03 The Fate Of The Muse - Marina's Tales

by Derrolyn Anderson

  “I thought you were in there,” he groaned in a low shaken voice, plastering my face with kisses. His lips finally covered mine, latching onto my mouth with a smoldering intensity. The noises of the fire and the men fighting it faded into the background as he kissed me like he wanted to consume me, wrapping himself completely around me as we stood locked together in the cool night air.

  He ran his hands up and down my back, twining his fingers in my hair as if to reassure himself that I was solid and not some figment of his imagination. He stopped to pick a twig out of my hair and brush some bits of leaves from the back of my shirt.

  “What happened to you?” he asked, pulling back to inspect me more closely, “What happened to your shoes?”

  I looked down, “I’m not sure… they drugged me.” I searched my arm for the needle mark in the dim light.

  “So Barbara Watson is Brad’s aunt?” he asked angrily, “And Nathan Edwards is his dad?”

  I nodded, looking back at the destruction that was once a huge house. There was no way anyone inside could have survived. If Barbara didn’t get out she was dead, and when I remembered her plans for Cruz and Nixie the idea didn’t bother me at all. “Good riddance,” I whispered under my breath.

  Cruz came back to us, leading a dazed looking Brad by the hand, “The cops want to talk to us… They want to know what happened.”

  Ethan looked at Brad angrily, his arm firmly around my waist.

  “We can’t tell them the truth,” I said. “We can’t say why they took us.”

  “I don’t get it,” Brad said woodenly, “Why would my aunt do this to you?”

  “Why don’t you ask your father?” Ethan said angrily.

  Cruz and I exchanged a look.

  “Listen to me,” I said, thinking fast, “What did you say when you called the police?”

  “I said there was a kidnapping, and begged them to hurry.”

  “Did you say who?”

  Cruz thought for a second, “No, I just told them the address.”

  “OK,” I said calmly, “We were visiting Brad’s house after we went surfing and we saw some bad guys breaking in… there were three of them… maybe coming after his aunt. We ran out and got split up… that’s how you didn’t know where I was… okay?”

  “Sounds reasonable,” Cruz said firmly, turning to Brad with a serious look in his eye, “Trust me, they’ll never believe the truth.”

  “What truth?” Brad looked sick.

  A police officer approached our little group, staring down Ethan with hard eyes,

  “I need to make a report,” he announced, “Which one of you called in the kidnapping?”

  “That would be me,” Cruz volunteered, raising his hand. He walked off with the policeman, animatedly recounting my newly made-up version of events. I was surprised at how readily Cruz adapted to the need to lie for me, and it made me a little uneasy. However, there was simply no other way, for the real story sounded like something out of a science fiction novel.

  When Cruz left I turned to Brad, “I have just one question… How is it that you were the reason I met your aunt in the first place?”

  “Oh God,” his voice cracked, and a look of comprehension slowly dawned on his face, “She called me and invited me to the gallery opening. I was flattered… because she hardly ever talks to me. She said that she knew I was always looking for artwork and that she wanted my advice on her campaign.” He looked at me with shocked eyes, “She wanted to meet you!”

  I looked at Brad, standing there confused and devastated as his father’s house burned down behind him. My heart went out to him, and I groped for the right words.

  “I’m sorry,” was all I could say.

  He swallowed hard, looking back at the enormous burned out shell, “She never made it out,” he said.

  “Your aunt was going to get rid of Cruz,” I told him flatly, “They already brought Evie’s car back here. They were going to send him off a cliff… exactly the same way that they murdered Congressman Hill.”

  Both Ethan and Brad looked at me in shock. I suppose I’d blurted that out rather bluntly, but after the day I’d just had I was simply in no mood to sugar-coat anything.

  “It’s the truth,” I said wearily, “And your father is in on it too. I had no idea you or your aunt were part of the Edward’s family.”

  Boris appeared from the shadows, surprisingly stealthy for a man his size.

  “Marina,” he gestured for me to follow him, “Come… Evie needs you.”

  Ethan clamped down on me in a panic, pulling me behind him like a ragdoll, “NO!” he said harshly, “She’s not going anywhere.”

  I saw Boris sizing Ethan up, the two of them staring at each other intensely. The last thing I needed was more trouble. I felt weak and dizzy; all I wanted at the moment was a hot shower and a long nap.

  I pointedly shrugged out of Ethan’s grip, and came around to stand between them, “Boris, I really need to go home right now. Please warn Evie about Olivia. Tell her I’ll be in touch soon. I need to speak with her alone.”

  He nodded curtly, looking over my head to address Ethan, “Keep your eyes open.” He turned and disappeared back into the shadows, clearly in a hurry. I thought he must want to get back to Evie. I sighed, and looked up at Ethan, too exhausted to be annoyed.

