“Won’t the lookouts be able to warn them?” I ask.
“We didn’t realize their people were already on the island. There’s a chance not all of our scouts made it to their destination. We have to assume the worst.” Tao lifts me up over a boulder and leads me across the wooded area, away from the ocean.
Heat creeps up through my core, knowing he came searching for me. I would have done the same for him.
He leads me through the forest, holding branches for me so they don’t scrape against my skin. We travel as fast as my legs can carry me. I feel as if I’m slowing him down too much. He could do a lot better without me.
We walk for the next few hours until my legs can’t stand any longer. He helps me sit on a wet patch of grass and lies next to me. “I’ll be of no use to anyone if I don’t regain some of my strength. Please,” I beg.
“We can’t rest too long,” Tao says. “We need to get back as soon as we can.”
“You can go much faster without me.”
“That’s not an option. I’m not losing you again. You’re staying with me from now on. As a matter of fact, you no longer can have your own hut. When we get back, we are going to marry.”
“That’s not exactly the most romantic way of gaining my approval.” I purse my lips together.
He places his hand in my lap. “I can’t lose you, Alania. The moment I saw them taking you away from the village, an overwhelming fear and emptiness formed in my gut. I couldn’t think of anything else other than getting you back.”
“I’m happy you said that.” I brush his hair out of his eyes. “You’re my entire world. I can’t imagine living without you.”
“It’s settled then.” Tao closes his eyes.
After only an hour or so of rest, we begin our trek again. As we round the curve of the shore, the sea is ablaze. Confusion at the sight before me causes me to trip. I tumble in the sand and fall on my hands and knees.
I get to my feet. “What’s going on?” I ask.
“I didn’t think things could get worse,” Tao mutters. “Makoa must have continued onward to his vessel on the other side of the island. Then, he circled the island from the other side, only to come right back to our shore.”
The surface of the ocean looks like it’s reflecting the most perfect and brightest sunrise. But, the sun has yet to rise. Orange and yellow flames dance under the moon.
The ocean is on fire.
“Alania,” Tao whispers. He clasps his hand over my mouth, and I see wide, dark eyes staring at me. He places his finger against his lip and points in the direction we were heading.
Voices reach my ears.
We try to crawl backward, but one of them spots us.
“There she is!” A tall, wiry man points to us. We rise and start to run, but my weak limbs fail us.
A big, burly man flings himself on my back, causing us to tumble onto the ground. The other short, dark-haired man pulls out a knife and attempts to attack Tao.
I scream. The short fat man on top of me pins my arms to the ground. I struggle to break free from under him.
The fight with Tao is out of my sight due to the colossal man above me. He presses harder onto my arms, and his fingernails dig into my flesh.
Anger fuels my strength, and I use my legs to my advantage. I kick hard. He tries to sit on top of them to stop the onslaught, but then I draw them in and knee him in his most sensitive area. He doubles over in pain, and I’m free. I get on my feet and see Tao lunge for the man with the knife.
The sharp blade grazes his face, leaving a trail of blood.
“No!” I find the nearest object I can—a rock the size of my two fists—and raise it over the tall man’s head. Tao sees me and ducks out of the way as I slam the rock down hard. The guy goes down to the ground. Blood pools around his head, and his eyes close.
The other man runs the way we came, back toward the shoreline.
My hands start to shake. “Did I kill him?”
Tao shields the front of me and blocks my view of the man lying on the ground. He wraps his arms around me and turns me to face the opposite direction. I whimper uncontrollably.
“Shhh. Shhh.” Tao runs one hand down the back of my head. “It doesn’t matter. It’s over now.”
“I killed him, didn’t I? I’m not supposed to kill. I’m supposed to heal. I’m a healer. I’m a healer.” The words string from my mouth, and I can’t stop them from coming. “Tao, did I kill him? Is he dead?”
My entire body shakes, and I can’t stop the sobbing that rumbles through my body and erupts out of my mouth.
