Wolf Sirens Night Fall: What Rises Must Fall (Wolf Sirens #3) (13 page)

My brow
lowered. “We have to do what we have to do.”

“Do you think
it will ever happen to me?” she asked.

“It’s a test;
Apollo cursed us. Don’t fall for it.” My voice was hard.

“And what if I
do?”

“Shoot him in
the face,” I replied.

“But you
haven’t.”

I gave her a
sharp look. “I know what I have done. I told you, we uphold
justice. If they don’t break our laws, we have no reason to hunt
them down.” My tone was firm. Sky’s life meant I wouldn’t destroy
them.

“Yeah and we
have to stay one step ahead and protect the innocent. They don’t do
the same for us.” She sounded reticent. I reminded myself that she
had no idea that the huntress had stolen my life and he my
heart.

“No, not all of
them,” I replied low. “But if they do we take them o-”

All of a sudden
a black wolf burst from the trees growling and I lifted my arm as
it lunged for me and I was thrown back to the ground, skidding in
the leaves. It turned in one motion to go for Caroline; she was an
easy target armed with only with a knife. I struggled for the gun,
which had been knocked from my hand. Caroline was holding it off
and I gripped the gun and pointed the muzzle to let out two clear
shots into its body. Never drop your weapon.

It whimpered
and fell to the side and Caroline kicked at it hurriedly to free
herself, crawling away backwards awkwardly. I clambered over, ready
to shoot again, until I saw the knife in its chest. Its breath
ceased as life left its body and I watched the blood run from the
wound and seep over the earthy undergrowth. She scrambled wide-eyed
to pick up her glasses. I whirled expecting others, but the only
sound was our breathing.

I exhaled.
“Good Job C.J.”

Heavy clouds
were rolling in, creeping across the sky as we headed back with
Tisane’s shovel. I tied my jumper around my waist. On the walk, I
felt the silence. Finally I said what I had held back, maybe it was
the fright of nearly losing her but I heard myself mumble something
about him.

“He was a guy I
barely knew. I adored him. I loved him, even when I knew what he
was and not in spite of it.” I admitted. “I wasn’t afraid of them;
I wanted to become one of them...when it was revealed that I was
the huntress instead, they took him away and told me he was dead.”
That was the truth.

“But he wasn’t
dead?” she uttered.

“No and they
were all keeping me in the dark. The wolves had a plan, because to
kill me meant more hunters would be born.”

“But Cresida is
your friend, still?” C.J enquired.

Tisane had told
her too much. “She was blackmailed. She knew if she held me back
and told me he was gone forever that her little brother would be
safe and no one would be hurt, or have to risk their life...”

“But you
wouldn’t be held back.” She looked alive when she said it, like she
was in awe. She walked ahead of me.

“I refused to
believe he was dead. I believed I was ready to hunt.” I caught up
with her a little as she listened. “They want to keep us quiet and
placid, so they can do as they please.”

“So we
hide?”

“For the time
being, yes. I won’t drag you into a fight before you’re ready,
before you are at least trained. The more of us they kill the more
of us are made,” I said certain of the fact. The other edge of that
was if she was killed more hunters would be created.

“Who makes us?”
she enquired watching her step in the undergrowth.

“The Goddess,”
I said as though I truly believed it, but really there just was no
other explanation.

She seemed to
contemplate this as her pace slowed. “Where is he now?”

“With them in
the Cult. I will meet him in secret in a couple of days,” I
admitted, my face hard. Then I would know if he had willingly left
me and for sure if he felt for me, what I felt for him. C.J would
be my backup.

“And they grow
stronger – everyday,” she stated, sure.

“Yes, but I
won’t put you in harm’s way,” I said with inflected
determination.

“What happens
when they find us?” She said when, not if. I clenched my jaw.

“Then we are
forced to fight,” I said slowly. I feared they had found us, but I
wouldn’t break the news just yet.

She frowned.
“Will we attack them?”

That was the
better outcome. “We will know when the time is right.”

“Have they
found us?” Her concerned eyes met mine.

“Cres will tell
me."

“Do you hate
Cres for what she did?” She tried to read the truth in my face. I
noticed her eyes were lighter than before.

