by Amber Garr
Someone grabbed me around the waist and propelled me closer to the surface. There was a part of me that knew I needed air, but despite what happened below, I didn’t dare try to breathe under the water.
The warmth of the sun and the orange, pinks, and blues of the sky welcomed me at the surface. I took in a large gasp of air, and turned to the side just enough to see Lucian holding me in his arms.
“You’re okay, Eviana. You did it,” he whispered smoothly into my ear.
I couldn’t fully comprehend what he was talking about, and the last thing I remembered was a bird flying over my head and off into the setting sun.
Kain
Before we left Lucian’s meeting, Adele had a chance to pull me aside. Her frantic tone contradicted the determination in her voice. “We cannot let this happen. Let’s meet tomorrow. I will contact you.”
It was a rather cryptic message since we both knew that many eyes were watching. I didn’t even have a chance to find out what Lucian had done to threaten her, but apparently she wasn’t going to let that stop her completely.
Later that evening, I received a message that she would stop in California on her way home to Seattle, and we agreed to meet at Eviana’s house. It practically felt like my home now as well, plus the selkie leader and some of our best protectors were still there. Surely they would want to hear what Adele had to say.
I informed Troy, Palmer, Malcolm, and Julian that the merfolk leaders would be coming today. I didn’t know how many Adele was bringing with her, but hopefully she chose her friends wisely. The clans and Councils seemed to be equally divided in this war, so decisions couldn’t be made in haste. A friend today could very well be an enemy tomorrow.
There was one person, or sprite, missing from the group. I hadn’t seen Abhainn since Lucian shattered him at the meeting last night. Abhainn would often disappear that way on his own accord, but Lucian had forced it on him and I worried that wasn’t good for his kind.
I made my way to the oceanfront in the few extra minutes I had before Adele’s arrival. Hoping to see some sign of a water sprite, any water sprite, I scanned the horizon. It was a calm day in the sea and the sunlight reflected brightly enough to create a mirror effect. A shimmering wave caught my attention, and my stomach fluttered with excitement. Who would have thought, just a few months ago, that I’d be so happy to see a water sprite? In that short period of time, Abhainn and I had become great friends. He’d taught me so much about my water control abilities despite the fact it was his biggest fear about my kind. And his relationship with Isabel was inspiring. Two individuals from different backgrounds finding a way to make it work. It had given me hope.
The shadow of a wave I thought I saw disappeared and I feared that my eyes had played a trick on me. Knowing I had just a few minutes left, I started calling for him. It worked once before, so now I wished for the same result.
Again, I noticed something that looked like a head pop up and out of the water just a few yards offshore. I watched as that head expanded into a body and emerged from the breaking waves. Even with the sun glaring against the surface, I recognized Isabel’s long hair and perfectly shaped human body. I guess if you can shift into any form, why not make it exceptional.
She was hunched forward dragging something behind her. No, not dragging exactly. More like assisting the awkwardly shaped sprite by her side. I ran forward into the surf to help her.
“Is that Abhainn?” I asked, shocked at the state of his appearance. His form shimmered in and out of focus, switching between his human shape and something more akin to the sprites I’d met at Jeremiah’s house. His head was misshapen and pointy, his bones protruded from every joint at an unnatural angle, and his legs reminded me of a seabird’s.
“Oui. He must feed. Now!”
I could hear the queen in her come out. She speaks and expects someone to answer. Ironically we heard a playful scream and round of laughter from further up the shore. Usually it was secluded, but it appeared that a group of teenagers decided to ignore the POSTED signs and risk a trip to the private beach. Human teenagers on the same beach as a hungry sprite. Not a good combination.
“Zhey will do,” Isabel said.
“I don’t know…” I tried to say but she cut me off.
“He will die! We need a food source now, and zhose ignorant human children are coming zhis way.”
She was right. They must have been drunk, because when they saw the three of us standing in the water, one of them shouted and encouraged the others to follow behind. He ran as fast as he could, yelling something about a mermaid. Idiots.
“Fine. But I’m leaving,” I said. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but in the grand scheme of things I needed Abhainn more right now. A few humans were going to lose their lives for the sake of saving many more tomorrow. “Please come to the house when you’re finished. We have much to discuss.”
Isabel nodded her head without taking her eyes off of the approaching male. I turned and walked briskly back toward the house. I heard the young man whistle and catcall at Isabel, just before the revolting crunch. A few screams later and everything went silent. Well, the humans did. Abhainn, however, didn’t make any attempt to eat politely, and the slurps, snaps, and chomping carried in the wind all of the way to the deck. I shivered in disgust.
Trying to rid my mind of those images, I prepared myself for the meeting. I was pretty sure that we would make a final stand against Lucian tomorrow, but I needed to confirm that the support was there. Adele had many friends, and now that everyone understood what we were fighting against, I hoped they’d be willing to attack.
When I walked into the house, I was met with an eerie silence. Wondering where everyone went, I looked out the front door to see several town cars parked in the driveway, all empty. They must have already arrived.
Knowing there was only one place to go, I hurried down the hall and into the designated conference room. The conversations were in full swing until I walked through the doors.
