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  Interesting. I wondered why he wouldn’t want to reveal this skill. Someone made a coughing noise and we both looked up at Graham who watched us with intense curiosity. Thankfully, whatever he wanted to say, he kept it locked down and remained silent.

  “Well, that is a shame,” Christopher replied to Kain’s statement with an air of superiority. I highly doubted he had the same amount of power that I’d displayed, but it was probably better to keep my mouth shut.

  Lyonetta gave Christopher a warning glare before continuing. “Eviana, your talents are promising and we do think your plan to overtake Lucian’s armies is valid.” That earned three different snorts from the members who apparently weren’t in such agreement. She ignored them. “But you need more practice. And I’m not talking about practicing with your friends at home,” she said and held up a hand to stop my impending protest. “You need to train your mind like an athlete would prepare for a competition. Your gift is a tool and your tool needs to be in prime condition for us to be able to accomplish what you have both proposed.”

  I had no idea where this conversation was going. Perhaps Mistress Lyonetta would work with me personally. Something inside of me panicked at that idea. The women looked like a meek grandmother, but she absolutely frightened me. I watched as she took in a breath and sat back slightly in her seat. Her jaw clenched, leading me to believe she was uncomfortable with what she had to say next. This certainly didn’t bode well for me.

  “There is only one person who we feel can give you the adequate training you need. He is rather…unconventional in his beliefs, but he is strong and he is powerful.” She turned her head from side to side to look at each member with what seemed like a warning not to protest. “We are going to send you to Jeremiah Williams.”

  “Oh, no you are not!” Graham shouted at the same time I said, “You can’t be serious!” Jeremiah Williams was probably the most repulsive merman I’d ever met aside from Lucian Sutherland. He was Kain’s distant cousin and he’d been shunned from his clan because his beliefs were too closely aligned with what we were fighting against. I’d watched in horror as he almost killed his entire human staff to prove that we were stronger and more powerful and deserved to have the world know it.

  “He is already aware of the arrangement and is looking forward to getting back under our good graces by helping Eviana.” The Council leader was standing now but she suddenly didn’t seem as intimidating as before.

  “Please, you can’t send me to him.” I couldn’t possibly imagine spending one minute in the presence of that man. Trying to think of anything to help my case I blurted out, “Hasn’t he been shunned?”

  As soon as I said it, I wished I could take back every word. The atmosphere in the room changed and I knew that I was treading on thin ice. One of the female members spoke first.

  “Yes, he has. Just like you were.” It was snippy and rude and totally true. My mother shunned me when I ran away from my family and my responsibilities to our clan. It was a punishment that few had received and revoking my shunning was difficult at best. When Lucian murdered my mother and the shield connected with me, it showed everyone that I was meant to be the next leader. And although our birthrights are never questioned, it didn’t mean that the rest of my clan had to like the outcome. I was still having problems with authority in regards to my leadership status and the only reason I’d been accepted was because Kain backed his entire clan behind me. It was with his support that I was even allowed back in my own home.

  “And just like you, he will have the opportunity to prove his usefulness,” Mistress Lyonetta replied sharply.

  “You won’t always have the final say, Adele,” snapped the female member.

  “Well you certainly won’t be next in line, Reina.” The two women stared at each other with such mutual animosity I swear the room dropped in temperature. I watched in fascination until something suddenly clicked in my mind. Had the Council, or more specifically Adele Lyonetta, played a role in my acceptance as clan leader?

  “Ladies, please. Any more of this and I’ll have to request a mud wrestling competition,” Graham said in an attempt to diffuse the hostility. What he got instead was total disgust.

  “You should not be here!” Reina yelled. A vein protruded from the center of her pale forehead and her face contorted in rage. “Your manners are repulsive and your attitude is incorrigible. I have had enough of this group tolerating your presence.” She turned to face the others. “We need to do something about this.”

  “Agreed,” stated Christopher and I think I saw two other members nod their heads.

