Darn, Whitney scolded herself. She was going back on her promise to Sam yet again. He was going to be mad, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn’t leave Jade alone in the water. Stepping into the water quickly, she reached for her friend. Whitney didn’t get the chance to touch Jade as slimy tendrils wrapped around her legs. At least this time she knew what was coming and took a deep breath as it yanked her under the water at the same time as Jade.
‘Sam. Sorry, but I had to go in the water,’ she called silently to him, hoping it would reach him wherever he went off to again. ‘Someone lured Jade into the ocean, and now something has me. We were on the shore at—’ She wanted to say more, but a sting in her neck made her world fade into blackness.
CHAPTER 10
Sam had heard Whitney cry. He knew the moment he felt her something had to be off. She had promised to stay out of the water. The others were looking for a chance to take and kill her. He didn’t explain much to her, but he was sure she knew that it was dangerous. He needed to head back, and he was luckily only a few hundred miles away. He would be back before dark, and there would be hell to pay when he found out where she was.
As he reached the shore, he called to her mentally but got no response. He could still feel her and knew she was in the water, but she wasn’t replying, which could only mean one thing. She was unconscious. He needed to find out where she was, and he had a good feeling about who he had to go ask.
Anger seeped from Sam as he stormed over to Amber’s place. The hunters assumed she was the mer involved, and they were close to being right. She was the one luring food away from their friends, but she wasn’t the one killing them. She didn’t have the strength to disobey him. But that didn’t mean another siren wasn’t working with her, and he had a good clue as to who it was. Tim had never liked him, and he was up for causing problems for Sam whenever given a chance. Why Amber was involved was beyond him. Did she really want to get back at him that badly?
Sam didn’t knock as he pushed open her house front door. Momentarily shocked that the state of the living room— normally immaculately kept— was in complete disarray, he still responded quick enough to drop to the ground as a knife was thrown his way.
In the messy room, he had noticed two very distinct things. First, Amber was tied to a chair and badly beaten. Second was that the one who had done so was none other than Rommy Kristian, hunter extraordinaire.
“If you’re here to save her, you can’t have her. She knows where my daughter is and I’ll be finding out as soon as she gets tired of the pain,” Rommy growled.
“The same place my girlfriend is,” Sam replied, slowly standing up with his hands in the air. “I’m sure as heck not going to stop you if you’re getting that information from her.”
Rommy’s face flashed surprise as she turned back to Amber and was done with him. Amber’s eyes shot open wide. Her lips moved, and a muffled sound came out through the gag in her mouth as Rommy ran the blade down her arm, causing pain but not enough to make her lose too much blood.
“I’m willing to stay here as long as I want to get this little fishy,” Rommy said to Amber. “I know it isn’t ideal to wait, but I’m a patient person. You, on the other hand, don’t have long before you’ll need water.”
Amber stared at the hunter.
“I can tell by your blood. It isn’t draining as quickly because you, my dear, seem a bit dehydrated. Poor little fish. I wonder how you’ll feel by tomorrow or the next day if you don’t tell me where my daughter is.” Rommy tapped the blade on her knee as she sat in front of Amber. “So let me give you one more chance to tell me.”
Rommy pulled the gag from Amber’s mouth. “Where is my daughter?”
Amber closed her mouth and stared at the hunter. Sam had to give it to her for not screaming or asking for help. Amber wasn’t a strong siren and even less cut out for actual physical fighting. He was surprised she had lasted through what must have been hours at the hands of the hunter.
“I can get the location quicker than using torture,” Sam told the hunter without moving any closer.
Rommy nodded. “I suppose you can, Prince Sam.”
Sam didn’t let his surprise show on his face. If Rommy knew who he was, why hadn’t she gone after him?
“You look just like your old man,” Rommy added for clarification, even though it wasn’t necessary. Just that she knew was strange, but if she had a history with his father, it made sense.
“Amber, where are the girls?” Sam said, using only a little force.
“I didn’t take them,” Amber replied, not answering the question and finally looking at him. She had a swollen eye, and her nose was positively broken.
Rommy raised an eyebrow at Sam.
“Tell me where Whitney and Jade are,” Sam demanded, using more force in the song of his words.
Amber bit down on her lip and glared at Sam. She was trying her hardest not to talk, and Rommy seemed amused by it as she smiled, flipping her knife in the air like she was ready to use it again.
“And here your father always talked highly of your mother. I bet you’re a bit of a disappointment to the old man.”
Sam didn’t look at the hunter egging him on. His eyes were still locked on Amber. She was refusing his order and doing a pretty good job of it. The only way she could do that was if she were as strong as him, and that wasn’t close to the case. But there was one more way, and that was if she were bonded to someone who was just as strong as him. That would give her enough to refuse him temporarily if she tapped into her mate’s strength.
Sam knew who she had to be bonded to, and immediately forced more will upon her. She didn’t have the strength to resist his full power. Why in the world he had ever thought there was still good left in her was beyond him now. He might just have had a better understanding of his father and why he had absolutely no faith in any siren. Amber had been his friend growing up. They had spent countless hours and had a thousand memories together. It meant nothing to her, and now had to mean nothing to him also.