“Alania, it’s over. It wasn’t your fault. You didn’t mean to do it. He was trying to kill me,” Tao says. He holds me tighter than he ever has before.
I struggle to look at the man on the ground, but Tao keeps my head turned away. “We need to keep going. The man who got away may alert others to where we are. We can’t be here anymore.”
“I don’t think I can.”
He pulls away from me and places both hands against my face. “You’re the strongest person I know. You can do this.”
I see the bleeding gash on his face, and my instincts to heal kick in. I touch it with my palm and think about it closing up. As I pull my hand away, I see it starting to close within seconds.
It dawns on me that I can’t heal the dead. I can only heal the living, and we need to get to the village to help those who are hurt and in need of me.
I take a deep breath and close my eyes.
Tao touches his cheek and smiles. “Thank you,” he says. He tugs on my hand, and I blindly follow him up the path, away from the man I murdered to save him. A heavy burden weighs on me, and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to heal myself from the atrocity I committed today.
We walk in silence for a long time. My mind becomes a jumbled mess of memories and questions. Maybe Mother had a hard time dealing with this gift and was glad to be free of it. Then, maybe she missed it and wanted to die. I’ll never know what she was thinking or feeling, since she’s never going to be able to tell me herself.
I think about the man I killed and the family he may have left behind. It wasn’t his fault that he was dragged into a war over me. Did he even know what he was fighting for? What have his people been told? Why did they agree to fight with Makoa?
Will Apela be okay raising Fenton on his own? Will he tell Fenton his aunt is the reason his mother died? Will Apela always harbor hatred for me for the rest of his life? Thousands of questions plague me.
“We’re almost there,” Tao says.
My legs stopped hurting a while ago. I feel numb all over now... unable to understand my role in this screwed-up world. I feel helpless.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asks.
“I don’t know.” Tears fall from my eyes.
“I can’t say anything to comfort you, can I?” His deep eyes seem darker to me now. Have I tarnished their shine with my evil deeds?
“No.” I look out toward the ocean and see boats lining the village shore. “We’re too late.”
Tao follows my view and sees the same thing I do.
We walk closer to see the village better. Will there be bodies littering the sand?
It’s worse... much worse. The Wai people have been taken prisoner by Makoa in Tao’s village.
16
A hand covers my mouth and drags me backward. Struggling, I try to fight against whoever has me pinned to their chest. My eyes are wide and searching for anything or anyone to help me.
“Stop struggling,” a deep voice whispers into my ear.
Keyon turns me to face him. I breathe out a massive breath.
“I thought I lost you,” he says.
Relief that he’s not one of Makoa’s men seeps into every part of my being. The other part of me stiffens and fills with regret that I don’t feel the same for him as he’s beginning to feel for me. “I’m okay,” I stammer.
Tao runs up upon us. “What the—”
“Br
other!” Keyon pulls his brother in for a hug. “Nasir and I escaped the onslaught of the new attack.”
The exchange warms my heart but there’s a war happening and we need to do what we can to try and stop it. “Makoa is never going to give up until he has me. Or, I’m dead.” As I see the look on Keyon’s face, I realize I said those words aloud. Ignoring his baffled expression, I ask, “Where is everyone else?”
“Some made it to the ruins. Others tried to run”—he lowers his head—“but most were captured.”
“Captured?”
“We came back to scout, to see how many they had taken. That’s when we ran into you guys,” Keyon says. “We have a couple lookouts stationed in places. They’ll let us know if anything happens.” He tries to take my hand, but I pull it free. He looks down at our un-joined hands and ignores my incompliance. “Come on. Let’s get you somewhere safe.”
“Sounds good. Why don’t you go ahead, and we’ll be right behind you?” Tao says.
Keyon eyes him, but doesn’t say anything. He starts off in the direction of the ruins. Nasir is next to follow.
Tao gently pulls me back. “As soon as this is over, I’ll tell him that you and I are to be married.”
