Wolf Sirens Night Fall: What Rises Must Fall (Wolf Sirens #3) (11 page)

“Will I get
one?” She blushed.

“Tormey had
one, but it’s up to you.” I turned my attention to matters more at
hand. She had an awkward stance, her toes turned in on her right.
“You’ll have to straighten those.” I turned my eyes back to the
arrow.

“What?” she
looked at her shoes.

“Your feet,
you’ll be doing a lot of walking.” I repositioned my aim. “And get
some better foot wear.” It was a snide reference to her thin roman
sandal style thongs. It was hot and I wiped my brow and shook my
head heavily. Pigeon toes, glasses and all, she was a huntress.
Repositioning my arrow on the string, I released the quiver and the
bolt of the arrow met with the centre of an apple. As it shattered
to pieces, the arrow wedged in the bark of a birch tree. I gave her
the bow. “Your turn,” I nodded in encouragement toward the second
apple.

Her arrows
found the targets easily. But I worried that she wouldn’t handle
the reality of it. After she took the shot she smiled at me like a
child pleased to show a parent. My face was hard as I gave a stiff
approving smile. I realized maybe she was the prophet.

Within a week I
was showing her holds and blocking techniques and even kicks. I
felt her strength for myself, thrusting against me like cold marble
with every impact. She was gaining strength and she never tired.
She excelled. The only thing I had over her was technique. Finally,
I let her best me in a few rounds and then I began to see she was
improving. Given time she could have been better than me, but that
was something I feared we didn’t have. The meeting with Sky was
less than a week away.

It was harder
for me to teach her about the wolves, I had to think about wolf
behaviour on the attack and describe it to her. But I wasn’t Cres.
I realized she would have to see the wolves for herself, and most
likely this would be in an attack. The sad fact was we wouldn’t
have to wait long.

After training,
we swam in the river to cleanse the dirt from our hair and the
sweat from our skin.

Caroline had to
sneak out late at night under the crescent moon, returning in the
early hours of the morning through her window. We met near the
patch of willows. I noticed that she wore trainers after my
comment. At least she was listening.

“I’m
impressed,” I jested with a smirk.

I positioned
myself, ready to fight, and she circled me, holding eye contact.
She lunged and I stepped back and again she came forward, and I
moved aside. We danced awkwardly, pacing around each other in the
grass, ready to fight. Finally I came at her, attempting to toss
her to the ground but she held. I tugged and she gripped me
tighter, the surprise showed in her eyes. I tried to trip her, but
she jumped my leg and twisted herself. I slid to the earth and she
held me down in the grass with an iron grip.

I could tell
she was waiting for the tap that signalled the break; instead I
grabbed her leg. I was getting stronger too. She elbowed me hard to
the head, we rolled and I scrambled up and attempted to run, but I
only made it a few steps when she grabbed my leg and suddenly my
face collided with a branch and I hit the earth and clay mud. She
rested her knee on my back. I wriggled my hand out and tapped her
twice on the knee of her other leg with my fingers. She waited a
moment before letting go, easing off, then stepping away. When I
rolled over ready to get up, she gasped slightly.

“What?” I
asked. I reached my fingers to touch my face and I felt the wetness
of blood above my cheek. The twiggy branch had scratched the side
of my eye. “Ha, very good.” I squinted at her as the blood oozed
near my eye. “Does it need stitches?”

“What? No, I
don’t think so?” She wore a frightened expression.

“Good, it would
be a shame to miss more training,” I muttered sitting up.

“Lila, I’m
sorry,” she whimpered, her wide eyes distressed.

“Don’t be.” I
wiped the blood on my singlet hem. “I consider it a mark of your
progress.” I winced a smile. “To draw blood from your, teacher,” I
grimaced as my tight smile grew much wider. She couldn’t be
fragile; neither of us would come out of this war unscathed.
Slowly, I was beating the polite girl out of her. I was impressed
with her developing fighting skills, but I would be more impressed
when she no longer meekly apologized for the damage she
inflicted.

“Ha,” I
scoffed. I noticed her concern. “Don’t worry head wounds bleed a
lot.” I dabbed at it with my sleeve. It would just be another scar
for my collection.

