Desperate Lies (Lies 2)

I gaze dumbly from her to Siren. I try to reassure Siren with my eyes, but Siren will barely even l

ook at me, she’s so disappointed in me.

“I think it’s your turn to tell a truth about the letter, killer. Tell me something.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you whatever you want. Just don’t hurt Siren.”

“Tell me,” her voice shakes. This is about more than that stupid letter we ripped in half all those years ago, but I’ll appease her if it will calm her down.

I think through all the secrets I could tell, but the one I choose is obvious. She’ll figure it out soon enough if she hasn’t already.

“When your father dies, the secret will be told. Others will start looking for the treasure. You will have a choice—do nothing and let them take it, or go after it and protect it.”

“My father died a month ago.”

I nod, already knowing that. But I wasn’t sure if she did.

“So all these attacks have been people coming after the treasure?” she asks.

I nod again.

“You thought Waylon was coming after the treasure? That’s why you killed him?” She’s sobbing again.

“I killed him because he was hurting you.”

She shakes her head. “You don’t understand. Waylon would never hurt me.”

“You didn’t love him, Liesel. You can do so much better than that guy. He was using you.”

“You don’t understand. How could you? Waylon was everything to me.”

Her words stun me. How could she care about Waylon?

“You killed the one person I needed in my life, so I’m going to do the same to you.”

“Liesel,” my voice is a warning. I start surveying my options. I don’t have a gun, but I have a knife in my back pocket. That’s my only option to stop her.

“I thought about killing Phoenix, but then I remembered you don’t love Phoenix. You love Siren.”

“If you do anything to stop her, I’ll kill you,” Maxwell says from beside me a second before I grab my knife. My eyes cut to him in surprise, and I see the gun he has pointed at me.

Liesel had help, that’s how she was able to pull this off.

I have to reason with her. That’s all I can do.

“I’ll tell you everything. Everything on my half of the letter. I’ll trade your life for Siren’s, just don’t kill her. I’ll do anything,” I say.

More tears stream down her face as she looks at me.

“Huntress, please.”

“You’ve always said I was the huntress who could never kill. You’re the killer; I’m the huntress. Today, the huntress becomes the killer.”

Then I watch in horror as she pulls the trigger.