The Syrenka Series Box Set Page 18

  “No…your father…gone.” She shook her head but I still didn’t understand. “Killed,” she breathed.

  “What?” My hand stopped soothing her and I jerked my head toward Lucian. “Where is my father?” I demanded, trying to sound stronger than I felt right now.

  Lucian raised an eyebrow then pushed to his feet. “He wouldn’t let your mother go without a fight.”

  “Where. Is. He?” I ordered between clenched teeth.

  “In California.”

  “Alive?”

  “Not anymore.”

  In my mind, I watched myself leap over my mother and wrap my hands around Lucian’s neck, squeezing so that he couldn’t speak ever again. I beat him until I couldn’t move, taking out all of my pain on the man that killed my father. But what I did instead was much more mature than I would have ever anticipated. Lucian wanted something and if it would get my mother and my friends out of here alive, than I needed to bargain with him. There was a reason that my mother wasn’t dead yet.

  Standing to face my adversary, I heard Daniel and Carissa crying behind me. But I didn’t look at them. I would grieve for my father later. “What do you want?” I asked softly.

  “I want your clan to join me. The Dumahls and the Matthews will secure enough of a force to make the Council finally listen. They’ll have to reinstate The Legacy.”

  I shook my head. “You still don’t get it, do you? I’m not a part of my clan anymore. I have no authority! I don’t even exist in their eyes!”

  “You’ve only been shunned by your leader. Once she’s gone the problem is solved.” Panic seared through me. What was he going to do?

  “I…I can’t take leadership from her. It doesn’t work that way. She was chosen.”

  Lucian snapped his fingers and someone instantly grabbed my arms and pinned them behind me. I struggled to break free, but their grip was too strong. My friends were soon contained by another group of selkies as well. There was nothing we could do now except watch what was coming.

  Lucian sauntered over to my mother who had pulled herself up to her knees to face her enemy. She turned sideways and it allowed me to see that she was clearly being as defiant as she could in this position. Her chin jutted forward and her shoulders pulled back, taking one last stance. When Lucian reached her, he brushed a piece of hair behind her ear in a very personal gesture. She allowed it, but I saw her swallow hard.

  “Such a waste, Marguerite. Such a waste. You should have accepted my offer.” He continued to caress her cheek like a lost lover.

  “She will never join you,” she said.

  “We’ll see,” he replied just before reaching out with inhuman speed and snapping her neck.

  “Mom!” I screamed.

  The bile in my stomach rose up into my throat. At that moment, it seemed as if I’d entered a dream. Everything moved in slow motion. I nearly ripped my arms out of their sockets from pulling so hard against my captor while the nauseating crunch of my mother’s bones echoed throughout the cavern. Her lifeless body slumped to the floor for the last time. Lucian followed her down to the ground but I didn’t know why. A moment later, he stood, holding her shield in his hand.

  He started to walk toward me but I continued to struggle. I didn’t want this. My mother was the leader, not me. I was a selfish runaway child who didn’t have the knowledge to lead my clan. I could never be like her. And the only two people who could have prepared me for this were now dead.

  “Stay away from me!”

  “Eviana, it is time for you to make a choice. Lead your clan and his and do what’s right.” Lucian nodded behind me at Kain, implying we came as two for the price of one. “This shield is meant for you. Wear it and own it.” His hand shot out and the broach flew through the air in my direction. There was nowhere for me to go.

  When the shield landed against my chest, I slammed back against the selkie holding me. The golden double wave that represented our clan began to glow. Air pulled from my lungs and every part of my body tingled. The hair around my face began to fly around in a silent breeze like the naiad’s watery tendrils in the mountain lake. Closing my eyes, I tried to focus on that power. The shield had chosen me and I’d contemplate the reasons why later. For now, I had to tap into this source and use it to get us out of here. Vaguely, in the background, I heard Lucian cheering.

