The Syrenka Series Box Set Read online

  It was going to be a nightmare when we got home. I doubted that anyone had heard about my mother yet and my heart dropped when I thought about my sister. She’d be devastated. And she’d blame me. In all honesty, she had every right to. It was my decision to run away that ultimately led to the death of our parents and my ascension to clan leader; two things she never wanted to happen.

  I sighed and looked up at the sky. The warm salty air wrapped me in its embrace, soothing me for just a moment. I recalled meeting the lake naiad and her premonition that I had a lot to learn and my journey would not be long. She was right in saying that I had little time to adjust to my new life. I had absolutely no time at all.

  There was a war coming amongst our people. A war that needed to be handled before the humans suspected anything. All of us would have to fight and some of us would likely die. I was the one making those life and death decisions now. Me and me alone. Kain may say that he’ll be there too, but he had his own clan to worry about. And now he also had Carissa.

  But I was alone. Brendan was off deciding whether or not he wanted to be with me, which hurt me more than I could ever imagine. He needed his space and his time, but how long could I really wait for him? How long would it be before I stopped hurting? I didn’t have the answers right now. Only time would tell how my life was going to go.

  And right now, my time was running short.

  Two car doors slammed shut as Kain and then Daniel crawled inside. The ignition purred while my friends waited for me to join them. With one last deep breath, I stepped forward. It was time for me to face my destiny.

  It was time to go home.

  Justin Bernard got ready for high school just as he’d done for the past four years. Only two more weeks and he’d be finished forever. No more teachers. No more annoying community service requirements. And most importantly, no more immature high school girls. At the end of the summer, he was going off to the largest state university in California with a full athletic scholarship. Partying, girls, and football games were how he intended to make the most of his college years.

  Yet Justin suddenly forgot those frivolous dreams once he walked into the coffee shop on his way to school. He couldn’t remember how it happened exactly. One minute he was picking up his order and the next second he turned and bumped into the tall blond man.

  “Oh, hey sorry,” Justin blurted the apology even though the other guy blocked his way.

  Brushing a few splashes of coffee from his expensive jacket, the man smiled down at him. “Not a problem. You’re Justin, right?”

  Staring up into his pale blue eyes, Justin thought it weird that this stranger knew his name but he felt compelled to answer. “Yes.”

  The man wrapped his long arm around Justin’s shoulders and ushered him to a small table in the back corner of the shop. A warm wave of calmness rushed through Justin’s body as he shuffled along with the stranger.

  “Um, I have to get to school,” Justin managed to say as they reached the table.

  “Yes, I know. This won’t take but a minute.” For some reason, Justin trusted this man and he willingly sat down with him. The man seemed daunting yet his voice soothed Justin’s mind. As he slid gracefully into the chair, Justin continued to stare at the handsome smile on his face.

  “Justin, I need you to do something for me.”

  “Sure. Anything,” Justin replied quickly, like the words flowed without conscious thought.

  The man’s smile widened and his eyes seemed to glow in the early morning sunlight. “Do you know Eviana Dumahl?”

  Taken aback by his question, Justin raised his eyebrows. Sure, he knew who Eviana was. They went to the same small school. But other than an occasional word here and there, they never really spoke.

  “Yes, but I don’t know if she’s still there. I haven’t seen her in a while.”

  “What about her friends?”

  “I know a few of her friends.” Justin’s mouth turned up into a crooked smile. “One or two in particular.” He’d impressed some of the girls by personally inviting them to one of his parties. They were all too eager to express their gratitude later that night.

  The stranger nodded. “Perfect. Now, here’s what I need you to do.”

  Justin left the coffee shop in a haze. The gift the stranger had given him felt heavy in his hands and his words filled Justin’s head with images of rewards and girls. He only had one thing to do, and right now, that was the single thought in his mind propelling him forward.