  “I’m sorry,” he said sheepishly, taking my hands, “I just can’t let you out of my sight… I won’t.”

  I slumped onto him, giving in to the need for support, and yawned, burying my face in his chest, “I’m so tired.”

  He stroked the back of my head, “Yeah, me too.”

  I looked up to see Cruz returning, addressing Brad, “Mission accomplished. They’re going to contact us when they finish the arson investigation.” He paused uncomfortably, “They’ll let us know as soon as they can get in and do a search. You’re going to have to call your father…”

  “What am I supposed to say?” he choked out, still clearly in shock.

  “He already knows that they took us,” I said, “Barbara said he was on his way back to town.”

  Cruz screwed up his face for a moment, “But he won’t know what happened… All the surveillance tapes are gone… Just tell him what I told the cops… Some crazy home invasion robbers showed up after we went surfing and you helped me get away from them.”

  “We ran out and called the cops… We heard gunshots… They must have started the fire,” Cruz’s eyes were darting around as he thought.

  “Yes!” I jumped in, “Brad can play dumb, say that he thought they were after Barbara.”

  Cruz jumped in, grasping Brad by the arms, “Just tell the truth… You don’t know how Marina got out of the house.”

  “Be sure to mention that you didn’t see them grab us.” I added. “It’s important to stay as close to the truth as possible when you lie.” I should know, I thought.

  Cruz nodded, “And don’t tell him that you know Marina was here before! Can you do that?”

  Brad nodded numbly, “But why?” he asked again.

  I looked at Brad, and then at Cruz, “I guess you can tell him the truth… but take him home first.”

  “Oh my God! Evie’s car!” Cruz wailed, “What will she say?”

  “It’s gone now,” I nodded towards the house, “But I’m sure Evie could care less.” The loss of one of her many cars was the last thing Evie would be concerned with once she learned what had been going on.

  “I can drive,” said Brad.

  “Good,” I said with finality, turning back to Ethan, “I want to go home.”

  Ethan had been watching us formulating our story, looking back and forth between Cruz and me apprehensively, “You guys are scary.”

  “No,” Cruz snarked, “We’re creative.”

  “We’re outta here,” Ethan said, taking me by the waist and leading me down the driveway. He picked me up and carried me over the rough gravel drive to deposit me in his truck.

  “We have to stop meeting like this,” I j
oked.

  “I hear that,” he said.

  I asked him to take me to my studio and found it just as we’d left it that afternoon, with the door swinging open. I was relieved to find my bag still lying there, untouched. I picked up the broken lamp, finding Cruz’s phone on the floor. I realized with a shudder that if he hadn’t have called Brad to confront him, he wouldn’t be alive. Ethan looked around, inspecting the broken lock.

  “I knew this place was a bad idea, How did they find out about it?” he asked.

  “They know about everyplace,” I said morosely. “You can’t blame this one.”

  I wondered what Edwards would do next. Since he didn’t know about Yuri, he might think I had done it all singlehandedly… Maybe it would scare him enough to back off. He might leave me alone, but I doubted he’d forget about Nixie; I was sure that he’d never give up on her.

  “Cmon,” Ethan said, ushering me out and forcing the door shut, “Let’s get out of here.”

  I fell asleep in the truck, my head gently bouncing on his shoulder. When we pulled to a stop I sat up yawning, looking out at the harbor lights and up to Ethan’s apartment.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “Dad’s staying with Abby tonight,” said Ethan, “I want you here with me.”

  I looked down at my dirty jeans and torn shirt, “Uhm, okay… But I don’t have any clothes to change into.”

  He smiled, “I do.”

  After I showered and changed I stumbled out to find Ethan sitting on the couch waiting for me with a mug of hot chocolate.

  “How do I look?” I asked sardonically, thinking probably something like a drowned rat. I was swimming in his sweatpants and T-shirt with damp hair.

  “Perfect.”

  He opened his arms and I slipped into them. We snuggled together on the couch, and I was finally able to let my guard down, feeling completely safe. Ethan kissed my bruised wrist and insisted on putting some bandages on the spots where the skin was broken. His wrists carried handcuff marks too, telling the story of how hard he’d fought to try and get to me.

  “We match,” I said, smiling feebly.

  “We’re a good match,” he replied, “Now what do you want to eat?”

  I slumped back on the couch, exhausted, “I don’t know.” I drained my mug and was warmed through, having a hard time keeping my eyes open. I laid my head down on his chest with a satisfied sigh, at long last back home.

