The Syrenka Series Box Set

by Amber Garr

  “We will save her.” I jumped at the sound of a female voice and the faintest touch on my hand. I turned to see that Adele had sidled up next to me. “Lucian should enjoy his final sunset of this world, for very soon, he will take his last breath.”

  I’d never heard her speak like that before. It was so cold and calculated. Exactly the way a Council member should be, yet frightening none the same. “What did he do to you?” I asked.

  “Do you mean besides stealing Graham out from under my nose?” She shook her head. “I took that boy in when no one else would. I raised him to be good. Not the lackey of some disturbed merman. But Graham is an adult and he chose to go down this path. I sincerely hope he won’t lose his life for it tonight.”

  I swallowed hard, remembering the conversation with Brendan on the plane. I seriously doubted that Graham would make it out of this alive.

  “But if you’re asking what Lucian threatened me with, it was William.”

  “Who?” I asked.

  “My dear, sweet William.” I followed her gaze to an older man standing between several selkies on the far side of the gazebo. He wore a dark green cloak, symbolizing his membership on the Northern European Council. As though he felt our focus, he looked up and caught Adele’s eyes. They exchanged a look so intimate, I knew that this was her weakness.

  She squeezed my hand hard and whispered to me. “He said that he would kill him if I didn’t oblige. My first husband died five years ago, and although it was an arranged marriage, we’d grown to love each other. With no children or grandchildren, I thought I’d lost the ability to love when he died. Until I met William. He reinvigorated me. Gave me a reason to enjoy life again.” She wiped away the tears in her eyes. “I do believe Graham told him about us. Not many people know.” She suddenly stopped speaking. I think it was all too much for her.

  “They threatened us, too. Both Lucian and Graham,” I added.

  “I figured as much,” she said then looked up at me and smiled. “I am glad to see that you two finally found your way to each other.”

  I couldn’t help but reciprocate with my own delighted grin. I’d waited so long to have Eviana by my side. There was no alternative, we had to get through the evening.

  “There he is,” Adele spat and I saw Lucian enter the gazebo like a super star. His long blond hair wafted in the breeze as well as the white silk shirt that hung open at his chest. The man really loved to show off his body. It was gross.

  More of his merfolk supporters began to gather around the gazebo. Someone had blocked off a center aisle with that girly stuff used in weddings and bright red flowers. There were no chairs, typical for Lucian to ignore comfort in favor of submission. It seemed to be a thing of his.

  “We should prepare,” Adele said, then raised up on her toes high enough to kiss my cheek. “I wish you luck.”

  Before I could thank her, she disappeared amongst the crowd. I found Troy and Palmer in the back of the celebration area. Tonight they wore a business suit in order to blend with the rest of the leaders like myself. We had trained protectors interspersed amongst the Council members as well, hoping that no one would suspect them too soon.

  “Did you spot her yet?” I asked Palmer.

  “No. But I heard some others saying that the wedding is going to happen first.”

  “What?” This was not the way we planned the attack. We were going to wait until the meeting was well underway so that Lucian would think everything was going as well as it could. If we waited until after the wedding, then Eviana would officially be married and we may miss our chance completely.

  “So you want me to spread the word?” Troy asked, already knowing what was going through my mind.

  “Yes, please. We can’t let the wedding happen.” The surge of excitement turned to apprehension again. This had to work.

  “Welcome everyone. Thank you all for coming,” Lucian said as though we all had a choice.

  “Do it now, please, Troy,” I whispered and then moved to the aisle. I needed to let Eviana know that we were here.

  “Tonight we shall begin with a celebration of a new union and a new way of life.” His supporters clapped and yelled and glared at those who weren’t. “I am honored to wed my daughter to one of the most promising young men our kind has ever had the privilege of knowing.”

  Lucian lifted his arm to the side and Graham climbed up onto the gazebo to join him. He smiled at his almost father-in-law. “Graham and Eviana will lead us into a great new revolution. Their abilities far surpass the rest of us, and their children will only be that much stronger.”

