Her destiny is her greatest fear.
Seventeen-year-old Halen Windspeare will do anything to extinguish the flames that spark beneath her fingertips. But, returning to the place where she witnessed her father drown forces the fire to ignite. Refusing...
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Gray clouds fought the rising sun for a space in the sky. Tage yanked her collar up over her ears to block the whistling winds. Standing outside her apartment, she inhaled a deep breath. Tage wasn't sure how she would break the news to Daspar. Understanding was not one of his virtues.
She questioned entering the ocean, but if the boy with the knife alerted the Hunters to their location, Halen had a better chance of surviving in the water.
Tage thought she would double back and find Halen, but the boy surprised her. He swam miles, following close before finally giving up and heading to the shore. She watched him as he gathered his clothes and disappeared down the beach pathway.
She wanted to tail him but instead waited the night on the beach for signs of Halen. And though her mind flickered with golden arrows and a forest of blood, she held fast as the sky fell with rain and the waves beat the shore, hoping Halen would surface—praying the Hunters didn't show first.
Slowly, she opened the door a crack. Books and neglected mail filled Daspar's desktop, his chair empty. The kitchen was vacant as well. She tiptoed inside.
As she eased the front door closed, Daspar's voice raised the hairs along her arms. "Long night?"
She spun on her heel to find him with a brown paper bag stuffed with groceries in his arms. "Um, you could say that." She skimmed his face for any signs of anger. He was placid, for now.
"You two weren't there when we arrived at the house. And there's a huge crack in the floor. Halen's mother is worried sick." His gaze fell to her sand-coated jeans and bare feet. "Why are you—"
She held up her hands. "Let me explain before you go all ape on me."
Daspar kicked the door shut and locked it behind him. He set the grocery bag on the kitchen counter. His brooding presence shrank the already small condo by half. Tage longed for a mansion with halls to run down, places to hide from Daspar's intense stare.
"Start talking." He tossed his jacket onto the barstool.
"There was a boy. I mean, a siren."
"Who?"
"I didn't recognize him. He's not in our database. He's totally off the grid. Or he's a new siren." Tage played this thought out in her mind. It was totally possible another siren might have given his soul to Ezra.
Sirens could transfer their souls to others. If a siren merged its soul with a human's, the human would share the siren's abilities. It was a rare exchange. But maybe? "I don't know who he is. He came to the beach house. He mentioned Hunters. I ran." She traced her toe along the wooden floor. "Halen's gone."
Without a word, Daspar unpacked the groceries, sorting them into the fridge and cupboards while Tage chewed the end of her nail. She hated silence. She preferred a good yelling match. At least, that way she knew what the other person was thinking. "Did you hear me? There are Hunter's out there. Siren killers with arrows incoming. We need to find her."
