In all the years I’d lived on Anthemusa, I’d had no idea the sirens could sense humans. Not that any people willingly visited the island. Had I known, it would have made the perfect excuse to force Lou to stay on The Freedom. I wondered, Did Father know this? Apollo, in all his prophetic wisdom, seemed determined to have Lou join this mission, which bothered me. He’d proposed we elicit the help of The Freedom and its crew in the first place, and now, we were stuck on an island where Lou’s presence acted as a beacon. What was I missing? What wasn’t he telling me? And why would he withhold something so important?

Without answers, I improvised, ducking out of our hiding spot, and climbing back up the mountain we’d just descended. If I could reach a higher vantage point, I could better assess the situation and draw the enemy away from Lou.

My throbbing legs carried me upward to a grouping of leafy bushes that provided good cover. Through the shrubbery hanging off the hilltop, I peered down into the clearing where they’d ambushed us. My heart cried out when I saw Yemma, a bronze dagger pointed at her chest and a bronze-tipped wooden spear to her throat—the weapon of choice for siren guards. When not using them to hunt fish and animals, they were terrifying weapons that kept the passive bloodlines obedient.

Yemma’s hands trembled by her blood-stained golden skirt. A gash on her shoulder sullied her entire side, and her red hair was caked with mud, as if she’d been dragged through it. The likelihood that Lorelei had tortured her boiled my blood.

I dug my heels into the slanted earth and removed both the gold and bronze arrows from my quiver. I nocked both on the string and rose. I had an idea—a dastardly, mad idea, but my only viable option.

“So, you can really sense humans, then? Why was I never told?” I shouted to my warrior opponents below as I rose into a puffed, fighting stance.

The siren holding the dagger to Yemma’s heart smiled as her eyes found my head poking above the greenery. Her legs were covered in an iridescent, apple-red sarong fitted below the navel where her red tail would begin should she dip her toes in water. Like a second skin, the material hugged into her body and fanned out at the end. A slit up both thighs allowed freedom of movement.

“Ah, there you are, Emperor. So sorry you weren’t informed. You’ll be happy to know we can’t place your pet’s exact location, just the stench of her. Like a wet Bunox. Very unpleasant.” She waved her hand under her nose. “My name is Succo. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.” She bowed her head.