Wolf Sirens Night Fall: What Rises Must Fall (Wolf Sirens #3) (25 page)

He whispered
with heaviness, “We’ll get him back,” as he heaved a breath under
her sorrow and embraced her closer still until she couldn’t move.
It was as though if he didn’t she would herself disappear, igniting
into anger. He rocked her from side to side as he squeezed her
until she rested her body against him and for all his brawn and
immaturity he understood her loss. His heart knew her devastation
and that for all her strength and independence she needed someone
to hold her. She kissed him, hot and salty. They made love and he
knew with a dread that he wouldn’t be allowed to hold her ever
again like this, because as soon as his grip loosened she would
want nothing but to find her brother and get him back, whatever the
consequences and whatever the casualties. They had taken him to
control her and that is exactly what would not happen.

They had forced
her hand. Cres shed a few fat tears, and then ordered Reid to get
any weapons.

“We need a
plan?” Reid suggested, his glistening eyes begging her to stop.

“Let’s just
wing it,” said Cres, ignoring him. Her jaw flexed. Her face was
hard and drawn. He knew she couldn’t be persuaded to wait; she had
refused to discuss it. There wasn’t time and her mind was made
up.

She had almost
screeched at him when she gave the order to leave. “We go now.” Her
voice was stone cold.

Reid pressed
his lips together knowing there wasn’t any way to talk her out of
it. She was going in with or without him, come hell or high
water.

“Where is the
compound?” she asked. Her eyes were icy. When the weapons were in,
he watched her tuck a revolver in her cords and pull down her shirt
and again he longed to stop her and knew at the same time it was
futile. He wondered if she would survive this confrontation - but
he was powerless to stop it and for the first time, but not the
last in immortality, he felt weak. He helped her because he loved
her, helplessly.

She got in the
driver’s seat of the jeep.

He pressed his
lips together and against his better judgment got in the passenger
side.

“They won’t
just hand him over,” Reid warned, though he knew it was a stupid
thing to say. She was headed for a blood bath, even she knew
it.

She didn’t say
anything, but started up the engine.

“Cres, please?”
He glanced at her and her expression remained unchanged as she
ignored him. “Please, let’s just contact Lila?” He was aware they
had no way of knowing where she was and if the wolves hadn’t found
her, they hadn’t a hope of finding her. “Use your gift.” He
swallowed. “We can’t just turn up and start shooting, they’ll kill
us and they’ll still have Bronson and then they’ll turn him and
there won’t be any you to help.” He thought a moment. “Let me go. I
can see for myself and talk to them…”

Cres shifted
gears. “They’re at Key Inlet, right?”

Reid felt anger
then. “Cres they’ll kill you.”

Only her lips
moved. “Then get out,” she said emotionlessly. Her stare avoided
him.

“No.” As the
countryside sped by, he found himself praying for Lila to somehow
turn up and stop her. The more he thought about it, the more he
knew it was a suicide mission.

Cres kept her
eyes fixed on the road.

“Cres we need
to think about this. Jackson and Angele and Lila will help you. I
will help you, just not right now, like this,” he begged.

“I don’t need
you to come.” She turned and looked through him with a cold blue
stare.

“Fine, then I
won’t,” he threatened. “You won’t be able to negotiate your way out
of this,” he implored.

She slowed the
car and pulled to the curb, hoping she would turn around and that
she wasn’t throwing him out. “Cres I will back you up, you know
that?”

“This isn’t
helping, Reid.”

“Do you really
want me out?”

“I do,” she
said coldly, her eyes hard.

He knew what
the answer would be, but it still hit him like a blow to the guts.
“Then you are going to die, Cres. They won’t just hand him back,
they’ve done this for a reason.”

“Get out.”

“Promise me
that you won’t do anything careless,” his voice was pained.

Her voice was
hard. “Are you done?” She looked through him.

“No, I’m not!
Cres you will regret this. I want him back too, and Lila will help
us,” he pleaded.

“No, if I know
where she is, they will beat it from me,” she growled.

“You are
supposed to see things. Can’t you see they’ll destroy you and him
now? This is what they want,” he begged exasperated.

