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  “Humans are not here to serve us!” yelled Kain.

  “No?” Jeremiah snapped. “Then why can I do this?”

  In an instant, every single human servant stood and briskly walked over to the edge of the pool. As one, they jumped in and disappeared underneath the surface. The stillness was startling after the echoes of the splashes disappeared into the walls. The music beat rhythmically in the background and we all sat in stunned silence for a full minute. None of the humans came back up for a breath of air.

  “What are you doing?” Kain asked in desperation.

  “Proving my point, cousin. If humans weren’t around to serve us, I wouldn’t be able to enter their mind and tell them to sit on the bottom of this pool until I commanded differently. They will stay there until their lungs give out and they take that last deadly, gasping breath. And they will do that simply because I told them to.”

  “Stop this!” I cried.

  Carissa and I rushed over to the edge of the pool only to see twenty bodies sitting on the bottom of their deadly liquid crypt. A few of them began to twitch and release bubbles from their mouths. They were running out of air yet Jeremiah was willing to let them die to prove a point.

  “We get it okay? Humans are weak and feeble. Now please release them!” I screamed at Jeremiah.

  “Not just yet,” he murmured.

  More bodies began to jerk and shudder under the water. Carissa reached down toward one particularly young female who sat directly below us, but before her hand got to the water’s surface, another one reached up and grabbed her. She let out a scream as a clawed liquid hand with long, bony fingers wrapped around her wrist and held her arm in place.

  “What is that?” she cried out.

  Shaking her arm back and forth, she tried to dislodge the fingers. When she lifted her hand up, an arm, shoulder and then head appeared at the surface as though she pulled this creature from the depths of its lair. Its hand was large but the rest of the body was only three feet long. The water sprite smiled and a mouth full of sharp, pointy teeth filled its malevolent grin. He snapped at Carissa, causing her to scream again.

  I heard several noises at the surface of the water like dolphins breaking through for a quick breath, and when I surveyed the pool, I saw at least a dozen water sprites smiling back at us. Each one had an oval shaped head, long pointed ears, and sharp teeth peeking out from underneath their lips. But they couldn’t distract me from the real horror. Every human under the water was now struggling. A few of them had stopped moving and I feared the worst.

  “Please…” I whispered through the tears in my eyes.

  As if on command, the water sprites dove under the surface and began to toss the humans one by one up on the side of the pool. Some of them hit the edge hard enough to make a sickening crunch and I wondered if the sprites were causing even more damage. Coughing and sputtering noises consumed the room while the servants began to expel the water from their lungs and breathe in the oxygen they so desperately needed.

  “What have you done?” Kain gasped as he watched the water sprites play with shoes and pieces of clothing stolen from the helpless humans.

  “Who them?” Jeremiah asked innocently as he watched the faerie-like creatures play while he continued to pet Malcolm who hadn’t moved from his position. “Why, I own them too. I captured two of them in a bog several years ago and they’ve bred like bunnies ever since. As you can see, I now have a little family that continues to grow each year. In fact, we’re expecting a new arrival in a few weeks.”

  “This is why they shunned you,” I guessed while helping Carissa to her feet. We walked over to Kain who stood on the opposite side of the table as Jeremiah. We’d overstayed our welcome and I saw that we were all ready to go.

  “For this and other things,” Jeremiah replied lightly. “As I said, what’s the point of being a merman if we don’t use our gifts? You have them too, you know.” He waved his hand at each of us. “All of you do. You should try it. It’s addicting,” he hissed. My body ran cold and Carissa grabbed my hand in hers.

  “Are you going to help us?” Kain said stoically.

  Jeremiah sighed and turned his attention to the selkie at his feet. “Malcolm,” he started like someone would speak to a child, “do you know where they may have taken the skin?”

  Malcolm stirred and tilted his head like he was trying to concentrate. “Maybe,” he whispered. “There’s been a rumor that a large group of selkies have been seen just outside the city. Perhaps this is the army controlled by the Sutherland leader?”

  “What city?” I asked.

  “Malcolm, what city?” Jeremiah repeated since he seemed to be the only one Malcolm could listen to.

  “Baltimore.”

  “Thank you, shifter.”

  Jeremiah pushed against the selkie to stand up and Malcolm fell back against the floor. The action was so condescending that I almost couldn’t stop myself from running over to Malcolm to see if he was all right. But I held my ground for fear of making the situation any worse for Jeremiah’s slaves. “If you would like the assistance of my selkie, you may take him.”

  I looked at Kain who seemed to be contemplating the same scenarios. If we took him then he could get away from here, but Jeremiah would probably only force him back and punish him. Or worse, the Sutherland clan may call to him and he would be compelled to kill us. I looked over at Malcolm who stared intently at me. There was a special place in my heart for selkies and this broke that place into pieces.

  “No thank you,” Kain finally answered. He lifted his head and straightened his shoulders. “We will see ourselves out.”

