Siren Rises (The Rise of Ares Book 3)

by Jade Frances

  He simply nodded and walked past me to hop into the back of the van. Pearce rubbed my back and pulled me into him.

  “Don’t take it personally, they really did a number on him. Give him time to come around,” he whispered. I nodded and moved to the front of the van where the others had reconvened. I noticed Barak and Rose huddled close together, whispering in each other’s ears. I couldn’t face a conversation with them, not after Cole’s rebuff. Sandra raised her eyebrows at me as I strolled past and headed for the passenger door.

  “What? I’m not sitting in the back of this thing again,” I told her and hauled myself up into the cab. I could see the protest hanging off of the tip of her tongue, but for once she didn’t bother to follow through. Although she still made a point by stomping to the back of the van and noisily clambering in. A part of me felt bad. She was still grieving, but little by little a piece of her old self was coming back every day. “So, where are we heading?” I asked Pearce once he had jumped into the driver’s seat.

  “We have to get the scythe,” he replied. I blanched in my seat and wondered if I had heard him correctly.

  “W... what?”

  “The scythe Evangeline, it’s important to both sides of this war and we can’t let either of them have it...” he sighed and started the engine. “When we were breaking Cole out, just before the explosion, I overheard some guardians saying they believed Avetta had the same ideals as Aresollo. She wants to rule over all the Gifted, and humans alike.”

  I sat back in my seat and tried to digest the information he was telling me. Getting that scythe will only put a bigger target on my head.

  “Avetta isn’t evil Pearce, she’s just selfish and secretive and... well she’s Avetta.”

  “Do we really know her at all, Evangeline? How many times has she given you reason to doubt her ruling?”

  I sat silent for a moment; he already knew the answer to that. The moment that Cole appeared through the portal, I had publicly denied Avetta as my ruler. It had been a long time coming. Her inability to be honest and upfront had drawn a wedge between us. But still, I didn’t paint her with the same brush as Aresollo. I didn’t feel as strongly toward Avetta. With her I was driven more by hurt and pain than anger and hatred.

  “She may not act in the same way as Aresollo, but she was never around during any of the attacks. In a way she sentenced people to death without doing the deed herself,” Pearce continued. I laid my head on the cool window and reminded myself that while Taylor had lost his life, Avetta had been absent, as she always was.

  “So, this scythe... do we even have an idea of where it is? I mean, Avetta wouldn’t have been searching for it for this long if anyone knew.”

  Pearce shook his head.

  “Right... so where are we going?”

  “Cole is a good source of information. If he wasn’t, I would have questioned breaking him out...”

  “What is that supposed to mean?” I snapped and cut him off.

  “He was around Aresollo a lot, he heard a lot of things, saw a lot... but it doesn’t mean he can be trusted little siren,” he said. I didn’t respond. I didn’t want to argue when we had just found each other again. Arguing with him would only feed the darkness that I had yet to gain control over. I knew that it would be difficult to get everyone on board with my acceptance of Cole, but I needed them to trust me. Theodore always had. For the first time since meeting him, I wished he was here. I placed my hand on Pearce’s leg and gave him a slight smile. All we had was each other now, and another mission to survive. Each one of my friends could have chosen to stay behind, to stay safe, but they had chosen me. And that was something I had to be grateful for. They kept the light inside me burning brightly.

  “We are going to visit a man that Cole claims was around the last time that Ares was defeated. He doesn’t know much about him, but it’s all that we have to go on right now.”

  “This is going to get dangerous Pearce, I’m being hunted, others want this scythe, and we are alone in a world of darkness.”

  “I’ve always got you Evangeline, we are in this together. Rest now, I’ll wake you when we stop for a break.”