She looked on
sorry. I knew she would be changed forever once the crescents
appeared. You could not dispute the Goddess any more than you could
the weather. I no longer had to let her beat me. In fact, the fight
was progressively even by the end of the night and I was satisfied
that Caroline would become like me in every sense, but one. I would
keep her away from the wolves as long as possible, if only to
better our chances.

The wolves,
though, didn’t seem to be looking for me, rather just waiting.
Something had changed; they were being as patient as the Gods. We
were playing the same game and whoever won would rule.

The next night
she didn’t show for sparring. I entertained myself shooting arrows
in the long grass. Caroline’s parents were becoming an issue. Like
mine, they were the abandoning rather than the smothering kind,
though it seemed her mother liked to keep tabs on her. It started
to make more sense to me now why she liked to get out. Her older
brother seemed to keep the heat off her for the time being as he
went through a rebellious phase. The scenario sounded familiar. Not
every parent is like Sophie though.

After a few
hours, puzzled by her absence and frustrated I decided something
must have happened. The thought that the wolves may have got her
spurred me to get up determinedly, and walk to her home in Tarah.
Caroline was usually punctual, annoyingly so.

The breeze
gently swayed the leaves. Cautiously I snuck along the outside wall
and peered in her window but it was dark. Her bedroom light was
off. I could hear raised voices. Evidently Valerie and Hudson Doil
had their issues. Maybe Caroline would make an appearance, maybe
they were arguing over her.

I was seriously
contemplating leaving when I heard a rustle. My ears pricked.
Alarmed, my muscles tensed.

Birds flew from
the roof and my hand clamped around my gun as a male figure came
stumbling through the shrubs behind me. Under the moonlight I was
clearly visible and with nowhere to run, I pulled and pointed the
gun and torch simultaneously. The light swirled over his face,
directly into his eyes, which made him squint. I tried to shove the
gun out of sight as I realized it was a lumbering teenage boy, and
judging by his gangly posture as he emerged from the hedge, he was
likely not the cursed kind. Like an untamed animal, I startled at
the sight of an unknown human.

With a breath
of relief I tried to regain a casual composure, adjusting my
stance. He was dressed in three quarter length pants, skater
sneakers and a baggy surfer T-shirt. Aaron looked right at me,
coming to a halt as his eyes rested where he had seen the gun,
which I now tucked in the back of my pants and covered with my
shirt. I attempted to look casual; I even shyly tucked a tuft of
hair behind my ear and tried to look normal.

When I looked
up, we locked eyes in a tenuous stare off, each equally stunned. My
heart began to gallop in my chest. It was the first time I had been
seen since running. I looked at his hand as he shoved something in
his pocket and my eyes narrowed. It was way past curfew. He could
have been working for the wolves. I tensed, ready to fight.

“You’re out
late,” I stated calmly towards his colourless face. I retained my
composure. He seemed equally shocked to see me, which put me more
at ease. I hoped it wasn’t recognition of me that spooked him.

He didn’t
answer. I was about to speak again when he interrupted defensively.
“So are you.” There didn’t seem to be any hint of recognition in
his face as he tucked his hand back in his baggy pants pocket. I
wanted to know what he carried. My eyes fixed on it, whilst
thinking her family could have been on the enemy’s side, but it was
too late to hide now, he had seen me.

His eyes were
glowing green. I strode closer and saw in the dim light that they
were red rimmed, the colour of watermelon. His posture straightened
as I reached him. I stopped, my body inches from his. My hand
gripped his boyish face. He looked too thin and weedy to be wolf.
He didn’t smell like a beast.

I glanced down.
He was wearing shoes and I couldn’t smell wolf musk but there was
an odd smell not unlike Tisane’s herbs to his clothing. And then it
hit me – weed, it was weed, mixed with men’s deodorant and washing
powder.

Just to be
sure, I forcibly shoved my hand into his pocket and his gaping
expression of shock said everything. I grasped the object and
attempted to pull it out of his pants as his hand clasped my arm in
a rigid but weak attempt to stop me. With my other hand, I
automatically pulled the gun from the back of my jeans and rested
it against his temple. I knew the second I had done it that this
was a silly move. If he wasn’t sure that he had seen a gun just
before, he would be certain now. Despite my wavering thoughts I
held it firmly.

