“What are you doing here?” I probed, knowing I had asked the same thing on his last visit. I dreaded the answer, knowing my fate was arriving too soon.
Instead of answering, Zale tore his gaze from mine and peered up the hill. I watched as the snow fell around his face, the strong jaw clenched as though he were concentrating hard on something. As I watched him, his head leaned to the side and I realized he was listening intently in the darkness.
“You need to get home.” He spoke suddenly, his voice was a solid command and not to be questioned.
Without another word he turned to walk up the hill and bewildered, I followed him along the snow strewn path. Suddenly, he turned to look back at me and grabbed my wrist in a death grip to pull me after him. I inhaled sharply at the strength of his hand and though he loosened his grasp slightly, there was still no fighting him as we hurried up the hill through the trees. I slipped a few times but he hardly noticed. His hand was so strong there was no fear of him letting go, although I worried about the possibility of me falling onto the ground and him just dragging me behind him. That thought in mind, I picked up my pace even more.
My house came into view and I saw the outside light was on as usual. Everyone would be in bed by this time, and the driveway was empty of my brothers’ trucks. I internally relaxed, knowing no one would be awake to see Zale.
The warrior let go of my wrist and harshly pushed me toward the door. “Get inside.” His voice was flat.
I looked at him curiously; he was still gazing around as though he was looking for something or someone.
“Are you staying out here?” I asked, not sure why I didn’t do as he said.
He sighed heavily and finally looked at me. “You’re in danger. Much more than you know. Now get inside.”
I turned on my heel obediently and unlocked the door to my house. Warm air reached my face and I turned around to see if Zale wanted to come in for a moment, but was stunned. He was gone. I hadn’t heard anything and yet he was nowhere to be seen.
My heart skipped a beat and I slammed the door shut with finality, quickly turning all the locks and bolts into place. My breath escalated and my hands still shook even though I tried to calm myself, but every time I replayed his words in my mind the room around me grew tight, as though constricting me. I was in danger. But I had already known that, so why did it bother me now?
I took off my coat, and after two attempts, was able to hang it on the wall. Although my dinner was sitting on the counter, I ignored it. There was no way I would be able to eat, not now.
I dashed up the stairs to my room seeking the comfort of my bed. For some reason I felt if I could get into bed I would be safe, as though my comforter provided some shield against the fears running through my mind. Not even bothering to change, I kicked off my boots and slipped into bed with my jeans and sweatshirt still on. I laid there thinking that my heart rate would slow down any minute now, but it didn’t. Every sound the house made, set my nerves on edge.
From downstairs a small click reached my ears and a following creak confirmed my fears. Someone was inside the house. My breath shuddered and I held my knife close to my chest as I strained to hear any sound from below, but there was nothing to be heard. Time crept by slowly and even though it felt like an hour it was only mere seconds before one of the stairs creaked.
I hopped out of bed, my knife held out in front of me. I knew it would do nothing against Morven but it was at least worth a try. Slinking over to the wall, I pressed my back against it and could just make out the upstairs hall through the crack in the door. My breath was loud to my ears and I worried it would lead Morven right to me.
I still held the knife out to attack whoever came through the door ready to throw it if needed. Surprise was my only chance against Morven, because I knew he could over power me in mere seconds. I peered into the darkness waiting, and saw nothing.
Out of nowhere a hand shot forward and grasped my wrist. I opened my mouth to scream but a hand clamped over my lips before I could even utter a sound. I struggled for a moment, but my efforts were subdued when the strong body pushed me up against the wall.
“Let’s put this away shall we?” Zale’s breath wafted around my face and I almost fainted. I had been so sure it was Morven that my legs buckled.
The knife was taken from my grasp and Zale closed the door to my room silently. I watched as he walked over to the bed stand and flicked on the light. In the dim glow, he examined the dagger as though it were a treasure.