  Not only did we want to walk out on our own free will, but all of his human servants were still lying around the edge of the pool recovering from their near drowning episode. We turned and began to move to the arched exit that would get us away from this place.

  “Don’t be strangers,” Jeremiah called after us, making no attempt to stop our hasty retreat.

  We’d gathered the information we needed and Jeremiah succeeded in scaring all of us with his sideshow acts. No one said a word. Only the sound of our shoes clicking against the wood floors echoed through the empty house. I kept feeling that something was watching us around every doorway and behind us in the hall, but I refused to turn around. I didn’t really want to know what was there. I’d seen enough horror for one day.

  When we finally made it outside to the front porch, Abhainn was waiting for us in his fountain. “What was going on in there?” he asked in a thick accent. “I could feel the pull of ma master ‘n it almost made me leave ma pond.”

  “Could you have done that?” I asked.

  “I don’t know,” he said while shaking his head. “It wouldn’t ‘ave been smart though. I can’t survive very long away from ma water.” He floated on the water’s surface as he followed our movement along the edge of the fountain. “Why are ye leavin’ so soon? Did my master scare ye away?”

  “Something like that,” I grumbled. We reached the car and Kain started it before unlocking the doors.

  “Please take me with ye mermaid. I can be of great assistance, ‘n this place is just not right for me.” He fell to his knees at the edge of the concrete border and held his hands together to emphasize his plea.

  “Where are you from?” I asked.

  He stood and straightened out a jacket that was barely visible in the outline of his aqueous body. “I come from the Old World, but I was captured in a Canadian lake nearly twenty years ago. This pond,” he said as he acknowledged the small watery prison, “is not enough space for me. I’m dying ‘n my master refuses to release me.”

  I looked across the top of the car at my two companions. After what we’d seen today, I knew I’d never forgive myself for not helping all of these water creatures that Jeremiah kept captive. And from the identical looks on Kain and Carissa’s faces, I guessed they felt the same. Without speaking a word, I nodded to them and walked back to the Scottish sprite.

/>   “How do we get you out of here?” I asked.

  Abhainn’s eyes suddenly glowed a sparkling silver and his grin stretched from ear to ear. In it, I saw hundreds of pointy teeth, but I tried not to flinch for fear of being rude. “Do ye ‘ave a bottle?” I ran back over to the car and opened the door. I remembered seeing a few discarded water bottles in the back seat so I quickly grabbed one and approached the sprite.

  “What do I need to do?”

  “Nothin’ lassie. Just put it in the water ‘n I will climb in.”

  I looked at the bottle and then at the sprite, and then back at the bottle again. How would he possibly fit inside? Instead of voicing my question, I did as he said and pushed the bottle under the water. Bubbles instantly filled up the space followed by millions of water particles. Abhainn disappeared beneath the surface and for a few moments, I wondered if this would work. Then I felt a rush of energy push its way into the bottle and my hand warmed as the water heated up inside. I’d captured Abhainn. Briefly, I wondered how Jeremiah had done it so long ago since this only worked because Abhainn was agreeable. I couldn’t imagine what it would take to imprison an unwilling sprite.

  I pulled the bottle from the water just as Kain told me to hurry up. Twisting on the lid nice and tight, I jogged back over to the car being careful not to shake the contents too much. Once I slid into the back seat, I held the bottle up in front of me, searching for Abhainn. We were back on the road heading to my hotel when a tiny face suddenly appeared pressed against the side of the clear plastic. I almost screamed and dropped my new friend, but recovered fast enough to avoid disaster. Abhainn had shrunk to just a few inches large and I marveled over his ability. He smiled at me and offered a wave with his tiny hand before disappearing again.

  “Is he in there?” Carissa asked as she turned around in her seat to face me. I handed her the bottle.

  “Yes.”

  “I can’t believe you stole Jeremiah’s sprite,” Kain said with bemusement.

  “What was I supposed to do? Let him stay there trapped under Jeremiah’s commands and in his little fountain.” I took the bottle back from Carissa and looked out the window. “It’s just not right.”

  “No one’s arguing with you,” Kain replied.

  “So what’s going to happen now? Can Jeremiah summon him back?” I asked as a knot grew in my stomach. What if he came after us?

  “I doubt that,” Kain assured me. “He’ll be mad but he’ll probably just go out and collect another. It seems to be his thing.”

  “And this is what the Sutherlands want? The freedom to control humans, shifters, and other water creatures?”

  “It looks that way,” Kain sighed.

  “So what exactly is The Legacy?” Carissa asked and I was thankful that I didn’t have to be the one to do it and expose even more of my ignorance to my friends.

  Kain stayed quiet for a little while but finally began to tell us what we were up against. “It’s considered to be our birthright. We’ve had a special relationship with humans since the beginning of time, and can usually coexist without any problems. But ever since they first came to be, we’ve had a distinct power over their minds. Legend says it was a gift from Poseidon himself. It allowed for our existence without being discovered and as a result we were worshipped as gods.

