He swallowed hard, his throat working restlessly at the memory.
"We looked - Declan, Patch, Saorise, our whole family - everywhere. I finally caught her scent near one of our favorite swimming spots, but it was too late. We found her bloodied body in seal form rolling on the tides. She was covered in hatched marks that had rubbed her skin raw. We--” He broke off, clearing his throat. “We think she must’ve been caught in fishing net so she couldn't surface. Drowned and tossed back by the fisherman who wanted nothing to do with a dead seal."
The horror of it quite overwhelmed me. How could Connor ever look at humans and see anything other than destruction? How was he able to sit here with me now? To love me?
He might have sensed my thoughts because he met my gaze and laced his fingers with mine. "It was a long time ago. And it was an accident. Humans fish carelessly, but I have to tell myself that those men were trying to provide for their families. That not everyone is like the people who run the Twisted Clubs.”
I gave his hand a squeeze, grateful for his words, and nodded. "But how do you move on from something like that?"
"You don't," said Connor, simply. "I tried for a long time and then... Well, inevitably it was Saorise who sat me down and talked to me. She told me that I would never be able to move on, that I loved her too much. And the only way to live was not to move on from her, but to take her with me as I went. To carry that memory forever. And I wouldn't mind the weight, because it was Eileen." He shrugged. "She's always with me. And it still hurts, but it hurts less because I kept her in my heart."
I nodded silently, my eyes burning with unshed tears. Poor Eileen. To have had her life cut short so brutally when she had so much love to live for.
“But you need to know that there is room aplenty in my heart for another love, Sienna,” he declared, pulling me toward him, eyes blazing. “And every minute we spend together makes me feel another step closer to whole.”
He crushed his lips to mine and I kissed him back with everything I had, savoring the beauty of the moment. It might be the last if we couldn’t get Saorise back. The devastation such a loss would leave behind was one I couldn’t imagine any of us could recover from.
I shoved the thought away and wrapped my arms around Connor’s neck, holding tight.
We had to succeed. Failure was not an option. I’d only just found Saorise again. Only found true love for the first time.
And I wasn’t letting go without a fight.
Chapter 19
We ate early and then set out on the long hike through the mountainous forest.
Our path took a lengthy, arcing detour, making sure that we never came even close to being in sight of the Mung estate. On we went, till we were a fair distance north of the castle, where the river still ran along the ground rather than under it.
"It looks cold," I observed, eyeing the roiling waters.
"It is," confirmed Patch. "No one said this would be easy."
Initially, the long swim would be in the daylight and we'd be able to take regular breaths - we were starting this far away from our target simply to avoid being spotted - but then the river would enter a tunnel, the roof would close in above us and we would be sealed underwater as we passed under the wall, under the security perimeter, under the guards and checkpoints and under the castle itself, till we reached the pumping station in the basement that took the fresh, clear river water, treated it with chemicals and fed it into the castle's pipes.
How long, exactly, that would take, we did not know. How quickly we would be able to make the journey, we did not know. How long I could hold my breath, I had surreptitiously tested that afternoon when the guys weren't watching. The results had not filled me with confidence. I just had to hope that I could stay calm enough to signal for breath when I needed to and that the importance of the mission would bring out the best in me.
"Ready?" Connor looked at me and I knew he was giving me one last chance to back out.
There was a half heartbeat where I wavered. I wouldn't be human if I wasn't a little scared, and I was more than a little. But just the thought of Saorise in that place, ill and afraid and alone, strengthened my resolve.
"Let's do it."
The evening sun had set as we made final preparations, which included a trip to a department store in the next town over and fashioning together a reasonable facsimile of the uniform we’d seen worn by a woman on the Happy Maids’ website.
I packed it, along with a towel in a watertight bag, which Declan would carry. Patch was in charge of supplies for the raid itself. Then the three males stripped. Patch and Declan hung their bags about their necks, which contained workmen’s style overalls to give them, at least, limited cover, and the three of them transformed into seals.
They slid into the water and I got in after them, gasping at the biting cold and fighting against the speed of the current, a speed I would be grateful for once we got going, as it would increase my chances of coming out the other end alive.
Connor swam up to me, moving with easy strength through the water, his every movement giving me confidence in his ability to do this. I looped my arms about his neck, lying along his back. He turned his head to me and made a few snuffling noises, which I took to mean, “hold on tight.”
The three Selkie moved off together, navigating the thundering water with sinuous ease. Even with my weight on him, Connor threaded a sure path through the rocks and boulders that littered the area. He dived off miniature weirs and skidded over rapids, keeping me safe and untouched. My initial fear had given way to a thin, wild rush of adrenaline.
Connor swam with muscular speed, his whole body twisting to power his passage, and that speed was doubled by the pace of the current, pulling us along. It was like we were powered by two engines, and the landscape around us was a blur as I blinked back the spray from my eyes. I laid my head against the velvet softness of Connor's sinewy neck, feeling his muscles move beneath me, absorbing his warmth and even his strength.
