“Ah, you didn’t know your magic could be broken, did you?” she taunted.

Panic rose in my chest. I’d never been interrupted while charming the sea monsters before. I’d never been so distracted. A knot formed in my throat.

“What glory shall be mine when your people fall under my song! I will be lauded as the siren who eradicated the emperor’s followers.”

I watched in horror as the siren’s fangs started to grow long and vicious under her lips. My musical spell was indeed wearing off. If I didn’t end this soon, her powers would be restored. My ignorance had placed over two hundred men and three women at risk.

With all my energy, I rolled her to the side. Her body slammed into the boards, vibrating the deck. I straddled her and choked off her hiss with my fist around her throat. In the background, I heard Smitter tell Captain Lou I had a plan. If only that were true. The siren’s fin whipped in an unfathomable direction and clocked me in the temple. My head jerked backward, giving her enough time to wriggle out from under me and pin me beneath her. Again. Now her hand encircled my throat. My energy, my magic, and my breath all faltered. A new wave of terror coursed through me. And then…

A shot echoed through the air. The siren’s fanged face vanished, her weight receding. I drew in a long, much-needed breath, as she flopped onto her back beside me, clutching her right side.

I propped myself upright to see a trail of smoke rising from the barrel of a pistol in Captain Lou’s hand. Her thinned lips and pinched brows marked her anger, suddenly matched by my own. She was the last person I wanted to save my arse.

With renewed strength, I leapt to my feet and grabbed the bronze dagger from the deck. Captain Lou nipped at my heels as I stalked toward the injured siren. The sea monster dug the claws of her one remaining hand into the wood, pulling herself toward the rail and the ocean, leaving a crimson trail in her wake. The crew jumped back, allowing her room to move. But she no longer posed a threat.

Fresh air in my lungs and fire in my heart refueled my powers, and I locked eyes with her. “So much for your glory. The only songs sung of you will be your dirge.” I hummed the tune taught to me by my mother—so sweet and soothing even I enjoyed its melody.

The siren snarled as her shoulders caved, and her head planted into the floor. Her back rose and fell with ragged breaths. Her retracting fangs dripped poison that singed the deck. I ignored the ferocious pain in my chest—a broken rib or two, for certain—as I lifted the bronze dagger.