  “Do you see that?” he asked the crowd. “This was her destiny. It’s just marvelous.” His sing-song voice almost made me break my concentration. But the magic coursing through me right now reminded me to focus.

  “Kain?” I whispered.

  “I’m here,” he said right next to me, apparently not being assessed as a threat any longer.

  “It’s time.”

  With that, I threw out my hands and opened my eyes, staring at Lucian. The pounding of my heart was almost as loud as the sharp gasps and exclamations from the merfolk watching me pull every selkie and every human nearby under my command. Doors opened and closed throughout the room as more and more humans emerged. Their blank faces looked similar, and as they got within a few feet of me, every single one dropped to the ground on their knees. In just a couple of minutes, I was surrounded by three dozen people.

  Lucian’s expression grew weary. He’d suspected that I could do this, but still wasn’t sure if I was on his side or not. “How impressive, Eviana.” His voice held a slight shake. “This is why I need you.”

  “You don’t get to make that choice,” I said.

  A bit of his arrogance appeared again. “You can’t control me too.”

  “I don’t need to control you,” I said.

  With a mental shout to those surrounding me, I commanded them to attack Lucian and his allies. I sent in the humans first. Not because they were cannon fodder, but because I wanted the selkies with me. For some twisted reason, I trusted Julian to get us out of here.

  The ensuing sounds of hand to hand combat filled the room over, as the resonance reverberated off the walls. With another mental push, I pulled all of the selkies into a circular formation around us. Brendan limped up along the side of them but didn’t try to come any closer. I swallowed a ball of regret knowing we’d talk about this later.

  “We have to get out of here!” I demanded. “You five lead the way, the rest follow behind.”

  We started to move back to the tunnel that should take us to the underwater cave. Julian was at the head of the group, not once hesitating over his orders. I looked back at my mother’s body lying on the cave floor. I wanted so badly to take her with us, but knew it could potentially mean the difference between life and death. Not only had I turned Lucian down, but I captured his army. He wouldn’t let that slide this time.

  “Eviana!” Lucian yelled at me while single handedly fighting off four different humans. “You have made a huge mistake! This is not over!”

  I shuddered at his threat knowing full well that he planned on coming after us again. I didn’t think the humans could kill him and I also didn’t know how long my hold over them would last once I was gone. In fact, I could already feel him pushing against my mind in an attempt to win back control of his subjects.

  We ran toward the tunnel faster than I’d ever run before. Brendan was directly in front of me now, and I noticed that he tripped and stumbled much more often than the rest of us. He still wasn’t healed completely but my command of his mind had overpowered his body’s resistance to its injuries.

  When we got to the pool, I immediately told everyone to change. The swim was too long for human lungs. Julian ran into a side cavern and before I could call him back, he came out with his arms full of seal skins. It was weird, but at this moment weird would work. Daniel, Carissa, Kain, and I began to strip off our clothes. My three friends dove into the water together in order to encourage their transition. The ten or so selkies that were still by our side also slipped into their skins and plunged into the pool. Julian and I were the last two on shore.

  “Your hold is slipping,” he warned.

/>   “I know. I can feel it.” Lucian’s presence in my mind seemed to suffocate me, and one by one, I felt my control drop away from individual humans. It was like someone cut the cord from my power to theirs. “How long do we have?” I asked Julian.

  “A few minutes at most.” He put his arm around my waist and pulled me toward the end of the rock outcropping. “We have to go now.”

  I didn’t even get a chance to agree. He pushed me into the water and nearly landed on top of me a few seconds later in seal form. Even though scared, my bones fused with an ease more akin to how the selkies change. I never had a transition happen so smoothly and when I was admiring my new painless tail, I also noticed something golden reflecting on my waist. The clan shield had made its way to me again. I’d forgotten about that when I’d thrown off all of my clothes, but just like Kain had mentioned a while ago, it seemed to want to be attached.