“No. I forgive
but I don’t forget. I understand her reasons; she lost her parents
in an accident. She did what she had to at the time...and she
helped me escape – she had risked her brother’s life.” I shook my
head. “He was all the family she had left.” There wasn’t a bad bone
in her. “She trained me, when she didn’t have to.”

“What about
him, the guy? Do you forgive him?” She pressed her budded lips
together and then continued walking toward where the dead wolf
lay.

I paused too
long and the words dropped from my mouth. “I remember him and the
time we spent together. I understand why we can’t be…together.” I
heard myself recite as I had practiced it in my head.

C.J had stopped
abruptly. Over her shoulder, I saw the white human skin of a body
lying in the copper leaves, her knife still stuck in her chest. I
was both delighted and devastated but I guarded how I felt, how
Caroline’s participation made me feel both good and bad,
simultaneously. She had now seen the fragile monster for herself.
She was reminded that no matter what they did, what I claimed they
were capable of; they were just human underneath it all.

I tucked my
hair, behind my ear, stabbed the shovel in the earth and took off
my vest. As the breeze blew more clouds and the slow roll of
thunder clapped low and loudly with a sudden crack, I dug at the
mud, preparing the loose earth. I went over and squatted down to
pull the large hunting blade from the body. I looked closely, it
had the tint of metallic gold spread though it like improperly
mixed paint. I was impressed with how deeply C.J had plunged the
blade. I caught her unease. Not at the knife or the body, but at my
expression.

“Nice and
deep,” I said, pleased. I stood upright. “She must be from the
Cult.” I handed her the bloodied blade. “See the blood.” I kicked
my foot towards the limp corpse. The sound of rain began to tap on
the leaves above us, cold large drops. The She Wolf’s face was not
recognizable to me. She was not the blonde wolf who had been and
gone a couple of nights ago in the rain like a ghostly apparition
near the graveyard, though she was just as pale. This was a red
head. I assessed the implications; this could mean more were
coming. I was perplexed. Something strange was going on. Caroline’s
finger lingered near the blade.

“Don’t touch
it,” I cautioned.

“What?” Her
scared amber eyes met mine.

“The blood. It
won’t infect you unless you are bitten, but I wouldn’t…I err on the
side of caution,” I advised, holding the shovel ready to dig. “They
might be closing in on me,” I admitted stiff lipped. I chipped at
the soil some more. I looked up at her and she was holding the
knife awkwardly. “Just wipe it on a leaf or something, it won’t
infect you,” I assured her a little annoyed by her fearful
stare.

She pinched a
leaf with her forefinger and thumb, and cautiously ran it over the
blood on the blade.

I looked
towards her as the rain came down heavier and the noise of it
falling echoed around us. I sighed. “I’ll walk you home tonight.” I
handed her the shovel and I took the knife wiping each side of the
blade on my jeans.

“Lila,
Thanks.”

I paused. “For
what?”

“Telling me,
saving me. I believe you.” Her face was already different. I
glanced at the body, glad she had seen a wolf for herself. I
nodded. “Dig,” I urged, sticking the knife in the front of my belt.
What was perhaps a game before was now very real. I watched the
forest around us with caution. When the hole looked deep enough, I
stepped over and grabbed the corpse with both hands firmly by the
ankles and dragged it closer to the shallow hole. She looked on
with a hesitation that both endeared and concerned me as she dug
the out rest of the grave.

I wiped my brow
with my mud splashed wrist. “You seemed to have finished her all by
yourself.” My tone was full of pride as my eyes traced the wound.
“My bullets wouldn’t have been enough.” I handed her back the
knife, I folded the limp body into the gap in the earth and piled
the wet dirt and leaves over her.

We didn’t need
to be sitting ducks when they came. This was her first kill, she
wouldn’t forget it, and it may even haunt her at night. I knew the
truth was the sooner she hardened up, the better. The reality of
what we were would hit home, once her shock subsided. First thing
would be to get C.J a gun. I needed her to live and be the next
huntress.

“You did
well.”

“Thanks,” she
muttered, sounding distant.

“Next time you
might get a scar or two if you’re lucky,” I teased mildly.

