My Sisters in Death (Siren Suicides, Book 2)

Chapter 9. Siren Meadow

"What last wish?" I say, though I already understand. "You wanted to die from my song, not from Canosa's?"

Hunter's eyelashes flutter, but that's all I get. The fog recedes and I can see him better, but it's getting dark.

"How darling of you to explain. Thank you for sparing me the trouble." Canosa clicks her tongue loudly on trouble for a dramatic effect and stubs her finger at my chest. "I haven't got all night. Go on, silly girl, sing already."

I notice that she's not wearing those stolen clothes anymore and wonder what she's done with them. I feel my sanity slipping away from me, and am distracted by all the little details that are totally out of sync with time and importance.

"Why didn't you do it yourself?" I say, hoping to delay having to start.

"You're hurting me. You're being mean, again. I want to help, we're family, remember? You had trouble doing it at the club. Well, here he is, all ready for you, tied up and not going anywhere. You really know how to try my patience, don't you, little sister?" She shakes her head in a stern big sister kind of way, and I notice how, for the first time, she calls me sister.

The look on her face tells me she fully means it. In her world, she really is doing me a favor by letting me finish my kill, as proper predators do in a pack. It's no different than how I let her finish her kill at Arboretum Park, guided by some new-found hunting instinct.

"Thank you," I say, before I can catch it. It comes automatically, prewired into my brain from a young age. From all the times when I had to thank my father for everything, even a slap he would administer, because it was a favor he did to teach me. This must be the help she was talking about when she found me floating in the Pacific Ocean.

"Can I take him down before I do it? Please?" I say, considering my options. Can I fight Canosa? She is obviously stronger than me. Do I stand a chance?

"No. He's not going anywhere. I'll take him down myself, when he's dead. You still can't make up your mind, can you? What's stopping you?" I detect a hint of familial worry in her voice.

I swallow. "Nothing, I'm just..."

"Ailen?" I hear from above. Hunter's voice sounds hollow and cracked. "Nice to see you, turkey. Hey, I'm sorry for yesterday. For shouting and stuff. I didn't really mean it."

I peer up at his face, now turning blue from hanging upside down too long, but his eyes are still fully alert. That must be it. He is turning, otherwise how would he be able to hang upside down for so long and still function?

"No-no-no, it's okay," I say. "I'm sorry for leaving you, and for getting mad. I'm—I don't know what happened. Something made me so angry, and then..." I trail off, not sure how to communicate my fear of never being enough, of not being perfect for him; my jealousy toward "normal" girls, beautiful and warm, soft and curvy, womanly and capricious, in a way I'll never be. How do I tell him that he deserves better.

"I just wanted to hear your voice one more time," Hunter says, his eyes glistening with his brimming tears. He blinks hard, trying to hide them.

"You did? Really? Why?" I say, looking up into his face, now almost purple, and barely visible in the darkness.

"Because it's awesome, and I love it."

"No, you don't. It's fake. You think you love it, but you don't really. It's because I'm a siren. Everybody loves a siren's voice. That's how it works...it means that my deadly magic is working." I breathe in and breathe out. "I wonder," I say, taking another breath. "I wonder, why mine? I mean, did it sound especially charming or something?" I try to sound even, but my voice catches.