Call of the Siren(91)

She redirected her attention to the stranger who’d shown up twenty minutes ago, stalking through the clearing with Keegan at his side. The man who acted like he didn’t know or even cared whether or not he was a prisoner.

Another freaking brother.

It certainly didn’t surprise her that there was one, given what she’d learned of Mammon. The demon no doubt had countless others spread throughout the worlds. But the fact that they’d met one, and that Rage had worked for Belpheg but delivered Aegin to them…that was definitely a shocker.

“Once Mammon absorbed your essences through the succubi Belpheg keeps prisoner, Belpheg was going to use him as the twelfth to form his centering ritual,” Rage said. He leaned against a tree, and he was surprisingly nonchalant given that he was surrounded by a crew consisting of Keegan, Taeg, Ronin, Dagan, her, Amara, and Amara’s mother and succubi friends.

“That bastard,” Amara spat.

One of her friends reached out and grabbed Amara’s hand, squeezing it tight. They’d been through a lot together, and Lina could only imagine how they must feel hearing that Belpheg had succubi slaves of his own.

“So if we strike now, does that mean he won’t be able to perform the ritual since he doesn’t have all twelve of his men fully powered?” Dagan asked.

Rage shrugged. “Got me.”

“Tell me again, what were you doing there with them?” Ronin growled, animosity and unease radiating from his pores. It was clear her big brother trusted the hybrid about as much as she did, but even still, she had to recognize the guy had done them a favor by getting Aegin out of that castle.

Slipping his hands into his pockets, Rage said, “Belpheg contacted me a few months ago, told me he could arrange for me to meet Mammon. I was curious about the man who fathered me, nothing more.”

“Yeah, so why did you stay?” Taeg inched a little closer to Rage, as if expecting the guy to try something at any moment.

“Nothing better to do.” When Ronin and Taeg continued to regard him with clear suspicion, he let out a snort. “It’s not as if I became chummy with him or anything. In case you didn’t realize it, Mammon is an asshole who doesn’t give a shit about anything other than himself.”

“Oh, we realize it,” Dagan muttered.

“Count yourself lucky as fuck you didn’t have to grow up with the sadistic bastard,” Taeg threw in.

Rage didn’t respond, but something dark flashed in his gaze, something that warned Lina his story was probably just as complicated—and messed up—as the rest of theirs.

“So what now?” Rage asked.

“Now we kill Belpheg…and Mammon, too.” Keegan’s tone was aggressive, as if he challenged Rage to naysay him.

But the hybrid only gave him a Who-the-fuck-cares look that quickly grew contemplative. “You know, I might be able to help.”

Keegan cocked one brow at Rage’s unexpected offering. “How?”

“One of the twelve, he hates the fuck out of Belpheg, and from what I can tell, he’s sort of got a death wish. Maybe I can convince him to join your side. With him out of the picture, you might stand a chance of taking Belpheg out.”

Dagan gave him a dubious look. “Why would he help us? Isn’t he bound to the dark fae or something?”

Rage’s brow furrowed and he shrugged. “What’s the worst that’ll happen, he gets killed? At this point, he’d probably find that a relief.”

He said the words with such absolute certainty that Lina had no doubt he meant them.

Keegan gave him a pensive look before turning to his brothers. “Give us a minute.”

He headed to a spot just out of range, with Ronin, Taeg, and Dagan hot on his tail. When Dagan turned and cocked his head in her direction, Lina took that as her cue to join them. Amara fell into place beside her. She stopped next to Dagan, and he took her hand, enveloping her with a sense of warmth and belonging that almost coaxed a smile to her face.

“What do you think?” Keegan asked them in a low voice.

“I don’t think we can trust him,” Taeg replied.

“Hell, no,” added Ronin.

Amara glanced back and forth between Rage and the rest of them. “I don’t know. I think he actually wants to help.”

When Ronin let out a disbelieving scoff, Lina chimed in. “I agree with Amara.”

They all turned to her, and she elaborated. “He’s stayed here with Belpheg and Mammon, so we know he’s messed up in the head, but when it came down to it, he was willing to sacrifice his own life to save a child he doesn’t even know.”

“That doesn’t mean he’ll help us when it comes down to it,” Ronin argued.