We stared at
the grave. I hoped this incident didn’t mean we had been exposed.
“More might come.”

In fact, I was
surprised more hadn’t already shown. “If the wolf hadn’t had a
temper, both our arses would be grass right about now.” It occurred
to me that the She Wolf had the temperament of a newborn. Her
attack was not premeditated. She had launched at us with craving.
“They’re not normally that insane, unless they are new. She was out
of control.” I said contemplatively with a deep sigh.

“Would they
send a new one?”

“No, I don’t
think so. Not alone.” I shook my head. I had to figure it out.

“Do you think
we are safe still?” C.J’s small voice chimed.

“I don’t know.
I think we are.” I pressed my lips together. “It didn’t seem
premeditated. We will have to check the missing persons. She seemed
newly turned.” I scrutinized the circumstances staring at the
grave. I scrapped more leaves over it to hide the freshly turned
soil.

“But we won’t
be for long,” C.J confirmed, meaning safe.

It looked like
they were in our neck of the woods. I patted down the newly dug
earth with my foot. “No, we have to stay on guard. I can’t remain
hidden forever under their noses.” They knew from my visit over two
weeks ago that I was hiding somewhere close. “You’ll have to stop
wearing any human fragrance.” I had already warned her about the
strawberry scented shampoo. “Get contacts, those glasses are
dangerous.”

“Will we
attack?”

“Yeah, while we
still have the element of surprise,” I agreed. I smiled to reassure
her but it was a solemn expression.

“Do we take
them all out soon?” she uttered.

“Soon, every
last one.” I turned to go, “Of the Cult.” But first we had plans to
make, and who knew if even the best laid plans would save us. “I’ve
got to visit Cres first.” We headed back towards Tisane’s.

“Lila, what
would happen if I was bitten?” She followed me through the
trees.

I gave her a
questioning glance as we walked along through the wet bush land,
beside our last path.

“I mean, what
if you or I were accidentally infected?” I saw her concern.

“If I was, it
would be your job to take me out,” I said to the trees.

“What about
me?”

I looked at her
again, my glance cold.

“What if I was
infected?” she urged.

“I would expect
you to take yourself out.”

“If I
didn’t?”

“Then it would
be my job to do it,” I said reflectively.

She nodded,
slowly, understanding too well that I was serious, but I knew
though my words were hard, I couldn’t do it, I wanted her to be
able to. C.J had to be different and succeed for the huntress,
where I had failed.

After putting
the shovel back in the shed, we took Tisane’s old station wagon. I
dropped Caroline off close to her home, and I went to find Cres as
the sun began to set over the mountains; contemplating our
conversation in the car as I drove.

She must have
known that I was thinking of him as she brushed out her blonde
hair.

“Would you have
shot my brother?” I heard her mutter.

“If he was a
wolf, yeah, I would have,” I said frankly.

“He won’t
tell…he’s good like that,” she assured me.

I nodded
vaguely.

“Hey, listen
you don’t take that stuff do you?”

She frowned not
understanding.

“The,
pipe?”

“Pipe, oh that,
no…” She shook her head in a repulsed way and ran her finger back
through her hair.

“Good,” I
replied mildly. “We need our wits about us.” I added.

“Okay.” She
nodded and watched the hills passing the window as the time reached
curfew. “Lila, I won’t be out for training Saturday night.” I
wondered if it was because of what I said about Aaron. I raised my
brows.

“Umm, Willow
Archer and I are having a sleep over.”

I considered
this, she was Giny’s little sister. I pulled up my sunglasses but
hid my surprise “She’s younger than you, isn’t she?”

“Not much.” She
was being vague and she had waited till I was about to drop her off
to tell me.

“When did you
two become friends?” I tried to hide my curiosity.

“We go to the
same school. My mum knows her mums.” She shrugged. I remembered
Willow and one of Giny’s mothers from my party.

“A girl's
night, huh?” I took the opportunity to make sure she understood
that we had to be careful of who we spoke to. We were silent for a
moment as I drove into Tarah.“You haven’t told anyone about us,
have you?” I asked, my eyes on the road. “It’s bad enough your
brother has seen me.”