“Master Matthew, there you are.” Adele held out her arms in a surprising show of emotion. We’d worked together for a few months now, but not once had she made an attempt to do any more than shake my hand. I moved to her and offered the embrace she was asking for. Her tiny frame seemed so fragile under my arms, almost like it was on the verge of breaking.
“Thank you for coming, Mistress Lyonetta.”
She chuckled. “Please call me Adele. There is little time for formalities these days.” She pulled away from me and swept her arm across the conference room. “You will see that we are not alone, Kain. Lucian will not succeed.”
I took in my surroundings. Adele brought ten powerful Council members and international clan leaders to the house. Troy had gathered all of the protectors nearby, and Julian called back his selkies. Brendan stood next to Carissa along the side wall, both of them giving me a slight nod when I made eye contact. It probably would have disturbed me more, seeing them side by side, but now was not the time to dwell on such things. I was fairly certain there wouldn’t be anything I could do or say to stop Brendan from being a part of this.
“There are several more on the phone,” Adele said while walking back to the head of the table. “All of whom are willing to fight back tomorrow.”
“This is great,” I said. “But do we have a plan?”
Adele smiled at me and the Council members. “We have more than a plan. We have secret weapons.” The other leaders nodded in agreement while the rest of us tried to figure out what she was talking about. “Julian has offered the selkies, and we are anticipating you securing the sprites.”
“Me?” I asked and then immediately felt like an idiot. “I…I don’t know if I can do that.”
“Kain, you are the only one who can do this.” Carissa stepped forward and my breath caught in my throat. She was so beautiful, and the way she commanded attention was awe inspiring. “My entire clan, along with most of those in France, Italy, Spain, and Japan are making arrangements to send
their most powerful leaders to Lucian’s tomorrow. The assistance of the selkies is much appreciated, but the merfolk participation was solidified when we promised them the sprites too.”
“Well, maybe you shouldn’t have done that,” I panicked. What if Abhainn and Isabel didn’t agree? They were the only sprites I knew. Carissa’s faced registered shock for a brief moment before she hid it behind a stoic façade. “I’m sorry,” I added quickly. “I just don’t know if I can guarantee this.”
“Abhainn will do it,” Daniel said. I hadn’t realized he was in there.
“He will, Kain. All you have to do is ask him.” Marisol stepped up next to Daniel and continued to encourage me. “He will do it for you and Eviana.”
I looked around the room at all of the expectant faces, waiting for me to agree to this. Instead, I told them the truth. “Abhainn was nearly killed last night.” Daniel and Marisol let out a gasp, and several other leaders looked around the table at each other trying to determine if anyone knew about this. “He didn’t die,” I continued, “but he’s not in good shape.”
“What about Isabel?” This time it was Brendan who spoke up. I watched him silently ask Julian for the privilege to speak, and when he nodded, Brendan continued. “She’s a queen in the ratchet society,” he explained to everyone in the room. “You should’ve seen her in Mexico. She saved a lot of lives by taking control back from Lucian. They listen to her.”
I froze. Adele hadn’t known about our little rescue mission, although when I glanced at her, she didn’t seem like this was new information. If she had learned anything about me in the last few months, she knew where my loyalties stood.
“Who is this Isabel?” someone on the speaker phone asked.
“She’s Abhainn’s partner,” I answered. “She’s a ratchet.” Most of the leaders took that news in stride. I remembered when Eviana and I met with the clan leaders in this very room not too long ago. We had been surprised that they’d all known about the existence of sprites. It seemed they only left the children out of the loop.
“And they’re our friends,” Daniel added.
“Is this true?” Adele asked me.
“Yes.”
“So will you deliver them to us?”
“I can’t deliver anyone, nor would I ever command a sprite to be at our beck and call. They are afraid of our water control abilities. We are the only creature that can harm them.” Another look around the room told me that these leaders already knew of the threat we posed to the sprites. I sighed. “I will not command them, but I will ask for their assistance.”
“That won’t be necessary, lad.” Without a sound, Abhainn and Isabel had entered the room and startled us all. Abhainn must have fed well, as he was now in a six foot plus tall, muscular human form that wouldn’t have been more than twenty five years old. He’d given himself an expensive dark blue suit and Isabel complimented his style with a skirt and jacket fit for a boardroom. I think it was the first time I saw her fully dressed.
I jumped to my feet and walked over to shake Abhainn’s hand. He smiled down at me then took in the room. “Ye will ‘ave our assistance. This is as much of an attack on us as it is fer ye. We cannot let him practice The Legacy, and we must act now.”
He pulled Isabel closer. “This is Isabella Angeline Fontaine. The queen of the ratchets and our most powerful ally.”
Isabel tilted her head in acknowledgement as the others in the room bowed in respect. It was a great feeling to see so many different groups of water creatures getting along. It was exactly what Lucian wanted to avoid.
“And I understand that we have the selkie leader as well?” Adele asked, looking at Julian.
He stepped forward and bowed his head. “Mistress Lyonetta, I am honored to meet you and although we do not have the same social structure amongst our kind, I can assure you that the selkies will fight for me. For us.”
