Water and Blood

by B. Kristin McMichael

  Sam genuinely smiled as he finally pried her hands off, and she let go of the glass and put her cut hands into the water she was sitting on. She could feel the cuts heal back together. Normally something like that would awe her, but now it just made her sad. Here she sat, completely okay, and he was going to get punished, and maybe even surrender his life for being a good guy.

  He reached for her face and touched it.

  “I didn’t want you here and part of this world. You see the good in everything. You come from night humans that are raised to protect. That isn’t this world. I just want you to be able to go home and live your life. I don’t want you caged here.” He was back to being sad.

  “Do you honestly think I want to go back to a world where you aren’t?”

  Sam’s eyes lit up. Without hesitation, he leaned over the edge of the glass and crushed his lips to Whitney’s. He pulled back only a fraction and whispered to her, “Are you sure about that?”

  Sure? Absolutely! Sam made her life have purpose again. He brought her back to where she was meant to be. No, she didn’t want to be without him.

  “If you are sure, then I think I can fix this,” he whispered in her ear as he trailed kisses down her neck to hide his words to her.

  Her face would have shown surprise if she wasn’t turning red from all the stares of the people watching them. Pulling his face back to hers, the make-out session was now a way to get a few last words in.

  Whitney leaned forward and ran her healed hands through his hair, making it so that she could lean forward and whisper to him.

  “Then how do we get out of here?”

  “The answer is in the water,” Sam replied, the statement not telling her much. “If you love me, then the water will save us,” he whispered back to her.

  Whitney pulled back from his kisses and gazed into his eyes. She had no idea what his plan was, and he was obviously not going to elaborate.

  “Trust me. I can get us free.” He nuzzled into her neck before moving back to her lips for one last kiss.

  Whitney melted into his lips. It was perfect to kiss Sam and always would be. She could feel it in her heart. Sam was her future, and there wouldn’t be one without him. She trusted him, even if she would have liked a few more details. It was crazy, as she liked to be the one in control and fighting, but because she didn’t know how to play the game she was useless. She was going to push down all instincts to fight and trust him completely. You have to trust in love, her mother had told her as a child, and now she finally understood. She loved and trusted Sam.

  “Stay in the water, and we’ll be fine,” he instructed. “No matter what they do to me or how bad it might look like it feels, don’t leave the water.”

  Whitney knew others could hear him now, so his words were covered in code. She didn’t like being told what to do, but she would do what he said now. The look in his eyes told her that he had a plan, and she was ready for anything.

  Sam leaned down one last time and kissed her. It wasn’t a passion-filled kiss, but one of confidence.

  “I love you, Whitney,” he declared for her and everyone there watching them.

  Whitney gaped in shock. She couldn’t say anything back because it had been unexpected, but as he marched away, she felt it in her heart. She was completely in love with him, too, and would tell him as soon as she got the chance, and not in front of hundreds of people hanging on their every word. Power surged through her as she admitted that much to herself and knew that he loved her too.

  CHAPTER 11

  Sam walked away from Whitney, and it was the hardest thing to do. He had a plan, and he was certain it would work, as long as she actually did what he said and stayed in the water. She had proven time and time again that she didn’t like to be ordered around, but he hoped for both their sakes she could set that aside now. His plan would only work if she could listen for a change.

  Standing before his father, he bowed his head.

  “I believe I was destined to find Whitney and that she belongs with the sirens. I ask that I stand trial by fire to prove that the gods approve of her and wish her to be here. If I survive, I want to have her as my mate, and I’ll take full responsibility for her and teach her everything about being a siren,” Sam told his father, head still down so he couldn’t watch for his reaction.

  He wasn’t sure how his father would take his declaration, but he needed to make a bold move. While Sam wasn’t a believer in the gods that the sirens believed in, the sirens’ faith might help them. That was the only way to keep her safe and to keep her out of Tim’s hands. If his father deemed it a message from the gods, they would be safe, and Sam wouldn’t have to fight for the right to be her mate.

  His father pressed his fingers together as he stared at Sam. After what seemed like forever, but was probably just minutes, the king nodded.

  “So be it. Trial by fire it is.”

  Whitney sat in her bowl with the water now clouded a bit from her bloody hands. She was fine, even though she was shocked. He had hoped she wouldn’t understand what was going on, but it seemed she understood enough. Trial by fire did seem quite self-explanatory.

  Several men moved to the stage and began a fire in the pit off to the side. Sam stood and watched, knowing it was going to be extremely painful, but that didn’t matter much. He’d dealt with more pain over his young life than both the men making the fire combined. You didn’t get a head guard position without a little pain. What’s a little more?

  Whitney stared at him, and his gaze immediately found hers. The shock on her face was gone, and she was giving him her “what’s going on now” face. Sam nodded to her, hoping to reassure her that it would all be fine. That didn’t last long as Tim hopped up on the stage and offered to help their father, who was getting down from his chair and handing his shirt to his mother.