A sharp bark from Connor alerted me and the others to the sight ahead of us. The spires of the castle were now visible, but between them and us loomed the grey mass of the wall. It was still some distance away, partly obscured by the rocky landscape, but its size meant that it dominated. It had been built to intimidate, to stop thieves before they had even arrived.
The river now twisted, and there before us, rushing up fast, was a vast mound of rock, dappled with lichen and moss, embellished by the occasional stunted tree, somehow hanging on in the complete absence of soil. At the base of the rock, where the river met it, I could see a black hole into which the water poured.
We were going under.
Terror cascaded through me like a waterfall, and I was temporarily unable to breathe - at just the worst time possible. But, as always, a thought of Saorise gave me the will to calm myself.
As we approached the hole, I focused my mind, trying to time my breathing right. Every moment would count, I wanted to take my deep breath at the last possible second before we went in. The tunnel was almost on us when I emptied my lungs and refilled them, sucking in as much air as I could, then grabbing hold of Connor more tightly than before and laying my head flat against him to make him as aerodynamic as possible.
Blackness engulfed us, water swallowing me whole. My lungs strained instinctively and I knew right then that I was going to die.
One thing for which I had not allowed was the natural reaction of the human body to the sensation of drowning. Surrounded by water and unable to breathe and unable to see, I felt the desperate urge to lash out, to flail and gulp for air. It was only the feel of the sleek pelt beneath my fingers that kept me from losing it.
I tried to quiet the screams in my mind, allowing myself to focus on that one pinprick of safety. The beacon in this dark world of terror.
Connor.
I believed in him above all else, I believed that he would not let me die, and my faith in him sent an eerie wave of calm over me.
Outside,
I had thought we moved fast. In here, although it was hard to get a sense of our speed without anything to see, we seemed to be going even faster. Connor's muscles bunched and flexed as he pushed himself as hard as he could, knowing that every moment took me closer to death. His strength, and the concentrated rushing speed of the water, bore us on at a phenomenal rate through the inky blackness.
But would it be fast enough?
My lungs burned now with the need to breathe, close to bursting. I could hear Patch’s voice in my mind now, explaining how best to conserve oxygen and work through this in preparation for a breath.
Let air seep out in a slow stream until I was empty, and then tap Connor’s neck twice to let him know we needed to pause if we hadn’t reached the end.
Very slowly, I began to release the breath I had taken, bit by bit relieving the pressure on my lungs, knowing that this would buy me a little more time, but also knowing that once they were empty, that knives of panic would set in again.
Still, we swam on, no light up ahead to give me hope. I could sense the tension in Connor now as he pushed his body harder still. Just a little longer, I told myself, without knowing if that was true.
The last eked bubble of air burst from my lips and I felt my chest was bowed to concavity by the emptiness within. I was on borrowed time, but as I fought the searing pain in my chest, my mind went blank. I knew I was supposed to be doing something important…I just couldn’t remember what it was. Just one little breath and I could think straight.
Smog closed over my oxygen-deprived brain and my head lolled back as I opened my mouth and inhaled.
Water rushed into my lungs and I writhed with renewed panic.
And then, suddenly it was over.
Bright light penetrated the darkness, making me squint with its intensity as Connor broke the surface.
I rolled off him onto my side, a move which sent a rush of still-cold water up from my chest and out onto the concrete platform beside me. Then, I sucked in a breath, the pain and sublime pleasure of it rendering me paralyzed for a moment.
I was alive. We’d done it.
I blinked the water from my eyes and caught sight of frantic movement beside me. A second later, I heard the muffled sound of voices.
"What the fuck?"
A pair of men stood on a concrete platform by the side of the water ten yards from me and they were both staring at me in surprise.
Connor moved like lightning, spinning from his skin as he went, and then launching himself at the pair of men, who frantically fumbled for their firearms.
I swallowed a scream as Connor landed a crushing blow to the side of the larger man’s temple and then spun without pause to deliver a roundhouse kick to the neck of the other, sending them both dropping to the ground like twin sacks of potatoes.
I gasped, rolling to my knees as pops of light flickered in my vision as my brain processed the oxygen flowing through me. A moment later, Patch leapt from the water to join Connor, discarding his skin as he went.
While Patch and Connor secured the unconscious guards, Declan knelt beside me, murmuring words of comfort. I had stopped noticing how cold it was in the panic of not being able to breathe, but now the sensation had returned with a vengeance and I shivered uncontrollably.
"There's a radiator over here,” Declan said as he half-carried me in his strong arms, helping me over to the welcoming heat. Then, extracting the towel from his bag, he vigorously rubbed me down, drying and warming my body at the same time, massaging sensation back into my numb limbs.
"How are you feeling?" he asked solicitously.
"Okay," I croaked. My lungs still ached but the euphoria of being alive and having made it this far without having our plan shut down made it a whole lot more bearable. And now that feeling was returning to my body, with it came renewed strength and resolve.