“What about those already under Lucian’s control?” Troy asked while looking at Malcolm, whether on purpose or not. Troy was still scarred from Malcolm’s attack at Lucian’s hand.
Julian cringed. “Once they are under the spell, it is difficult for me to call them back. I may need help in those matters.”
“Done,” Adele said. “Marianne, Andrew, you will assist the selkie leader with your skills. Do what you can to break Lucian’s hold and give them back to Julian.” The Council leaders agreed.
We spent the next several hours discussing strategy and dividing up duties. By the time everyone left, I felt like we might actually have a chance to beat Lucian. Nearly half of the leaders attending the meeting tomorrow were against Lucian’s decree. And now that we had the selkies and the sprites fighting along with us, it would tip the scales in our favor.
Besides, we didn’t have another option.
Kain
Since we were going to the Bahamas and Lucian only gave us one day to make plans, each clan decided to charter their own plane, and share seats where necessary. With my real home base just a few hours away in Los Angeles, I managed to procure two larger planes to accommodate me, Marisol, Daniel, and all of the selkie’s. Abhainn and Isabel were offered seats, but they said they preferred to travel via water and not thousands of feet in the air.
The plan was relatively simple. Show up and act like we are fulfilling our requested duty, and once everyone was in place, we’d attack. The selkies and sprites would remain in the water, out of Lucian’s sight. I didn’t doubt that he’d have a patrol guard in the sea, and told Adele as much. She gave Abhainn, Isabel, and Julian the freedom to act as they must to subdue our enemies. Isabel seemed a little too happy about that declaration. Once again, I was thankful she was on our side.
The cross country flight seemed to last forever. Especially when somewhere over Kansas, Brendan decided to move to the seat next to me. I pretended to sleep, but it was futile.
“I can hear your heart beat so I know you’re not sleeping,” he said without looking at me.
I rotated my head against the seat. “That’s really creepy.”
He laughed. “I know.”
“What do you want?” I tried not to sound annoyed.
“You have to save her, Kain. She needs to get out of this alive.” He ran his hands through his hair. It was still hanging in his face, but he used that as a barrier between the two of us. “She deserves to be with you.”
That caught me by surprise. It wasn’t that I disagreed with him, I just never expected those words to come out of his mouth.
“I am fully prepared to die for her tonight,” he continued. I almost told him how melodramic that sounded. “But you have to live. You have to marry her, and love her, and give her a wonderful family…” his voice quivered. “You have to make her forget about me.”
I selected my next words very carefully. “She will never forget you, Brendan. But I promise you that I will love her more than anyone else in this world ever could.”
He huffed and stared directly at me. “I don’t know if that’s possible, but thank you for trying.” I assumed he was referring to his own feelings for her, but I decided to take the high road and remain quiet.
“Graham Forrester has to die,” Brendan said after several moments of uncomfortable silence.
“I agree.”
“That should be our job,” he continued.
“Okay.”
“Okay.” It was all he said. We probably should have schemed up some sort of grand plan to take him out, but we didn’t. A thousand plans and scenarios were running through my mind already and I couldn’t come up with one more. We’d just have to wing it.
Brendan moved back to his old seat with the selkies and I endured the rest of the flight suffering in silence. Every minute we got closer, the excitement and fear grew exponentially. The fighter in me, who I’d recently discovered, was eager for the battle. To conquer one that means to do harm to so many…it would be satisfying to say the least. The Legacy was the old way of doing things in our world centuries ago. Now was the tim
e to move forward.
The clan leader in me feared the deaths that were bound to occur tonight. Lives would be lost, but I had to believe it was still worth it. And lastly, the man in me, the part that loved Eviana and all she stood for, anticipated what our life would be like tomorrow. When this war was finished and we could go back to our homes and our clans, what kind of life would we have? Would she want to get married? Go to college? Our positions somewhat limited our options, but there were always ways around that. Eviana had taught me that much.
I must have fallen asleep thinking about what tomorrow held, because when the plane bounced into the ground, I jumped awake in my seat. Daniel and Marisol, who sat in front of me, turned around and laughed.
“What?” I asked.
“You scream like a little girl,” Daniel said. “You must have been having a good dream for that landing to startle you so much.”
I glared at him. Had I actually screamed? I kicked the back of his seat, but smiled. I worried about the two of them more than anyone else on this plane. Their skills had yet been tested, but I couldn’t force them to stay behind. If I were in their position, I would have wanted to come too.
We walked off the plane and piled into the limousines waiting for us. Julian and the selkies disappeared through the tiny airport hanger presumably to take up their position in the ocean before too many eyes spotted their arrival. We knew that Lucian had spies and assumed we wouldn’t be able to keep the selkies a secret forever. But we also had the sprites.
Lucian had cleared out an entire resort on the western side of the island overlooking the calm Caribbean waters. Sunset was only a couple of hours away, and already the pinks and purples started to develop on the horizon.
The first thing I noticed when we approached the central area of the resort, was the gazebo decked out in colorful flowers and twinkling lights. This must be for the wedding. Eviana and Graham’s wedding.
It wasn’t going to happen, but it sent a slice of fear through me anyway. I couldn’t stomach the thought of all our planning and coordination failing tonight.