“Reid I’ve been
on a limited time frame since Sam bit me. Did you think I’d stick
around for you? Did you think we’d get married and have kids and
have friends? I’ve been dying every day since she infected me, so
it’s either I do it, or I let them. Maybe I can try and get him
back and die for a reason,” she said harshly.

“But if we
plan...”

“No, I need him
back. They could be turning him now.” She was unable to hide her
glassy eyes as they glistened.

He was
desperate. “This is madness. Cres it was inevitable they would try
and change him. Honestly did you think if they took him we could
stop it? That you could stop it yourself, against all of them? They
use him to control you.”

“Get out,” she
interrupted sternly.

“No,” he
protested.

“Reid, go,” she
said as she turned her stony eyes on his.

In desperation
he searched her face for any hint that she didn’t mean it. “Tell me
where Lila is, you must have a clue, if I get her before them we
can help...”

“Get out and
I’ll tell you.”

Reid folded his
arms. “I promise I’ll get out when you tell me.” Even as he said
it, he regretted it. They stared each other down as he slipped his
hand around the door handle and cracked it open.

She spoke. “She
leaves charms from the bracelet.”

“Where?”

“In my room,
when I’m not there - that’s how I know to meet her - find one and
wait for her to show. If she sees you she might run, so surprise
her. She leaves them on the window or my bedside table.” Her voice
was distant.

“Cres,” he
urged as his fraught brass eyes implored her desperately.

She placed the
gun against his temple. Her eyes were bloodshot and her nostrils
flared. “Goodbye Reid,” she whispered hoarsely, her eyes glistening
in pain.

“Cres, I will
come for you.”

“Get out!” She
gritted her teeth.

He put his
hands up and slowly backed out, his eyes never leaving hers and as
she drove off she pulled the door closed with a slam. He watched
her, petitioning her to stop, but she drove on. He felt as though
he had been kicked in the guts. She chose them. She chose to die,
she wanted to leave him and it hurt because not only did she throw
him away, but quite possibly her life as well. Like a double blow.
For moments he couldn’t breathe.

Cres walked
into the house at the compound as though on business.

The human pack
reclining inside glanced at her as they watched a television
infomercial; she walked up the stairs and came into the main living
area. Tyler was playing a video game on an old Nintendo, Lonnie sat
behind him and they seemed far more enthralled with the TV than any
uninvited presence in the upstairs lounge. A rough looking wolf
with a neck tattoo was playing a game boy.

Cres stood
there expecting some attention. “Where’s my brother?” she asked
calmly, readying her hand on the trigger of her gun in the front of
her pants. Lonnie ignored her, focused on the game. When she
turned, a pale scantily clad female with long wavy hair was gazing
at her from the hallway entrance. The short woman’s eyes became
wider and before Cres knew it, she was surrounded by other members
of the pack. Two males came up the stairs behind her, and suddenly
she became the centre of attention.

“Tell Sam I’m
here,” Cres croaked to no one in particular.

Paws came
jogging up the stairs behind the others “Aha, the famous Cresida.”
He smiled but his orange brown eyes gave a mad twinkle.

She remained
motionless from her stance. She rebuffed his greeting. “I want to
see Sam.” She tried to keep her voice even and barely succeeded.
But her features gave nothing away.

“Yes, well,
should we take this somewhere private?” He gestured down the stairs
and paused momentarily on the step to face her. “I assume you’ve
come for Bron?”

Cres’s back
tensed and she gritted her teeth. She felt the concentrated stares
of the pack and then slowly obliged. She walked in a relaxed manner
towards the stairwell as her heart thumped.

“After you,”
Paws gestured.

Slowly, making
eye contact with the creature, she stepped below him and gradually
descended the steps. She felt his heat behind her and loathed it.
But she steadied herself.

Only now did
she feel fear. Her back to the monster who had made her life hell
and taken the one piece of her life that she had left.

When she
reached the bottom floor, he touched her shoulder lightly and
gestured to a room she had walked past on her way in. It was an
office of sorts with a large desk in the middle, and behind it
stood a small shelf. There was a filing cabinet on the opposite
wall, some papers piled on a chair in the corner and a small window
which faced the front of the house. She would remember to use it
later. She felt the moist heat linger and her mouth dry.