There was no time for coddling. We had to move and we had to move fast.
"Pass me my clothes."
I dressed with still shaking hands, relieved that the chill in my bones was subsiding.
"The room's clear," said Connor as he strode toward us, fully dressed now, as well, his concerned gaze roving over me anxiously. "These two just seem to be the guys who operate the pumping station. More engineers than guards. Are you all right?" he asked, reaching for me and running his fingertip over my jawline.
I nodded and managed a smile. “Peachy. You swam like a champ. Thank you.”
His relief was palpable as he smiled back and turned to his brothers.
"We've found the door,” Patch said as he finished tugging his clothes on. “If you're all right to go on?"
I was, and the sooner we started, the better.
The one flaw with this plan was that the best chance of success was at night, when our escape could be after dark and, hopefully, fewer people were around. But that raised the question; would a maid be around at that time? At what point did the maids knock off for the evening? A man like William K. Mung would surely have staff available round the clock - and anyone who's watched Downton Abbey knows that's how it works - but there would likely be fewer maids about at this time and that made it harder for me to blend in.
The guys were all dressed in their work overalls as I made my way up to the door. Connor peered out first, to make sure that the coast was clear, while Declan reviewed what we knew about the property.
"We're two stories underground, Saorise is on the ground floor, so you'll need to go up two flights of stairs to reach her. She's at the rear of the castle, the northern end. We don't know where you might come out so maybe try to find a window to get your bearings. Her door is likely to be locked and guarded."
"Get the lay of the land and the placement of any guards and people, and come and tell us when you find her," said Patch. "We'll take it from there."
“If you’re questioned, remember, just pretend you don’t speak English. If you’re not back in fifteen minutes, we’re coming up after you. This bastard is twisted, but he doesn’t want human blood on his hands and attention called to him. It will take at least that long to untangle that you aren’t meant to be here.”
I nodded, then kissed each of them before passing through the door, closing it behind me.
My mission was essentially recon. I could move about the house more easily than them, so I could locate Saorise and then they could go straight to her rather than wasting time searching and running the risk of being spotted.
All that said, if an opportunity presented itself? I had every intention of getting her out myself. We might only get that shot at this and I wasn't about to throw it away to cover my own ass.
The first flight of stairs was easy to find, taking me into the regular basement, which seemed to be mostly for storage. I didn't hang around to look at what was behind the sealed doors - with a man like William K. Mung it could have been anything from fine china to the bones of his enemies.
I tried to walk with confidence, as if I knew where I was going even when I did not, but, fortunately, there was no one about for me to fool. The place was empty, and eerie, and I was at liberty to hunt about for the way out. Thus far, our sense of the man had seemed correct. I hadn’t seen any sign of security cameras, which made sense for a man like him. He would have to weigh up and find a balance between the twin desires of security and privacy for his salacious appetites.
And, by all appearances, his appetites won out.
I found the next staircase and ascended to a twin set of doors, forming a sort of airlock between the basements and the main house. Taking a deep breath, I passed through. What I had expected to find was opulence, and I was not disappointed. William K. Mung's reputation for extravagance was well-deserved, and there was something distasteful about a man who purchased all this sumptuous comfort just for himself.
The paintings that hung on the walls of the hall into which I had emerged were clearly originals. To paraphrase the great Indiana Jones; they belonged in a museum. Treasures of this magnitude belonged to the worl
d, a shared heritage, it was sad to see them in the property of one man. Especially a man such as this one.
The second thing that struck me was the emptiness of the hall in terms of people. On the bright side, I was less likely to be spotted, but if I was then I would stick out like a sore thumb - clearly, no one was meant to be about at this time.
As I headed for the nearest door, heart hammering, my shoes seemed suddenly and appallingly loud on the floor as I tried to get my bearings.
So which way was north from here?
I had just closed my eyes, retracing my steps, when a wave of nausea passed through me, strong enough that I almost lost my balance and had to reach out to one of the columns flanking the hallway to steady myself.
The sensation that followed was unlike anything I had ever felt before. As if a cold wave had washed over my mind and withdrawn again like a tide. With that sensation had come a flood of images and emotions, more than I could consciously comprehend, but leaving me on the verge of tears and gasping for breath with the intensity and scale of it.
Though I could not identify any specific part of it, the pictures, feelings and strands of thought had come together to leave an overall impression on my mind, like one of those pictures made up of thousands of smaller images. It all came together to speak one word to me.
Saorise.
I could have wept with gratitude, and as the feeling claimed me again, I surrendered to it.
I did not try to read the message that was being sent to me - perhaps another Selkie could have done so, but I simply didn't have the power - I just let the impression settle upon me.
I was going the wrong way.
I let my eyes flutter open and gazed around me until something caught my eye and held it. That door on the far wall.
I walked as if in a trance, Saorise washing through my mind again, rolling back and forth like the breakers on a beach, immediately transporting me back to where we first met.
Her Selkie Harem Page 15
