"I"m okay. Abhainn just scared me." I looked up into his eyes and smiled. "You"re alive."
He laughed and kissed my forehead. "Yes, I"m alive and now I"m rescuing you."
"Thank you," I whispered just as a shadow appeared in the doorway. In an instant, my fluttering insides shriveled and died when I recognized the person standing there.
Still wrapped in Kain"s embrace, I had a moment of sheer confusion. My heart skipped, but not in the way it used to. The time alone had allowed me to grieve for the loss of my selkie and I"d prepared myself to never see him again. And now, he was in Mexico.
Without thinking, I asked Kain, "What is he doing here?"
Brendan moved further into the room and I found myself pulling away from Kain to stand closer to Graham and Abhainn. "Eviana, I"m here to help." He reached for me, but I flinched. I couldn"t let him touch me. Not now. Everything was so jumbled inside. Seeing Brendan had opened the hole in my heart that barely had a chance to heal. I"d ignored that hole when I saw Kain, but now it was fresh and raw.
"I already have help," I said with a shaky voice. "I don"t need you."
"Evs, please..."
"No. Don"t. You can"t call me that anymore." I could feel the tears in my eyes and the lump growing in my throat. I didn"t want to have this conversation.
"Well, as much as I"m enjoying this soap opera, perhaps we can get out of here ? What do you say, tart?" I had forgotten about Graham and his words snapped me back into action. I looked at Abhainn.
"Can we escape?"
"Aye, but we "ave to hurry."
"Can we take him?" I asked, nodding to Graham.
Abhainn sighed. "Do we have to?"
I looked closely at Graham. The fresh bruises and gash on his forehead were signs that he"d been beaten again. If I left him here, Lucian would surely kill him. I couldn"t have that on my consciousness.
He led you to Lucian. My inner voice was right, but during the past few days, I saw how that plan had backfired for Graham. He was just as much a victim as I was. It wasn"t right to leave him here to suffer.
"Yes, we have to. We can figure out what to do with him later," I replied. Kain and Abhainn exchanged a look. I purposely didn"t glance in Brendan"s direction.
"Fine," Abhainn said. "But we have to..."
His words were cut off when he suddenly disappeared under the water. An ear piercing howl echoed through the room and I froze in terror. Ratchets.
A burst of water exploded from the liquid floor then four large ratchets landed in the prison room with a thud. They shook their heads as though ridding themselves of excess water before snarling and snapping at each of us. What happened to Abhainn?
Kain immediately thrust out his arm and focused on the ratchet closest to him. Hopefully he was using his water control to fight the creature. Brendan ran forward in just a few steps and launched himself on the back of the second ratchet. The sprite twisted and clamped his jaws together trying to get a bite of the selkie. Their moves seemed like a ch.o.r.eographed dance, until the ratchet pulled them both under the water. Since Brendan wasn"t in his seal form, he wouldn"t be able to breathe.
I lurched forward to reach for him, but something clamped onto my shoulder. I turned to see a ratchet staring up at me, ready to pounce again. He bit me and that was unacceptable. I prepared myself to attack him when a tendril of water leapt out of the floor and wrapped around the creature"s neck. It screeched and fought, but in a matter of seconds, the ratchet was dead.
Graham made a horrible noise I could only describe as a moan. He"d used his water control to kill that ratchet and now it seemed as if he was paying the price. On his knees and hunched over, Graham coughed and sputtered, trying to catch his breath. I crouched down beside him and wrapped my arm across his back. He just saved me at the cost of his own health.
"Hold on, Graham. I"m going to get you out of here," I said and hoped it was true. A few more bodies slammed into the walls and a selkie was tossed through the door. I looked up to see Julian and Malcolm fighting hand to hand against my guards. Brendan pulled himself out of the water, gasping for air and bleeding from his arm.
"You have to find out what he wants," Graham muttered between breaths.
"What?" I asked not having a clue what he was talking about.
"Lucian...he"s going to do something...you need to find out...to...stop." He continued to cough and I swear that I saw blood spray from his mouth. "He won"t hurt you." I barely understood that last part.