  Chapter 9

  We had been on the road for three days. Nothing but wasteland stretched out before us. The two towns that we had passed through were desolate, just like Ferry. It raised the question of where had all the humans gone? But it was one that wasn’t a priority to get the answer to, not yet anyway. We were getting close to the place that Cole had mentioned. At least he thought it was where we would find the guy he knew of. We didn’t know what to expect and we were going in blind which was unsettling. Like Pearce had repeated over and over though, we had no other options. I stretched and massaged my neck. What I wouldn’t give for a comfortable bed and a full night’s sleep.

  “We should be coming up to another town soon, we can stop there for the night. We are only ten odd miles from there to Craigtown.” Pearce yawned as he spoke. There were dark circles under his eyes, he needed a decent sleep more than the rest of us.

  “Want me to take over for a while?” I suggested, even though I knew what his answer would be.

  “Give the girl who can’t drive, control over a van... think I’ll pass on that one little siren,” a small smile tugged at his lips. I gave him a playful thump on the arm.

  “It’s a straight road beast, what could go wrong?”

  “With you... anything,” he replied with a chuckle and rested his arm on my leg. “We aren’t far anyway, I can last the rest of the way.”

  When a small town came into view an hour later, I breathed a sigh of relief. It was situated at the base of mountains that rose high above the surrounding lands. The sight was a welcome one after all the wasteland we had been driving through. The only benefit to the vast area we had passed through was that we could see anyone or anything coming from a mile off. The journey so far was tense, and everyone had constantly been on high alert; but fatigue was setting in now, and I wondered how much longer we could keep up with all of this traveling around. When Pearce slowed the van to a stop, I jumped out of the cab within seconds. I stretched and groaned as everyone else jumped out of the back.

  “Please say we can stay here for at least a couple of nights,” Sandra said as she batted Egan away. Poor guy was only trying to help her jump down from the back.

  “Just a night,” Pearce told her. “This place looks like the last three, desolate. Grab your bags and pick wherever you want to hole up for the night.” Unappreciative groans came from everyone collectively.

  Dakota intercepted me as I headed for the back of the van to grab my stuff.

  “We will train now,” she said. Love how there was no question of whether I wanted to.

  “Really, right now, Dakota? You don’t think we need to rest?” I gave Pearce a brief look, but he just shrugged, grabbed our bags and left me to it. Thanks for your help. I faced Dakota again. Her cheeks had reddened, and the corners of her mouth were turned down.

  “No rest yet. Training is fundamental for your survival. If you are destined to end this war and have all of us risk our lives to follow you; then I’ll be damned if I don’t help you to gain control,” she snapped back. Surprisingly, she ran a hand over her face, sighed and attempted to give me a slight smile. Once she had reigned in whatever animosity she felt towards me, she continued with a softer tone. “You seem to forget you have light inside of you. You have relied on your fire since finding out who you are. The other half to you is as close to the God’s as we get. Your fire may have helped you survive the skin walkers, but not every creature you come across will be susceptible to it. You need to adapt and grow. Take complete control over all of you.” There was a slight pleading to her voice that I hadn’t heard before. It reminded me then, that she didn’t ask for this. She had gotten caught up in it, just as a favor for Adam. No one had asked for this, me above all. With my attitude, I was lucky she still wanted to bother to help me. I nodded my head and shuffled closer to stand b
eside her. I didn’t look at her as I spoke, choosing instead to kick at the stones on the ground.

  “I get it, you know, the weight of the world on our shoulders. I understand it wasn’t your first choice to join us, you care for Adam a lot, I see that…” I looked around at the others who were unloading their bags and heading in various directions. Adam kept glancing at us but made no move to come over. He was probably sick of our bickering. “I wish things were different. I didn’t want anyone to follow you know, I was planning to sneak off and leave alone... Let’s get on with training, you were right, if we are going to survive then I need to.” I gave her a gentle nudge and hoped that she would take it as me offering an olive branch, for now.

  “Mind if I join?” A deep voice came from behind me.

  “Cole,” I spun and beamed at him. This was the first time he had initiated any communication between us. For days, Pearce had told me to give him some time and space. It had been difficult, and somewhat confusing, but I’d complied. “Of course you can.” Dakota had already strolled past, so I motioned for him to follow and we took off after her. “How are you?”