“Where did you get this?” he asked, and I stared at him not sure what to say. He looked at me when I didn’t answer and took in my expression. I was still pinned against the wall, breathing heavily, my chest visibly rising and falling. His brow furrowed. “Are you all right?”
His tone suggested I looked crazy. He apparently couldn’t fathom why I looked the way I did.
“Not really,” I said, shuddering a breath past my lips as the effects of draining fear left me. I brushed some stray strands of hair out of my eyes and met his gaze. He looked at me as though I were an animal.
“Why did you do that?” I asked, finding my voice.
“Do what?”
“Tell me I’m in danger, disappear, and then creep into my house making just enough noise to freak me out?”
His eyes lit with something akin to amusement, but he turned away before a smile could reach his lips.
“You didn’t answer my question about this knife. Where did you get it?”
“It belonged to someone I knew.” I shrugged.
“You mean Patrick?” He raised one eyebrow and I froze. How did he know?
“H—h—how?” I couldn’t put my thoughts into words.
“Yes, Lissie. I know all about you and Patrick, and how you fell so desperately in love with him.” He was again amused, as though he found the story impossible. “I asked Lord Morven about him, like you suggested last time and he told me everything.”
I couldn’t move, couldn’t think. Here he was, the person I had loved, taunting me for how I had fallen for him. I tried to push my emotions down as best I could; masking the pain that threatened to tear me apart.
He continued, “He told me of how you somehow escaped Hyvar. But the question is, why did you leave him behind? Didn’t he satisfy you enough? Or did you just not want him anymore?”
“Shut up.” I spit at him. “I did what I had to do.”
“To save yourself you mean?” he asked, his eyes cold and unrelenting. This is what I had feared most. This is what had become of my escape, my decision to leave him behind.
I didn’t answer and stared at the blade in his hands. I wanted to use it; the desire to hurt him for the things he was saying consumed me.
“You see, when you broke into Hyvar and didn’t kill me I thought you were different from the others. Now after knowing your past, I’ve started to wonder.” Every word he spoke insulted my very existence. “So what is it? What made you leave?”
Tears suddenly spilled over my eyes and ran down my cheeks quickly. You did. You told me to.
“He did, he told me to save myself if I got the chance,” the words spilled out of my mouth before I could stop them. “I left, but came back for him. And you know the rest.” I wiped the fast streaming tears from my cheeks and forced myself to stop crying.
Surprise flitted across his face, but was gone in an instant. I wondered what Morven had really told him as he fidgeted uncomfortably; shifting his shoulders. I reveled in his discomfort.
“Why are you here?” I asked him again, my voice angrier than I expected.
He pulled his eyes from mine and set the dagger down on the bedside table. A sigh passed through his lips and he walked to the window. I followed his movements and inched closer to the knife, just in case.
“Lord Morven is getting restless. He sent some men out to find you, including me. That’s what I meant by you being in danger, there are others here in town looking for you.”
Comprehension dawned on me. Is that why
he sent me into the house? Was there really someone out there tonight?
“Don’t worry,” he said, and turned back to look at me. I was standing next to the bed my hand as close to the dagger as I could get if the need arose. “I sent them away. I told them you weren’t here, that I spoke to your friends and they said you’d been gone since last September. They shouldn’t come looking for you again.”
A deep silence filled the room and I stared at him as if really seeing him for the first time. He was confident and full of pride that was obvious with the way he stood, but there was also a sense of vulnerability in his face. It was as though he was unsure of what was expected of him.
“Thank you,” gratitude filled my voice. “That’s the second time you’ve saved me from Morven.”
His shoulders tightened automatically and he turned around to glare at me. His eyes were fierce, all traces of vulnerability gone. The stories Kryssa told me washed back into my mind.
“I didn’t save you from Lord Morven; I saved you from the Hyven soldiers. Lord Morven would take care of you, the soldiers would only hurt you in unimaginable ways. I’m lucky to be alive, after what they did to me. If it weren’t for Lord Morven, I would be dead.”
I shook my head not even thinking, “That’s not true.”
