Voices of the Sea (22 page)

She grew very still, trying to hear the voices and musings of her clan members. As before, the voices were muffled, making it hard for her to get a read on Will, her father, or any other member of the Clan. Will was there, but unclear, and she wished her powers were stronger. .

Lora held back tears. Where was her father? If the Sons killed him, where did they hide his body? Penelope jumped up on the bed to lick her face. She circled around twice and settled down for a nap on the end of the bed, curled next to Lora’s feet.

Her phone buzzed on the nightstand. Lora lunged for it, praying she would hear her father’s voice on the other line. Maybe her powers were still too weak to sense him. Maybe he lived after all.

“Hello?”

“Lora?” Will’s voice sounded distant. She could hear the ocean’s music in the background.

“Will! Where are you?” she yelled. “Is my dad with you?” The strong ocean wind made it hard to hear his reply. “What?” she said, plugging her other ear to be able to hear him more clearly.

“No,” she heard him say. Lora’s heart sank. The Sons of Orpheus had taken him. She sensed, deep inside, with a feeling tearing her body and mind apart, that her dad was dead. The sickening feeling, coupled with his silence, told her everything. Her mind grasped the truth, but her searing heart clung to less realistic ideas.

“Will,” she said, trying to tune out the ocean’s song, “My dad is missing. I think the Sons have him.” Her voice quivered as she spoke.
He’s dead.
But her mouth refused to say the words out loud. Ryan ran into the room, his eyes hopeful. She mouthed Will’s name.

“I don’t know where he is,” he said, “but I need you to meet me at Devin’s cottage,” he said. “Can you come?”

She hadn’t seen Will in over a week. Maybe he’d discovered something about the Sons of Orpheus which could help them. Lora hoped he’d shed the majority of his anger.

“Okay,” she said reluctantly. “I’ll leave now.” She tried to sound confident, but wariness consumed her. He still sounded angry. Will hung up without saying goodbye.

Ryan moved farther into the room and sat next to her on the bed as Nicholas appeared in the doorway. “Will isn’t with my dad,” she said, trying to control the tears which still threatened to appear. “He said he needs me to come to Devin’s house.”

“Did he say why?” asked Ryan.

“No. But I think I should go alone. You need to stay here, just in case my dad calls.” Ryan opened his mouth to protest, but she placed her finger on his lips to silence him. “You don’t want me to go alone,” she said. “But you and Will don’t have the best relationship. It would be better if I had the chance to talk to him. To smooth things over.”

Nicholas scratched his messy mop of hair. “You shouldn’t be alone, Lora.”

“I won’t be. I’ll be with Will. It’s a short drive to Devin’s house.”

She hugged Ryan, who shook his head in disagreement. “I don’t like this. Will’s been acting really strange lately.”

“I know,” she said. “But I’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” As she spoke the words, she worried they were a lie. Will had been acting oddly, but she couldn’t believe he would ever be a danger. Not her Will. Not her best friend. Guilt rose in her chest for even thinking these horrible thoughts about him and she pushed them to the side. Rising, she kissed Ryan lightly on the nose. “Now out, both of you. I need to get dressed.”

Lora showered, letting the warm water run down her body, but it could not wash away her worry. She dressed in a warm sweater and jeans, tying her long chestnut hair into a ponytail. She gave Ryan a lingering kiss, said goodbye to Nicholas, and hurried out the door to her car, grabbing one of the hunting knives on her way out, just in case. She could get to Devin’s house in only a few minutes. Paranoia, however, refused to leave her alone, creeping over her body, leaving her a quivering mess. Lora kept craning her head over her shoulder, searching for danger. She locked her doors several times, just to ensure no one could get inside. The Sons of Orpheus could be anywhere.

Her heart beat faster when her mind returned to her father, but she forced herself to calm down. Panicking now wouldn’t do any good.

Lora parked on the street and made her way down the winding pathway to Devin’s cottage.

Will sat on a rough patch of rock, staring out at the ocean with a somber expression on his face, his arms folded across his chest. Lora approached him with caution, almost tip-toeing across the rough sand. His expression indicated he didn’t want company, even though he had asked her to come.

She rarely saw him this way, vulnerable before the sea, as if pondering why it existed in the first place. She had often spent hours on the pebbled sand of the shore, but when she thought hard, she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen Will this close to the ocean voluntarily. Lora furrowed her brow, puzzled by his behavior. Will never failed to keep her guessing, which is why they probably stayed friends. Their differences drew them together.