  “Enough!” Adele Lyonetta did the hand slamming on the table thing again and everyone immediately focused on her. “Eviana, you will go train with Jeremiah Williams until he feels your progress is substantial. While you are gone, Master Matthew will oversee your clan’s daily duties and will report back to me each week.

  “Weeks?” I asked. “How long do I have to stay with Jeremiah?” I knew I should’ve remained silent, but things were quickly getting out of control.

  “Until he deems you ready to face Lucian,” Lyonetta stated matter-of-factly.

  “Adele,” Graham sighed. “You know he won’t willingly let her go.”

  She turned and I saw him cower under her stare. “That is why you are going to escort her.”

  “Oh, no I’m not,” he quickly replied. I didn’t know if I should be thankful or offended.

  “You are,” she declared. “Reina is correct in saying that your attitude could use a slight…adjustment. As a member of this Council we are putting Eviana’s safety and success in your hands. You will make sure that Jeremiah teaches her what she needs and you will assume responsibility for her well-being.” She sat back in her chair and smiled a little at the shocked expression on his face. For the first time in what I suspected was a long time, Graham Forrester was speechless. “It will be good for you.”

  He looked like he wanted to protest. His eyes traveled between me and Adele and Kain and back again. With pursed lips and a childish scowl he crossed his arms and hunched back into his chair. I saw the amusement written all over the remaining Council member’s faces. It seemed as if the prodigal son had finally been put in his place and they were all too smug about it.

  “Master Matthew, I would like to speak to you in private for a few moments. The rest of you may go. This meeting is adjourned.” Mistress Lyonetta stood and walked away from the table to the door that opened into an adjoining hallway. Without saying a word, Kain followed her. I was pretty sure he’d tell me what the conversation was about, so I tried not to panic.

  The remaining Council members and their protectors began to exit the room. Graham stood and downed the rest of his drink in one swallow. Smacking his lips together, he suddenly looked at me. I felt about as tall as an ant when I was under that dark stare of his deep brown eyes. He seemed to look right through me and it was a feeling that, quite frankly, freaked me out.

  “I didn’t sign up for this so that I could be a babysitter,” he mumbled, referring to his seat on the Council. I suddenly went from a girl he had hit on to a child that needed watching. For all of the growing up I’d done over the past several weeks, nothing could have made me feel more inadequate than what he’d just said. A part of me wanted to cower and hide, but a bigger part of me wanted to spit in his face.

  “Well, I’m not too thrilled about this either,” I said with a surprisingly solid voice. “Do you really think I want someone looking after me? It’s bad enough I have to see Jeremiah again.” My body shivered involuntarily at that thought.

  “You’ve met him?” he asked with honest curiosity.

  “Yes.” I didn’t elaborate.

  “And…” Graham prodded.

  “And he’s awful.” I sighed loudly and sat down on the closest chair. “This whole thing is going to be awful.”

  Graham didn’t say anything after that. He just watched me for a few long seconds and then began to leave the room. Right be
fore walking out the door, he turned around and winked at me. “See you in the morning, luv.”

  I collapsed against my knees and tried to think of the positives. When I realized there were none, I sulked up to my room and waited for Kain to return. I must have drifted off because the sound of the lock beeping woke me with a start.

  “Oh, sorry. Did I wake you?” Kain asked.

  “No, it’s okay.” I waited for him to sit down on the couch across from me. “What did she want?”

  He shrugged his shoulders. “Just to clarify exactly how I should report to her.” Lying back in the couch, he crossed his arm over his eyes. “I told her we already worked together on a lot of the day to day operations and that I’d work with Andre in your absence.”

  I cringed at the mention of my uncle’s name. He would be all too happy to have a chance to rule for a while. “Do I really have to do this?” I groaned.

  Kain chuckled. “Oh yes.” He rolled his head so that he could see me with one eye. “And I have to say, I’m kind of satisfied with this.” I looked questioningly at him. “You’re going to be miserable and there’s still that part of me that thinks you deserve to be miserable.”