  Sam didn’t look at his mother. Behind her queenly composure, she would be terrified. She had already given him an earful twice since he returned to the island. First, she was upset about the position he was in. She told him several times that she raised him better than making rash choices. Then she was upset that he would keep such a lovely girlfriend from meeting her. She was the only one that knew Sam planned to choose a life alone rather than find a mate, and she didn’t blame him. She didn’t like any of his choices on the island, either. While she only spoke with Whitney for minutes, Whitney had completely won over his mother.

  Sam’s father waved him over to the slab of rock that was fitted with metal chains. Sam nodded and sat down where he needed to be. Laying back on the rock wasn’t comfortable, but it was going to be fine. He needed to keep repeating that to himself. If his confidence wavered at all, he was sure Whitney would do something reckless.

  Tim hovered over him, stepping on his hand as he reached to buckle Sam’s right arm. Sam wanted to say something, but knew Tim was doing it on purpose to get a rise out of him. Sam kept his mouth shut and didn’t look at him.

  “What, no goodbye for your loving older brother?”

  It wasn’t going to be a good-bye, but he wasn’t about to tell Tim that. Tim hovered close, trying to read his face. Sam still didn’t look at him; he only gazed at his father as he stood there. The king wasn’t a large man. In fact, many of the sirens were larger than him, but what his father had wasn’t in physical strength. It was the power of his voice. Sam’s mother had told him over and over again that Sam was the son he had always wanted, but Sam doubted that much. He had the same control as his father, but he didn’t have the desire to hurt people like him. The king watched as Tim buckled him down, knowing full well that Tim was trying to bruise him up before the test began, and yet he said nothing. That was the king as a father. If it didn’t hurt, than it didn’t make you stronger. Sam was younger than five when he first found that out and nothing had changed.

  As Tim got the last chain hooked up, he knelt down beside Sam.

  “Don’t worry, little bro. When you’re gone, I’ll make sure Whitney is well ta
ken care of. She’s quite the beauty and has curves in just the right places. Oh and the attitude is perfect. You know I like my girls with a bit of fight in them. She’s just what I’ve been looking for. Thanks so much for taking care of finding me the perfect siren.”

  Tim grinned, yet Sam still didn’t respond. It took a lot of control not to look back or break the chains holding him to hit his brother for even looking at Whitney. Luckily, Sam had self-control in abundance. Sam continued to stare at his father and ignore the words of Tim. He could always hit him later. After only a moment, Tim saw he wasn’t getting a rise out of Sam, and he got up and sulked away. Sam didn’t dare let out the breath he was holding in case Tim decided to come back and taunt him some more. Whitney was the hardest subject for Sam to keep a clear head about, and now was the time above all others that he needed to keep a clear head.

  The king turned to the audience at hand. It seemed like more people trickled in as the fire was being started and word got around the island that Sam chose trial by fire. They were getting past sitting and the new people had to stand at the back. That was a good thing, as the more people saw of it, the more they would accept Whitney with her pink tail.

  “We are gathered together here to see what the fates have decided,” Sam’s father said quietly, and the crowd instantly shut up. “My son, Samuel, has claimed the gods want our siren clan to have a new member— one he was fated to create. He has offered to prove it with trial by fire and I, on behalf of the gods, accept it. Let us test the fates and see if we have a new member or not.”

  Sam glanced at Whitney one last time. As his eyes were sweeping over the crowd, his father’s words finally set in for Tim. Without Sam, Whitney wasn’t going to join the siren. Tim seemed upset, and that almost made Sam smile. His eyes finally found Whitney, and his heart was instantly uplifted. She looked scared for him, and he wished he could have told her more. So far she was still in the water, and he hoped she would stay there. Sam nodded to her as she placed a hand on the glass like she was reaching out for him. He opened his hand to her, reaching also and wishing she could be beside him.

  One of the men from the fire brought over a pail and handed it to the king. Sam turned back to watch his father. He needed to be sure not to draw attention to Whitney.

  “Samuel, transform,” his father ordered him. “You are not allowed back in your day human form until I tell you so.”

  The king didn’t need to use any force in his voice even though he did. Sam was willing to play the game and ready. His blue fin appeared beneath the chains, and he waited, watching the man he had grown to hate over the years. It was appropriate that his dad was the one to deal out the punishment.

  The king stood above Sam, part man, part siren. The tattoos covering the king’s body had been placed identical to his siren form, and almost seemed to be swirling in the light of moon on his skin. Sam’s father was more king than father now as he stood above him. He didn’t look at what he was doing or if Sam transformed like he ordered. His eyes were locked with Sam. Surprisingly, for once in his life, Sam saw hesitation. Maybe there was more father than king there. Even though Sam had waited his whole life for his father to be a father over being the king, he didn’t need a fatherly moment. He needed to save Whitney.

  “I’m ready to prove she belongs here. I am ready to prove my act was sanctioned by the gods,” Sam added, trying to make sure his father went through with it. The king snapped out of his hesitation and nodded.

  Without any more thought, the king dumped the bucket of burning coals on Sam’s fin.

  Whitney watched as hot coals dropped all over Sam’s beautiful blue fin. The iridescent blue scales scalded and immediately flaked off of him. Steam came off the flesh as it burned. She had a feeling that was what was coming, but it was still a shock. A sick charred smell came from where Sam was chained down, almost like the smell of cooked fish that she had once hated the smell of. She was never going to like the smell now. Whitney turned to the queen, hoping his mother would stop it, but the lady was glued to her chair, her face a mask of no concern. Then Whitney felt it. Her tail was beginning to welt up.