"Graham!" I tried to get him to sit up, but he pushed me away.
"I"m okay, tart." He looked up at me with a smirk. Even though the situation was grim, his smile was addicting. "Nice to see that you care."
I rolled my eyes and stood to survey the battle in the room. Abhainn was back and had the last of the ratchets by the jaw, ripping it in two different directions. With a sickening crack, the sprite"s head ripped in two. Abhainn tossed the body back into the water and wiped his hands. His attention was on the doorway where our three selkies were fighting with two more guards. In no time at all, Julian had them subdued and unconscious. I noticed how he didn"t kill them.
"We "ave to go," Abhainn said. "I"ll leave this way, but the rest of ye will "ave to head fer the beach. Isabel and I will meet ye there." He sunk beneath the surface before any of us had a chance to respond.
"We"ll make sure it"s clear," Julian said. He and Malcolm nodded toward Brendan then walked out the door.
Kain extended his hand. "Eviana, let"s go."
Ignoring him, I finally looked directly at Brendan. "Please help him up." Without hesitation, Brendan came to my aide even though I saw the questions in his eyes. There were hundreds of inquiries to be had amongst us, but none were going to be addressed today.
Brendan wrapped his arm under Graham"s shoulders and lifted him to his feet. "So, you"re the selkie," Graham squeezed out between gritted teeth, obviously in pain from the movement.
Brendan glared at him but didn"t respond. Instead he looked at me. "Please take him with you," I whispered, still speechless at the site of my ex-boyfriend here in front of me.
"Is this what you want?" Brendan asked. It seemed to have a double meaning.
"Yes. Make sure you get him back to the Council." Graham"s head snapped up but I held my finger over his lips. "You need to tell them everything."
"Eviana..." It was one of the few times he"d used my real name.
"Adele will understand." I leaned forward and rested my hand on his cheek. He pushed his head into my touch and closed his eyes. Again, lacking any sort of impulse control, I bent in and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "They will appreciate your honesty."
Graham smiled and I thought I saw something cross his face that resembled regret more than grat.i.tude. But before I could place it, he and Brendan shuffled out the door and disappeared from my sight. I sucked in a big breath and sighed.
"Eviana?" Kain was still waiting patiently for me, but he knew something was going on.
I swallowed the fear in my throat and faced him. "I can"t leave yet."
"What?"
"I need to know more. It"s the only way to stop him." My shaking hands betrayed the false confidence I was trying to exude. Kain rushed to my side.
"No." He kept shaking his head. "No. I won"t let you. You can"t leave me again." Although his words sounded slightly controlling and possessive, they made my heart melt. Kain grabbed my face between his hands. "I can"t lose you."
A single tear fell from my eye and I smiled. His touch sent electricity through my body like a lightning storm at sea. For years, I never allowed myself to let Kain in. Never gave him the chance. And now, in one night, it was abundantly clear how much we meant to each other. How much he meant to me.
"Kain, I have to. My family...it"s connected to this group of leaders who want the war. Lucian was just beginning to tell me everything." I tried to put all of the words racing through my mind into some kind of cohesive thought. "He won"t hurt me. Not anymore."
"Anymore?" Kain dropped his hands to his side and balled them into fists. "He kidnapped you. Stole you against your will. You can"t stay here with him."
I reached for his hands and squeezed them tightly in mine. "Just a little longer. There is a Council meeting in two days. Meet me there and I will leave with you. That should be enough time..."
"Enough time for what?" he asked.
"For me to discover which leaders are on his side and figure out how we can defeat him. Some of the Council is with him, Kain. We can"t prevent this war if we don"t even know who we"re fighting."
"What about your clan, Eviana? They need you." His forehead wrinkled in despair. He wasn"t kidding when he said that he didn"t want to let me go.
"This is what"s best for them. It"s the only way I can help. He won"t hurt me." I realized then that I was going to have to tell him everything. My breath caught and it took several tries for me to speak again. "I"m his daughter."
Kain"s mouth dropped open. He placed his hands on my shoulders so that he could get a good look at my face. "What?"
