Siren Rises (The Rise of Ares Book 3)

by Jade Frances

  “What was that about?” He asked.

  “I just love you,” I murmured. He gasped and pulled my chin up. His grey eyes were ablaze with admiration.

  “I love you too, my little siren.”

  A shaking of my arm pulled me from my reverie. I exhaled and looked longingly at Pearce.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” He said and wiped a tear from my eye.

  “Nothing, I was just thinking of a peaceful future. One we might not ever get,” I smiled grimly.

  “You can’t think like that, we will get through this,” he pulled me into his massive arms, and I sunk into them. I had been so far away with my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed the group had stopped. “I think we are almost there, everyone wanted to take a rest first.”

  I looked around in the narrow passage we had come to a standstill in. It looked more or less the same as the others we had passed through, but something felt different. I blocked out the noise of the others digging around in their bags. If I listened hard enough, I thought I could hear a faint trickle of water.

  “I believe we are a lot closer than you might think,” I told him. An uneasy feeling settled in the pit of my stomach. It made me feel queasy and lightheaded. “I need to sit down.” I dropped to the floor; my bag landed with a thump next to me.

  “Here, you need some sugar,” Pearce held out a piece of chocolate for me to take. I smiled at him weakly. “We are going to get through this Evangeline, have a little faith in yourself.”

  I laid my head back on the stone wall and closed my eyes. But can I do this? What even was I supposed to be doing?

  “How you both doing? We are pretty close; I can hear the water...” Adam said on his approach. He bent down beside me and nicked me on the chin. “Everything ok?”

  I nodded.

  “Just feeling slightly nauseous,” I told him.

  “Why? You’ve got this...”

  “Everyone keeps saying that,” I snapped, “what exactly is it that I’ve got? I have no idea what I’m doing, what is expected of me, or whether or not this scythe is going to kill me like everyone keeps saying!” My stomach churned the more irate I felt.

  “Woa, calm down. Who said it’s going to kill you?” Adam glanced anxiously at Pearce, who joined us on the ground. Through my panic, I had forgotten that I didn’t inform them of Mile’s warnings, or Aresollo’s, or Cole’s. I ran a hand over my face and exhaled loudly.

  “It’s nothing, it just... it can’t be this easy, you know,” I told them.

  “You think this has been easy? You’ve gone from a normal human life, to finding out who you are, to a life on the run in search of a scythe. You have seen death at the hands of your biological family, more than anyone should. Nothing about the past year has been easy Evvy,” Adam wrapped his arm around me, ignoring the glare that he got from Pearce. “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you but I’m here...”

  “And me,” Pearce interrupted. Adam gave him a slight nod and continued.

  “None of us would follow you, if we didn’t think you were capable of amazing things. You’ve got this Evvy, you just have to take it one step at a time.”

  “What about Aresollo,” I whispered.

  “We deal with him when it comes to it,” Adam growled, and his green eyes shone brightly. I placed a hand on his knee, which seemed to calm the wolf inside. I held up a hand to halt them both as a buzzing entered my mind.

  You alright over there, munchkin? Sandra sent through the bond.

  Scared, nauseous, wondering what will happen next. You know the usual...

  I felt Rose’s energy join us before she spoke.

  We are all feeling the same, maybe you are more than us. But we are with you, Evvy.

  I sighed, I was doing a lot of that lately, but this was a sigh of complacency. They were all here, ready to stand by my side, and not one of them had thought to leave, to save themselves.

  How are you healing, Sandra?

  Hurts like a son of a... she sighed... hurts like hell.

  Will you be ok?

  Damn right, I’m not missing any action. I need to do this for him...

  The bond went silent as we all undoubtedly were thinking of Taylor.

  Think everyone’s on the move again. We will face everything together ok.

  I looked toward where they were sitting and gave them an appreciative smile and nod. Adam and Pearce both lifted me up and walked protectively, either side of me. I doubted that either of them would leave my side until this was over. If it was ever going to be over.

  The further we walked, the more the trickling stream of water could be heard. I had thought it was faint before, but now I could sense it running through the walls. We weren’t as close to the falls as me and Adam had contemplated. Which only gave me more time to ponder on the danger that would be waiting for us. I tried to shake the uneasy feeling, but it was feeding the darkness in my mind.

  “Dakota,” I called out, “can you walk with me for a minute?” It pained me to ask for her help, but I remembered my promise to Cole. I had to try. She narrowed her eyes at me.

  “Sure,” she said eventually. She sashayed her way over to me, which I was sure was for Adam’s benefit. I rolled my eyes and leaned in to whisper.

  “Could you help me try to even out the darkness that’s growing...” I paused and pointed to my head like a moron, “please.”

  Her face softened, and a smile tugged at her lips.

  “Thank you for asking, I was beginning to think my presence here was pointless. Open your mind to me,” she circled me, like she always had whenever we attempted this. I closed my eyes and focused on my mind, pushing away the barrier I held up constantly. I could see, and feel, the swirling mass that was accumulating more intensely.