Her feet made a soft crunching sound in the sand, and Will turned his head, letting his eyes shift in her direction. His hardened expression didn’t change, and when Lora touched his shoulder he stiffened, causing her to step back. “Did you bring Ryan?” he asked

“No,” she said. “But he isn’t happy about it,” she admitted. “He didn’t want to leave me alone. I told him I’d be safe with you, though.” She examined her friend, wishing for the days when she’d been so comfortable in his presence. “You’ve been avoiding me,” she said, looking down at her feet. “This was the last place I thought I’d find you. You don’t usually just sit by the ocean.”

A cool wind tumbled around them, and Will shuddered. He stayed seated, however, rooted to the rock, not yielding to let Lora sit next to him. All around, the ocean roared rather than sang, and the sad voices of her ancestors rose from the sea, intermingling until she could not make sense of their tortured cries. She shook her head, clearing it from the noise, jealous of Will. All he could hear was the ocean’s song.

Lora felt his eyes upon her, and turned to face him. His eyes were surprisingly empty. “I grew tired of the ocean’s song a long time ago,” he said, his voice as hollow as his expression. His words were ice cold, unfeeling, causing Lora’s body to shiver with discomfort. The Will she loved was only an empty shell before her.

“You don’t mean that,” she said. She couldn’t imagine a life without the ocean’s song, without its constant presence. The ocean’s absence would destroy her.

His lips curled into an unpleasant sneer. “I do,” he said. “I’ve felt disconnected from the ocean for years. Its song doesn’t please me anymore, doesn’t draw me in. I wish the sound would leave my head, but it persists, drumming night and day.” Will stood and moved forward with his empty eyes, so close she could feel his breath on her cheek as he whispered into her ear. “I want to silence it,” he said in a harsh voice.

With a gasp, Lora pushed him away. The idea sounded so abhorrent her stomach turned over, and she felt sick being near him. The smirk remained on Will’s lips. He baited her. He wanted to fuel her rage. “Why are you telling me this?” she asked.

Will shrugged. “I just figured you should hear the truth. You are the Guardian, after all. You even have a counterpart to prove it.”

Lora stepped away from him. “You’re jealous,” she said, beginning to see through his ruse. “Do you think it’s easy to be Guardian, especially now when the Sons of Orpheus are killing our people? I told you my father is missing, maybe even dead, and you didn’t even seem to care!” Her voice rose with passion as the sea grew angrier, fueled by her emotions. It crashed, the waves hitting the shore with increasing intensity and the clouds, which already covered the sky, turned a deeper shade of gray. “If you are jealous,” she continued, “you’re a fool.”

Her head felt hot with anger, and she tried to calm and organize herself. She imagined Ryan, waiting to wrap himself in her waiting arms. She wanted to learn what happened to her father. She was wasting her time here. Whipping around, Lora started back to her car. Will grabbed her arm and jerked her back to face him again. His eyes held no emptiness now. Instead, a fire grew behind them, dark and menacing. His fingers bit into her flesh and she tried to pull away from his grasp, but he only dug them deeper into her skin.

“Let go of me,” she hissed. She tried to pull her arm from his iron fist, but he only held on tighter. “I said let go!” She pulled harder, but Will only sneered. Spirits from the ocean cried in alarm at her distress. His face contorted with hate and she stopped struggling.

“What’s the matter with you, Will?” she said, lifting her other hand to touch his face. He had been her best friend for so long. Lora hated seeing the anger in his face. She didn’t want her friend to hate her, but couldn’t shake the horrible feeling that her worst fears about him might be true.

“Is this about Ryan?” she asked, still keeping hope alive. Before she could touch him, he pushed her away.

“Don’t touch me,” he said. “You don’t care about me at all. You’re so wrapped up in Ryan, in the pathetic Siren Clan. I mean nothing to you.” Will moved menacingly forward. “But you’ll notice me before I’m done. You’ll grasp exactly who I am. I’ve been waiting to show you for a long time.”

Lora’s heart pounded, her breath emerging in quick, frightened gasps as she backed away from him, hoping to put some distance between them. But, with one stride, Will closed the gap. All this time she thought he was her tormented friend, but she’d been wrong. Will had become a stranger.

“I have to go,” she whispered. “I have to find my father.”

Will laughed, a chilling sound. “Your father’s dead.”

“Dead?” She’d known, deep down, but hearing the words out loud made her knees buckle, and she felt like she might vomit. A wave of dizziness hit her, and she sank to the sand to keep from passing out. “I felt him in pain, but had hoped—” Lora paused. “You’re sure? How?”

“Because I killed him.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

N
o four words had ever hurt her more.

“You what?”

