by Hannah Reed
Connor and Alex exchanged confused looks in the front mirror.
“It’s only a story April. Don’t worry about it,” Alex assured her.
April tried to smile. She closed her eyes, leant back into Connor’s shoulder and fell into a restless sleep.
CHAPTER 21
A bobbing motion jolted April to consciousness. Panic gripped her. Then the realisation came crashing down around her - her Mum, her home, her skin. April’s breathing got faster and faster and she tried to move. Then she felt the warmth around her and the soft fabric rubbing up and down her back. Looking around she realised she was back in Alex’s arms. It was dusk. The trip back home must have taken longer than their initial journey. The safety and comfort of Alex’s arms made her reluctant to tell the brothers that she was awake. For now, it was a relief to just be looked after. It was a relief that he was still there holding her after all he had learned.
“I could have held her,” Connor’s petulant voice piped up.
“But you didn’t. Now stop whining and open the door.”
April smiled at their bickering.
“Thank you,” Alex strode into the room while Connor followed behind him.
“I wasn’t whining. I’m merely saying you don’t have to leap in and play the hero every time. April is just as much my friend. Ouch. Why’d you stop?” Connor rubbed his head after walking straight into Alex and looked up.
“Dad!?” Connor said.
“General Tarn, umm the rest of the council.” Alex nodded at the group of people assembled in the conservatory. A large table had been set up in the middle of the room and their Dad was sitting at the head.
April locked eyes with Connor and he stepped forward instinctively to protect her.
“Boys, pack your bags. We’re leaving,” President Darius said. April recognised his melodic voice from the Peace Treaty.
Alex and Connor stood bewildered in the doorway. April tensed and made to get up but Alex shook his head in a minuscule motion so only she could see.
“Dad, April is staying with us at the moment. Can she come too?”
Darius, acknowledged April in Alex’s arms and gave him a disapproving look.
“Very well. The jet leaves at 8pm sharp.”
Connor nodded. The President and the assembled committee resumed talking and ignored the three in the hallway. Connor paused for a moment. He looked to Alex who flicked his eyes towards the stairs. Connor turned on his heels and led them up upstairs.
“Megan?” Connor called out. He needed to find out what was going on. “Megan?” he moved from room to room trying to find her. At last, he stopped outside her room and knocked, “Megan?” Connor called. No answer.
“Alex, have you found Megan?” Connor shouted out to no reply. Connor frowned in irritation. He stalked down the back staircase and stopped at April’s door. Checking his reflection in the hallway mirror, he ruffled his hair and did his best to fix his features into a relaxed and composed expression. He knocked on the door and entered. The colour in his face drained as he paused in the doorway.
“Hey,” Alex flushed and pulled his hair uncomfortably. Connor glowered at him and quickly shut the door.
“I was just coming to check on April,” Connor said.
“Same,” Alex said.
‘Where is she then?’
“Just in the bathroom getting changed,”
“I see.”
The atmosphere between the brothers was tense. Connor had never cared much for Alex’s lifestyle before. Girls flitted in and out of Alex’s life like butterflies. But, it had never affected him. Now he was invested, he cared about April and didn’t want her getting hurt. He wanted Alex to stay the hell away.
“Maybe you should leave then?” Connor suggested tersely.
“Why?” Alex countered.
“April is my friend. She doesn’t need you hanging around here bothering her.”
“Whoah, hold up.” Alex stood up. The two brothers stood facing each other. Connor’s hands curled into fists. Alex raised his eyebrows at the movement. Connor took a step towards him.
“Alex?” April called.
The brothers turned around in unison as they heard April’s voice. “April?” They both responded.
“Are you two okay out there?” April asked.
Excellent, Connor thought, he came to check if she was okay and instead they were making her worry about them.
“Everything’s fine,” Alex replied, shooting Connor a look. “We were just wondering where Megan was?”
Once again Alex had gotten there before him. Connor was starting to notice a pattern developing.
“Megan went to see if she could find me a suitcase for the journey. She has pulled out more clothes for me to borrow. She is so kind. Will she be coming with us?”
“Ummm I don’t know?”
“Do you think your Dad recognised me?” April asked.
“I don’t think so April,” Alex said. “He is too consumed with his own agenda to worry about anyone he deems insignificant.”
“Right. I just feel that maybe I should have been taking getting home more seriously,” April said.
“You can come with us to Rushton and then we will find a way to get you home April,” Connor responded as April walked through the door. He couldn’t help it but his face relaxed into a smile the second he saw her. Megan had chosen a floaty white dress for April to wear and it suited her perfectly. Connor wanted nothing more than to take her into his arms and protect her from…from everything.
Alex took stock of April as she walked into the room. She looked ethereal. He could tell she was still shaken up from the earlier events. However, her eyes had turned a dark blue with steely resolve. April was ready. Alex didn’t know what for, but April looked determined and Alex was willing to help her achieve whatever she needed. April was someone who gave him hope for the future. And hope was not something Alex felt often.