He took a deep
breath and urged her to sit with a polite hand gesture and then
plunked himself in the chair behind the old green desk, moving a
pen as he sat, swinging in the chair to place it in a mug on the
desk.

“Now we have a
few things to discuss.” He smiled a line at her as he bounced
comfortably in the old fashioned chair. “Please sit, we hadn’t
expected you so soon.” He slouched with his elbow on the
armrest.

“But you knew I
would come,” she remarked.

He rubbed his
nose. “Does anyone ever see these things coming?” He gestured with
his hand. Then he looked down and laughed under his breath. “Ha,
ha.”

It struck her
as a self-depreciating laugh because Cres did know things.

He clasped his
hands. “Please state your case.”

“Where is
he?”

He stared at
her. “Forgive me; we were expecting an attack,” he chuckled. “Maybe
a phone call, but never this.” His eyebrows parted in amazement and
thinly veiled irritation. He was evidently struggling about what to
do. She did not share his humour.

Cres readied
her hand for the gun. “Where is my brother?” she uttered
sternly.

He rubbed his
chin. Cresida kept a steely gaze over him.

He picked up
the phone. It was an old fashioned land line. Flipping a book open,
he dialed the number under his finger. “Narine, guess who’s here?”
he said heavily. He waited and then offered the bulky green
receiver to Cres with his hand outstretched.

She tried not
to hesitate as she took it.

“Hello?”
Narine's distant unassuming voice sounded through the receiver.
“Hello Cresida? This is Narine.”

“I want my
brother,” Cres replied flatly.

“He’s in good
hands. Look, Sam is going to come down and speak with you. Are you
alone or is Reid or Jackson there?”

“I’m alone,”
she replied steadily, her eyes focusing on Paws.

Narine was
quiet as she considered this information. “Can you wait for Sam?
She shouldn’t be more than a few hours.”

“What do you
plan to do to him?” her voice struggled to remain steady.

“Bronson?
Darling, we won’t hurt him, we just need you to tell us were Lila
is and you can both go home.”

Cres looked at
Paws. “I don’t know where she is,” Cres uttered hard.

Narine
answered. “Well darling, until you find her for us, we are going to
keep him, alright?” Her voice was clipped.

“No.” Cresida’s
voice was breathy.

“Cresida, we
have given you more than enough time to comply with our deal. We
have reached a point where we simply couldn’t avoid action,” Narine
urged with a sympathetic lilt.

“The cops will
be after you,” Cres threatened feebly as her eye lids gave a
flutter.

“Ha, ha darling
we are the police. Now I know you won’t go anywhere without Bronie,
so until you help us, he stays here with me,” she said
defiantly.

Cres had been
toyed with enough; she offered Paws back the phone arm
outstretched. She resisted the urge to cry. Her face was a pale,
stone mask.

He took the
bulky receiver and spoke into it. “Well, sorry baby, she isn’t
talking.” He waited listening. “Yes, okay, bye now.” He hung up the
clunky phone.

“Will she turn
him?” Cres muttered, barely audible.

“No,” he
sighed.

“Good,” she
replied.

“Not until he
is ready.”

Cres swallowed
back the anger as her blood boiled. This new pack was clever, cold
and strategic. She felt a fool now. They were evidently toying with
her.

She should have
listened to Reid. There was no colour in her face as she considered
her options. Adrenaline pooled in her veins. This was the moment
she had seen in her visions. She knew what she would do. Lila
wouldn’t end her, so suicide was the next best thing.

Paws leant
back, reaching with his long arm to an object leaning on the low
shelf behind him. He lifted a broom that leant against the wall and
used it to tap the ceiling above him. Peeling paint and dented
plaster suggested this had been done many times before. Pieces of
paint chipped away and fell down onto the carpet.

“Dahlia!” he
called softly upward, “Dahlia, Tyler!”

After a light
knock, the dark haired girl with caramel skin appeared in the
doorway “Paws?” she said softly with questioning with her startling
blue eyes. He flicked his hand at Cres. “Entertain this one,” he
said with a hard look as Tyler appeared behind her grinning like a
hyena.