The Silver Siren (Iron Butterfly, #3)(76)

I grabbed a candlestick holder covered in wax and threw it at Xiven’s head. “There’s no way I’m going near that thing.”

He looked serious. He crumpled his hands into fists and took deep breaths to calm himself.

Sevril didn’t look happy either, pacing back and forth, eyeing the door. As if hoping Tomac would burst through. Or maybe he was waiting for the Raven to come in so he could crow about how he lured me in to his trap to finish the job.

“Did you kidnap Joss’s sister? What happened to those people out there? Are you a part of it?”

Xiven looked anxious, but he saw that I wasn’t going to make it easy on him unless he gave me some answers. “Thalia, I’m on your side.”

“From where I stand, I’m surrounded by enemy.” I cocked my head upward, indicating the Septori and Elite battling it out to the death somewhere above us.

“Right. I understand. It can seem confusing and complicated, but what if I told you that there is no good side in this war? Everyone’s wrong. Everyone’s made mistakes and you now have to choose the lesser of two evils. No matter what happens, there will be no happy endings. Just the possibility of an ending that has less people dying horrible deaths.”

Why did he have to make sense…now? “Then I would choose the outcome with least amount of death,” I stated.

“And what if I told you that that outcome comes at your own expense—your own life.”

“I’d say that you a liar. That you can’t know the future. I can change my destiny, if I’m given the choice to do so.” I pointed at the table. “That is not giving me a chance to live.”

“Thalia.” Prince Sevril gently took my elbow. “Everything we are doing is so that you will live. That through you, our kind will live on.”

I shook my head, the anger slowly dissipating. I didn’t understand anything anymore. I was so tired of hurting. I just wanted to wake up from this nightmare.

“Okay Thalia, listen. The Horden journals were never clear on what the final step was in creating an all-powerful super Denai. It’s why the experiments didn’t really start to work until they found you. They gave you Denai gifts—”

“What? How did they give me Denai gifts?”

“By infusing you with Denai blood.”

I had both Denai blood and SwordBrother blood in my veins?

“You started to grow in power, even taking on the traits of the Denai. You were the first to succeed, but you were also the answer. To make the Denai stronger, they needed Siren blood…yours. All of those sessions were to harvest your blood, to make a serum, to create that army, Thalia.” Xiven pointed upstairs.

“That’s why they’ve been after me? So they can use me to create more…more mind-controlled soldiers!” I felt sick. What they had done to Joss and Tenya and all of the others was done because of—maybe with—my own blood. “That’s why they went after Siobhan. They were trying to find another like me.”

“I saw her upstairs.” Xiven acknowledged. “They’ve drained her pretty good, but I’ve seen her eyes. They made sure to turn her fully into a Siren before they did it. Probably so they could work faster and she’d be strong enough to live through the process. It means that they probably sacrificed a Denai to do it.”

“But she’s being controlled.” I wiped my tears on my sleeves. “Can we save her?”

Prince Sevril came forward and shook his head. “We can’t worry about her right now. Right now we have to focus on stopping them. With you.”

“We can’t stop that!” My voice rose in frustration. “They have an army of Denai and we have one—a spoiled rich girl who is going to die trying to defend a country she has no allegiance to. I’m completely blocked and I’m completely useless here in Sinnendor. Unless you can break through this seal.”

“I believe we can,” Xiven said excitedly.

“What?” I said in disbelief.

“I can give you all of the serum we’ve extracted from Sevril already over the last few weeks. The overflow of Siren power may be enough to shatter the seal forever.”

“But won’t I go insane? No offense, Sevril.”

Sevril shrugged his shoulders. “None taken. I don’t want it back.” He gestured to the bottles filled with blue liquid.”

Xiven shook his head. “You won’t go insane if I immediately balance out the Siren in you by flooding you with pure Denai essence.” Xiven paced back and forth, his fingers tracing invisible calculations in the air. “We’d do what the Raven couldn’t. Create the ultimate new hybrid. That’s what Lord Horden hinted at too. An Archangel.”

“A what?” the word made me feel sick. Wasn’t it enough that for the last few months I felt like stranger in my own body? That it was slowly turning and changing me into a monster? Now they wanted to fully do that, turn me into something completely different?

Another monster.

The ground shook and dust floated down from the ceiling. A loud crashing could be heard and I could only assume that Syrani couldn’t hold Joss back.

“Thalia,” Prince Sevril begged. “Please, help protect my people. Don’t let the Raven use our kind to create mindless drones.”

“Why can’t you do it?” I pointed my finger hard into his chest.