  He bowed his head slightly and looked into the distance. Still unable to meet my eyes.

  “Getting better, everyone has been nice. Well… no one has been nasty to me,” he said with a shrug.

  “Good, I’m glad... I’m always here if you need to talk.”

  “That would be nice,” he gave me a smile that didn’t seem genuine. But it was the most I had gotten out of him since he arrived. I reached out to pat his arm, then remembered him stepping away from me. Best not to push things too far. Dakota had stopped in an open space between houses and was impatiently waiting for us to catch up.

  “You formed the bond between darkness and light, now you need to work on controlling them together. Do you have any idea why you are so quick to call to your fire?”

  I shook my head in response, there was no doubt that she would give me the answer, anyway.

  “It comes from the darkness inside you. As a child, you formed light to escape Aresollo, you were innocent, your soul untouched. As you grew, and your emotions deepened, so did the darkness. It is from that, that the fire is formed. You have to fight for the light Evangeline, you need to embrace it.”

  Cole left my side to sit on the ground and watch us. I wondered if he, too, held the same darkness.

  “Right so where do we start?” I focused my attention back on Dakota. She clapped her hands together and took a step toward me.

  “Close your eyes...”

  Again, I always have to do that. Why can’t I just reach inside myself with my eyes open? Reluctantly, I closed them anyway.

  “Now reach in and connect. They are now bonded. It should be easier for you to do, tell me what you feel once you have.”

  I opened up my mind, allowing both the light and darkness to flow through me. There was still a small mass of darkness that remained separate. It hovered in the back of my mind. A foreboding shadow. I ignored it, for now, and focused instead on the merging of the two. I could feel the struggle for dominance, the twisting and pulling of the light as it tried to overtake the darkness, and vice versa.

  “It’s not working Dakota, they might be bonded, but the power struggle is still there,” I said.

  “You need to calm the tide, it is only your emotions and your dominance that can take control. Do not treat it like a shared mind, there is only one, and it is yours.”

  She spoke about it like they were living things inside my mind. I had no clue how to make this work, and learning from someone who couldn’t feel it didn’t help much. Stop whinging and try, Taylor’s voice entered my mind, which pulled me back to reality.

  “Evangeline, are you ok? You almost had it, then you went as pale as a ghost,” Dakota was waving her hands in front of me. A chill went up my spine and nausea hit me.

  “I’m fine... I don’t know what happened...” I rubbed my arms and took up a wide stance. Just shake it off, it was just your imagination. I re-entered my mind and tried again. This time I pushed all self-doubt from my mind in the hope that I wouldn’t hear him again. I focused on the warring elements in my mind, took a deep breath and sent a calming ‘wave’ of emotion through my entire body.

  “Open your eyes, you’re doing it. You’re really doing it,” Dakota said excitedly. I opened my eyes. I didn’t feel any different and the grip I had on the light and darkness was weak, I could feel it slipping away. Cole rose from the ground and walked in a circle around me. As he looked me up and down, Dakota frowned and shifted her focus to him. Without warning, he grabbed my hand and the control I had snapped. With our hands entwined, he looked deep into my eyes. He opened his mind to me, and I felt his energy. It was dark and menacing. I tried to yank my hand back, but he wouldn’t let go.

  “Wait,” was all he said. His eyes pleaded with mine. Sweat began to drip down his head and his brows were furrowed. I felt some of the darkness within me transfer into him. When I realised what he was doing, I pulled my hand away with all my might.

  “What the hell Cole?”

  He took a step back and proceeded to seat himself back on the ground.

  “Try now...” he whispered.

