Kain
Leaving her hurt worse than being skewered by Lucian’s sword. I wasn’t even sure how I walked away from her at all. There must have been a part of me that knew this was what needed to be done, otherwise I surprised myself with my actions.
And what about the way she responded to me? I still couldn’t believe what had happened. My heart swelled with love just thinking about her lips. For so long, I wanted this for us. And for so long I feared that it was a lost cause. But now it was really happening. We had a chance to make our lives fit together in every sense of the word and I could barely hold back the grin on my face.
Then it hit me. How could I leave her when I felt so strongly? When she felt so strongly? I had to go back.
I turned away from the surf and made it a few steps before stopping. No. I needed to trust that she knew what had to be done. She wasn’t injured and she swore he wouldn’t do anything to harm her. She was his daughter after all.
His daughter. That still didn’t sit right with me, and I hoped that I could find out more from Graham. Lucian Sutherland had to be the most obnoxious, repulsive merman of us all and Eviana was part of his own flesh and blood. It was frightening to think about. But I also knew Eviana as a person, as a leader, and a friend. They may share the same blood, but she most certainly was not her father’s daughter.
Just before reaching the water, I saw several heads beyond the breaking waves. Troy beckoned me to hurry up, but one of the seals swam closer to the shore. I watched him look up and down the beach and then glare at me. Before he slid out of his fur, I knew that Brendan wasn’t happy.
“Where is she?” he demanded. “Where. Is. She?” This time, it was accompanied by a not so subtle push against my shoulders. I stumbled back and tried to catch myself, causing me to realize that most of the pain from my injury was finally gone. “If you left her there, I swear I will kill you!”
“She has a plan,” I said, holding my hand up to warn him away. “We have to trust her.”
“How can you say that?” Brendan ran toward me, his green eyes glimmering with rage. “I have to get her!”
“No, you don’t. She won’t go with you.” I watched his face curl in disgust.
“Just like she wouldn’t go with you?”
“She doesn’t want to see you and I know what I’m doing.” It took every ounce of respect I had for Eviana not to get in his face. He had no right dictating Eviana’s life.
“You don’t know shit,” he spat. Moving so that we were inches apart, he pushed his finger into my chest. “Just because she was happy to see you tonight does not mean she will want anything to do with you later.”
“Get your hand off me,” I snarled, surprised at the intensity in my voice. The adrenaline was rapidly taking over.
“You can’t order me around.” He stepped past me toward the boat house. “Just like you can’t stop me from rescuing Eviana.”
I didn’t think, just reacted. The moment he took one step in that direction, I pounced. Pushing him to the ground, I used my body weight to hold Brendan’s face against the sand. He struggled, but I held tight. “You have to let her do this. For once, stay out of her life.”
Brendan suddenly pushed upward and tossed me off to the side. I found myself on my back with his arm pressed tightly across my throat. I managed to get my hands underneath his forearm, but he was strong. We were pretty equally matched.
“I’m not going to sit back and watch you take her from me, fish. I may not be able to have a life with her anymore, but neither will you.” The heat from his breath only infuriated me more.
We rolled in the sand two more times before I was able to break free. Jumping to my feet, I prepared to fight him head on. “So what? You’re going to kill me, dog?” Just try it, I thought to myself.
Brendan came after me again with a fist that I dodged and countered. My hand landed against the side of his ribs and he yelled in pain before I felt my legs fall out from underneath me. On my back again, Brendan wrapped his hands around my throat. I punched at the side of his head, but he wouldn’t let go. His eyes glowered with craziness.
Suddenly, his body flew away from me and I sucked in a deep, cleansing breath. “Get up!” Julian commanded at me. “You two have attracted too much attention.”
He stepped over me and walked to Brendan who was now sitting on his knees waiting for his punishment. It was such a strange submissive behavior. I really needed to find out who Julian really was and why he wielded so much power over the selkies.
“Kain?” Troy called to me from the surf. “Is everything okay?”
I lifted my hand in acknowledgement. “Yes, I’m coming.”
Brendan and Julian slipped back into their skins and swam to the boat away from the rest of us. I joined Troy who told me Palmer and Graham had already started the trip. We passed Isabel and Abhainn under the water along with a dozen new ratchets who appeared to be in Isabel’s favor. As we moved out of sight, I heard the clashing of teeth and bodies as the ratchets continued protecting us from the selkie guards and others of their kind.
I was grateful for the physical relief from fighting, but my mind was still seething with anger. So much of me wanted to get rid of Brendan once and for all, yet the adult in me knew it was a hasty reaction. I didn’t have the luxury of acting on impulses. If I did, things would be much easier in my life. Especially the decision to leave Eviana behind.
We reached the boat without encountering any more attacks. Surprising, considering this was Lucian we were dealing with. Palmer and Graham had already shifted back to full human form and were waiting on the boat. I watched the three selkies launch themselves from the water, each landing hard on the bow but successful in their attempt. They quickly pulled out of their skins and slid on pieces of their clothing.
Troy and I kicked our way into the boat, my legs transitioning before I even finished the move. It appeared that my clan leader perks were back in full swing. Abhainn surfaced without Isabel and I checked his face to see if something was wrong.
He smiled. “Thank ye fer yer concern, lad. But she is going to stay with her kind fer a while. They ‘ave some catching up to do.” Abhainn floated up out of the water and hovered over the boat for a moment before gently lowering into the driver’s seat. “Where is Eviana?” he asked, looking all around.
“He left her,” Brendan growled.