Will stared blankly out at the ocean, and Lora couldn’t be certain he had heard her. The ocean’s roar clouded her mind, and the ringing in her ears prevented her from knowing if she had even said the words. She allowed a quick glance toward the ocean, but Will’s legs were in the way. He wore black pants. Black shoes. Her green eyes traveled up. He was dressed all in black. She hadn’t noticed before. “You what?” she said again, though this time her voice carried above the noise around her.

“I killed him,” Will said again. “I killed your father. It happened last night, after you got home, I imagine.” Will’s eyes looked up her body, then down. “You felt it, didn’t you?” He cut her off before she could answer. “Of course you did. You are a demon, after all,” he said. “You can sense what the rest of the Sirens are feeling.”

“But,” she stammered, “but you’re one of us. You’re my friend. My father loved you!” Lora’s head felt think as she tried to make sense of it all. Her father had died. Died. Sweat broke on her brow, her breathing growing labored. Lora’s knees threatened to collapse beneath her.

Will had been different lately; he acted withdrawn and angry, but she’d assumed her relationship with Ryan was the catalyst. She struggled to take a breath, to survive this unthinkable moment.

“Because I hated him,” he spat. “I hate all the Sirens.”

“You’re one of us!” Lora cried. “You
are
a Siren.”

Will smirked. “Half-Siren,” he replied. “My mother was a Siren. My father . . . well, let’s just say he was enlightened. He recognized the danger my mother posed as a Siren. He knew what all of you are and how to stop your kind.”

The realization hit her in the gut.

The insider she had feared. The Son of Orpheus who lived in Pacific Grove, who calculated their every move, who had infiltrated her clan. How could she have been so blind? She should have listened to that small voice that caused her to question, but the idea that he could hurt the people she loved, hurt
her
, seemed unimaginable. He’d acted strange and distant ever since the killings started. He knew her better than anyone. The sleeper.

Will had betrayed her.

“Your father is a Son of Orpheus.”

She keenly sensed the danger around her. Trying to appear casual, she stood tall and brushed the sand from her jeans. Inside, she realized if she wanted to survive, she would have to run. The hunting knife was sheathed in her back pocket, but Will watched her every movement, and didn’t take his eyes off her. “But you grew up with Sirens,” she said. “How could you betray us?”

“No,” Will said. “I only lived with Sirens for the first three years of my life. I barely remember it. My mother tried to hide me when she found out my father was a Son, and she succeeded . . . for a while,” he said. “But my father killed her. Then he found me and killed the monsters I lived with. He gave me my real name. Will died. Ortho was born.”

“Ortho,” she said. The word felt cold.

The article. The family who died, and the child who disappeared. Lora put the pieces together. “You were so little,” she said, her heart breaking for him. A vicious cult had brainwashed him for years, when loving Sirens could have raised him. The Sirens would have taken care of him, shown him the ways of their people.

Then she remembered all of the Sirens who had died. Will had a part in the barbarity. All innocence had left him, the child within destroyed. “Didn’t your father recognize your mother as a Siren?” she asked. “Why did he stay with her?”

Will chuckled. “He had a bit of an . . . unhealthy obsession with my mother,” he said. “He tried to ignore the beast underneath and managed to, for a while. But then she realized her singing didn’t affect my father, and discovered the truth.” Will cracked his knuckles and inspected his tightened fists. “She ran away, hid me with another family. But my father found her. And then he found me.”

This man carried no inkling of her friend, Lora realized. The man in front of her resembled a monster.

“Sirens are so trusting,” he said. “All I had to do was show up, make up a story about accidentally killing a girl, and you were mine.”

Lora couldn’t look him in the eye. “The recent killings. The brutal ones. Those were you?” But she knew the answer already.

Will nodded and brushed the hair out of his face. “Yes. The others didn’t always agree with my methods, but I got the job done.”

The car chase. The deaths of the Barbas family. The killings were perfectly orchestrated, but Will had not been involved in those incidents. He hadn’t done all of the work himself. “How many Sons are there?” she asked. The ocean whispered to her, frantic pleas to run and get away from him. Will had managed to fool Lora, but his admissions now were his undoing. A strong wind whipped around them and she gasped, feeling the presence of her father. Lora fought back tears. “Are they nearby?”

Will gazed down at his hands. “No. I’m the only one left in Pacific Grove. The other two have moved on, hunting down your clan members who were able to escape.” He swallowed and wiped his brow. “It’s only a matter of time until they find them.”

Lora found her voice. “Two?” she said. “There are only two left?”

“And me. There were five of us. You killed one. I killed another.”

