I thought, more to myself than Tor.
Balor turned back to Arden. The Siren had not moved a muscle, his jaw locked and teeth bared. She waggled her finger in front of his nose. “My spies didn’t tell me about you, though.” Balor leaned her head to the side, eyelashes fluttering as she studied the siren.
“You don’t need to know who I am.” Arden kept his eyes fixed forward, staring at his mother. “Know this, I will kill you for what you have done.”
“Kill me?” Balor placed her hand to her chest, tittering a laugh. “Is that why you’re all here? To kill me?”
Tor’s eyes flicked to Nuada, confirming his source of information.
Balor extended a hand, dragging a claw along Arden’s jaw. She crooned. “God-child.” She whispered reverently. “Though I have no need for Tuatha Dé Danann blood...Pity.”
Arden’s hand snapped out, gripping Balor’s throat. He lifted her until she was eye to eye with him. Her body swung with the current, as if her bones didn’t exist.
One moment she was there, the next, gone.
The faelight winked out, leaving us in darkness. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness. The foundations of the lake shook. A low guttural groan, and the metallic taste of blood filled the water. Balor let out a laugh, curled over at the waist, clutching herself as if she’d heard the funniest joke ever.
I couldn’t protect my mates.
I couldn’t swim fast enough.
The lights flared to life.
Arden was gone. A puff of red water, quickly drifting away. Not even important enough to be a vessel for a fomorian.
Balor licked her fingers. Blood stained each long claw.
“You killed Arden?” Rainn Shallows, my Selkie, spoke first. His eyes were downcast, and his teeth locked.
No! I wanted to scream.Not Rainn!
I gathered my magic to me, thickening the water into something else. Something as hard as my will to survive. A shield to protect him from Balor’s wrath.
Before Balor could turn her attention to Rainn, Nuada lifted her head. Her long black hair hid all but one eye, with unerring focus on the dark god and her mirth.
Nuada let out a low, garbled moan. The words were mush. Incomprehensible.
Pity flashed across Tor’s face, and I soon realized why.
Balor had taken her tongue.
Nuada lifted her head, dragging herself from her knees. Pieces of her flesh were missing, leaving muscle and bone open to the elements. Tiny bites from small fish rimmed the edges of her wounds. An iron shackle choked the Siren Queen, but her rage was too much to be contained.
“Was he yours?” Balor narrowed her eyes. “Queen of Air and Darkness? Hmm?”
Nuada stood, swaying as she struggled to maintain balance. She opened her mouth wide, revealing a stump where her tongue used to be as a response.
“Well! You wouldn’t do as I said!” Balor replied indignantly, stomping her foot like a child. “I asked for Sirens! Just the ones you didn’t want. I need bodies, Nuada.”
Nuada’s dark eyes flicked to where Arden had stood.
She moved so quickly, I didn’t see any part of it.
One moment, Nuada was by Tor’s side in front of the door; the next, her clawed hand swiped at Balor’s midsection, the iron chain around her throat snagged as a guard noticed her movement, but not before she scored the fabric of Balor’s dress.
I scrambled to my mates on the other side of the table, dragging Cormac with me. I hoped the table could offer a shield to whatever battle Balor and Nuada might fight, but that hope was dying.
“Let her go!” Balor crowed. “She’s been in the Aos Sí so long she’s forgotten to be a god!”