  I was used to Rose taking some of the darkness from me, but that was a minuscule amount compared to what Cole had just taken. I shook out my arms and legs and tried again. This time I kept my eyes open and focused on him, even though he had gone back to not looking at me. I called to the dark and light, bringing them to the forefront of my mind. They came faster to me this time, and less jarring. Dakota gasped and I turned to look at her. She pointed to my feet in an excited manner. I looked down and saw a glow forming and spreading throughout my body.

  “It’s the light Evangeline, control it... encase your entire body with it if you can,” she remarked.

  I tried to do as she said, but I only got it as far as my waist before I lost control. My shoulders slumped and I could feel myself pouting.

  “That was good! Progress... why don’t we get some rest and try again in the morning? I know I was a little hard on you demanding that we do this now, but at least now we know that you’re improving.” Dakota gave me a subtle nod and left me and Cole in the opening.

  “You didn’t have to do that, you know... I won’t always have someone by my side to take some of the darkness,” I whispered. Cole shuffled on the floor and then rose to stand.

  “It was nothing,” he stated, and walked in the same direction that Dakota had. I stood and stared after them both for a few minutes, then I sighed deeply and started to walk toward the centre of the town. This place was creepier than the other places, darker almost, I thought as I looked around at the houses. It looked like no one had been here for years, let alone months. I had a strange feeling that someone was watching me. The hairs on the back of my neck rose. The breeze picked up, bringing with it a low eery wail. I willed my feet to move faster and realised that I didn’t know where Pearce had taken our stuff. Something rattled in an alley between the houses I had just passed by. I spun around, took a couple of steps backwards, and faced where the noise had come from. Still inching back, I didn’t take my eyes off of the entrance. Where is everyone?

  I paused for a moment and listened, but I couldn’t hear anything. You’re just being paranoid. After a few more minutes of silence, I was content with the thought that I had just creeped myself out. I couldn’t shake the feeling of being watched, but I turned and continued walking to the next row of houses.

  “Pearce,” I shouted, this place is a ghost town.

  Out of nowhere, a hand snaked around my neck and covered my mouth.

  “Don’t scream.” A guttural voice whispered in my ear.

  Chapter 10

  I nodded slowly, and the fingers that were flat against my mouth peeled away. As soon as he had let me go, I tried to run. But he was fast and grabbed my elbow, yanking me back as he did.

  “That’s not a good idea Evangeline,” he coughed betwee
n words. How the hell did he know who I was? I mustered up the courage to turn and face him. Deep set, and cold blue eyes bore down on me. “Are you going to remain calm?” He let go of my elbow and took a step back. Again, I nodded.

  “Who are you?” I mimicked his action and put a bit more distance between us. I couldn’t get a sense of his energy, but something inside me said he wasn’t human.

  “Quinn is the name, I am not here to hurt you,” he coughed and spluttered. His scraggly brown hair fell over his eyes as he leaned over and retched. I turned my head away and grimaced. The noise made my stomach churn. “I know why you’re here, the only people who pass through these mountains are usually looking for mad Miles,” he continued. His clothes were torn and filthy, and he looked as though a good meal wouldn’t go amiss. He surely didn’t live here looking like that.

  “We were under the impression that everyone had moved on from this town like the others. How do you know who I am?” I took another step back, even though he didn’t look fit enough to fight me head on.

  Between more coughing, he looked as though he tried to smile at me. Under the grime, he could be quite handsome.

  “Excuse me, I have been on the road for a while,” his voice sounded hoarse.

  “How do you know me?” I repeated, with each passing second, I grew wary of his intentions.

  “I don’t know you. A girl travelling with wolves, magic users and two other sirens makes it obvious who you are. Half the world is hunting you, and the other half are either too frightened to oppose you or simply want to stay out of this war.”

  So he wasn’t human. Why couldn’t I feel his energy?

  “And what do you want?”

  “To help...”

  I stared at him with wide eyes and my eyebrows raised. When he didn’t elaborate, I held my arms up in question and shook my head.

  “Like I said, the only people to pass through here are only headed one way. Mad Miles isn’t easy to find,” he said.