  Well that’s honesty for you. I knew he hadn’t completely forgiven me, but his comment was still harsh. I didn’t even know what to say, so I stayed silent until I couldn’t stand it anymore. “I will forever be sorry for how I hurt you, Kain. But I can’t change the past. If we’re going to work together, then at some point we’ll have to move beyond this.”

  “Is Brendan coming back with you?” he suddenly changed the subject.

  “What?”

  “Brendan? You seemed pretty happy when you got back from your date. Did he profess his love for you?”

  “Your attitude is noted. And yes, he said that he wants to come back.” If I wasn’t getting so irritated right now, I would’ve been somewhat uncomfortable with where this discussion was going.

  “Hmm…” Kain replied.

  I couldn’t stand it. “You don’t need to act like this,” I said.

  “Like what?”

  “Like,” I waved my hand around, “this. All…angry and stuff.”

  “I’m not angry.”

  “No?” I questioned with more than a little attitude myself.

  “It’s just going to be different, that’s all.” I probably would have argued more if I hadn’t heard the change in his voice. He’d softened up a little and it was quickly taking the fight out of me as well.

  “You have Carissa now,” I said without thinking.

  “Yes. Yes, I do.”

  When he didn’t say anymore, I continued. “And she’s really good for you. You guys seem like you’re getting along.”

  He rolled his head to face me again. “Do you really want to talk about this?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Then I’m going to bed. You should do the same. Your flight is at six.” He stood and grabbed himself a bottle of water. “I’ll check in with you every day, okay?”

  I nodded my head and tried to smile. It wasn’t very convincing. Without saying another word, he closed the bedroom door and left me to my thoughts.

  An hour ago I’d been so happy. Brendan was still coming back to me, but now it could be weeks or months before I would be allowed to leave Jeremiah’s. Kain was obviously not thrilled about Brendan’s return and now I also had to deal with Graham. Jeremiah was evil incarnate and I was his new protégé. If I would have known how quickly things could change, I would have stayed in that coffee shop forever.

  When you don’t sleep at night it’s easy to get up early. My one lone bag leaned against my legs like a lap dog as I waited for the alarm to go off. We were leaving the hotel just after four in the morning and I must have been on my bed for the past two hours. I felt tired but the peace of mind I needed in order to rest was nowhere around. Kain hadn’t stirred as far as I could tell so instead of asking him to accompany me in my misery, I left him alone.

  Yet when I walked out of my room, I was surprised to see Kain waiting for me with a small thermos in his hand. He smiled and shifted from side to side.

  “I made you a drink for your flight.”

  “Thank you.” I was relieved we wouldn’t leave things on bad terms. “You didn’t have to do that.”

  “I know.” He pushed the thermos into my hands and looked down into my eyes. “Please be careful, Eviana. Jeremiah can’t be trusted and Lucian will be looking for you.”

  I swallowed hard, trying to stay strong. “I’ll be okay.”

  The silence stretched between us. Just before I was ready to give in, Kain reached forward and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

  “Be safe,” he said.

  “I will.” I watched him shuffle back into his bedroom before turning to leave. It was a nice feeling to know we were still friends. I needed Kain’s support more than he’d ever know.

  When I opened the door to the hallway, I was met with a pleasant yet very sleepy face. Apparently my cousin didn’t have any pressing thoughts on his mind. “Oh, you’re ready?” he stumbled.

  “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep,” I said while closing the door behind me. “Are you coming too?” Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad if there was at least one friend going with me.

  He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. “No, they want me to stay here. Or in California.” He smiled weakly at me. “Sorry. Can’t do this early morning thing. Master Forrester’s protectors are going with you. You can’t get much better than that.”

  I placed my hand on my cousin’s broad shoulder. “Don’t underestimate yourself. I’d rather have you by my side any day. Plus, who’s going to train me?”

  He snorted. “Good question. Although I don’t think you’ll have much free time for physical training.” I hadn’t told Palmer what was going on so I assumed his orders had revealed the real reason why I was being sent to a shunned merman’s house. Instead of discussing it further I sighed.