I swallowed hard. "It"s true. My mother never told me. That"s why he"s been insisting that I join him. We share the same blood." I thought about how Graham and I had a bloodline that was instinctually attracted to each other. But then I looked at Kain. Instincts may win over some, but the feelings we had for each other took a lifetime to build and that made our connection all that much stronger. My stomach did a little flip flop at that realization.
"I...I don"t know what to say," Kain stuttered. I pulled his arms around my waist so that we were as close as possible.
"You need to say that you will go tonight and take care of Graham. He is the only other one who knows. Use him to convince Adele and the others not to succ.u.mb to Lucian"s commands. He"s planning something...some kind of attack. I need more time to find out what it is."
"But what will he do to you when he sees that Graham escaped? You may be his daughter, but he"s still a ruthless b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
I rose up on the tips of my toes and kissed him. "Thank you," I whispered.
"For what?"
"For trusting that I can handle this."
"I didn"t say I was leaving," he replied with a little bit of an edge. "I want you to come with me." I kissed him again. "And your affections are not going to persuade me." His voice was light but he refused to break eye contact.
My emotions had negotiated the gauntlet of feelings this evening. I was ecstatic that my friends came to rescue me, elated that I had a chance to leave, concerned about my obligation to discover more about Lucian"s plot, and euphoric with the realization of how much I loved Kain. And looking into his eyes, feeling his warm body pressed against mine, I knew that this was our beginning.
"No?" Another quick kiss on his soft, moist lips. "I think I can be pretty persuasive." I reached up to touch him again, but he pulled away and shook his head.
"Eviana, I can"t do this. I can"t leave you here. Not now." He turned away from me and walked into the shadows. "Do you have any idea what you"re doing to me?"
I stepped next to him and grabbed his hand. He still kept his body facing the opposite direction. "Kain, just two more days. And then we can start our life together." What that meant exactly, I didn"t know. But I felt those words come out of my mouth and I knew that I this is what I wanted; Kain and I to fight together, rule together, and be together. Just as it had always been planned.
He looked at me with such love, that it nearly broke my concentration. In one swift motion, he grabbed me by the waist and lifted me up against him. His mouth covered mine and I didn"t hold back. I wrapped my legs around his sides and enjoyed the feel of every part of his body. I"d heard that stressful situations could lead to extreme behavior, but what surged through my body was so much more than adrenaline. It was pa.s.sion, desire, completeness. Everything I thought I"d lost when Brendan walked out of my life. If we weren"t in such a dire circ.u.mstance right now, I think we could have behaved this way all night long.
At some point we stopped making out like our life depended on it and hugged each other tight. I shed silent tears, hoping that I was once again making the right decision. In my gut, I knew that I was. But in my heart, I never wanted to let go of Kain.
I slid back down to the floor and pushed him toward the door. "Go."
Although Kain was naked and very exposed, he stood there in total confidence. This is what a true leader was. He had an aura about him that I could only hope to emulate. "I hate doing this."
"I know," I said. "But it"s only for two more days."
He ran his hands through his s.h.a.ggy blond hair. "I wish I knew why you had so much power over me." At first I thought he was upset, but when I saw his brilliant smile and sparkling eyes, I knew the question had been rhetorical.
"Go," I whispered.
Without saying another word, he ran through the door and down the path to the beach. I watched him go with a heavy heart. I hoped they would be okay. I hoped that they would all survive.
When Kain reached the edge of my sight line, he turned and looked at me. I lifted a hand in acknowledgment, aware of how much it trembled. I didn"t want him to leave. He waved and then ran around the bend, disappearing into the darkness.
I remembered the night before our wedding when I said goodbye to him for what I thought was going to be the last time. Tonight, I wished he could stay next to me forever. I had to believe this wouldn"t be the last time we saw each other.
With many of the selkies still asleep or knocked out cold, I didn"t think it would take long for Lucian to discover what had happened. Resolving myself to face what was coming, I left the prison door opened and waited inside on the floor as my heart continued to pound and my stomach fluttered like a trapped bird.
I really hoped that Lucian wouldn"t harm me.
Thirteen.
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 sh.o.r.e. 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 s.h.i.t," 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.