  “Good, ok... I can sense it growing stronger. Like before, you need to blend them together. This is a prime time to do it alone, without Cole taking it from you,” her voice heeded a warning, without opening my eyes I knew he would be standing beside her, ready to help me. I blocked out the world around me, and instead I focused on the feuding energies within me. The darkness was growing at a much faster rate than the light ever seemed to. Gripping onto the light, I pulled it toward the darkness. The resistance was tiring, but I didn’t give up. I could feel sweat dripping down my forehead and assembling on my back. Still, I pushed on. I felt a snap when they meshed together, and then the warring started.

  The battle between the two created a thunderstorm in my mind. Light flashed and swarmed the darkness. It didn’t give in easily, but little by little it was dissipated by the light; until they were on even levels and the storm calmed. I opened my eyes and grinned. I did it!

  Dakota’s face was pale and her eyes wide. But she wasn’t looking at me, she was looking behind me.

  “What’s wrong? Did I hurt someone?” I twisted to look behind me but couldn’t see anything. “Dakota...” I nudged her with my elbow.

  “Something’s coming,” she said in a frightened tone.

  Then I heard it. The sound of hissing, and it was steadily growing louder.

  Chapter 17

  “Run,” I screamed. I didn’t know what was behind us, but I didn’t want to stick around and find out. I grabbed Dakota’s arm and pulled her along.

  “They will be here within minutes, we can’t outrun them,” she panted, snapping out of her shock.

  Over the pounding of our feet on the gravel floor, I could no longer hear the hissing or how close they were. But Dakota and Adam would.

  “What are they?” I gulped in air as I pushed my legs harder than I ever had before. Before she had a chance to answer, I heard a thud a little behind us. I stopped and looked back, to make sure Pearce, Adam, and Cole were ok. The creature that stood behind them was scarier than the skin walkers.

  “Chimeras,” I heard Dakota whisper

  “Run,” I screamed again as more appeared. They were scaling the walls, their long claws giving them traction. Rows of sharp teeth protruded
from their mouths every time they hissed.

  Pearce reached me and pushed me back, the force sent me tumbling forward.

  “Go, now,” he barked. I grabbed Dakota and started running again. There was an opening at the end of the passage, Sandra and Rose were just about to reach it. She can’t fight. The shock of the revelation pushed me to run faster. My heart was pounding, and my legs aching.

  “We aren’t going to make it,” I shouted, I could hear the creatures gaining on us. The rest of the group had made it through, but we were still quite behind. Even if we did make it, they were only going to follow us through, anyway.

  “Don’t stop,” Dakota said and yanked on my hand.

  “We aren’t going to make it Dakota, we need to fight,” I pulled back with a little resistance, but didn’t slow my pace.

  Dakota’s face told me that she had already come to the same conclusion that I had. But fear was rife in her eyes, she didn’t want to fight. I risked a glance back; they weren’t far from us, but maybe just enough that we could make it to the others. Strength in numbers. We pushed on. Sweat dripped down every bit of bare skin and soaked my clothes. I was panting heavily, and I knew I was starting to slow down. Ava appeared through the exit. She was running towards us. What the hell?

  “Go back,” I waved my free arm frantically at her. “Ava, go back,” I repeated. But she wasn’t listening. Still, she ran toward us. That was when I noticed something in her hand.

  “Duck,” she screamed. Without hesitation, I threw myself to the floor, dragging Dakota down with me. From the sounds of the thuds behind us, the guys had acted instantly as well.

  Ava threw the glass jar she was holding. It shattered on the floor behind us. Shards of ice and smoke billowed out of it. Inhuman shrieks and squeals reached our ears. They were ear-splitting. When the smoke faded, everything was still. There was no more hissing, or the sounds of claws scraping stone. I looked under my arm, back to where the creatures had been. Not one was to be seen. The air stank of burned flesh. It made me heave as I pushed myself off the ground. Pearce looked at me, then past me.

  “What was that?” he asked Ava.

  “The only thing that can hurt a Chimera,” she said with a shrug, then turned and exited the passage once again. The only way she would have a weapon like that, is if she knew they were coming…

  I stormed past Dakota, ignoring the burning in my legs. It didn’t take me long to catch up to Ava. The others had stopped just short of the exit, in yet another cavern. My feet pounded past the girls and right up to where Ava was standing. I shoved her into the wall behind her. Her eyes widened, and she held her arms up, but her reaction didn’t seem natural. It was forced.

  “You knew they were here,” I shrieked, “you either brought them here, or you knew they were coming.” My eyes blazed with fire and rage.

  “Is there a question in that sentence?” she asked smugly and cocked her head to the side.

  “Argh,” I yelled, and punched the wall right next to where her head was. “Stop with the games, this is life or death! How did you know they were here? No one carries around weapons for a specific creature without expecting to come across them.”

  She stayed silent and chose to just stare at me. I couldn’t place the look on her face, which only reiterated that I wasn’t dealing with the girl I once knew. I yelled and punched the wall again. She didn’t even flinch. I raised my palms, which now contained fire in each one, and held it close to her face. Still, she didn’t flinch.

  “Leave the young girl be,” Aresollo’s voice echoed through the cavern, “Chimeras are creatures created only by Ares, each has a tiny particle of his life force inside it. He can see through them, smell through them, and track them. Any fool to go up against him, would arm themselves with ice forged from the falls.”