  Upon arriving at school, he immediately searched for Eviana’s friends. With a few minutes before the first class, most of the students gathered in the courtyard delaying the time until they became trapped inside all day like prisoners.

  The small group of girls stopped speaking when he walked toward them. He noticed the slight blush rise to their faces and the nervous way they shifted to greet him. Normally, this would have been flattering, but ever since the stranger’s request, nothing else mattered. As though disconnected from his consciousness, Justin opened the rectangular box and looked down at the gun the man had pushed into his hands.

  Nothing else mattered right now except for hurting Eviana Dumahl.

  I wanted to punch him in the face.

  For at least the hundredth time today, I swung my fist at his infuriating smirk. He easily dodged it, of course, and proceeded to look down at me like a child.

  “You’re getting closer,” he teased.

  Throwing my arms down in frustration, I shook my head. “How am I supposed to learn if you won’t even let me get a hit in?”

  He laughed and resumed a fighter’s stance. “How are you supposed to learn if I just stand still and let you pummel me? That’s not ever going to happen in the real world. Now, try with your legs.”

  I rolled my eyes and shifted my feet so that my stronger right leg was in front. Ideally, I’d be having this battle underwater where my legs weren’t an issue.

  “Protect your face,” he yelled at me and I lifted my fists up to nose level. I could do this. He’d taught me how to incapacitate my enemies. Just go for the knee.

  I faked a few smaller kicks, pretending to hesitate. Then, like a ninja, I struck. The underside of my right foot was directly on target and I expected it to land a perfect hit to the side of his left knee. Only it didn’t happen.

  Out of nowhere, he grabbed my ankle and I was suddenly airborne. The world spun around me once before I landed with a thud on my back, effectively knocking the air from my lungs. I even saw some stars floating by. My training sessions were getting harder every day, and after this debacle, I decided it was time to quit.

  A shadow moved above me and I used my hand to block out the rest of the sun. Looking up at his ominous figure I said, “I’m done.”

  I heard another laugh rumble through my trainer’s chest as he reached down and grabbed my arm. In one swift motion, he pulled me up off the ground.

  “You would’ve broken my knee with that kick, Eviana. I had to stop you.” I glared at him. “What?” he continued. “I’m not going to let you hurt me. But you did well. I knew you’d learn eventually.”

  I jumped toward him as fast as I could, intending to get him in a choke hold. My arms slipped around his neck, but my body kept rolling over him as he bent forward and used my momentum to toss me to the ground. In less than two seconds, I was on my back again with a forearm pressing against my throat and my pride seeping away into the dirt.

  “Ahh!” I screamed in frustration. The annoying grin on his face told me I would never beat him in a fair fight. Palmer was my cousin, my trainer, and also one of the numerous protectors now living at my house. We’d been practicing for the past two weeks and although I couldn’t hurt him yet, Palmer reassured me that I was improving.

  Ever since Lucian Sutherland killed my parents a few weeks ago, the security around my home increased. As the new clan leader, I wanted all of my people to learn how to fight. No one would be helpless against an attack. There was a war brewin
g amongst the various merfolk clans, with my family seemingly taking the lead against the uprising. It wasn’t a position I’d ever expected to be in, nor ever wanted. In fact, I ran away from this life for a chance to be with my boyfriend and not be forced into an arranged marriage and clan leadership. But that all fell apart the moment Lucian and his followers attacked me and my friends and pulled me into the center of the merfolk politics I’d always tried to ignore.

  “Do you yield?” Palmer asked while pressing a little too hard against my throat. I gave him the most deadly look I could muster and tried to push against his mind. It was futile. Merfolk couldn’t control each other like that.

  But we could use compulsion on humans. It was what the clans were fighting over now; the right to practice The Legacy and secure our status of god-like creatures in this rapidly evolving world. Controlling humans meant directing the stock market, influencing world politics, and dictating numerous other scenarios that I really hated to think about. Lucian wanted me to join him in his cause to help persuade the Council, our governing body, to allow us to manipulate the minds of lesser species. I had refused his offer and that cost me everyone that I loved.