  My stomach dropped. Children?

  “So without further ado, let’s make this union official.” Music began to play from somewhere and I picked up the pace to reach the center aisle. We were packed on the patio like sardines in a can, and even though I tried to be polite at first, by the time the band reached the chorus of the classical wedding song, I was throwing elbows left and right to get through.

  I’d almost reached the last row when I saw her. Gliding down the patio stairs was the vision I’d replayed in my head over and over for years. Eviana in a white wedding dress, walking toward me. Although in this case, her face was wrinkled in consternation and her puffy eyes couldn’t mask that she’d been crying. I still found her beautiful and it was that beauty which prevented me from saving her.

  “You!” Someone yelled behind me just before I felt a hand slam into my mouth and an arm wrap around chest. I tried to fight it, but soon three more sets of hands held me still. “Say one word and she dies,” the voice whispered into my ear.

  Wasn’t anyone witnessing this? Didn’t they see me being attacked? I tried to turn my head but it was held too tight. The guards dragged me backward through the crowd who now cleared a path for me. I caught a glimpse of Palmer out of the corner of my eye, and tried to convey that he stay hidden. We still had numbers on our side. It wasn’t worth giving that up just yet.

  I stopped struggling with the protectors. Lucian was smart. He knew I couldn’t control our own kind or the selkies very well. It was a win win for him.

  Someone punched me in the stomach, surprising me and pissing me off in the same instant. But I didn’t fight back. It wasn’t time yet. I fell to my knees, effectively offering my surrender. After one more kick to the ribs, all except for one of the protectors left, leaving me alone on the ground listening to Eviana’s wedding progress.

  Eviana

  Where was Kain? I looked over the crowd a hundred times trying to find my strength. I needed him to be here. I needed to know there was a plan to stop this nonsense. And I was running out of time.

  After my visit with the nereid, Lucian and Graham brought me back to the house where I’d slept through the night and late into the next day. My dreams were vivid and colorful that evening, and I wasn’t sure what was real or make believe when I woke up in the morning.

  Lucian didn’t waste any time. He forced me to practice on the protectors first to see if I could compel the mermen. It was almost as easy as the selkies. I barely had to force the command, and could instead whisper it in my head to have them succumb. In one visit with the nereid, my life had changed dramatically. I became my father.

  Graham worked with me and the water control. On several instances he laughed when my tendrils attempted to squeeze his throat. He thought I was playing around, while I was really fine tuning my aim. I had no desire to be married to Graham. And if the wedding did happen, I wouldn’t stay married very long.

  By four in the afternoon on the second day, Lucian demanded I stop practicing and get ready for the ceremony. I refused to call it my wedding. He’d ushered me into a private villa at the resort complex, where three human women waited to serve my every request. It was obvious that Lucian had brainwashed them into thinking this was a joyous occasion, and when they finally left, I watched him perform another round of compulsion.

  It was too much pressure for me to keep pretending this was a perfect day, so I had
asked the ladies to leave before putting on my dress. Still, Lucian had done it again. The gown looked perfect for someone who wanted to get married, and just what a doting father would buy his daughter for her special day. A simple spaghetti strap top with a fitted bodice flowed into layers upon layers of chiffon. Tiny crystals were sewn into the dress all over, so that when the light hit it just the right way, I sparkled like the stars. The women had curled my hair into ringlets and let it fall naturally all around. It hung past my waist now, which meant it could almost cover the single black orchid I was being forced to carry.

  “You will go through with it all, Eviana, or I will kill your merman piece by piece,” Lucian threatened me just after swooning over how beautiful I looked. He was beyond crazy.

  Since Graham wasn’t allowed to see me, and Lucian needed to “greet the vassals”, I would walk down the aisle by myself. Thinking this may be an opportunity to act, I agreed. But when I reached the main lobby area for which I needed to pass through to the courtyard, I saw that Lucian made sure a security detail watched my every move. I probably would have been able to control one or two, but I didn’t think I could hold all of them at once. Plus, I had to assume Kain and the others would have a plan.