  I spun around in circles, trying to decipher the exact location of where his voice was coming from. But the echoes threw off my senses. Pearce and Adam joined my side and backed me up against the wall. I tried to push past them, but they were strong. Ava had squirmed away from us and was edging along the wall.

  “I can’t tell where he is,” Adam muttered and sniffed the air.

  “Ava will lead you right to me, I have assured Evangeline that I am not here to harm, rather I would like to help. Which you obviously need, seeing as you tried to outrun Chimeras.” His voice was mocking, but I couldn’t deny that he might have had a point. “All I ask is that you do not attack, hear me out first.”

  I looked around at everyone, each of them was shaking their head.

  “We can’t trust them,” Rose mouthed to me. I raised my arms and dropped them by my side with an exaggerated sigh.

  We don’t have a choice, I sent through the bond.

  Er, we do, we always have a choice. And I, for one, choose not to walk right into a trap with a narcissistic Demi-God, Sandra chimed in.

  Ava didn’t have to save us, you know, she could have let the Chimeras catch up to us, she could have left us to fight them.

  She also could have led them straight here for that exact reason. Do you not think her capable of that? She led the skin walkers to the academy, let them in to wreak destruction and devastation. Everything Sandra said made perfect sense, yet there was still a part of me that didn’t see any other way.

  What if he does have some information that could be useful, though? Rose sent, which didn’t help my inner turmoil. I turned to look at Pearce. He was the only one who hadn’t made any notion as to what he thought.

  “What do you think?”

  “I think, that we are running out of options. The only way to the falls is either through him, or with him. If we go through him, and he does have some information we need, then we would have made a grave mistake. If we go with him, and he betrays us, then we, and the rest of the world; would be in even bigger danger than we are now,” he said gravely.

  “Thanks for the help,” I muttered. Adam wouldn’t meet my eyes, for once I think he agreed with Pearce. I exhaled loudly and looked at Ava. “Show us the way,” I gestured for her to move ahead. Her mouth turned upward slightly, and she nodded at me in silence. I could sense the other’s disagreement with their unspoken words, but we really couldn’t do this any other way. There were enough of us here to keep Aresollo in line, should he choose to betray us. “Everyone ok to head off again?” I shouted behind me. They nodded and grunted. “Good, let’s go.”

  We wandered through passage after passage. With each turn, my heart accelerated at the thought of being that bit closer to Aresollo. But the thought of turning back and running into more Chimeras, somehow seemed worse. Everyone had remained silent since we left the last cavern. An air of urgency was among us, Dakota in particular. Seeing the Chimeras had really affected her.

  “Everything ok?” I nudged her. She flinched, and her eyes focused on me.

  “Chimeras aren’t creatures you withstand and survive. I think, seeing them, after hearing so many tales, has shaken me. This is real Evangeline, we could die. And you have been carrying this weight on your shoulders all this time. I’m sorry for being such a bitch to you,” her eyes darted around us and she hunched her shoulders. I nudged her and smiled.

  “Hey, it’s fine, we have all been quite guarded, it’s been a hard year for us. Not your fault that you’re the new girl,” I nudged her again, and saw her loosen up a little. She still looked pale, and her demeanour was less confident as usual, but her smile reached her eyes.

  “What about the new boy? How is he holding up?” She tilted her head in Cole’s direction. He was walking with Adam, they seemed to be exchanging words.

  “Honestly, I have no idea. I try to get to know him, to be there for him. But he doesn’t let me in, and when he does it gets cut short,” I murmured.

  “Give him time, this all must be hard for him too,” she smiled, squeezed my hand, and walked over to Sandra. I watched the pair of them interact as if they’d known each other for years. Only now, did I see that Dakota wasn’t al
l bad, that there was a soft side underneath her hard exterior. I hung back and watched the group. Rose and Barak were walking arm in arm. It was nice to see that they no longer tried to hide their relationship. In fact, I wondered what Sandra thought. She hadn’t mentioned it and didn’t seem to pay any attention to them. I knew that Rose still hadn’t told her about their bond, she would have to soon though. I ached to sit on a bed with the girls and gossip about ordinary things.

  “Penny for your thoughts?” Pearce fell into step with me.

  “Just looking at every one… after everything we’ve been through, the danger we’ve encountered, and they’re still here. Who could ask for better friends?”

  “Well, you certainly can’t,” he grinned, “we are more family than friends now.” I nodded as I watched Dakota amble up to Adam and stroke his arm. As much as we’d had a moment, it still made me uncomfortable to see. “We aren’t going to lose anyone else, once we have the scythe, we will make a foolproof plan,” Pearce, not realizing why my mood had taken a turn, pulled me into him. I breathed in his masculine scent and relaxed into his embrace. Movement ahead of us caught my eye. I tried to look around and above the heads of the others in front, but there was nothing there. Ava was still confidently walking forward, with no sign of having noticed anything ahead of us. Huh, I must be seeing things. The sound of flowing water was stronger here, and I had a feeling that the next turning we took would be our last to the falls.