  Thinking about this made me angry. With my newfound strength, I kicked my legs and aimed for any part of Palmer’s body I could reach. His arm pressed harder against my throat as he scrambled out of the way, barely avoiding a hit to his most precious area.

  “Oh, you’re in trouble now,” he warned. Palmer’s grip lightened slightly and his free hand moved toward my ribs. In an instant, he began tickling me so hard that although I tried to resist, I couldn’t. Tears spilled out of my eyes and I couldn’t catch my breath.

  “Stop it! You’re going to make me pee my pants,” I managed to say in between the giggles.

  “That wouldn’t be very attractive,” a new voice chimed in. Palmer and I sat up quickly and I felt the heat rising to my cheeks.

  “Good afternoon, Master Matthew,” Palmer said after he jumped to his feet. I remained sitting on the ground to give myself a chance to recover and to make sure I really did have control over my bladder.

  “Palmer, you can call me Kain,” the new guy said lightly. Kain looked as good as ever at six feet tall with an athletic body and sun bleached shaggy blond hair. It was growing out a little bit now, and it seemed as though he didn’t quite know what to do with it. He was my age and a clan leader himself. His smile was always friendly but I knew his dark sunglasses hid disturbingly haunted eyes.

  Kain was the fiancé I’d abandoned not long after his father died and he assumed leadership. We’d been promised to each other since children but I never really had any intentions of marrying him. My heart had always belonged to Brendan; my selkie. Brendan was a shape shifting seal, and with my abilities to control all selkies, no one thought we should be together. After the events a few weeks ago, Brendan began to feel the same way and had decided not to return home with me. I hadn’t heard much from him since he left and often worried that our relationship was over.

  Although my friendship with Kain was still on the rocks due to my actions, we were trying to keep our clans united in the face of war. He was frequently a guest at our house and his budding relationship with Carissa seemed to keep him content. We never spoke about our almost kiss. That was probably for the better, although I would sometimes find myself wondering what would have happened had I chosen a different path. Kain was an amazing guy and quickly becoming a respectable leader. And I couldn’t help but realize that Carissa was a lucky girl.

  “Sure, Master….um…Kain, sir.” Palmer continued stuttering out his words as though he was standing in front of a rock star. “Are you here for practice?” My cousin looked around nervously. “I hope I haven’t missed an appointment.”

  “Oh no. I had a water session this morning and I’m spent,” Kain said with a smile. He had a way of making those around him feel at ease with very little effort. It was a really great quality and one I wish I could master. “I’m actually here to talk to Eviana.” Kain looked down at me and I couldn’t tell if we were going to have a good or a bad conversation.

  I stood and brushed the sand from my body. My hair pulled against the back of my head, so I retied my ponytail to keep the long blonde pieces from falling in my face again. Trying to be casual and confident I threw back my shoulders and faced my cousin.

  “Palmer and I are finished now.” Turning back to Kain, I added, “Why don’t we go inside so I can get a drink.”

  He nodded and we began to trek back to the house. I felt something hit the back of my skull and I spun around to glare at my so-called protector. He was standing there with a huge smile on his face tossing a small pebble up and down in his right hand.

  “Remember your training is never over, Eviana.” He threw the pebble at me again and I swatted it away. Tipping an invisible hat in my direction, Palmer turned around and jogged off to meet the other guys training further down the beach.

  “Jerk,” I muttered under my breath.

  Kain laughed. “That’s pretty tame of you.”

  “Yeah, well…see how grown up I am now? I didn’t bother to call him one nasty name that came to mind.”

  He smiled at me. “I’m impressed.”

  My heart did a little flip-flop. I knew I had messed things up pretty bad, so any compliment from Kain was encouraging at this point.