  So when I started that dreaded march to my social demise, I frantically wanted to see his face. One look to assure me that we were going to get away from here. For a moment I thought I saw him, but the crowd quickly pushed together to get a closer view of the ceremony and I accepted that my mind was playing tricks on me.

  A string quartet played a classical piece I recognized but didn’t know the name of. The music should have calmed me, but it had the complete opposite effect. My palms leaked with sweat all over the stupid flower I had to carry. If my heart beat any faster, I believed that it would go into cardiac arrest. Maybe that could be my way out.

  I saw Lucian standing next to Graham at the end of the aisle and in the center of the gazebo, glaring at me. I was taking too long. I couldn’t help it if my feet wouldn’t move, could I? Lucian made a small sign with his hand that was only for my eyes. The fake knife across the throat, disguised by a touch to his hair, let me know that he was insinuating death again.

  I was really tired of being threatened.

  A few moments later I reached the gazebo steps. To my right sat Lucian’s drones. His supporters that would stop at nothing to betray their kind. And to my left was everyone else. I saw Adele Lyonetta and we shared a moment. Her face looked tired and worn, but her eyes were anything but. There was a plan, I knew it.

  Lucian cleared his throat, forcing me to look up at him and my husband to be. Had the situation been in a parallel world without kidnappings, betrayal, and my biological father, I may have been happy to marry Graham. His handsome face captivated me for the briefest of moments until I remembered that it was just the blood talking. Still, he looked amazing in his black suit which hugged his frame in all the right places.

  He smiled at me like he knew where my thoughts had drifted. Deciding I was tired of playing along, I glared back. Lucian immediately walked forward and yanked me up to the makeshift altar. He squeezed my arm hard, for sure leaving a mark.

  “Behave,” he whispered in my ear without even moving his lips. In fact, he smiled the entire time.

  “You could at least pretend to love me,” Graham said in a mocking tone. “I love you.”

  “You have no idea what love is,” I spat back. Lucian quickly began his speech to cover the noise of our argument.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. Leaders of our kind. It gives me great honor to present my daughter, Eviana Anne Dumahl to be wed to Graham Marcus Forrester on this night, in the presence of all.” Lucian lifted my hand and firmly placed it into Graham’s. He smiled and I fought back tears.

  “The union of these two commanding individuals will secure the future of our kind.” I tried to pull my hand away from Graham, but he held fast and sent a cunning wink in my direction. I dug my nails into his skin.

  “If anyone here should wish to deny these two their birthrights and destined union, now would be the time to speak.”

  I frantically looked around the crowd, particularly those on my side of the gathering, but no one said a word. Where was Kain? Or Troy? Someone. Someone had to stop this.

  “Very well, and excellent choice…” Lucian’s voice cracked. “Excellent…” he tried to finish, but began coughing instead. Clearing his throat, he started again. “As I was saying, agreeing to this union is a wise…”

  This time, he grabbed at his chest and began sucking in shallow, raspy breaths. The crowd started to whisper and move about, wondering what was happening. Lucian’s protectors ran to the gazebo and caught him under the arms.

  “Master Sutherland, what’s wrong?”

  Lucian continued to gasp, but his eyes scanned the crowd. When they reached their target, his face contorted into rage. “Her!”

  We all looked in the direction he pointed and I nearly cried with joy. Adele had removed herself from the masses and was now standing in the front, staring at Lucian. It took a moment for me to realize that she was controlling something within him.

  “You are not the only one with power, Lucian. Now!”

  Her command brought a flurry of action. Almost at once, the left side of the audience attacked the right. Our supporters finally enacted their revenge on Lucian’s cronies.