  Julian grunted at me under the water. When I grabbed one last breath, I noticed a few humans emerge from the darkness. Lucian had control of them now and we’d definitely overstayed our welcome. I dove down to the opening of our escape route with Julian right behind me. Waiting there was my selkie; my Brendan. I smiled for the first time in several days at the sight of him. He blew a few bubbles in my direction before disappearing head first into the tunnel.

  The three of us moved so quickly that the sediment from the bottom of the cave created mini vortexes and virtually erased any visibility. The tunnel seemed to go on forever and for a brief moment I wondered if we’d escaped into the right one. Lucian and his group had made the underwater labyrinth suitable for their own needs, so who was to say there weren’t multiple entrances and exits.

  That thought had me pushing Brendan both mentally and physically to move faster. Until we were free of this area, we weren’t safe. Just a few moments later, we arrived at the opening. Brendan and Julian shot to the surface, but something in the distance distracted me. I couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as though the water shimmered and the spot was moving closer.

  Curiosity got the best of me and I used a few powerful kicks to get a better look. The quivering particles reached out toward me and wrapped around my back. It reminded me of a couple of octopi arms and they seemed to be just as strong. They pulled me to the far side of the pool where the river became shallower and the rocks created a dam to hold back the waterfall’s flow.

  Struggling to break free of this thing, I was able to breach the surface and call for help. I didn’t know who would hear me, but someone had to be nearby. Once I filled my lungs, I looked back underneath the surface to see a pair of watery human arms wrapped tightly around my waist. Following the arms, I searched for a face and screamed when one appeared just a few inches from mine.

  His pointy teeth and oblong head reminded me of his true nature.

  “Abhainn!” I screamed underwater. We surfaced together and I immediately pushed him off of me. “What are you doing? Let me go!”

  “Eviana, calm down.” He moved away from me and raised his translucent hands. “I’m here to help.”

  “Help? How did you get here?” I looked around the perimeter of the pool and was delighted to see my friends and the selkies emerging from the water and changing forms.

  “Let’s just say I can be very persuasive,” Abhainn continued.

  “Huh?”

  “Apparently nereids enjoy making bargains. It only took a few warm bodies to convince them to let me go.” His lips curved up into a sinful grin sending chills through my spine.

  “I don’t want to know,” I said wholeheartedly.

  “Aye, perhaps some other time then. But for now, ye need to get out of this water.”

  With one powerful kick, I pushed myself onto the rocky beach and was again surprised that my legs almost instantly returned to me. It was like I just had to think change and I did. Perhaps it was because of my new position, but regardless, I was very much liking this new me.

  “Mistress Dumahl?” Abhainn asked while staring at the shield still attached to my hip. He looked at me with immense curiosity.

  “I’ll explain later.” Right now, I couldn’t talk about it without grieving for what I’d just lost.

  “Eviana, they’re coming!” Julian yelled from the far side of the pool. I watched the water’s surface, waiting for heads to pop up but no one came.

  “There,” Abhainn pointed toward the top of the waterfall with an enormous smile.

  Suspicious, I followed his lead and turned my head up to the colossal rock outcropping. The water seemed to flow faster and the pounding at the bottom grew exponentially louder. But when a tidal wave came barreling over the top of the falls, I watched in fascination as the water flowed out and away from the river and defied gravity. Two, three, and then at least several more tendrils spilled from the wave and spiraled out toward us. As they came closer to the ground, I saw the outline of a horse’s head. First the snout pushed through the curvature of the wave, followed by the top of its head and then finally a neck. As the figures became more prominent, they also started to fill in.

  The largest tendril produced the most beautiful black horse I had ever seen in my life. His feet were covered with long hair, making them look like massive stones. Every muscle protruded from his body, highlighting the creature’s magnificent curves. Each horse ran out of the water and onto the rocky shore, dripping and shaking while calling to one another. Aside from the black one, the rest were all pure white and by the time the wave subsided, seven horses stood in front of us.