“Can I come in?” a voice sounded from outside. Shaking his head Alex brought himself out of his reverie. As he looked up, Megan was poking her head around the door. She brightened red when she saw that he and Connor were there too.
“Oh sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” Megan said.
“It’s fine Megan we were looking for you,” Connor replied.
“You were?” Megan asked shocked.
Alex looked from a blushing Megan to an oblivious Connor. Connor was hopelessly clueless to the musings of women.
“Thank you for the suitcase Megan,” April said as she walked over and helped Megan with the bag. “I feel so bad about you lending me so many of your clothes. I promise I’ll pay you back at some point.”
“It’s no problem. Honestly,” Megan said as she hovered awkwardly in the doorway. Looking anywhere but at Connor, she moved over to the bed. Reverting to her duties she started folding clothes for April and neatly placing them into the suitcase. With her hands busy she felt more emboldened to address the boys.
“You were looking for me?” Megan asked tentatively into the air, just as April remarked how pretty one of the dresses were.
“It is pretty,” Connor replied eagerly while Alex more sensibly turned his attention to Megan. Megan looked crestfallen as Alex replied and she immediately turned red again.
“I... We were wondering whether you had any idea why Dad has the entire board sitting in the conservatory and is ordering us off the island?”
At this question, Megan’s blush deepened.
“Umm, well. I was in the utility room at the time. I was asked to make them all drinks, but Derek had run out of ice in the kitchen,” she said trying to justify herself. “I couldn’t help but overhear.”
“Overhear what?” Connor interrupted impatiently. Alex shook his head. Connor really was obtuse. April and Alex looked at Megan encouragingly.
“Apparently, there is going to be an attack on the Island. They say it’s a counter attack from the mer.” As Megan concluded her sentence she involuntarily looked
at April.
April looked stunned. “Who is attacking? Why?”
“Counter-attack? Were those the exact words they used?” Alex asked.
Megan nodded. “Definitely a counter-attack. They mentioned it coming from someone called Yelta.”
“That means it was them. Us I mean,” Alex said looking directly at April. “If it’s a counter-attack then the humans must have attacked the mer in the first place. What is Dad playing at?”
“Kayla,” April said. Connor looked up. He wouldn’t have even heard April if he didn’t pay so much attention to her.
“Kayla?” Connor asked, but before April could open her mouth to speak a voice sounded behind him.
“Kayla’s your sister, isn’t she? The second in line to the throne.” Connor and Alex whipped their heads round to look at Megan. She was still carefully folding the clothes and packing them into the suitcase.
“Yes,” April said.
Connor and Alex were dumbfounded. Their unspoken questions were so apparent on their faces that Megan answered them.
“I saw April when Rosetta first brought her in. We left her in the wet room and she was unconscious so couldn’t hide her tongue. I follow the mer news and I recognised her.”
Alex was impressed. He learnt all about the mer royal family when he thought he was going to the Peace Conference, yet he didn’t recognise April.
Connor looked angry but before he could shout at Megan, April stepped in. “Thank you for not telling anyone Megan.”
Megan broke into a smile. “Don’t worry, I would never.” Silently she was jubilant. Her first step of friendship had been made.
“What do you mean your tongue?” Connor asked.
Alex muttered something about irrelevancy as April started to explain, but Megan’s voice overrode them all.
“Mer tongues are different colours. Greens and blues of all shades,” she said.
“Yup.” April stuck out her tongue and let it return to its usual navy blue.
Connor visibly recoiled and April hastily changed it back to pink.
“That’s so cool,” Alex said.
“I’ve never heard of that before,” Connor said defensively.
A silence descended upon the group. April gripped her arms around her body. Alex took a step towards her and, to Connor’s annoyance, she instantly relaxed.
“So, Kayla?” Alex asked trying to move over Megan’s revelation and bring the topic of conversation back to where they had started.
“Yelta isn’t a person. It’s a place. It’s our highest-ranking military facility. Kayla, my sister, she’s there to train, to become the royal meritia leader.”
“And Dad thinks they’re launching an attack here. Why?” Connor asked.
“If it’s anything like our secret services then Yelta must know where government-owned land is, they’re probably coming for information, or to force a confession,” Alex said.
“I need to go home and help sort out all this mess,” April said.
“Wait, why haven’t you just swum away?” Megan asked momentarily stopping her packing.
“I tried, you know that night you found me on the beach Connor,” April said.
“I thought you were a crazy person.”
“The seawater around this Island is poisonous to me, poisonous to mer,” April said.
“What?” Alex and Megan said in unison.
“Yeah, I thought you would have known, I mentioned it before,” April said.
“No, I mean the salt levels are high so I always feel a bit tingly!” Alex said. “That’s,” he paused failing to find the word necessary “that’s awful.”
“I know,” April said. “I thought the owners of a place guarded against mer must hate us.”
“I’m starting to think maybe they do,” Alex said putting his hands into his pockets.