“They are at the base island,” Amber spat out without any control of herself. She continued to glare.
“You’re going to remain in this chair until someone comes back to see to your punishment,” Sam ordered her, not being nice now.
Amber’s face turned from anger to sadness and fear. “If you leave me here, that’s as good as signing my death warrant.” She was as close as she would get to begging for her life.
That was possibly true, but he wasn’t about to deal with her now. He didn’t have the time. It was possible there were more hunters in the area, and they would be stopping by. He was leaving her defenseless. While he took an oath to protect the siren, that didn’t include traitors. In Sam’s book, Amber and Tim were traitors. They sided with the other mer and were trying to kill his whole family off. Her fate would be either taken care of by hunters or by him later. He would be sure of it.
Realization set in behind Amber’s eyes. She returned to her hateful glare.
“Go ahead, Prince Sam, and try to save your princess. It won’t matter. There won’t be enough time for anyone to help. We already have the Mavkas, Lara, and Undine with us. They are ready to attack the island. Once you’re dead, it won’t matter what you ordered. And I hope it’s a painful death, but not before you see your stupid mate die. You deserve that for picking her over me. I’ll be free in no time.”
Sam shrugged. “Believe away, but for that to happen, I have to die first. I’d think by now you’d realize, I’m not that easy to boss around.”
He turned to leave and caught Rommy’s indecision. She looked like she wanted to kill Amber, but at the same time wasn’t sure if Sam was going to leave without her, which he was if she didn’t follow.
Rommy ran behind him as Sam hopped back into his car. Without asking, she slid into the passenger side.
“Do you have any backup here?” Sam asked, not caring that she was a hunter at the moment. The saying “the enemy of your enemy is
your friend” was more than true for the temporary peace they both seemed to understand.
If she was surprised, she didn’t show it.
“No. It’s just me and my kids,” Rommy replied.
“Then we should pick up Jax before we go out,” Sam replied. Rommy was surprised that Sam would suggest that, but she didn’t argue. He didn’t have time to explain that they were walking into a possible ambush, but he doubted that would matter to Rommy. She was used to facing bad odds and still seemed to be around. She was a good ally to have, and probably the best he could ask for at the time being. Now he had to hope that together they would be enough to stop the war from coming.
Whitney woke to her body bobbing back and forth. She attempted to rub her eyes and realized her hands were tied behind her back. Quickly, everything came back to her as she opened her eyes. Her head movement was also limited, but she saw all she needed to know. Jade was right in front of her, and they were both sitting in water up to their necks. Jade’s eyes were still closed, so Whitney figured it would be safe to try to turn into her siren form to escape, but as soon as she tried, nothing happened. Rubbing her wrists together, she had one idea what it might be holding her in place.
“MMaa,” Whitney tried to talk, finally realizing it wasn’t just her hands tied together and her feet tied to something in the water, but her mouth was covered also. That wasn’t good. She didn’t want Jade to know what she was, but if they were going to get out of wherever they were safe, then she needed to be able to use her voice. It didn’t matter what sort of sea creature or mer took them, Whitney would be able to command them.
“Hey, Princess, up so soon?” Tim asked as he sat down beside her in the water.
Whitney glared at him. She was certain that Tim wasn’t the one who took them, but she wasn’t surprised to see him. Tim was everything Sam wasn’t. If there was a way around hurting her by using someone else, Tim was sure to do it.
“Don’t worry. Your prince should be here soon. By now he’s freaked out enough to go to Amber, and she’ll crack. I told her not to tell Sam where we were, but there’s no way she can stand up to him. That’s what pawns are for. She’ll get him all flustered, and he’ll show up here all alone and be easy to finally take down. You want to know what the best part is?”
Tim sure liked to talk, and Whitney didn’t want to know. But it wasn’t like he was really asking. She was sure now that he liked the sound of his own voice.
“I got a two for one deal. I asked them to take just you to lure my stupid little brother out here, and they got the hunter, too. Now my father will have to name me the heir. I was able to catch the hunter’s daughter while Sam couldn’t. I can’t wait to drain her dry after we’re all done. I heard the blood of a hunter actually tastes better than normal day humans, like there’s some sort of magic in their blood that makes them more delicious.”
Whitney tried her best to hide her horror at the idea of Tim draining her friend. There was no conscience in Tim, but it was still hard to hear him talking about. She understood what the hunter’s job was and why they were created. There needed to be a balance to the night humans like Tim.
“Mmm hmm?” Whitney asked.
“Oh, sorry about that. My friends were scared you’d control them and thought that was necessary.” Reaching down, Tim ripped what turned out to be a piece of sticky seaweed off of her mouth.
“Why?”
“Why kill Sam?” Tim asked, wondering what she wanted explained.
“Yeah, for starters. Why kill your brother? If you have the hunter to prove you’re stronger, then why kill him?”
“Prove I am stronger? See, that’s the problem. I shouldn’t have to prove. I’m the older brother. I should be my father’s heir.”
And what about your other brothers? Whitney thought to herself.