  The black one shook his long mane and reared up on his hind legs. The rest of them followed suit, leaving me in awe at their intricate dance. I turned to face Abhainn who remained floating above the water.

  “What are they?” I breathed.

  “Kelpies.”

  “Kelpies? They’re real?” I gasped.

  In response, Abhainn raised an eyebrow and gestured to the herd of horses positioned amongst my friends. Of course they were real.

  “Where did they come from?”

  The black one, who appeared to be their leader, walked over to me. He was at least eight feet tall and I couldn’t resist the urge to brush my fingers over his snout. Lowering his head with permission, I rubbed the long lines of his face. The fur reminded me of Brendan’s seal skin sending a familiar calm throughout my body. His dark black eyes moved back and forth, keeping watch both over me and his herd.

  “I brought them,” Abhainn continued.

  I looked at him in confusion.

  “I figured that ye might need the extra legs. They will help get ye out of the forest much faster.” The horse nickered and bobbed his head up and down in agreement with that statement.

  “I…I don’t know what to say.” Not only had Abhainn found a way to bargain for his own life, but he’d conjured an escape plan for us as well.

  “We’ll just consider our debts even at this point.” He drifted closer toward the center of the pool and began to sink into the dark depths of the water.

  “Where are you going?” I called after him. “Will I see you again?” There was a part of me that would miss this unusual water sprite.

  “Aye, lassie. We will see each other again.”

  And with that, he disappeared from sight. The stallion pushed his head into my shoulder, encouraging me to move. The rest of the kelpies began stomping their feet on the ground in a sign of restlessness. None of us had mounted the horses, but when mermaid heads began breaking through the water’s surface, we didn’t hesitate.

  “Eviana!” screamed Lucian.

  “Come on,” I yelled while reaching toward Daniel. In pairs, we all jumped on the kelpies and began riding away. Daniel and I were the last to leave the waterfall, and when I looked back at Lucian, his face twisted in rage and disgust. I knew that this wasn’t the last I’d see of him. He’d come after me and my clan with a vengeance. The only thing I could do now was get back home and prepare.

  I kicked my heels into the side of the kelpie and grasp t
he thick black hair of his mane. Daniel’s arms wrapped so tightly around my stomach, I could barely breathe. We didn’t look back again as we galloped down the river’s edge. Each kelpie appeared to float effortlessly over the water as though they were still a part of it. We dodged around low hanging branches and jumped giant river boulders. I’d never been on a horse before, and if I hadn’t been running for my life, I might’ve had a chance to enjoy how truly magical this was.

  The moonlight reflected off the water and the white kelpies making them glow. Kain and Carissa were on the horse directly beside us. She leaned against his back with her eyes closed, giving total trust to Kain and their kelpie. I remembered letting Brendan take care of me like that. But after tonight, everything was going to change. Would Brendan forgive me for taking control of him? Would my clan accept me as their new leader after everything I’d done?

  I knew this was a turning point for me. Today was the day I had to grow up. No more selfishness. No more tantrums. I had to face the music, so to speak, and I have to admit I was more than a little scared.

  We rode down the river for thirty minutes before the kelpies stopped. The forest began to disappear and it looked like this was as far as the water horses were willing to go to avoid being discovered. After I dismounted, Julian and Brendan made their way to my side.

  “We can go to Keith’s to get some clothes,” Julian said.

  “Who’s Keith?”

  “One of the selkies. He lives a few miles up the road and he’s already on his way there for a car. We all need clothing.”

  It was true that every single one of us was naked, leaving our belongings behind in the chaos of our escape. Hopefully, Lucian and his crew would take care of that so as to not create any suspicion about missing human swimmers.

  I nodded my head in thanks and looked past him at Brendan. He smiled weakly at me and that was invitation enough. In two steps, I closed the distance between us and threw my arms around his waist. With my head buried in his chest, I began to cry. Brendan wrapped one arm around my back and the other rested on my head. He kissed the top of my hair and held me for what felt like hours.