Page 43 of The Lost Siren

“Save your fake tears for the dead.”

The blood drained from my face, and I was unable to move he grabbed me and dove out the mouth of the cave. The wind roared in my face as his wings pumped hard, flying us to the south and west along the mountain range. After a while he threw me down, and I collapsed onto the rock. My leg twisted unnaturally under me and I hissed in pain. He stood over me in silence over the cliff, staring out at nothing. I tried to reason with him.

“Bair was trying to leave the mountain and take me with him!”

Benedict sneered. “That’s a lie; heknewhe couldn’t leave the mountain. You just lured him out there to kill him!”

I didn’t have the strength to stand and face him, so I yelled up into his angry, twisted face.

“Why wouldIkill him and mess everything up?Youwere the one who pointed out how much better my life is here! Why would I give that up?! Bair saidSeverntold him the Overlord would break his curse on the mountain. He figured once you were dead, he could fly asfar awayfrom this damn mountain as he could!”

Benedicts hands curled into fists.

“He was going to sell out your people as exotic,immortalPETS!”

Benedict spun away from me, his hands gripping his hair. I’d never seen him so angry before. He vibrated with rage, and I half-expected to be thrown off the mountain at any second. His grief was a painful, tangible force that kept me laying on the ground. Had I finally pushed too far? Would he kill me, like he obviously wanted to?

“You’ve been working with Crullfed this whole time, haven’t you? I guess all those stories of him beating you were a cover. I have to give you credit for your great performance, for having the foresight to even cover your back in scars.”

His voice was cold, almost completely unaffected. Then he leaned in, his voice a deadly purr.

“Give me one reasonnotto watch your body break on the side of this mountain.”

I wiped my face, smearing blood everywhere. Did nothing that happened between us matter anymore? I felt his blood in my body, raging against the hate in his eyes. An ache opened in my chest, robbing me of breath and hurting more than any of my injuries.

“Itoldyou the truth. You just don’t believe me,” I whispered.

He roared away from me and punched the mountain, his hand breaking audibly as it met the stone’s unyielding surface.

“Bair, Sabien, and D’Arcy are the only direct family I have left. Andyouslaughtered one of them. Feel free to never come back.”

He disappeared and left me there, alone on the side of the mountain.

I laid there for hours, the hot sun beating down as I bled onto the side of the mountain. At first, I was thankful he didn’t kill me, thinking it was a mercy, perhaps due in part tosomeaffection he held for me. The more I laid out in the sun, bleeding onto the rocks, the more I realized thatthiswas a far crueler way to die. I thought about letting out a cry for help, but who would come? Benedict wouldn’t, and Kieran and Ronan might not either, after word of what I’d done spread throughout the mountain. I gave myself only a day or two before the elements likely killed me.

I don’t know how long I stayed there on that hot piece of earth, refusing to cry, refusing to move, refusing to do anything to save myself. In a way, Benedict was right to be angry; Ididkill his brother, never mind he was a backstabbing little traitor. I drifted in and out of consciousness, unaware of the passing of time. The wound on my neck still bled, though sluggishly from dehydration. My skin felt tight and painful, no doubt burnt from the sun. I thought of Bair, and something he’d said before he died. Something about D’Arcy. I shot up, crying out as my body protested the movement.

D’Arcy said—

Was D’Arcy in on the plan with Bair, or was healreadya traitor before Bair found out about it? If so, that meant he was also in contact with Severn and the Overlord, which madeperfectsense as to how he had access to a group of Lykos. If he was then Kieran, Ronan, Benedict, and all the other Drakens were in danger! I needed to save myself so I could save them, even if Benedict threatened to kill me, and even if Kieran and Ronan didn’t want me after learning what I did. I took a deep breath, knowing what I needed to do. Sometimes the hardest, yet most effective thinganyonecould do was call for help.

I tried to scream, but my throat was too dry. A pathetic warble came through my lips, and then I managed to make a high-pitched keening sound. I collapsed back onto the ground, completely spent. The cry had been my last resort, and now I was going to die up here, stranded a mile up in the air. I didn’t have any liquid left in my body for tears, so my eyes drifted shut again. If I focused hard enough, even the pain in my face and ankle didn’t bother me anymore. It would be so easy to go to sleep, wouldn’t it? No one would bother me, and I could just drift off and away…

Heavy vibrations landed around me, but I ignored them. It was time to rest.

“I don’tcarewhat Benedict says, I won’t let her die!”

It was the kind voice...the one with the green eyes...my eye cracked open, but it was too bright.

“We have to get some blood into her, but let’s get to the cave first.”

There was an odd sensation of lifting, and flying, but that was preposterous. Then hot blood that felt glorious going down my throat, easing the pain as I greedily drank. I slid into true darkness then, tired and exhausted.

When I woke, Kieran and Ronan were next to me. I felt better, but still not completely whole. I blinked my eyes wearily.

“You came for me.”

Kieran offered me a weak smile, rubbing the back of his head.

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