“You killed another Son?” she said. Did he have any soul at all? This friend she knew for so long?

Will cracked his knuckles and took a step toward her. “My father needed to die. His time on this earth had ended. He didn’t understand what I needed to do.”

One nagging question remained in the back of her mind. She had to ask, even though she didn’t want to know the answer. Lora steeled herself for the worst. “And my mother?” she said, surprised to hear the strength in her voice. “Did the Sons kill her, too?”

She tried not to hear the crying of the ocean. Lora needed to learn the truth.

“No,” he said with a sneer. “Fate took care of her, not us.”

Her father hadn’t lied to her, after all. Lora’s mother had died in a car accident, killed by a drunk driver rather than by a madman. Her father had been telling the truth, and now he was dead. She would never be able to say sorry for all the pain she had caused.

As she asked him questions, Lora realized they were playing a little game. She moved away, and he took a step closer. She couldn’t be certain if Will recognized his actions, but she couldn’t move far enough away to make a break for it. If she could distract him long enough, she might be able to make it back to her car, or at least to the cottage, where she could lock herself in. Even with a knife in her back pocket, she felt completely vulnerable. The ocean did not sing anymore. The ocean whispered words of advice, of encouragement, but they were so frantic she could barely make sense of them. She shouldn’t have come here alone.

“And what do you need to do?” Lora forced herself to ask the question, though she had no desire to learn the answer.

“Kill you,” he said, as though he were explaining the easiest of concepts. “In my own way. In the way I’ve dreamed about for so long.”

The last thing Lora wanted to hear about was his dreams. If her imagination served her correctly, they were most likely bloody and torturous. “You’ve taken everything from me,” she cried. “My father and Devin. I don’t even have the Clan anymore!” Lora could feel her control slipping. “Why me?” she managed to ask.

“Because of the stories. Because you would be the most powerful Guardian who ever lived. You do know that, don’t you, Loralei?” he hissed. “I’ve fought against my feelings for you for so long. Every day I had to remind myself of the truth: while you were beautiful on the outside, you’re actually a monster.” He moved toward her and his expression changed, reverting back to
her
Will, the friend she loved. “Part of me loved you,” he said. Will stopped and shook his head. The evil in his eyes returned. “But the love is gone now.” He gave her a leering grin. “I will have the pleasure of killing you.”

Lora couldn’t stop the tears any longer. The malice in his voice maddened her, and she couldn’t believe someone she loved so much wanted to hurt her. He had deceived her for so long. Deceived all of them.
Was she so naïve to miss his true intentions all this time? No. He cared about her. He had to.
Lora clung to that small shred of hope as she faced this different man. “I don’t believe you,” she said. “I don’t believe you hate me. Part of you must still care about me. It can’t be all gone.”

Will grabbed her chin in his hand, pulling her close to him, and she winced in pain. “I thought we might . . . have a chance,” he said. He gripped her hard, and her chin hurt. “But then you chose Ryan as your counterpart. You chose him over me.”

“I didn’t choose him!” she protested, trying to break away from him. “The ocean did.” Suddenly an idea occurred to her. If she could placate him, make him think she wanted him all along, maybe she could get away.

Lora could tell by his expression he didn’t believe her. “You love him,” he hissed. “I know you do. Don’t deny it, you bitch!” As he swore, he gripped her face so hard she cried out in pain, which only seemed to excite him more. “Yes,” he said, his voice almost a purr. “You’ll feel pain before I’m done with you.” To her horror, he pulled her to him and kissed her. His lips were hot and hard against hers, and she fought against the bile which rose in her throat, desperate to separate herself from his touch. Using both hands, she pushed against his chest until he broke away.

He grabbed her again, crushing his mouth against hers. Lora realized her plan wasn’t going to work. She had to get away now. Gathering her strength, she bit down hard on his bottom lip and his blood flushed into her mouth, warm and sticky. He cried out and she gagged. Using all of her force, she pushed him away so he stumbled backward, tripping over a rock and falling into the sand.

Lora ran. She heard him swear behind her but didn’t turn back. As fast as she could, on the part of the beach where the sand felt the most solid, she propelled herself away from him, jumping over the rocks under her feet. Reaching behind her, she pulled out the knife and gripped in in her hand. She hadn’t gotten very far, perhaps twenty yards, when she heard someone yelling.

Daring to pause, she spotted Ryan and Nicholas careening down the path toward her. Ryan held the hunting rifle in his hands, but he didn’t stop to aim. He raced forward, shouting her name.

Will ran perhaps ten yards behind her, and he also held a knife.