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” We walked to the elevator and I was surprised that Troy hadn’t appeared yet. I asked Palmer about him.

  “Oh,” he said with a huge smile. “Troy’s kind of tied up right now.” I looked questioningly at Palmer, and he grinned even wider. Suddenly, I got it.

  “Like with a girl?”

  “Like with something female. I don’t know where he finds them, but he sure does have an interesting taste in women.” Troy tended to go for the older ladies - the “cougars”. I shivered with a bit of disgust. It was definitely an image I didn’t want in my mind.

  The shiny elevator doors opened up to an eerily quiet and empty lobby. There were two employees behind the desk, apparently getting the graveyard shift. Graham wasn’t anywhere in sight but when I followed Palmer around the corner I spotted him sitting at the bar. His back faced me and I noticed he had on a different outfit. Obviously the cloak had disappeared and he wore a normal pair of dark jeans with a black sweater. His thick brown hair still stood in all different directions and when he turned to acknowledge me, I groaned.

  The face alone was enough to draw me to him but I didn’t want to be interested. His eyes glimmered with mischief and I stared as he downed a shot of something and pulled out several bills for the bartender. Without saying a word, his two protectors seemed to appear out of thin air and the three of them sauntered over to Palmer and me. Graham made no attempt to hide his perusal of my body and I thought I saw a small smile twitch at the corner of his mouth. I wasn’t in my dress anymore, and had also opted for a pair of jeans and cute blue top. I hardly thought I deserved his attention, nor did I want it.

  “Is that all?” he said jerking his head toward my small carry-on bag.

  “It’s all I brought with me. Someone’s going to send me more.” I already called my sister to beg her to pack me another suitcase and send it promptly to Virginia. Three outfits were not going to get me through my time in Jeremiah’s lair.

  Graham huffed and began to walk toward the street. I said a
quick goodbye to Palmer, asking him to check in with me every day, and hurried off after my babysitter.

  We climbed into the back seat of the town car. From the smell of him, I’d guessed that Graham hadn’t been to bed yet either. Stale cigarette smoke and an excess amount of alcohol drifted off of him causing me to turn my head to the side for the entire drive just so I could breathe. For all the responsibility he had as a Council member, Graham Forrester really didn’t seem to take life seriously.

  We hardly said more than a few words to each other before we arrived at the airport and were sitting in our first class seats. Doing my best not to show how scared I was, I glued my eyes to one of those human celebrity gossip magazines and pretended to be enthralled.

  “Are you still seeing that selkie?” Graham asked out of the blue.

  “Excuse me?”

  “Well you’re obviously not with Kain, so I’ve been wondering if you continued to see the selkie after everything that happened.”

  I was so caught off guard the only thing I could do was develop an attitude. “I don’t really think that’s any of your business.” Plus, I didn’t really like knowing that the Council was privy to my love life, or lack thereof at the moment.

  “You’ll end up with one of us,” he said with a surety that made my heart shudder. Was he speaking metaphorically or literally? “It will be the only way for you to live. He won’t stay with you forever. He can’t. Besides, a selkie is too far beneath you. It’s almost as bad as dating a human.” I couldn’t help but notice the hint of humor in his eyes.

  “You’ve dated a human before?” It wasn’t unheard of but I hadn’t known anyone who’d actually tried.

  “Several,” he said dismissively. “They’re so easy to control, it just isn’t fair sometimes.” I watched as he sighed and laid his head back against the seat while a memory consumed his thoughts. Imagining the worst, I decided to try and concentrate on my magazine for the rest of the flight.

  Graham was only a few years older than me but it seemed as though he’d lived several more lifetimes. Not only was it disturbing but it also made me feel young and immature and I refused to let him ruin this trip any more than it already was. It was bad enough that he said he had to babysit me. Taking my hint, Graham pulled an eye cover over his face and was asleep before we were in the air.