Must Remember: Dead or alive, they want her back. (Solum Series Book 1)

by Colleen S. Myers

  Spots still stained my vision. I leaned back against him. We watched while Finn talked to Santa. People glanced my way, but no one approached. Jace and Bob stood to the side, ready.

  Finn returned with Santa—Con. They both crouched by me.

  Con reported, “We know at least ten people were trapped in the mine during the second blast. They are working to get them out now. There is a lot of rubble. The original blast killed Jon, from Clan Barrel. I am pretty sure the mine is intact and if we clear the entryway, we can get everyone out. We are not sure how much air they have in there.”

  I stood and fell right back down. Marin grabbed me from behind, supporting me, while Finn grabbed my arms and pulled me against him. Finn’s arms went around me. Marin held my hips and dragged me back. Neither yielded their hold. Their gazes locked.

  Now I knew how a wishbone felt. I elbowed Marin and brushed off Finn’s hands as I shuffled toward the action. Ute came up on my side, and I leaned on him for support. Jace and Bob swung wide of us. Finn and Marin argued in whispers behind me. If I concentrated, I could hear them, but I let them squabble. I wanted to see this mine.

  When we got close, I pressed my hand to the wall nearest me for support.

  Huh.

  I heard the people trapped. They weren’t talking, but I could hear their breathing and occasional cries. They were close. My shoulders brushed Con’s.

  “Put your hand here.” I pointed to the wall.

  Con obliged. “What am I doing?”

  “Close your eyes and tell me if you feel anything?”

  He looked like he strained for a second, then turned to me with a grimace.

  “Oh please, try harder.”

  He closed his eyes. They popped open a minute later, excited. “I can hear them.”

  Yes. “See who else can hear them.”

  He rushed to the others. Finn and Marin approached me.

  “What is going on?” Marin queried.

  Finn stepped to my side, one hand on my waist, while Marin looked away. Guess I knew who won the argument.

  I turned to them. “Put your hand here.”

  They complied.

  “Tell me what you hear.”

  Finn answered excitedly after a few seconds. “They are there. Close. They are breathing.”

  “Yes! I can hear that too; so can Con. He is seeing who else can hear them. Ute, you said that to get through the mountains, the people moved the rocks around them?”

  Ute agreed, contemplating. “Yes. Is that what you want to do here?”

  “Yes, I figure it won’t hurt to try. People have been gaining power, right? The people here, they are miners, drawn to the land. That has to be an earth talent. They should be able to do this. We can help them quicker. See the damage sooner.”

  They all agreed as Con returned. Various people were standing and pressing their hands against the wall. There were a few more exclamations all around the clearing.

  “Five others can feel them. What are we going to do?” Con said.

  I looked at Marin for leave to tell him. Marin inclined his head.

  “We are going to move this rock.”

  Con looked at the wall. “We are?”

  “Yep.”

  Everyone crowded around me.

  “Put your hands on the rock.” They complied, Ute, Finn, Marin, and all the miners. “Close your eyes and imagine this is where the new entrance will be. Con, this is where the people who have been inside the mine are most important. You know the layout so you can imagine the best possible place for another opening. We might not be able to clear the area fast enough to get everyone out. We need to make a new hole.”

  There were several determined nods up and down the line. Silence reigned as everyone concentrated on creating a new passage. I closed my eyes and joined them. Finn moved to brace himself behind me, both of his hands above mine on the rock.

  Muted murmurs broke out when the debris didn’t move.

  “Quiet, and concentrate.” Deep breath in and out, I called power. I felt heat pool in my belly. Please help us. The ground started to shake. Please. I kept my eyes closed. “Steady now.”

  I recalled the prior entrance, the beams and support, the passage right in front of me, and the track leading to the machine.

  The clearing tipped, and I fell forward onto my knees.

  A new opening loomed in front of us. Two men exited, carrying a third between them. There was something wrong with his legs. Two others rushed to loved ones nearby. Then the rest swarmed out. Several limped but for the most part, everyone was whole. Con hurried inside.

