Free Blood Chained (Dark Siren Book 3) by Eden Ashley

she was the prisoner’s mother. It was her right to speak.
Rhane lifted his head, defiance written plainly on his face. As a child, he’d cowered beneath her authority and humiliations. But then Jehsi showed Rhane strength, nurturing him to his full potential. And Rhane never looked back.
Baring her teeth in a wicked smile, Roma leaned over and whispered into his ear. Jehsi watched Rhane’s gaze fly upward, saw the shock and desperation in his eyes. Unable to face him, he turned away. Too late, he found the courage to look back and give his son what he needed.
Roma had moved away.
The executioner’s blade had already fallen.
And life bled from Rhane’s severed head.
Closing his eyes, Jehsi prayed to the ancestors that somehow his son would find a way back to him. If he didn’t, the world was certainly lost.
#
After landing twice to refuel, the jet reached its final destination. Beijing. Less than a year ago, Kali had started a different journey in the very same city. That trip had ended in disaster. This time would be better. She was older, smarter, and stronger. Rhane wasn’t around to come to her rescue, but she wouldn’t need him to. Kali was there to rescue him.
According to Wesley, The Siren’s Heart had never left the continent. The one formerly in Mack’s possession was a fake, used to lure Kali to the desert. If they could locate the real statue and claim it, Wes promised it could be used as a powerful bargaining chip to grant Rhane his freedom. Trusting the Builders was a huge risk. But it was a gamble they were all willing to take.
Rock, mountain, tree, water, and spirit—locations of five objects unlocked by the decryption program Rion had written. It was also the same program rogues had stolen when they attacked the manor, nearly killing York and Rion in the process. Good thing he had been careful enough to make a backup of his work.
Wes was unable to tell them exactly where to find the artifact because doing so would violate some sort of universal code he and others like him were held to. But Rion swore he was willing to bet the Heart was hidden within in one of the five locations. His rationale was that someone had gone through way too much trouble to conceal the coordinates, splitting them into separate documents and languages, and then scattering them across continents.
There was no real strategy in figuring out which set of coordinates to begin with. The encryption had revealed ten strings of numbers. There were no instructions, no further details. Kali and the kin realized that rogues had the same information and a head start. If those creatures hadn’t already found the Heart, certainly they were close to doing so. Logically assuming the rogues began searching in a sequential manner, their best bet was to eliminate the first two locations. The last pair of coordinates—spirit—was north of Siberia, on the tiny, uninhabitable island of Matara. This time of year, Matara Island was completely submerged in the Siberian Sea. Unless rogues owned a submarine or an icebreaker with some serious diving equipment, there was no way they could get to the island or navigate the twelve feet of icy water that currently encompassed the land.
That left tree and water, both pinpointed in Asia. So they started in Beijing to track down “tree.” But the scavenger hunt would have to wait a few hours. It was 2 a.m. and Kali was huddled next to Rion on a chilly airstrip while York insisted they check into a hotel in order to establish a base of operations before initiating any recon. Kali nodded stupidly while he talked. She’d been unable to sleep the entire flight. Nervous anticipation defeated any attempt she made to get some much needed rest. The kin and Dmiri emerged from the jet alert and ready to go. Meanwhile, Kali’s head felt like it weighed twenty pounds. She could hardly hold her eyes open. Focusing on York’s words was a challenge.
York frowned. “Earth to Kalista. Did you get all that? We’re only