The Silver Siren (Iron Butterfly, #3)(79)

The Raven stepped into a small room adjacent to the machine and waited as his companion took off the robe and hung it up. I recognized Adept Cirrus and hate raced through me.

Then, the Raven stepped back and adjusted the hood. Deep red locks spilled forth. I wasn’t expecting long hair to come from beneath the folds of the hood. How had I not seen that before? The Raven was female. Then she opened up a small wooden box with a velvet interior. She took off the silver hook-nosed mask, set it on the velvet pillow, and closed the lid. She turned to Adept Cirrus and wrapped her arms around him, kissing him deeply on the lips.

I released a mental scream in fury at the deception. Not only by Adept Cirrus but the Queen of Calandry—Lilyana.

The one person whose total goal was to help in the survival of the Denai race played with their very lives, throwing them away for tortuous experiments.

The door to the room opened and Talbot’s short figure ambled in toward the queen.

“Good evening, my queen,” Talbot intoned politely. “Are you pleased with the results so far?”

Queen Lilyana shot him a condescending look. “You said this one came from the Valdyrstal clan, did you not? And she has the right heritage.”

“Talbot pulled out a piece of crusted paper out of his pocket. “Yes, I have it on good faith from her uncle that she’s Bearen’s daughter.”

Cirrus touched his chin in thought, his eyes alight. “She is showing progress with the treatments, getting stronger, not weaker like the others. So it looks like we found a Siren. If that’s the case, we should stop with the treatments and use her for harvesting to make the portensi serum. You want your army, Lily. I will give you an army,” Cirrus crooned and gently rubbed the cheek of Queen Lilyana. “Then we will control the Denai and wipe out Sinnendor and all of that feral bloodline for good.”

“You, my dear Cirrus, will make a fine King of Silandry when we are through,” she laughed.

He continued with the caress and gently followed it with a kiss. “Silandry? I thought we had agreed on Calendor,” he teased.

“Either one is fine with me, as long as we rule it together.”

Talbot moved aside and bowed respectfully as Cirrus and Queen Lilyana passed and went up the underground passage to leave. Talbot sat at a table continuing to write notes in a book, when time began to fast forward. In my vision, I saw Xiven hours later knock on the door and enter. He looked tired and worn out, but excited.

“Talbot. You will be happy to see that I think I’ve figured out this last translation in the Horden journals. It’s something about finding the balance between light and dark, good and evil. I think this is what Lord Horden was talking about when he was able to create a Denai unlike any other.” Xiven pulled out a large book and laid it open on the desk, pointing to the scribbles here and there. “So you see, I think there may be another way to save the Denai from going extinct. It talks of breeding the two races. I don’t think it means what we are trying to do. I think it is just a natural occurrence that can be fixed with simple intermarriage…Talbot?”

Talbot ignored Xiven and kept working. “Yes, yes. Fine, fine. Leave the notes and go back and keep Mona company. We are off tomorrow to find Raven some stronger Denai.”

“But don’t you see? If the two races combined naturally, then they would grow stronger. We wouldn’t have to force a change on them metaphysically.”

Talbot jumped up from the table and swung his short beefy hand at Xiven, boxing him in the ear. “Listen to your master, you pinheaded weasel, or you’ll end up one day on the table across from the girl, being drained of your powers. You’re tasked with translating. That is it! Tell Mona we need to find another Denai and I’ll be up shortly. I want to check on the girl before I leave.”

Xiven grabbed his head where he’d been boxed, his face beet red in embarrassment. But he turned stiffly and eyed the door that separated the machine from his current room. “Do you think that I could see—?”

Talbot jumped up from his chair and lunged toward Xiven, who backed out of the door and scrambled up the hidden passageway to the exit. Talbot left his notes and journals on the table. He looked around to make sure no one was watching before he picked up the queen’s silver mask, attached it to his portly face, and then entered the room where I still lay passed out on the machine.

He walked over to the table and loomed over me.

I was once again barely conscious on the table in the laboratory. But my dream self could see and hear everything. Talbot walked behind me and mumbled something incoherent. It looked like someone was sleeping in a small metal chair to the right of me.

Talbot let out a few choice words when he noticed she wasn’t moving. He leaned out in the hall and yelled for Scar Lip, who came walking in wearing his leather butcher’s apron. “Scar Lip, we’ve got one still drugged and another that didn’t make it, but at least her gifts won’t go unused.”

“Oh, and one more thing. Since the Valdyrstal girl is still unconscious, see if you can get the others to bring that young man in again for another donation to our main girl here. He’s a fighter that one. I’m sure he is gifted somehow, if only I can pinpoint his family line and gifts. What the others won’t know won’t hurt anyone.”

Scar lip went over and gently picked up the dead girl and began to take her out. Her head flopped back and I could see her face clearly. My nightmare continued because I recognized her. I was confused. It didn’t make sense. I couldn’t have been there that night. I would have remembered if Scar Lip came back for me. Wouldn’t I?