“What?” Graham and Palmer asked at the same time.
“I will see her again in a few days. She has her reasons and we all need to trust that she knows what she’s doing.” I directed my comment to Brendan, but it was Abhainn who spoke next.
“Interesting.”
“What’s interesting?” I asked.
He waved his hand and started the boat engine. “Nothing to be concerned with, lad.”
We jerked forward and I nearly fell off the side as Abhainn turned us around. Someone pulled on my shoulder.
“Why did she stay?” Graham yelled into my ear over the noise of the engine.
“She said that she needed to find out more from Lucian.” I looked at him square in the face. “And I’d also like to talk to you about that as well.”
Graham smirked and then glanced off into the distance. Something about his reaction bothered me, even though I couldn’t place exactly what it was. I think it was almost as if he expected it.
I noticed Palmer sitting with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and a paleness to his skin that I hadn’t seen before. “Are you okay?” I asked.
He tried to smile. “Are you sure this is the right thing to do?”
I knew he was worried, and rightly so. He was his cousin’s primary protector. “Yes. And when we get on the plane, I will explain everything to you.” I patted his shoulder and he nodded. Palmer was a loyal friend.
The surprisingly calm water cooperated with our escape for most of the ride. But as we got about halfway back to the mainland, the swells increased and we were forced to slow to idle speed.
“What’s going on?” I asked Abhainn, who was concentrating on his driving. He shook his head. “Do you think we should just swim?”
“Aye, perhaps that would be better.” He motioned for us to jump overboard. Swimming under that water was much easier in a storm than swimming on the surface.
I looked up into the sky and wondered if there was something else going on. Not one single cloud hid the millions of stars and there was very little breeze. Why did the ocean turn so rough?
As if answering my question, Graham suddenly stood and thrust his arms out to the side. Almost immediately, the water split around the boat and curved up to join in the center above our heads. We were surrounded.
“Good idea, Master Forrester,” Palmer said with a smile. It appeared Graham had subdued the waves.
But then I saw the expression on Graham’s face. Something was off and it sent a shiver down my spine. He threw his arm up into the air and I watched in horror as a giant wave slammed into the front of the boat, knocking every selkie overboard. In another quick move, Graham managed to wrap Abhainn in a water tunnel, effectively freezing him in place. Abhainn’s face mirrored the horror of my own when we both realized that we had been duped.
Palmer attempted to attack Graham, but just as he was about to touch him, he screamed out in pain and grasped his head. Falling to his knees, Palmer was helpless as he rocked back and forth in the boat.
Graham looked at me. “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “She trusted you!” I attempted to fight against his water control by throwing a wave or two at him myself. It knocked him around, but he still maintained his grip on Abhainn and Palmer. Two tendrils of water shot out from the top of our aqueous tunnel and grabbed Troy’s legs. They lifted him up and pulled his body in opposite directions until his screams pierced through every one of us.
“Stop this!” I yelled, pushing my own water control onto Graham. It was enough for him to drop his hold on Troy, but the merman fell back into the boat and I thought I heard something crack in his neck. He landed hard and he didn’t move.
“I am going to leave here and you are not going to follow me.” I thought Graham was talking to me, but then noticed that he was looking at the three selkies who were trying to climb back on board. “If these guys make any attempt to come after me, you will kill them. Do you understand?”
A chorus of affirmatives filled the night. Graham had control of everyone on this boat in one way or another. He was as powerful as Lucian if not more. Why did Eviana want to help him?
“What about her?”
“Who?” Graham asked nonchalantly as he squeezed Abhainn a little tighter. This was every sprite’s worst fear; being trapped in the water by a merman.
“Eviana! She wanted you to help us.” I tried to move closer to Graham, but stopped when he looked at me.
“Uh, uh. Not one more step or I will have these selkies tear into each and every one of you. However, not before I squeeze the life out of this one,” he said nodding at Abhainn, “and make his head explode,” he finished with a look at Palmer.
“We will come after you,” I snarled.
“I have no doubt,” Graham said with an arrogance unmatched by anyone other than Lucian. “Tell Eviana I will be expecting her.”
With that, Graham dropped the tunnel and flooded the entire boat with a thousand pounds of water. It landed hard on top of us and I tried to cover Palmer with my body the best I could. Abhainn yelled and dove on top of Troy who was still completely unconscious. By the time the wash of water subsided, only the seven of us remained. Graham was long gone.
“Dammit,” Julian cursed and let out a frustrated sigh. It had to be hard for them to be so susceptible to merfolk compulsion.
“What was that all about?” Brendan asked, coughing and spitting excess water from his lungs.
“It appears Master Forrester was a part of this all along,” Abhainn snarled.
“Do you think he’s going back to her?” I asked.
“No. This was part of a plan. He will not return to the island.” Abhainn sounded so sure of himself. He stood in the center of the boat and helped Troy to his knees. Thankfully he wasn’t hurt too bad. “We have to abandoned ship.”
“Huh?” Palmer asked, rubbing the sides of his head. I still didn’t know what Graham had done to him. It wasn’t possible for merfolk to control each other. Or was it?
Abhainn gestured to the front of the boat which was quickly taking on water due to the excess weight from Graham’s wave. Gathering what bags were still within reach, we jumped into the water and continued to the mainland.
I thought about what just happened. Lucian didn’t appear to be the only powerful one, and when Eviana mentioned that Council members were involved, I wondered if she realized just how right she had been.
I wouldn’t let her go to that Council meeting alone. I was going to be there and I would make sure that she came home with me this time.
