A Duet with the Siren Duke (Married to Magic, #4)

by Elise Kova

The sea will devour me, if given the chance. If not the waves and currents, or sharp-toothed animals, then the ghosts and monsters that haunt its depths. And if not those, if I am truly unlucky, the most fearsome creatures of all will be my demise: the sirens.

He will keep me like a doll in his house. Forcing me to play pretend that what I felt for him had truly been love and not naive infatuation.

I’ve never felt so weak and…if I manage to escape him…I will never let myself feel weak ever again.

He doesn’t love me. He never did. He loves feeling needed. Important. What he loves is knowing that at any time of day, I am there to be whatever he wants. That I am here on this rock every time he leaves and am waiting every time he returns.

“And where will you go? Who would have you? You won’t survive a day without me!” He gestures wildly. “You need me.” I need him? I need him? “I never needed you.” He made me feel special. Feel…important. Desirable. All the things a young woman who never saw enough value in herself wanted. But none of it was a “need.” I was fine without him.

My flesh is suddenly aflame, ignited by the barest of touches. He beholds me in the manner one would a god, as if the world starts and ends with me, here in this singular moment.

Five years of freedom on a siren’s boon. Five years for the adventure I’ve always wanted. Practically an eternity…

“Let us do this for you.” Jivre turns her eyes back to me. “Rely on us for once. And when we’ve returned, we’ll all figure out how to get the rest. Together. Who knows, maybe we’ll raise enough that there’ll be some left over for you to go on a holiday with Emily.” I tip my head back and blink up at the sky. I can’t cry, I’m their strong and stoic captain. But it has been a long, long day. And I am worn down.

I press my eyes closed, wincing. My mind torments me with visions of meeting his daughters years ago. All those girls have now is their mother, the wretched woman…and it’s because of me. And Kevhan is just one man… I’ve taken all my crew from their families. Kevhan Applegate. Jivre. Maree, Lynn, Jork, Honey, Sorrea, more, all, my whole crew. Dead. Because of me.

“We all endure deep and difficult wounds. They’re not an excuse for handling oneself in a boorish manner.” I squeeze her shoulder before releasing. “Never compromise your worth, not for anyone, not even for family.” The words come naturally—I said variants of them enough to my own sister.

“We do not use our freedom as currency, here in the Eversea.” His mouth has pulled into a frown, brows furrowed. “It sounds like a monstrous practice.” “Monstrous?” I scoff. “Says the man who intends to sacrifice me to the god who claimed my whole crew.”

“Is it common for you to be found sneaking into men’s rooms at night?” “Y-Your Grace,” I stammer. He frowns. “If you were thinking of killing me in my sleep, let me tell you all the reasons why⁠—” “What in my nature, after all this time, has led you to think I would cut a man’s throat in his bed while he slept?” I say, flabbergasted and more than slightly offended. “I see you’ve already meditated on the how.” He folds his arms with a slight smile. My shock fades with a roll of my eyes. He’s teasing me.

“I exhaust you?” I call after him as he swims away. “Most definitely. You seem to require all my energy and attention these days; I can think of nothing else but you.”

“You wound me with your reaction to my presence.” Ilryth folds his arms. “You startled me! You cannot just come into my bedroom without warning.” I grab my chest. This man is going to be the cause of a third death pulling things like this. “Why not? You didn’t seem to have a problem with sneaking into my room last night. I thought this was merely how you preferred to be greeted—a human custom I do not understand.” He’s fighting a smirk and I can’t tell if it is a result of my reaction or if he knows full well that this isn’t a human custom.

“You don’t have to repay someone for their love. It’s given freely.” “But—” “No buts. That’s it. It’s that simple. If someone loves you, truly loves you, it’s because they want to—because they can’t imagine a world in which they don’t. Because you make their soul sing just with your mere existence.”

“I am not threatened by a man you tried to expunge from your memories.” He has an almost arrogant smirk. That confidence, the ease by which he remains so unthreatened, couldn’t be more attractive. “History is just that, Victoria, history. The only bearing it has on the present is what it taught you and what you choose to carry forward. I wouldn’t change the woman you are now for the whole of the seas.”

For the next few days, and weeks, or however much time remains, for the first time in my life I will live solely for myself.

“The songs of the dead,” I answer. He’s silent for a long moment. I wonder if this information has displeased him. Finally, “What do they sound like?” “Screams.”

At first, I am afraid to leave the confines of my new home. It is safe here and I am comfortable. His song is patient and reassuring, yet somehow also reminding me that being stationary does not suit me. Confinement, even one I choose, is not in my nature—it is what led to the downfall of the last woman who occupied this stasis, however alluring the comfort might be. For the sake of all those I care for, am responsible for, I must move.

Rather than leading us through the tunnels and back toward the beaches of passion, he pulls me into the waves. We fall like two stars, spinning around each other into the depths of a clear Abyss, free of rot, monsters, and deadly currents. Into a world that is solely our own—made for our powers and our passions.

song of sorrow and joy, passion and longing. It was a song intended to be for Krokan and Lellia, but each time we sang those fateful words, they became more and more our own. Now, our duet is of Ilryth and Victoria. The human and the siren. And it is a melody that will have no end.