An awkward silence descended across the room. Megan continued packing April’s things and then dismissed herself. Alex and Connor left shortly after. April was left alone. She tapped Ethan’s Iris pad futilely. Not ready for bed yet, she got up and walked onto the veranda from the guestroom. It was a perfect summer’s evening with a mild sea breeze. April gazed at the tranquil sea. However, despite her calm surroundings, on the inside April was far from perfect. She gripped the balcony railing and started to cry.
CHAPTER 22
It was 6:30am in the morning and April was leaning on Alex’s shoulder in one of the President’s private jets. Her second-time flying was far more luxurious than the helicopter. The seats were plush and there was no need for one of those dreadful harnesses. While Connor and Alex discussed what their Dad’s ulterior motives were April pretended to sleep. She knew they didn’t believe that Darius was merely fleeing, but right now April didn’t care. She was trying to keep her mind occupied.
The knowledge that she had lost her Mum hadn’t fully sunk in. It was as if her mind was refusing to accept the information. She wanted to hear it from her Dad, to see it in his eyes that her Mum was gone forever. April always believed that one day her and her Mum would connect and move past their struggles. If her Mum was truly gone then April didn’t know what she was going to do. She tried to keep her spirits up last night, but the episode at the lake had terrified her. It was as if she had been possessed. The Onyx coloured beast still flashed through her mind. The more she focused the more she thought it looked familiar, like something from a dream that had been long forgotten.
April gripped the stone she had been drawn to at the bottom of the pool. She tried to put it down, but then without realising she would find it back in her hand again. Even now when April turned her attention to it she realised that she was subconsciously caressing it with her thumb. It brought her an eerie sense of calm. April would ask the pearl shamans what it was when she returned to the sea. Maybe they could explain her uncontrollable power surge too. She should ask her Dad as well she thought. He would know what was going on. But, April was more worried about her Dad than she was for herself. How was he coping without her Mum? These thoughts went around and around in her head. She wanted to be back home. She closed her eyes and willed herself to drift to sleep. The sounds of Connor and Alex’s conversation soon became dull background noise.
“Do you know what Dad’s doing?” Connor asked in a hushed voice.
“Me? No,” Alex replied in confusion. “Do you?”
“No,” Connor replied quickly. “I just thought maybe you still hacked into Dad’s systems.”
“Oh, no. I used to do that for fun. I’ve been away so long everything’s probably changed.” Alex looked down at April to see if she was asleep.
“But you could?” Connor asked. His eyes followed Alex’s. Once again Connor had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. That could have been his shoulder.
“I could,” Alex said slowly. “We could help April, help the mer.” Alex raised his eyes to study his brother’s expression. He couldn’t tell if Connor was on the same page as him.
“Dad would kill us,” Connor replied quietly. His gaze was now firmly fixed on April’s golden head.
“But, it’s the right thing to do,” Alex replied.
“It is, and April needs us.”
Alex nodded solemnly.
Connor and Alex’s conversation drifted to a halt. Alex looked out of the window in quiet contemplation. He could commit treason and help the mer. It would mean going against all his training. All those years of learning to be an Omega Warrior, being taught his duty was to his country. But, here was an opportunity. He could forge his own path. He could be who he wanted to be. He could do something real and not follow the narrow path set out for him.
“I don’t think April should be on her own,” Connor said. “Just in case one of the staff recognises her.”
Alex turned towards Connor and was jolted out of his reverie. Disturbed by the movement, April woke up.
“April can sleep in my bed and I’ll sleep on the floor,” Alex offered.
“Why am I sl
eeping in your bed?” April asked in indignation as she raised her head off of Alex’s shoulder.
“You don’t need to sleep in his bed, you can sleep in mine,” Connor replied before Alex had a chance.
“Pardon?” April said.
“We think it’s safer that you’re not alone,” Connor explained.
April glared at Connor. She knew he meant well but the fussing was too much. Too many other things were vying for attention in her brain. There was no room for amorousness.
“This is nonsense, we’re on a plane,” April said.
“For once I agree with Connor,” Alex said shifting slightly to the left.
“Why?” April said glaring at the brothers. She spotted Megan walk in from the other side of the room.
“Megan, can I share your room tonight?” April asked.
Megan who was serving tea and coffee beamed.
“Of course you can.”
“Well that’s sorted then,” April said brightly. She avoided looking over at Connor’s crestfallen face.
The plane journey was a long one. The pilot announced they would be taking a routine detour to fill up on fuel and then another diversion for supplies for the President. April groaned internally at the thought of spending almost two days stuck in a metal box hanging in mid-air. Although better than the helicopter, she was still not entirely comfortable with the concept of flying. She wandered back into her designated cabin and rifled in her bag until she found the book Megan leant her - Mer for Dummies. She brought it back into the lounge area and curled up onto one of the plush, brown leather sofas. The book was surprisingly fat and covered many aspects of mer life. April flipped through the pages until she landed on an interesting chapter. ‘Where do mer live?’ It was accompanied with a picture of a cartoon mer poking his head out of a cave. April skim read the chapter chuckling every so often.
Connor’s eyes flicked up as April giggled. He tried to focus back on his own book. April chuckled again.
“What’s so funny?” Connor asked edgily, worried she was somehow laughing at him.