“How would you know?” he asked, his words were sharp. “You weren’t there.”
I closed my eyes, frustrated by how blind he was. How could he not see, how could he not remember? It wasn’t worth arguing; and in surrender I reopened my eyes to sit down on my bed. I stared at the comforter for a long time, all the while feeling the weight of Zale’s powerful stare.
“You’re right,” I admitted. “I wasn’t there when Morven told you all of these lies, but your fate is tied to mine in ways even you don’t understand.”
I had been looking down as I spoke, but now looked up at him to see if he had heard me. His eyes were defiant and yet there was a burning curiosity in them that brimmed near the surface. He was trying to figure me out, just as I was trying to figure him out.
He didn’t speak, but turned around to look out the window of my room again. His familiar silhouette covered the pane and I looked at his huge shadow spread across the floor. He was lost in thought and I let him think while I pulled a blanket over my shoulders. It was chilly in my room, or maybe it was the conversation that was chilling. Whichever it was, it made me shiver slightly.
“I have to go back,” his deep voice startled me after the long silence. I knew what he meant and didn’t answer. “Lord Morven will be waiting, and you have to come with me.”
“No,” I said, the word sharp.
He turned to face me, “You can’t just sit here forever. He knows where you live.”
“But you can tell him otherwise, he trusts you.” I pointed out wondering how close I could walk this line of deception.
He shook his head quickly. “No, I can’t do that. He has done too much for me. I can’t lie to him; he’s my master.”
The word master struck a nerve inside me, and the total brainwash Morven had accomplished on Patrick was disgusting. I wanted to hit something, and hit it hard.
“Then go back to Hyvar, but I’m not going with you.”
“I’ll make you. I’m stronger than you ten times over, it would be easy,” he said, so sure of himself.
“But you wouldn’t do that,” I said, testing the waters.
He stared at me again; something glinted in his eyes for a moment but then disappeared. “No, I won’t do that to you,” he acquiesced. “So will you come with me?”
“Unlike you, I don’t praise the ground Morven walks on. In fact, he disgusts me with the very air he breathes. So no, I won’t willingly go to Hyvar.” As I spoke Zale’s eyes grew frighteningly angry. He glared at me in a way that made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. He wanted to kill me, I could see it in his eyes.
“I’ve told you before, you should reserve more respect for Lord Morven.”
“I’m sorry I offended you,” I snapped back. “But I lose respect for powerful merfolk who murder innocent human beings.” Zale froze and I could see the uncertainty in his eyes.
I pressed forward while doubt still filled his mind. “He didn’t tell you, did he? Patrick was tortured in the Hyvar dungeons and Morven was the one in charge of all the beatings.”
My words hit Zale like a slap to the face. He stared at me astonished by what I had just said. For a fraction of a second I noted his doubt, but a moment later the stony face of the warrior was back in its place.
“You’re crazy,” he said and turned back around to the window.
“What? The truth is crazy?” I asked from my spot on the bed. He sighed heavily, and for a moment looked exhausted.
“Goodnight, Lissie,” he said and I expected him to open my window and leave the way Kryssa had but he didn’t move.
“Aren’t you leaving?” I asked and he turned back toward me, the ghost of a crooked smile on his face.
“No,” it was one word, but it had a strange effect on me. At once a knot gripped the pit of my belly while a sigh of relief passed through my lips. “I’m going to stay and make sure the soldiers don’t come looking for you again. They don’t really trust me.” The hint of a laugh played around his lips.
“Or you’re waiting for me to fall asleep and then you’re going to take me to Hyvar anyway,” I challenged.
He shook his head and looked at me in the dim light of the lamp. “Like you said, I would never do that.”
“Why?” I asked, wanting to know why he hadn’t warned the Hyven, when we had snuck into Hyvar. Why he had only come to just talk to me two nights ago. And why he was in my room now, making sure the Hyven soldiers didn’t find me.