  How about that? It worked. I weaved back a bit. Finn pulled me against him. He nuzzled my neck.

  “That was incredible.”

  Stiffening, I shrugged him off. Marin’s words ran through my mind. If he was going to mate Lara, this would lead nowhere. I glanced over to see Marin watching. He looked away when he saw me peeking.

  Con came back out and was talking to Marin, gesturing. Ute wandered over to listen, and Torrin approached from town. More people crowded into the clearing.

  I was getting a lot of looks as I stood there with Finn hovering beside me. Marin looked pretty satisfied when he strode up. He took my hand and tugged me to his side. Finn shifted to follow us. The three of us huddled.

  Marin whispered, “We need to get her back to my house while they are distracted by the blast and getting everyone out. The Imani did this for a reason. He wanted people out here at the mines. That leaves fewer people in town. Finn, see if you can smell him there.”

  “I don’t know if it matters; people saw me already.”

  “But they do not know where you are hiding. Finn, take her out the side; I will meet you there. Best not to see me with her, as you pointed out earlier, Finn.”

  I nodded agreement. Finn and I moved back to the left, behind the apparatus; the guards remained ever vigilant by our sides. We slid behind rocks and out of the clearing.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  When we arrived back at the house, I spent the rest of the day reading, practicing, and just plain thinking. Why did he set the bomb? I was missing something. Who was I kidding? I was missing a lot. They were up there. How many, I didn’t know. Xade, definitely. I just knew he’d be part of this. How many were there? Why couldn’t they come down here, all of them? Or did the land protect us? I didn’t remember enough about them yet to know what they would or wouldn’t do.

  That night at dinnertime, I walked downstairs, hesitating, hand on the rail. I’d avoided Marin the rest of the day and didn’t set foot outside my room. So many questions without answers. When I got to the dining room, I paused, hand on the doorjamb, then entered, but didn’t see him. My shoulders relaxed.

  Marin closed the door behind me.

  I whirled. “Hi.”

  “Hi.” His light brown eyes met mine. He moved toward me, a focused, determined look in his eye. That look was killing me. I backed up and skirted around the table. My heart skipped a beat.

  “We shouldn’t be doing this, whatever this is. I started something with Finn. I don’t know what it is yet, but until I know, nothing else can happen. That’s not the way I do things. Plus, Finn told me how the Fost view relationships. Never serious. Bang more, not better. That is not me. I expect the man I’m with to be with me and only me. And I will be with him, only him. We talked about this. Please.”

  I stumbled back as he kept on coming toward me. Given how I had been kissing him, I felt like a hypocrite as I choked out the words.

  Marin skirted the table.

  I rounded the next corner.

  “Finn agreed to this?” he asked.

  “We haven’t had much time to talk, but he knew I felt that way. He offered me comfort and I took it. I wouldn’t feel right starting something with you before clearing the air.” In actual fact, he said sex didn’t have to mean anything. He might be acting jealous, but that could just be instinctual. If Finn couldn’t give me what I needed, then I could
n’t be with him, and until I knew that, I couldn’t be with Marin.

  Hell, I needed answers and a lot more time before I’d feel comfortable being with Marin. Finn was fun, but I had no doubt that anything I started with Marin would be a lot more serious.

  Marin continued to stalk me around the room. “My mother believed as you do. She loved my father beyond all reason. Her day began and ended with him. His needs and wants were of paramount importance, much more important than her children. That was a fact drilled into us from the day we were born. We represented his legacy. Yet he never cared for us and she was blind to everything but him. My father was a good leader, but he was like Finn. He did not understand that devotion, love, they could be a strength, not a weakness. He married my mother because she was fertile. She gave him children, but he wasn’t faithful. He broke her with his women. She hated and worshiped him at the same time. When she saw us, we represented an extension of him to her. Then when my father died fighting the corecks, she had nothing left to live for. She walked into the lake, knowing she could not swim. Nothing else mattered to her, not her life, not her children. She was six months pregnant at the time.

