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

by Tina Smith

  “Is he alive?” asked Tisane. All were quiet for a moment.

  “No, he was killed in the attack,” Aylish answered. She looked away.

  Tisane seemed to contemplate, frowning. “Are you saying my father, Narine’s father, was a wolf?”

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I mean.” Aylish let them each take it in. “You are what we called a satyr. The product of a wolf and hunter union. There is a legend that says satyrs are sent by Persephone to undo the curse. It has been your job since the day you were born to protect the huntress.” The irony was perhaps it was Narine’s destiny to become a wolf.

  “I didn’t. I never protected my mother, she protected me,” Tisane insisted.

  “That may be very true, because she knew if the wolves found you, they would kill you.”

  “Why protect me if I was supposed to protect her?”

  “You are only really capable of protecting the huntress when you come of age. My children were too small. Persephone sent you to protect Lila.”

  Tisanes face crumpled. Her whole childhood and all the secrets whirled like an unravelling lie before her.

  “My father was a wolf, my mother was a hunter and I am a satyr.” She looked distant as the world wavered. Sky thought she would pass out as she became still and turned pale.

  “We attack from the inside,” Aylish announced.

  “We need a plan,” Sky urged, his brilliant blue-green eyes alive with hope.

  Tisane handed Aylish the bracelet laden with silver charms from Lila’s room.

  Tisane looked down at it with importance. “It’s Lila’s,” she told Aylish.

  Reid stood in the doorframe. “Cres gave it to her, on her eighteenth.” His arms were folded. “She used it to tell Cres she had been and gone. Then Cres would wait for her to show.”

  “So what am I supposed to do with it?” Aylish looked to Tisane and Sky, curiously.

  Reid spoke up. “Lila would leave a charm on the window sill every time she came into town, to tell Cres she was nearby. She knew to look for them. It was a type of system.”

  Tisane continued, “It’s the only way they’ll know hope is coming. The only way they will believe you are on our side,” she said sadly.

  “What if Sam recognizes it?” Aylish asked with a look of concern.

  “Cresida gave it to Lila after Sam was banished. No one knows about the charms but Lila, Cres, Reid and me,” Tisane assured them.

  “Should I wear it?” Her eyes darted, questioning each of them.

  “I think if I alter it and you wear it as a keepsake, around your neck. Say it was from Dahlia, if anybody asks,” Tisane encouraged.

  “What if Sam doesn’t believe me?” she asked bleakly.

  “You’ll just have to be convincing,” Tisane said solidly and she smiled feeling hope for the first time since losing Lila.

  Epilogue: Hell on Earth

  Things had gotten as ugly as they could. We were in a cage surrounded by circling sharks. It was small, cramped, and putrid. It was low so that we couldn’t stand. Soon our muscles would become weak. I’m sure if it had been possible, Cresida would have taken her own life, though she seemed to be desperately trying to, as she wilted and withered before me like a tree starved of water and light.

  Cres looked how I felt. No, not even as bad, she looked worse. I hoped the wolf blood would stop her from self-destructing or imploding before help arrived. She had refused to eat and she barely moved. We were trapped. Cres was positioned under my legs, lying across the cement with her head down against the bars and her arm dangling out.

  Sam came towards the bars of our gaol. I didn’t know where Sky or Reid were, but I knew I had seen Giny. I wondered with a stab what Sam had done to her. What the pack had done to them.

  “Sam, other hunters will come for us,” I hissed angrily through the bars. “Giny will get a message out,” I challenged.

  Sam reeled. “Giny? Ha. Nonsense!” She smacked her lips and sighed. “They haven’t come and they won’t.” She paused and narrowed her eyes in thought. “Who do you think warned us about your little army?” She tilted her head, waiting for my reply as her white hair fell over her shoulder.

  “You can’t keep us here forever,” I protested emotionlessly, wondering if the others were all dead, while trying to hide the shock at the possibility that Gin had betrayed us. It couldn’t be true.

  She leant in, as I held my game face. “I can’t let you out. How can we live in fear?” She was taunting us, enjoying my pain, as I realized it was true. The remaining colour in my cheeks drained away. But I hadn’t lost the will to fight. I liked to hear her say she feared us; that was all I had and I savoured it. Bravely, I glared back. I knew soon, Cres would wither away into a sleep she would never wake from. Surely I would be tortured and bitten or starved as well. Things weren’t exactly looking up, but I wouldn’t let it break me – not yet. I didn’t know where Sky was, or if he was alive. Why hadn’t Reid come inside the house during the fight? Who had lived? We were barely alive. She turned and switched off the light. The door latched closed as my heart beat desperately. I knew in the darkness that I dared not ask what had become of them as I turned to other thoughts.