“And I’ve wanted Sam dead for a long time. This is just the best opportunity. I can say the hunter killed him and I have a silver hunter blade to prove it.” Tim held up a shiny knife that Whitney recognized from only days ago, when Jax threw it into the water to save her. It was now going to be used to frame the hunters instead.
“Sam has always been the perfect son. He was stronger, gained control of his voice younger, became the youngest head of the guard in record time … everything his does is golden. He would already be the heir if he wanted it.”
“Obviously he doesn’t want it. So where’s the competition?” Whitney needed to keep Tim talking, which wasn’t hard. She kept feeling for Sam’s presence. As soon as he got in the water, she would know.
“You can’t just choose not to be king. My father has to choose an heir. The man is getting old. He has not left the island in almost two decades. The mer world needs a new king, and I found friends who agree.”
“I still don’t see the problem.” Whitney was really confused. So far he pointed out that he wanted to be king and Sam didn’t. That really didn’t lead to needing to kill Sam.
“Sam can’t refuse if my father orders him to be the heir. It has never been about what we want. And asking me to kill the hunter is the last straw. My father knows who this hunter is and has a history with her mother. He knows that as soon as word gets out that I killed Rommy’s daughter, she will come for me. Heck, maybe he was hoping the fledgling hunter girl would kill me. This is a complete set-up to get me out of the picture so that my followers won’t be upset when he names Sam the heir.”
Followers? What the heck was Tim talking about? Now Whitney had one more thing to learn about in the mer world. She really needed a vacation from everything, and being abducted a second time by the same crazy brother was icing on the cake.
Tim stood back up as the water began to rise a little bit. Whitney found her neck had something around it to make her head float, and it caused her to have to kneel. Looking at her unconscious friend, she worried until she saw her floating, too.
“Don’t worry, I’m willing to share her with you once you become my new mate,” Tim added, crouching down behind Whitney and helping her to kneel better.
“Excuse me?”
There was no way possible she was ever going to be his mate.
“Once my brother is gone, the only way for you to live is to transfer your bond to someone as strong as him. I’m stronger, so I’m more than willing to be your mate.”
Now Whitney was confused. Sam had shown her how to see bonds, and she was pretty sure Tim was already bonded to someone. The feeling of his hands on her waist was making her want to puke a bit.
“Um, what about your current mate?”
“No problems there. She’ll be dead soon. I’ve sent someone over to kill her once I take care of Sam, so that I can be free to bond to you.”
Tim abruptly stood back up and slapped the sticky seaweed back on her face. She would have told him a few choice words if he hadn’t. Tim was delusional. She was never going to bond with him, and she was shocked that anyone would have done so in the first place. There wasn’t a single redeeming quality in him, and that was saying a lot since Whitney was the type of person who liked to see the good in everyone.
Whitney stared at him as he moved back onto the shore and waited for whoever approached. A young man, probably about Tim’s age, with bright green hair stood up as his orange fin melted away.
“He went to Amber’s place, but he didn’t go to the beach like we expected,” he told Tim.
Tim pressed his fingers together in front of his face and moved them back and forth. “What could my silly brother be planning?” He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. Is everyone ready around the island? When I kill Sam, my father will come running, and I’m sure he won’t have set the blocks around the island. You’ll be free to go in and kill whoever you need to.”
Now Whitney was horrified. Tim wasn’t just planning to kill his own brother, but he was offering to let this unknown guy go in and kill siren at will. What did Tim plan to rule if all the siren were dead? Whitney never could understand illogical people, but Tim was past
that. He was nuts.
The green-haired guy nodded.
“Just stay in your position. Sam should be here soon, and once he touches water, I’ll use his mate to get him here faster,” Tim explained.
“This the one you want?” the guy asked, coming near now to Whitney. He reached forward and pulled her chin up so that he could see her face. “Hmm, not bad as siren go. Not sure I’d keep her around, but I know you well enough to know once you made up your mind, you’ll get what you want.”
Tim grinned, and his friend laughed. The green-haired guy waved and dove back into the water, his orange fin flicking as he went under.
“Well, my beautiful future mate, I need to run one last little errand. Be a good girl and just hang around until I get back.”
Whitney rolled her eyes at him. There was no choice on the hanging around. She was stuck in the water and was pretty sure that unless someone else showed up, she wasn’t going anywhere.
Walking into the water, Tim stopped before her. The water was rising enough that she was soon not going to be comfortable kneeling. He reached down and tilted her head back roughly.
“Don’t think of running away or you’ll have the same fate as my brother,” he threatened her. “This is your only opportunity to join me. I don’t do second chances.”
Turning, Tim dove into the water and out of sight.
Dark was coming, and Whitney was thankful the water was a bit warm. Jade wouldn’t die of hypothermia yet. She figured it had something to do with being close to the mer island, but whatever the cause, she was thankful. Hours had to have passed by already. Whitney didn’t do well with trying to tell time by the sun.
No one had come back to check on them. Tim was gone, which was good riddance in Whitney’s eyes. She could only hold her tongue so long, and aside from making her mad, Tim creeped her out, too … especially when she was his prisoner.
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