That’s when Nerezza had done the horrible thing to Orsay. With her hands around Orsay’s throat. Squeezing. Orsay had barely seemed to fight back, as though she accepted it.
Nerezza had carried her to the rock and dragged her to the top.
“She’ll be fine,” Nerezza had lied to Jill. “And if you do exactly what I say, you’ll be fine, too.”
Now Orsay stared through blank, empty eyes. She hadn’t seen Mary lead the children to the cliff.
She hadn’t seen Mary pull the children off the edge.
Hadn’t seen them fall.
But Jill had.
Jill sang.
Tho’ like the wanderer,
The sun goes down,
Darkness be over me.
My rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I’d be
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer, my God, to thee,
Nearer to thee!
Sam’s killing light died.
Brianna stood still completely still.
Astrid froze in mid-cry.
The kids of Perdido Beach, all within sound of the Siren’s voice, stopped, and turned toward the little girl.
All but three.
Little Pete stumbled toward his game player.
Nerezza laughed and reached down to give a hand to Drake, who was swiftly regrowing what he had lost.
“Sing on, Siren!” Nerezza cried, giddy, triumphant.
Sam knew in a distant, far-off way what was happening. His mind still
worked, though at a tenth of its normal speed, gears turning like a windmill in the faintest breeze.
Drake could almost stand. In a moment he would come for Sam. He would finish what he had started.
The memory of pain bubbled slowly up within Sam. But he lacked the power to move, to act, to do. He could only watch helplessly. Just like before. Helpless.
But then, out of a corner of his eye, Sam saw something very strange. Something was flying very fast over the ocean.
He heard a distant thwap thwap thwap.