His grip
loosened obediently from my wrist and I slid the object from his
pocket. Satisfied with his reaction, my eyes gave a lively flicker.
It was a brass coloured pipe, still warm from being lit. I dropped
the gun to my side and smiled. Only to then feel the force of him
tackling me to the ground, hard. After the shock, I kicked him off
and easily bested him, coming to sit, straddling his chest. He was
a guy but he was young and soft. I knew that I matched his strength
easily due to the huntress and I overpowered him with very little
strain. He would have been no match for Caroline.

“Don’t move,” I
advised with a hard edge to my voice as he attempted to struggle.
There was a desperate, panicked look in his green eyes.

I contemplated
what to say when suddenly a nearby voice whispered in an impatient
tone. “When you two are done humping...”

We both turned
our heads to see Caroline in the dark corner of the house, near the
water heater.

“Elle,” she
urged, blonde brows raised above her clear amber eyes.

“Stay out of
our business, boy,” I whispered harshly with a hard look towards
his craning head. I stood up still straddling him as he lay
motionless, frozen, either too frightened or too shocked to
move.

I tucked the
gun back in my pants. I wondered if I should help him up, but
decided against it. The pipe lay nearby tossed in the mown
grass.

I glanced at
Caroline. “Come on then, let’s go,” I muttered, inwardly
mortified.

Caroline jogged
across the lawn past me, she was dressed in black. I gave her
brother a hard expression of warning as I stepped from over him and
moved after her. I joined her pace, escaping the scene into the
shrub land.

“I thought he
was a wolf,” I heard myself say when we were out of sight. I
wondered with a shake of my head exactly where my head was at.

“Sure you did,”
she teased, evidently enjoying having the upper hand. I was
silent.

“He won’t tell
will he?” I finally asked, thinking how he had kept quiet about her
parental disobedience before.

Caroline
stopped running in the darkness. “What did I just see?” she asked,
a strange sense of bemusement coating her tone as she looked up at
me. I noticed she was wearing eyeliner, as I slowed up. I wondered
what was with the new look.

“I thought he
was on their side.” I turned and met her eyes directly. “He was out
past curfew wandering around your house.”

She had to
admit I had a point.

I decided not
to feel intimidated by her amusement. “He’s lucky I didn’t shoot
him,” I said, chuckling under my breath.

A smile started
to break over her pouty expression. She scratched her tightly
ponytailed head, and I noticed her nails were painted dark as she
followed suit with a small chuckle.

“You could have
told me he was a weed addict who likes to lurk in the bushes,” I
insisted in a severe whisper. I paused and sighed quietly in
disbelief under my breath, amused at myself and unwilling to admit
it. She laughed loudly and then following my alarmed look she
reined it in. Her laughter made me realize just how wired I was. I
felt a deprecating sense of bemusement fade. I changed the subject,
lowering my voice, aware again of our surrounds. “What kept you
tonight?” My intense expression calmed, waiting for her reply.

She ran her
darkly painted nails over her head. “I think my parents are getting
a divorce.”

“Did they say
that?” Maybe the family turmoil explained her new look.

She shrugged,
twisting her lips. “When they see I’m gone, I’ll be in the shit.”
She addressed me. “You’re annoyed?”

I thought of
her parents' muffled yelling and winced. “No I just…We fucking have
to fight the Cult and here we are dealing with stoned teenage spies
and arguing parents...” I knew I had quite possibly blown it. “We
have training to do,” I rasped. She looked sadder then and placed a
hand on her mouth. I leant my back against a smooth tree mirroring
her. I knew it wasn’t her fault, anyway. I sighed, “Just go home
Caroline.” Nothing was going to happen tonight.

She stared.

“Caroline,” I
said, raising my voice harshly.

“C.J,” she
corrected me with an angry glare.

“Just go back
home,” I repeated, but she pushed her glasses back along the bridge
of her nose, something that had annoyed me all week. “Do you even
need those glasses?” I scoffed. If she was going to go the Goth
look, she might as well go all the way. I soon softened my
expression in the silence when I saw her pout. “We can train when
they cool down.”