  My mind began to reel. The pieces fitted. Giny, it had been Giny. I felt a terrible, blood-draining feeling drag like a mudslide into the pit of my stomach. It was Giny, a little human who had undone us and we had laughed at her. Why for all my common sense hadn’t I taken her aside? Why had I smiled when Jackson made fun of her wish? I knew better - I knew the longing - but how could she, how could she side with them to our demise! How could she watch us be slaughtered, beaten and caged?

  I feared the worst for the rest of our side and I gasped back tears that pushed their way out regardless, through swollen eyes. When Giny was turned, she would be a miserable creature and I hoped she got her wish because given the chance, I would be the first to extinguish her.

  Tisane knew it wasn’t a good idea, she knew Angele wasn’t a concern. I thought then with regret, maybe if she had met Giny, she would have sensed her betrayal. But regret is a useless emotion. Nothing changes the past, not sorrow or remorse…nothing brings back the dead and I would live a thousand years without Sky if it meant we could go back, to when C.J was alive…

  The swelling Artemis rises higher. Sheeting rain beats on her stone face like tears. The hairline flaws over the stone goddess began to fissure. Parts of the statue start to crack and break away, disappearing into the dark water.

  Hours later Sam unbolted the door; I awoke with a jolt, as she came in alone with a plate of food.

  I tried to make a deal. “We are prepared to make a treaty,” I offered through the bars, as though I had cards to play.

  “Ha,” she scoffed. “What gives you the right? Why is our kind any less important than yours?” She looked at us, a snarl on her lips. “Huh?” her eyes lit up hungrily.

  I looked away. “You can’t keep us here for -”

  She cut me off, raising her voice over mine “This time I decide what is just.”

  Sam turned to walk away, through the low doorway.

  Pathetically I called after her. “We would rather die than live like this.” My voice became breathy at the end, evidence of weakness.

  She turned the full strength of her flecked glare on me through the welded bars and for several moments she glared at me. Bravely, I met her cold stare. Though my eyes were growing sad, with the realization that we were defeated, I unyieldingly held her gaze.

  “Then we will make you immortal,” she said slow and hard, in a voice thick with hatred. She turned and I heard her mutter. “I’ll finish what I started.”

  I raised my voice. “More will come to replace us.” Her sore point, as the door was bolted shut.

  I hated that, goddamn it. Somewhere inside me I wished she’d bite me, finish it. But how could I go on, after this night? I knew before long Cres would fade - and that it was likely I would follow, whether I wanted to or not. I thought ab
out C.J, as gut wrenching grief welled up inside me and I gasped tears. I didn’t want to believe she was dead and at the same time I knew painstakingly that she was gone. Muffled sobs escaped my body. I thought about her brother and her parents, with an ache in my guts. I let her down, I let her die, I let them murder a child...she was gone because of me. I clung to the bars weeping through swollen eyes. I didn’t deserve anything and my only solace was that we would all be with her soon. There was no one to save us. I was shattered, but it wasn’t as easy as all that. The wolves were now ruled by Samantha again, and she wasn’t in any hurry to put us out of our misery.

  END.

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  Wolf Sirens Dusk in Shade, the fourth in the series, is due for release later in 2013

  We read to lose ourselves for as long as we can in another universe, with characters that seem real. Writing has given me a voice and an outlet that has made my life so much better. To my readers, I thank you for choosing to spend your time enjoying my work. Mum, thanks for supporting me, always. Thanks dad for being a loyal ear and support, no matter what. Roger for being there as an archangel in the wings. Angella I give you my gratitude for the edits and much needed critique. Samara I am thankful for you loving my books and reading them with such passion and offering me support.

  Bev, thanks for being on board from the start with encouragement. I appreciate your advice Thank you for your time and diligence in editing my work from the beginnings of the very first book.

  Last but by no means least, Sally, it is said that our weight in this world is measured by how good we make other people’s lives. Your selfless dedication is something that deserves so much more than a humble thank you, for working so hard, continuously, in critiquing my work and for giving me so much of your time and energy, to achieve my dreams.

  So to my angels, consider yourselves significant – here’s to more good times and more great books. Thank you for your time and for believing in me from the beginning.

  Thank you

  Love Tina