  Fists flew, compulsion wars began, and I stood there. Frozen. It probably wasn’t for very long, but time seemed to stand still. As if in slow motion, I watched our side fight with an amazing show of strength and force that Lucian’s new friends didn’t stand a chance. However, the weaker ones in the horde were easily taken down by mental commands. I only caught a glimpse, but I looked on in horror as Marisol dropped to her knees in front of Elizabetta, one of Lucian’s new Council members. She was forcing them to obey left and right until an entire cluster of merfolk surrounded her. As one, they moved through the crowd, her protective circle blocking an intruder then turning them into a puppet like the others.

  Daniel screamed. I’m not sure how I knew it was Daniel, but I did. His voiced sliced through the night, even though I couldn’t spot him. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I yelled out in frustration. I looked for Kain, yet couldn’t find him. My heart hammered in my chest until I finally saw two other familiar faces.

  Troy and Palmer fought with the new Council’s assigned protectors, leaving a wide gap between them and Elizabetta who continued to squash those around her like bugs. They were doing a great job at defending themselves and working together as a team to accomplish their goals. In the few seconds I managed to see, they had subdued five protectors.

  Lucian dropped to the ground and hacked until I thought an organ would fall out. Adele moved closer, never breaking her concentration. She was actually winning.

  That was until an older merman in a dark green cloak appeared by her side. Lucian smiled and stopped coughing long enough to turn his head and look up at Graham. They exchanged a look so evil that I knew what came next would not bode well for Adele.

  “No!” I shouted, but it was too late. Graham had already seized control of the old man, who now punched at his own head and face. The glistening tears in Adele’s eyes gave away her true feelings, but she tried not to turn from Lucian. He coughed again, this time spitting up blood.

  The old man fell to the ground, hard enough to break bones. His head slammed against the concrete patio, and then he went still. Adele yelled out and dropped to help him, severing her hold on Lucian.

  “Get her out of here,” he growled at Graham.

  “No! Help!” I yelled, hoping someone would hear me. With all of the commotion and fighting and compulsion going on, I knew it would be useless.

  “Eviana!” It seemed like a trick; not a real voice. “Eviana!”

  Kain had found me.

  “Kain!” I yelled back, not sure where he was coming from. Graham dragged me by my hair backward over the far side of the gazebo and down t
o the beach. “Kain!”

  We stumbled past battles between mermaids, mermen, protectors, and leaders. Our supporters appeared to be corralling the others toward the water’s edge. Why would they do that? They might be able to hold their own on land, but it would be tough to compete with an element controlling leader in the water.

  I fell to the ground and screamed when Graham pulled on my hair. “Shut up!” he snapped. “Get up, now!”

  “Kain!” I didn’t hear him anymore. The multitude of fights drowned out any chance of me finding his beautiful voice. I started to cry.

  And then I felt the warm, inviting water wash over my legs. I didn’t know why I hadn’t realized this sooner, but being in the water might just give me the edge I needed to get away from Graham.

  “Mistress Dumahl!”

  Someone called for me but it wasn’t Kain this time. Turning my face toward the sea, I felt my heart swell. A giant sprite head bobbed along the surface, showing me the mouthful of dangerous incisors. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so happy to see Abhainn. He’d survived and if he was here, that meant the ratchets were too.

  As Graham dragged me backward into the water, I watched in silence while Lucian’s followers were forced into the ocean. They changed into mermaid form quickly, but many of them never surfaced again. I knew the water sprites were having a feast tonight.

  Several streams of water exploded around us, as the losing team began to fight for their last breath. Tendrils controlled by the merfolk snaked across the surface, latching on to ratchet necks and squeezing them until they burst. That only sent the sprites into a frenzy and soon, merfolk body parts flew through the air.

  I swallowed the bile in my throat and decided that I was tired of Graham controlling my every move. Reaching up behind me, I focused on him harder than I’d ever concentrated on anything before. Release me! I commanded in my head. For a brief moment, his grip loosened. I pulled my hair free and stood in the knee deep water to face him. In the quickest way possible, I drew the water up from the surface and attempted to wrap it around his throat, just as I’d been practicing the last two days.