  “I tell you this, not for pity, but so that you understand that I know exactly what you need. I saw what happened when one partner wanted something the other could not give. I saw the pain and destruction it caused when one cares, and the other does not.

  “Finn does not care about you.”

  I inhaled and pressed a hand to my gut. Ouch.

  “He wants you, he wants to have you. And Finn, he does have many good qualities but faithfulness, care, love. Those are not in his makeup. He is not worth your devotion. He is right now down at town hall, reconfirming his mating contract with Lara. From what I heard, they were both quite happy with the arrangement and celebrating.”

  His words stung. I wanted to cover my ears. Finn had been so attentive at the clearing. He warned Marin off and Marin did back off, at least a little. This couldn’t be true.

  “Prove it.”

  “He is still in town at the bar right now. You can see for yourself. I can come and go there as I please. We will not be seen. He goes there most nights.”

  Marin sped me to the center of Finn’s clan area. This was where most people went to socialize at night if single, which was most of the population. I hadn’t even heard of it, but I hadn’t been here long. It just felt like I’d been here forever.

  The canteen was one of the larger buildings down in what I thought of as the market district of Groos. It was located in the top of level two, near the path that led to the first section. Marin led me through a back entrance so I could look into the room, yet not be seen entering.

  Finn sat smack dab in the center of the room; Lara perched on his lap. They were kissing, and his hand was up her skirt.

  Huh.

  That explained his lack of concern yesterday, even if he’d been quite affectionate today.

  When it came right down to it, we had only had sex once—well, twice, technically, in one night—but it still hurt.

  Hanging with Marin confused me. He was trying to confuse me. My first few days, I saw only Finn. Now I saw only Marin. I thought my head was being turned a little.

  To be honest, I didn’t know what I wanted. That decision was taken from me, however. What was right in front of me couldn’t be denied. Finn wasn’t pining for me. Lara sighed and moved to straddle him on the chair, adjusting her skirt across Finn’s lap.

  Better to find out now than later, right? Bitterness rose inside me. I wanted to run down there and rip her off his lap, make a scene. My eyes burned with unshed tears. My power flexed inside me. I could feel the burn of it. Why?

  Finn must have heard. He glanced up and looked right at me. His whole body stiffened, his tongue still lodged deep in Lara’s mouth.

  Well, that was enough of that. I turned to Marin. “You win.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “Let’s go home.” Triumph flashed across his face. As he’d said before, I wasn’t naïve. I knew why he’d shown me this.

  Anger pulsed inside me.

  I knew it was unreasonable, but I let the resentment build. We’d made no promises. We’d had sex. So what?

  It still felt like a betrayal. Finn knew I believed in monogamy. I’d held myself back because we’d started something, maybe, but that didn’t appear to be a problem for him.

  We walked the path to level one, then Marin harnessed the wind, and we arrived home in under a minute. Head down, I went to go my room. Hesitating, I looked at Marin. He stood behind me, hand outstretched.

  “Thank you. It’s better to know now than to be the fool later.”

  “I am sorry.”

  “You already said that.”

  “I wanted you to know.”

  “Well, now I know.”

  We stood there, gazes locked. Marin shrugged and rubbed his hand along his neck.

  The door opened a few seconds later, and Finn burst inside, out of breath, Lara right behind him. That was quick. He must have run the whole way.

  “Lara, leave,” Marin called out.

  Lara dithered, looked at Marin, Finn, and me, and fled.

  Moving forward, Marin intercepted Finn. “You. I cannot believe you would come here. You know exactly why this is bad.” Marin pointed to the door. “You should leave as well.”

  Growling, Finn dodged, trying to get around Marin.

  Without taking his eyes off Finn, Marin moved to block him.

  Finn exploded. “Get out of my way. This is your fault. Why was she even there?”