I only nod. I’m exhausted from being on the run. I don’t know how my body hasn’t given out yet and just collapsed. Now, with the emotional weight dragging me further down, it’s almost too much too handle. Tao takes my hand, and we follow the others into the old city.
I want to know why we’re running away instead of going to help save the others. “Don’t the ones who were captured need us?”
“We’ll help them. But first you need rest, and we need a plan,” Keyon hollers over his shoulder.
Rest. The act is foreign to me, but how I long for it.
“Where’s father?” Tao asks.
Keyon stops. Nasir almost runs into the back of him. Keyon turns toward his brother. Their eyes lock in a fierce glare. “That crazed lunatic killed him.” He scowls.
No one says anything. Tao’s face falls with shock and sadness. But, it’s like he expected as much.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “I’m truly sorry for everything.”
Keyon looks at me. “You have nothing to be sorry for.” His tone is sharp and defiant. “We were the ones who snatched you from your home. This is our punishment for doing something so terrible.”
“No it’s not,” I argue.
“Either way, I can never say I’m sorry enough.”
Keyon’s words fuel me to keep moving. The sooner we can recoup some of our energy and develop a plan, the sooner all of this will be over. I hope.
We near the same spot Keyon took me when Makoa had arrived the first time weeks ago. I crawl in through the doorway after Keyon and Nasir. Tao follows me in.
The space is the same, only this time it seems smaller with more people. I’m cramped but safe. I nestle in a corner.
Tao kneels next to me. “Try to get some sleep, and we’ll keep watch.”
It’s more awkward than I would have liked with both brothers in such close proximity to me. Tao is close to me, but I feel Keyon’s stare as heavy as if it was his hand on my chest. I can’t think about that now. There will be plenty of time for that later. Now, I need sleep. I don’t think it’ll come easily until I let out a long breath. With it, I expel the last two days of being on the run, kidnapped, and tied to a sadistic man, and the array of emotions that accompanied it all. I feel selfish, but I can’t fight the exhaustion any longer. Tao rises and goes to sit with the others. I close my eyes.
I don’t know how long I’ve slept. A loud crash yanks me from sleep. I open my eyes to see Nasir sleeping while Tao and Keyon whisper. It sounds like they’re making a plan about what to do next.
Jagged white lines streak across the sky. I realize it was thunder that woke me. I stretch out my legs and arms.
“Hey,” Tao says with a smile on his face.
“Hi.” I yawn. “How long was I out for?”
“Two hours.”
I get to my feet. “Did you guys sleep at all?”
It’s Keyon who answers. “We each rested a little.”
I nod. “Good. Shouldn’t we be heading back and seeing what’s going on?”
“Yes. Keyon and I had a couple last details to sort out,” Tao says.
“I’ll wake Nasir so we can get moving.” Keyon stands and nudges Nasir with his foot.
Nasir’s shirt has risen above his waist. His gills are exposed, and I’m mesmerized as I watch them open and close as he breathes. Slowly, his eyes open. His arms sway in the air as if he’s swimming. Although I find a little humor in the action, it’s also sad. The man misses his home in the water.
The lookout rushes in the small room. Glass crunches under his feet, and pebbles and rocks scatter across the floor as he kicks them. The boy is no more than twelve or thirteen. His face looks like he’s seen the horror of a hundred murders.
“What is it?” Keyon asks.
“You have to come now, as quickly as possible. Hurry!” The boy’s eyes find mine. “You, especially you. If you don’t, he will kill more.”
My chest wants to explode with anger.
“Why does he have such an obsession with you? You barely knew him before...” Keyon’s words trail off.
Before he captured me and brought me here.
Tao looks at me, and I nod. “She’s a healer.”
“Yeah, I know,” says Keyon.
“No, you don’t. She is the one who heals, not the medicines and potions. It’s her.”