Lora ran faster, breathing so hard it felt like her heart might burst in her chest. There had to be a way to stop him, but she didn’t stand much of a chance against him. The whispers from the ocean were louder and frantic, urging her along, faster, away from the killer who meant to destroy her. She could only think of survival. For her clan. For Ryan. For her father and Devin.

There was only one way she could stop Will: she needed to make him a stationary target for Ryan. Lora ceased running and turned to face her attacker.

Surprised by her move, Will stopped. A creepy smile formed on his lips as he slowed and continued toward her. “You can’t stop me,” he said. “I’ll kill your lover and the little boy who has a crush on you. They can die first while you watch. Then, I’ll get started on you.” He raised the knife and made a slashing motion with the weapon. “You’ll completely understand who Ortho is before I’m done with you.” He grew close enough to reach her now, and she raised her own knife, which only made Ortho smile. Ryan stopped and raised the rifle.

“Don’t hurt her,” he shouted. “And don’t move.” Faster than she could blink, Will reached behind him and pulled a gun from the back of his jeans. He aimed it at Ryan.

“She’s your friend,” Ryan said, pleading.

The metallic weapons glinted in a single beam of sunlight which shone through the clouds. Neither man moved. Their weapons were steady.

Ryan’s dark eyes narrowed in desperation. “I need her,” he added, glancing at her with a look so loving, she felt weak.

Will sneered. “Not as much as I need to kill her,” he said. Will gripped a knife in his left hand and grasped the gun so tightly in his right that his arm shook with the pressure. He pointed it directly at Ryan. Lora cried out, but Ryan put out his hand to stop her.

Nicholas, who had been standing before the ocean helplessly, gathered his courage. “Leave them alone,” he said in a nasal, whimpering voice.

Will chuckled.

“Your turn will come,” he said. “You’re so weak. It was so easy to convince Douglas and Betsy to turn on you.

Lora shook her head. “Why would you do that?” she asked. “Why would you have two humans pick on Nicholas?”

“Because of you. He followed you around like a pathetic dog,” Will said, gesturing toward Nicholas with the knife. “He wanted you. He lusted after you. You, a monster.” Will repositioned and leaned closer, moving toward Ryan. “No one else is allowed to have you except for me,” he said.

As he spoke, Lora saw Ryan release the safety on the rifle. Will noticed as well, and turned his attention away from her. Taking a deep breath, she summoned the ocean, begging it for help. Will, whose back was to the sea, didn’t notice it rising and creeping toward him.

“You’re wrong,” Ryan growled, his dark eyes flashing. “She’s mine, and you’ll have to kill me if you want to get to her.”

Will’s face contorted in an angry grimace. “Gladly.”

The two men circled one another in a deadly dance, guns raised, ready to shoot. Lora’s heart pounded. She couldn’t let Ryan get hurt, couldn’t bear the idea of being without him. She was his Guardian, and she must protect him, no matter what. The ocean continued to rise, but was moving too slowly. Her eyes burned from exhaustion. If she could throw the knife and hit Will, they might have an advantage. But she’d never thrown a knife before, and the odds of her hitting him were slim. Even so, Lora raised the blade, willing the ocean to hurry. To overcome Will.

Before she could throw it, Will took a menacing step forward and aimed the gun directly at Lora. From the corner of her eye, she saw Nicholas raise his hands. His body twitched and convulsed, and his tiny eyes rolled into the back of his head, revealing startling white. A low moan escaped from his lips. The moan turned into a sharp cry as blue flames burst forth, thrown from his hands like an exploding volcano. The force threw her backwards as the beautiful blue fire stretched its brilliant fingers from Nicholas’ hands toward Will, thrusting forward, licking at the air, searching for their target.

Nicholas’s eyes rolled forward and widened with astonishment. The fire gave off a magnificent glow.

Will screamed and fired his gun in Nicholas’s direction, but missed his target. The gun fell from his hand as his clothing caught fire, a dazzling sapphire which engulfed him entirely. The blue blaze covered his body, head to toe, and Will tried to swat it away like a fly.

The sight stunned and horrified her. Her head felt thick and dizzy with emotion. Intense colors entranced Lora; she could only stare at the flames consuming her former friend, but Nicholas gasped in horror, gaping at his hands which had transformed into lethal weapons.

“I didn’t mean to,” he shouted above Will’s screaming. All this time, the scrawny boy who had followed her around, who people picked on, had been a protector of Sirens. He was still small and vulnerable, however, and Lora grabbed the gun in the sand before Will could get it again. Steadying her arm, she aimed the gun at him.