Wolf Sirens Night Fall: What Rises Must Fall (Wolf Sirens #3) Read Free Page A

reached for the gun
in the back of my belt, sharply, I readied my stance.
    “Lila, this is
Caroline.” Tisane presented what she had discovered. A small
teenage girl with a tiny smattering of freckles looked at me
anxiously. I ignored Tisane’s introduction with a fierce
expression. Her guest was dressed in a baggy grey jumper with the
words ‘Mad Dogs’ printed on the front. I stepped further into the
room, my gun pulled. I released the safety with a click.
    “What are you
thinking?” I hissed at Tisane. We had an unspoken arrangement. She
knew no one was allowed to see me. I hoped the girl was just a girl
– though in that lay other problems. “What is she doing here?” My
voice was coated in accusation as my finger found the trigger, my
veins filled with adrenaline.
    The glasses
were a disguise.
    “Please, Lila.
It’s not her fault that she is here.” Tisane urged.
    “What the hell
is going on?”
    Tisane
interrupted, “She’s cold.” My eyes darted to her. “She’s a
huntress,” she advised. I threw her a fierce questioning look. If
it were true, then Artemis had sent me a child, not a warrior. “She
is strong, like you,” she encouraged. But I wasn’t so easily
convinced.
    “Is there
anyone else here?” I asked with unease.
    “No,” Tisane
alleged steadying me with her eyes.
    I addressed the
girl. “Why did you come here?” My heart rate increased.
    “She was
searching for answers.” Tisane’s voice was almost breathy as she
answered for the girl. Her wide blue eyes told me to be still. I
looked at our visitor and my gaze searched her skin for visible
scars, the lack of which indicated immortality because the wolves
were unmarked and smooth, they wore their scars on the inside, only
under more beautiful skins.
    I ignored
Tisane, keeping my defiant stare firmly, towards the girl, but my
lips asked Tisane, “How did she get here?” My chest rose and fell
more rapidly, anticipating her attack. Tisane confirmed, “She
ran.”
    Unconvinced I
uttered, “Let me look in her eyes.” Lightning flashed behind me.
The girl looked at Tisane for reassurance. Tisane nodded urging her
forward. She shuffled closer to me “Slowly,” I ordered with intent.
She swallowed, understanding my request. Tisane stepped further
aside. Apprehensively the girl edged closer, with a dazed look of
fear in her eyes. I gestured for her to approach even closer still.
When she was in reach I looked down at her.
    “Take off your
glasses.” Pensively she removed them and swallowed. I pointed.
“Look up.” She obeyed. I touched my left hand to her jaw carefully
and peered at the lay of her face. She smelt salty and of
strawberry shampoo. I felt the tepid temperature of her soft skin
through my fingertips. I pressed her flesh firmly, as I tipped her
head from side to side. Inspecting her neck; it was free of fresh
visible bite marks or wounds, no scars and no tell-tale signs.
    I clicked the
safety and put my gun into the front of my jeans. I pulled Tormey’s
pen torch from my front pocket; shining it across her pupils. There
was no fluorescent green glow. I swallowed before daring to peer
carefully, deep into her irises. I dropped the arm with the torch
to my side. I was momentarily relieved to see the absence of
crescents, but they could take their time in appearing. If Tisane
was right she couldn’t have had the demigoddess in her for long,
she was too freshly cursed for me to tell. I sighed soundlessly,
and let down my hand. “Show me your arms?”
    She peeled back
her sleeves. I saw a new looking Bandaid around her finger, a human
sign. The skin over her arms was otherwise pure and mark free. I
touched it with my fingertips.
    “Take off your
jumper,” I asked quietly.
    She gave Tisane
a worried look. “Don’t look at her. If you’re not a wolf, prove it.
Take off your clothes.” She tucked her spectacles into her pants
pocket, slowly she unzipped her jumper and pulled off her
undershirt. She swallowed. She