Keyon’s eyes shift to me. “You’re a witch.” The statement isn’t venomous but filled more with curiosity and intrigue.
“No, I’m not a witch. I was born with the gift of healing. Only, I didn’t know until my brother told me two nights ago.”
The boy grabs my hand. “Come on, lady. You need to save her.”
Her. I let the word hand there for a moment while trying to figure out who he was referring to. Makoa has no qualms about killing for me. He made that perfectly clear. It doesn’t matter who this woman is. We need to get to her fast.
We rush out of the small space behind the boy and follow him through the ruins back to the village.
He stops just before we break through the clearing that leads to the beach. “The crazy one is over there,” he whispers as he points in the direction of the central village area.
No one has to ask who the crazy one is; Makoa has struck again.
I glance across the surface of the water for any of the water people. The churning waves aren’t helping. The sea is rough and dark from the raging storm off the coast. I don’t see any of them. Please let Banu and the others be all right, I think.
Makoa’s voice booms over the thunder. “You have precisely one hour to give me Alania, or I’ll kill another.”
I peek around the corner of the hut and see him.
His dirty hand pulls Esther close to him and inhales. Then, as if she is a trophy, he thrusts her forward while continuing to grip her shirt. “I think this one will do nicely.”
17
I can’t allow Esther to die because of me. I start forward to go down into the village.
“No!” Tao pulls me back and wraps his arms around me. “I won’t let you do it. You’re not giving yourself to that bastard.”
“What’s going on here?” Keyon asks. His face screws up, and then recognition dawns on him. He scowls at Tao. “You want her, too, don’t you? One girl isn’t enough for you?”
We all look down on the scene unfolding below in the village. The terrified look on Esther’s face is enough to fuel me to end this madness.
Tao releases me and looks into his brother’s eyes. “I didn’t plan for it to be this way. I—we developed feelings for one another. I didn’t mean to hurt Esther. That wasn’t my intention. But, that isn’t a conversation for right now. We can’t let them take Alania. The last place she wants to be is with that murderer.”
He lets out
a harsh breath knowing his brother is right. “At what cost will we prevent that from happening? We can’t watch as our people get slaughtered one by one,” Keyon says.
Tao grabs Keyon’s shoulders. Anger and pure intention fill his eyes. “At any cost. We can’t allow them to get their hands on Alania or kill anyone else.” Tao clenches his teeth. “We fight them. This is what we have prepared for.”
Tao lets Keyon go.
Keyon narrows his sight on me. “Your feelings for her are clouding your judgment, Brother. It seems you’re willing to let more of our people die in order to have her as your prize.”
An ache forms in my stomach at his words.
Tao plunges into him. Nasir tries to intervene but is shoved out of the way.
Keyon clasps his fingers together and pounds Tao in the back until Tao releases him. Tao steps back and punches his brother in the face. Keyon reacts by returning a punch to Tao’s jaw.
“Stop this!” I ball my fists and I want to scream, but that would give away our location. My eyes plead with Nasir to do something. “Do something!”
Nasir grabs Tao while one of the other Wai grabs Keyon. They struggle to pull them apart but manage to do so.
If Makoa could see this unfolding, he’d grin with glee. This is what he wants... to break apart the people of Malalo in order to achieve his goal. He has no intention of giving in to any demands at this point.
“Why?” Keyon looks at me. “Why do you prefer him?”
In that moment, I realize his pride is hurt. Even though he said he wasn’t happy with the situation when Devlin tried to arrange us to wed, we spent a lot of time confiding in one another. Perhaps a part of him wanted to love me and be loved in return.
“Keyon, it’s not something that I meant to happen. I have feelings for Tao that are hard to explain,” I say.
“You wanted her for yourself, didn’t you?” Tao smirks. His face turns red. “All that hard exterior you put on was a farce. You wanted Father to arrange for you to be with Alania. Did you ask him to do it?”
Nether Tears (Underwater Island Series Book 2) Page 9