  We climbed the stairs leading up to the expansive redwood deck my ancestors had built around our house. Just before reaching the top, a petite figure with long dark hair like my mother’s leaned over the top of the railing and began waving her arms at us.

  “Eviana! Kain! You need to come inside now!”

  “We’re already on our way, Marisol.”

  My little sister had also been forced to grow up after our parent’s death. She and I still didn’t get along most days, but over the past few weeks she seemed to realize that putting our differences aside would be the only way we could live together. Plus, I was her legal guardian now so she really didn’t have much of a choice.

  “Well move faster!” she yelled. “You need to see this!”

  I had no idea what she was talking about. Maybe she learned a cool defensive move or maybe her new cat was doing something cute. I didn’t really care to be honest. She still blamed me for our parent’s deaths and she didn’t hide her true feelings about my promotion to clan leader. We had a damaged relationship for sure.

  Marisol disappeared inside just as we reached the top. Shaking my head, Kain and I silently continued toward the sliding glass doors that opened up into a large kitchen and dining area. The television blasted from the adjacent living room where we had been summoned to. Quickly grabbing a bottle of water, I leaned around the counter to see that almost everyone inside had gathered in front of the large flat screen, vying for a spot to see the show. I looked questioningly at Kain, who waited for me, but his slight shake of the head told me he didn’t know what was going on either.

  “Eviana!” Marisol’s squeaky voice called again, although this time it was tainted with something I couldn’t quite place. Maybe fear or despair and my stomach dropped at her tone.

  I pushed my way to the front of the crowd to see what all the fuss was about. One of the local channels was on and the words “Breaking News” kept flashing across the top corner of the screen. Marisol sobbed and a female protector tried to soothe her.

  “Can someone turn this up?” I asked trying to ignore her sniffling so I could hear what was happening.

  The newscaster, a thirty-something year old man with perfectly manicured hair and an award-winning solemn face, began to speak. “I’m standing outside of The Wensler Academy where a student has just been arrested for shooting several others earlier in the day. Eighteen-year-old Justin Bernard,” he said while reading from his notes, “was detained by police almost an hour ago. Sources say that Mr. Bernard came to school with a loaded pistol and brutally attacked three female students.”

  Pictures of the injured girls
flashed on the screen and I sucked in a panicked breath. “Kristy Smith, Carlee Robinson, and Mia Sarcowski all sustained serious injuries when Justin opened fire on them without warning.” The newscaster disappeared and an interview with an eyewitness student filled the screen.

  “He kept mumbling the same words over and over. I couldn’t understand him but it sounded like ‘I must hurt her friends’.” The redheaded boy shifted nervously and his eyes darted to and from the camera.

  “Do you know whose friends?” asked the reporter. The boy continued shaking his head.

  “No. I don’t. It’s just so weird. Justin wasn’t like that. He would never hurt anyone. I…I don’t understand…” His attention jerked toward the crowd behind him where Justin and the police had just emerged from the building. The star athlete’s hands were cuffed behind his back and two officers escorted him by the elbows. They hustled him to the car, but not before the reporter stuck the microphone in front of his face.

  “Why did you do it, Justin? What was going through your mind?”

  I didn’t know Justin well, but from what I saw of him right now, there was something very wrong. His pupils were dilated and his lips never stopped moving. He wouldn’t answer the reporter’s questions and instead stared straight ahead as if in a daze. Just before the police pushed his head into the backseat of the car, the camera man got a close enough shot for me to pick out a few words.

  It was only three little words but they sent ice through my veins. How was this possible? What could he mean? None of it made sense to me and when he said “hurt Eviana Dumahl” over and over, the reality of what this could represent suddenly came crashing down.

  “No,” I whispered in a state of shock. Three of my closest friends from school had been shot and I believed it was in an attempt to get to me. We continued watching the news until the repeating film loops gave me a headache. The ticker on the bottom of the screen said that all three girls were in critical condition at the city hospital, but doctors were hopeful with their prognoses.