  “As we became more powerful through our control of humans, the shifters and the water fairies saw the importance of siding with us. It was a relationship that strengthened when we discovered we had the ability to call them to us on demand. For years, the shifters and water sprites fought for power and the right not to be controlled, and ultimately our Council declared a truce and promised that no merfolk would ever be permitted to take away their self control in exchange for their silence and limited interactions with humans.”

  “So that’s why we’re all taught that water sprites are extinct?” I interrupted.

  “That and because there are so few left. The selkies are allowed to breed as necessary with the humans, but they are expected to maintain a solitary life away from their human mates so their secret can be maintained. Once the child is born, it is taken away from its human parent to be raised by the selkie one.”

  I thought about Brendan and his relationship with his dad. That was exactly what happened to him, and once Brendan was old enough to be on his own, his father pushed him away. “So now there are merfolk who…what? Who want to control all humans like their personal puppets? I don’t really understand what that would accomplish.”

  “It’s not just about controlling their minds. They want to control the power. It would be easy enough for merfolk to ask a billionaire to donate all of his money to a false charity. Or command the president of a country to approve policies beneficial to the needs of each clan. It’s simply too much control for any one family to have. This happened before in our history, and wars have been fought with their human soldier puppets over land and money and power. With the world in the position it is in today, another war like that would be the end of us all.”

  “How many clans are involved?” Carissa asked, and I was surprised she didn’t know more considering her family had already been dealing with a direct casualty.

  “I’m not sure. We think there are at least three right now and they’re all on the east coast. But for some reason their plight is gaining notoriety and numerous clans are contemplating joining them. There’s so much unrest in the human world right now that some of the clans feel like our involvement is inevitable and maybe even necessary.”

  “And they think that war amongst our own is the way to achieve this?” I asked in disbelief. “Killing merfolk and controlling a lesser species is not the way to fix this.”

  “And what exactly would you do?” Kain asked critically as he looked at me through the rearview mirror.

  “Well…I’d certainly squash the Sutherlands first. Take off the head and the rest will follow, right?”

  “And what happens when they send an army of selkies and water sprites after you and your family?” he countered.

  “Then we use our abilities to take back control and set them free!” I yelled. A smile curved along the corners of Kain’s mouth and that made me want to jump into the front seat to slap it away. “What?” I demanded.

  “You’re just like your mother.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Your mother? You know, the leader of your clan, the one who gave birth to you, the one you ran away from? Your mother wants to do the exact same thing.” He shook his head in either disbelief or frustration. “She wants to fight back too.”

  “Well of course she does! Who wouldn’t?” When he didn’t say anything, I finally understood. “You don’t, do you?”

  Carissa glared at him and I could almost see him throw up the walls around his emotions. “No, I don’t.”

  “How can you say that? They are killing us. How many will have to die?” Carissa’s hysterical voice spit venom and I certainly didn’t envy Kain at the moment. He sighed again as though he’d had this argument a thousand times.

  “No more should die, but going after them directly will only start the war they want. There has to be a better way.”

  “Like what? Talking to them?” she screamed.

  “Yes, exactly. We should all approach the Council and let them handle it from now on.” His voice was soft but something about it seemed unsure.

  “The Council is well aware of the situation and they have not done anything to stop this. My uncle was a very powerful figure amongst our kind both here and in Japan and even after his death, the Council continues to be blind. They are choosing not to help just like we should be choosing to fight back!”

  Kain couldn’t argue with her anymore and neither could I. Our families needed to do something before this situation got out of control, which considering what we knew already and what we’d seen Jeremiah do, was getting close. We were almost back to the hotel and before we made the final few turns, I tried to ease the tension wit
h a change in subject.

  “I’m going after the selkies in Baltimore.”

  If I’d really thought it through, I would’ve realized this may not have been the best thing to say. Both Carissa and Kain proceeded to yell at me and tell me how it would be a suicide mission and that I needed to find another solution. But there wasn’t anything else for me to do. Brendan was dying and the only way to save him was to recover his skin.

  I sat there, in the backseat covered with pillows and magazines and pretended to listen to their concerns. One thing was for sure, my friends were back. They may not have wanted to admit it, but they still cared about me and the warmth of that acknowledgment helped to give me the courage I knew I would need to save Brendan.

  By the time we arrived, both Carissa and Kain made me promise not to do anything stupid right away, so I did just to get them off my back. Daniel was waiting next to the door with a smile on his face although it didn’t quite reach his eyes.

  I gave him a quick hug and tried to walk inside. He stepped in front of me and put his hand on the door knob.

  “Daniel, let me in,” I demanded.

  “You need to know something first,” he said without looking me in the eyes. My stomach plummeted to the ground and nausea swept through me like a freight train.

  “What happened to him?” I whispered although I barely heard the words myself.

  “Nothing, Eviana. He’s just really sick.”