Page 71 of Valour

“You should stay here,” she said to the others. “I’ll go in and get her back.”

“You’re not going alone,” Septimus said with a firm shake of his head.

“I won’t risk the rest of you. I can deal with it.” She looked at him pointedly, hoping he’d take the hint and she wouldn’t have to explain her magic to the others. At least she hoped she could deal with it. Had never used her magic to fight another magical being. It was a good thing she still had magic, replenished after her visit to the Underworld.

Mei, Arnold, Betty and Valerie were all shaking their heads.

“We cannot let you go in alone, Captain,” Mei said, stepping forwards. “I’m going with you.”

“Exactly,” Septimus said. “It’s a ludicrous idea. I’m coming too.”

“You cannot go in there—into a siren’s den? She already killed two of your crew. You and Arnold are definitely staying out here.”

“We’re going with you, then,” Betty said, Valerie nodding grimly next to her.

Hester looked to Septimus. She needed his help with this. “Just Mei. I cannot protect you all.”

Septimus folded his arms. “Just Hester and Mei. Everyone else guards the entrance. If you do not return, we’ll come after you.”

Betty and Valerie scowled but hung back.

Thank God he’d backed her up. “Come,” Hester said to Mei. They drew their pistols and, with a last glance back at Septimus, Hester entered the tunnel of ice.

She and Mei followed the tunnel downwards. The temperature dropped further, Hester’s breath misting before her.

She toyed with the edges of the magic in her chest, thinking of ways to fight with it inside such a place. She could summon ice—could freeze the siren in place? But what magic would the siren wield against her? All she knew was that sirens lured men to their deaths with their voices.

“We should block our ears,” Hester whispered as they crept further, the ice slippery under foot. Away in the distance she could hear voices.

“With what?” Mei hissed.

Hester rummaged in her pockets. Bits of rope, her spyglass, a compass. Nothing useful for blocking ears. “Just pull your hat down and use your hands.”

“And what about holding the gun?”

“Er. Use a shoulder and a hand.”

Mei nodded, eyes forward as they crept silently towards the sound of voices, and sobbing. Hester stiffened. Charlotte. No one took her crew, her friends. The siren would die for this.

Breathless, she raced forwards, the tunnel opening into a glittering hall.

A red-headed woman knelt next to Charlotte, crouched on the floor, stroking her hair. The siren looked over when they entered, and stood tall, smiling wide, locks of blood-red hair spilling down to her waist, a kelp dress swaying as if moved by an unseen current. She had a figure that Hester would have killed for, a perfect hourglass, bow-shaped lips, one dark eye, the other covered by an eyepatch.

And there were two skeletons slumped against the base of an icy throne.

Hester tasted bile. She raised her gun, Mei doing the same next to her.

The siren spoke, “Captain Orn and Mei Lam. What a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance.” She pressed a hand to her buxom chest. “I’m Odette.”

Hester blocked her ears. The siren’s voice was like nothing she had heard before. It was a mother singing a lullaby, the crash of the hull through the waves, the sigh of a lover, all rolled into one. Her cheeks flushed with heat, her body coming alive, every nerve ending alight.

“We’re all friends here, no need for the guns. Drop them,” Odette said with a wave of her hand.

Hester’s hand released the gun, as did Mei’s. The weapons clattered to the ice.

“Come, my loves,” Odette said, beckoning them forward.

Hester’s feet obeyed, but she snarled and pulled at the magic in her chest. She shot ice along the ground, freezing Odette in place, the ice working its way up the curves of her legs.