  ‘Don’t scream or make a sound,’ Sam’s voice came through her mind.

  Whitney’s face snapped up from examining her fin to Sam across the stage. He wasn’t looking at her; he still had his eyes locked on his father with his mouth clenched shut. She must have imagined him speaking.

  Like it had with her hands, the water instantly healed the blisters. But that was short lived. Again they formed with just as much pain as the first time. The cycle repeated.

  Whitney looked back at Sam. She was positive she had just heard his voice in her head, and he knew what was going on. Whitney raised a hand to knock on the glass to get his attention.

  ‘Don’t draw any attention to you. If I leave this completely unscathed, they will all think it’s the work of the gods. We can’t let them know we’re bonded already,’ he clarified.

  The blisters healed over and then reformed. They kept the cycle on repeat as Sam laid there on the rock. The only way he wasn’t dead now or screaming in agony was that the same healing was happening to him. More than enough scales had flaked off to be burning more than just the outer layers if he hadn’t healed.

  Then it hit her. He had just told her they were bonded. That was impossible. She never chose to bond to him. That had something to do with blood sharing and loving the other person. She only knew bits from her upbringing, but she was pretty sure that when you bonded to someone, you had to know it was happening. Yet, the blisters appeared and disappeared on her own fin.

  ‘I sensed it days ago, but I didn’t know what I was feeling. After talking to my mother a little, I was sure a bond was what I felt,’ Sam explained calmly, even though he still had to be feeling excruciating pain from the continuous burning.

  Whitney stared at him, not comprehending. First off, he was talking in her head. How was that possible? Night humans could talk to each other silently, but they had to be touching. He was over fifteen feet away from her. Second, all this stuff of bonding was impossible. She had never agreed to bond to anyone. A night human bond was basically like marriage without divorce. She would have definitely remembered saying yes to something like that, or if Sam had mentioned it. She was too young to get married. Bonding was not in her future any time soon. And third, she saw and now felt the burning of the coals on Sam’s fin. How the heck was he able to talk calmly to her as the pain raced through them both?

  Sam lay on the slab of rock and continued to stare at his father. The cycle continued, blisters, pain, healing, repeat. Whitney felt everything he was feeling, but she had a good sense that his was much more painful as the blisters had to transfer to her and she had to heal them before he would heal. He didn’t move a muscle or make a sound. He laid there and took his punishment in front of everyone.

  ‘I’m guessing bonding isn’t common for skinwalkers?’ Sam asked, sensing her confusion.

  ‘No, the skinwalkers all bond. But I never paid attention to all of that. They bond skinwalker to day human witch,’ Whitney explained. Yep, it was just like talking with night humans touching. At least that part she could kind of understand.

  ‘Then why is all this confusing?’

  ‘Because witches are female, and I was a skinwalker. I never expected to find a mate. I only once met a male witch, and he tried to kill me. So, no, I never learned much about bonding because I didn’t think I’d have to know anything about bonding to someone.’

  There, it was out in the open. He could take that as he wished. She was still left with hundreds of questions.

  ‘Well, you have one now. I hope you aren’t disappointed.’

  Disappointed? She just got the hottest guy in school as her boyfriend, and now, somehow, he said he was her mate. That wasn’t something to be disappointed about. She was just plain old confused by everything, but not disappointed about it.

  Whitney felt relief from him, and that made her stare hard
er at him. His face was still set in stone, and he was watching his dad as his dad watched him. How could she feel his relief? For that matter, why would he even feel relief?

  ‘I guess I should explain the bond a bit while we sit here and get fried,’ Sam joked. Whitney wanted to scold him and would have if it wouldn’t bring attention to her. ‘To bond, all you need is to exchange blood and love someone. I had fed on you the day I saved your life with my blood. We exchanged blood that day, and within enough time to form a bond. We must have both had feelings for each other since I think the bond formed right away. We just didn’t realize that was what we were feeling.’

  ‘But I didn’t even love you then.’ That might have been a stretch. She had a crush on him for over a year and loved her swimming lessons alone with him when she could flirt all she wanted, but that wasn’t love. That was a crush.

  ‘I don’t think you have to know that you love the person for the bond to work. I mean my father forces people to bond if their parents arrange it. They don’t exactly love each other, but the bond forms anyway.’

  ‘Yeah, Noah said that, too, but I can’t exactly agree with that. The only thing I really knew about bonds was that you had to love the person for it to work. There is no way your father, magical voice or not, could make me love someone.’

  ‘Then Noah did find you? Why aren’t you running back home to the skinwalkers right now on the first plane out of Florida?’ Now there was anger inside him, too. That was strange to feel, because Whitney didn’t feel angry about staying. In fact, she was happy she had stayed.

  ‘Noah did what I told him to do. You can’t be mad at him. Now finish explaining the bond before this is all over, and I have to pretend to know what is going on.’

  ‘Fine, but that doesn’t let him off the hook. He was supposed to save you.’