  Their eyes locked. Violence shimmered in the air. Finn rammed Marin. “You cannot make me leave. I will not leave without talking to her. Get out of my way.”

  Laughing, Marin refused to budge. “She does not want to be with you. You have never slept with the same woman twice. She deserves better. She wants better.”

  Finn feinted; Marin pivoted into his path. They started to circle each other. Finn dropped into his fighter’s stance.

  With a primal cry, Finn launched himself at Marin, who twisted out of the way. Finn let his momentum carry him forward to the wall, using it to spring back and tackle Marin. Carrying him to the ground, Finn lifted his knee. Marin caught his leg and upended Finn. They both scrambled to their feet, pulling knives.

  Enough.

  There was enough testosterone flowing to choke an elephant.

  “Stop it, both of you.”

  They ignored me and stepped into each other. Exasperated, I ran back down the steps, wedging myself between them. “I mean it. Stop right there.”

  Nothing was going to get Finn to leave without talking to me. I kept a hand on each of their chests and addressed Marin. “It’s okay. I’ll talk to him.”

  Marin scowled at this. Without taking his eyes off Finn, Marin replied, “You do not have to talk to him. He has done nothing to deserve it.”

  Finn strained against my other hand.

  “Please.” My stare met Marin’s. “Let me do this.”

  “Fine,” Marin hissed. “I will be listening. Call out, and I will come.” He addressed this last to Finn. Turning without another word, he stalked to the library and slammed the door.

  Finn put his hand over mine on his chest. I pulled my hand free and crossed my arms without looking at him.

  “Follow me.” The meeting room was empty, so we headed there. No way was I taking him to my bedroom to talk. I didn’t know how to start.

  “It is not what you think,” he began as soon as the door closed.

  “I think you were close to fucking Lara,” I swore. Swearing made me feel much better.

  “Fucking?”

  “Having sex.”

  “Oh. It was an act. Marin told everyone you ran away. He told me to act angry, to act betrayed. He told me to look for you, to be bitter. ‘The better the show, the more secure she will be,’ he said. After everything that happened at the mines, I was just so damn happy you were all right. I shoul
d not have kissed you. People asked questions. I had to throw them off. When Lara approached me, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity. I needed information, and she could act as a screen for you. For your safety. She said it upset her that we are close. Her father has been pushing us to mate. I played along.”

  I interrupted. “Was kissing part of the show?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did your hand have to go up her skirt?”

  Finn’s jaw clenched. “I had to put on a good show.”

  “But you weren’t planning to have sex with her?”

  “No, I wasn’t planning to have sex with her.”

  “Were you hard?” I persisted.

  “Hard?”

  I looked down.

  He jerked back, as if I’d slapped him. “What kind of question is that?”

  “Answer me.”

  “No.”

  Snorting, I slanted him a look.

  He shrugged. “Yes. I had a beautiful, willing girl on my lap. I was not planning to use it. It was just a show.”

  “But fucking would make the show just that much more believable, wouldn’t it.”

  “No. Well, maybe. You are confusing me.” He stabbed his finger in my direction.

  “Were you going to have sex with her?”

  “No.”

  “Were you?” Now I was screaming. Look what he did to me.

  “I do not know… Maybe,” he screamed back.

  Huh.

  With that, we both paused.

  “Wait, no.” He held his hands up. “You confused me. I planned to do nothing. It was a show.”

  “I told you flat out that I believe in monogamy. I know you said sex didn’t have to be complicated, but damn, I didn’t realize you would immediately move on and not have the decency to let me know.”

  “I know. I was not planning to do anything.” Finn was talking, but I kept hearing the echo of his earlier words, I do not know… Maybe.

  I just shook my head and sat on one of the chairs. He moved to sit next to me. “I heard you, you know.”

  “What?”

  “Yesterday, when you called me, and just now, in town hall. You said my name two times. I tried to talk to you all throughout the day. Did you hear?”