“I don’t know,” he said and his eyes burned into mine. Deep emotions played across his face and then again disappeared. “Now go to sleep.”
I almost refused, but decided against it. He wouldn’t hurt me; the only thing I needed to worry about was trying to fall asleep with him standing there.
With an exasperated sigh, I leaned over and clicked off the light. Darkness shrouded the room and I rolled over to my side, pulling the blanket up to my chin. I snuck a peek at him as he stood at the window looking down into the yard. His gaze was fierce and his posture bespoke that of a powerful soldier, but for some reason, he made me feel safe and I wondered how that was possible, when I should be more afraid of him than anyone.
I shut my eyes and fell asleep quickly, and for the first time in a long time I didn’t even dream.
9. Reminder
Clammy fingers poked my cheek and with a grunt I opened one eye. Justin was standing at the edge of my bed, his face a few inches from mine.
“Oh, good. You wake up.” He said, flashing his little baby teeth.
“Yep,” was all I could manage to say. I wanted to add more, but it wouldn’t be appropriate for such young ears.
“We wanna go downstairs, can we?” The innocent expression he wore made me wonder. I rolled onto my back and grabbed his chubby fingers with my hand.
“Who’s we?” I questioned him.
“Me and Kaleb and Emly.”
I stared at him not quite believing, until I heard a gurgling noise. I sat up quickly and saw Emly lying on her back on my floor and Kaleb sitting beside her, tickling her tummy.
“What is she doing out of her crib?” I turned my eyes on Justin; he smiled sheepishly. “Justin you can’t do that! I know you like being a big brother, but you can’t keep pulling her out of her crib. You could drop her.”
“I wouldn’t,” his bottom lip poked out and small tears filled his eyes. I sighed and internally cursed myself as I hopped out of bed to look him in the eye; surprised to find I was fully dressed.
“I’m sorry, sweetie. It’s just if you did drop Emly she could get really hurt, okay? So will you promise me not to do that anymore?” I asked. The other day I had caught him in mid attempt, standing on a chair and leaning over he
r crib to pick her up. It was a miracle he hadn’t dropped Emly and broken her neck.
Justin nodded his curly head and sniffled as I shifted my focus to the gurgling Emly on the floor. She had rolled to her stomach and was attempting a crawl by rocking back and forth; Kaleb laughed at her.
“Oh come on,” I said and scooped my giggling sister off the floor. “Let’s go eat breakfast.” I stopped walking when I didn’t hear any following feet.
“Boys?” I said and turned around to look at them. Kaleb was standing content with his thumb in his mouth, but Justin stood next to my bed, his back turned to me. The normally active child didn’t move.
“Justin? Are you going to come eat?”
He didn’t budge and I stepped toward him as Emly grabbed a chunk of my hair and fisted it tightly. I wrestled with the hair for a moment as I got closer to Justin.
Looking over his curly head, I saw what he was looking at and froze. He was staring at the hunting knife that had been left out of its sheath. Something then clicked in my brain, the reason why I was fully dressed and the knife. I whipped around, to look at the window, even though I knew he wouldn’t be there.
“Why do you have that?” Justin pointed his little finger out at the dagger. It looked incredibly large next to his tiny hand.
“Don’t touch it, because it’s very sharp.” I said. I put Emly back on the floor where she was happy to try and crawl again. Locating the sheath, I placed the hunting knife back inside.
“It looks bad.” He said, his eyes wide as he stared at the now concealed weapon.
“This is one of the knives we use for cooking at the restaurant. It’s broken so I’m going to have to fix it and then take it back. Okay?” I said, thinking quickly. He bobbed his head, all curiosity forgotten and turned to head for the door.
I waited for his little brother to follow him before I stashed the dagger in the top drawer of my dresser, out of the way of curious fingers. Emly gurgled on the floor and I picked her up when something caught my eye. It was on top of the bedside table and shined brightly in the sunlight pouring in through the window.
Ripples (DROPLETS Trilogy Book 2) Page 9
