, our voices did more than command death.

I cocked my head as my gaze caught sight of a demon. He was tall with horns protruding from his head, but that wasn’t what caught my eye. It was the confidence in his stride. His entire body screamed look at me. I couldn’t make out the features on his face from here, but I longed to get close enough to study him. Instead, I studied the two warriors advancing into the pit. Each was as well-muscled as the other. The fact they were shirtless left nothing to the imagination. Their biceps bulged as they flexed their muscles and circled each other. My gaze kept snapping back to the demon while they stared their opponent down as though the strength of a look would thwart an enemy.

An audible snort escaped me.

Melanie scowled in the way a genuine princess regarded people beneath her.

“Melanie,” I said, not taking my gaze off the warriors. In particular, the demon. “A queen needs a king.”

“Mother ruled without a man by her side for years.” She all but pouted her pink lips.

If she wasn’t identical to me, I’d find her expression amusing.

“After she gave birth to us.” I reminded her. “We need heirs.”

“We’re immortal sirens. As if we need heirs.” Her chest puffed under the delicate ribbons on her corset.

If she was the oldest twin, then she’d be the queen, but she never saw it from my position as the ruler of our people.

“We’re finished with the conversation,” I said, releasing the staff and clapping my hands. The gold bangles clinked around my wrists. “Let the trials begin.”

The warriors in the pit lunged. Their bodies collided with a resounding echo throughout the stadium. Cheers exploded from the crowd of sirens and other immortal creatures who’d arrived for today’s event, but my focus was on the contest unfolding before me. Soon, the horned demon tackled the elf to the ground. As they wrestled on the damp ground, the terracotta-colored mud covered their muscled chests, arms, backs, legs, boots, and even their faces.

The horned beast head-butted the elf and the sickening crunch of bone incapacitated him as the elf flopped unconsciously in the mud. The victor stood. Flexed his muscles and stared directly into my eyes. The beast’s top lip lifted in a smirk. His red-rimmed dark eyes blazed into the very depths of my soul and lower, to the primal base of need thrumming through my body to take a lover. A man who was in my bed, because he would fight every threat in every kingdom and realm to stand by my side. Be my king. My warrior. My heart and soul. Father to the heirs of the siren throne.

The beast dipped a bow.

My lips twitched as I almost smiled, but it was too soon to choose a winner. Even if this warrior standing in front of me called to everything inside me.

“Your majesty,” he said.

Even his deep, rumbling voice affected me. Made my body respond as though he’d whispered sultry words in bed.

“Congratulations on your win—?”

“Call me Beast.”

He stroked his hands along his massive horns, wiping the mud clean and revealing their ebony glow. Almost as dark as his eyes. Rumor had it that horns were sensitive, and when a woman stroked them, she may as well be caressing his cock. My palms twitched to do both. My gaze dipped to the impressive bulge in his mud-soaked pants clinging to his thick thighs beforetraveling back up to his eyes. Somehow, his eyes were even darker. More alluring.