  The last thing I remembered before drifting off to sleep was the sound of Ethan’s strong and steady heartbeat, booming like the crashing of distant waves on a familiar beach.

  CHAPTER TWENTYSIX

  DOUBT

  I came awake slowly, eyes darting around in confusion until I realized where I was. I was alone, wrapped in blankets, with bright daylight streaming through the slats of the window blinds. I checked the alarm-clock on Ethan’s bedside table, surprised to see it was well past noon. Was he already at the farmer’s market? I bolted upright, and was immediately knocked back down by a powerful wave of dizziness. I could hear someone moving around in the kitchen, and smelled coffee brewing and food cooking. My stomach screamed that it was empty.

  I stretched my sore arms above my head, and the sight of my bandaged wrist sent flashbacks of the whole terrible experience ricocheting around in my mind. Barbara, her guards and even poor Yuri had all died yesterday because of me, and yet I was still standing. It had to mean something… I had to be alive for a reason.

  I thought about my words to Barbara… “I’ll kill you” I’d said, and I had definitely meant it. I’d threatened to kill Peter as well, and somehow it ended up being his fate. At least the congressman wasn’t dead because I was angry with him, and that was some small comfort. I suppose that meant that nothing terrible would happen to Amber simply because I disliked her.

  I rolled to my side, and when I stirred, the blankets smelled like Ethan, soothing me a little. I sat up slowly, hugging his pillow to my body. I drew a few deep breaths and waited for the dizziness to pass, taking a good look around. I’d peeked in his room before, but I’d never really spent any time in it.

  The walls were white, and mostly bare, with the exception of one of my wave paintings and a couple of surfing posters tacked up across from the window. I dropped my chin to the pillow, too weak to even be tempted by them. A pair of surfboards leaned against the far wall, and a bookcase crammed with surfing magazines and schoolbooks sat within reach of the bed. Sloppy piles of books on plants and landscaping lay on their sides, interspersed with a few spy novels and thrillers. When I reached out for one, a picture frame tucked in with the books caught my eye.

  I pulled it out, finding a photo of Ethan as a very small boy, wearing a big camera smile and pair of pajamas printed with little teddy bears. He was adorably cute, sitting on a couch next to a beautiful blonde woman who had her arm draped around him. There was a tinsel covered Christmas tree in the background, and the woman held a wrapped present on her lap. Until now, she had only existed as a sort of ghost to me. It was Ethan’s mother.

  I studied her closely, surprised to finally see the face of the woman who had done so much to hurt Ethan. She was heavily made-up, sporting long red fingernails and a lacy outfit topped off with gaudy costume jewelry. She seemed completely artificial, the diametric opposite of Abby; I had a hard time imagining Dutch being married to a woman like that.

  I was somewhat taken aback that she resembled Amber more than just a little bit, and I could only imagine what Evie would have to say about that. Always the amateur psychologist, she loved to search for hidden meanings in everyone’s behavior. Boy, I thought, did she miss the boat with Olivia!

  I heard footsteps coming down the hall and I slipped the picture back amongst the books. The door creaked open and Ethan peeked his head in. He flashed me a wide smile when our eyes met.

  “Good morning.”

  “Hi,” I said, suddenly feeling awkward.

  He came in and sat on the bed, “I was wondering when you were gonna wake up. How do you feel?”

  “Fine.”

  He reached up to brush a stray hair from my face, “Are you hungry?”

  I nodded, looking down shyly, “I should really get home though.”

  “Don’t go,” he said, “I’m making breakfast.”

  I smiled, “Isn’t it kinda late?”

  “It’s never too late for breakfast.”

  “Don’t you have to work?”

  “I took the day off.”

  “Abby might be worried.”

  “I already called. I told her that you fell asleep and stayed over.”

  I cocked an eyebrow at him, “Really? I guess I could use some coffee… but…” I wrinkled my nose, “I need to go brush my teeth and change clothes.”

  He got up and left the room, returning a minute later to hand me a new toothbrush.

  “You’re certainly prepared,” I teased him.

  “That’s the Boy Scout motto,” he replied.

  “And you were a scout?” I asked.

  “Of course I was,” he smiled, grabbing me and kissing my cheek. I squirmed away, giggling when he snared me around the waist and pulled me closer.

  “I like seeing you in my bed,” he whispered in my ear, making me shiver.

  He held me close, finally taking my face between his hands and looking me in the eyes with an intensity that made me forget to breathe.

  “I love you,” he said.

  My heart swelled with emotion, and just as I reached out to pull him down into the tangle of blankets my stomach growled angrily, making us both laugh.

  “Let’s go eat,” he said, kissing my forehead before getting up to go, pausing again at the door to look back at me with a goofy grin.

  By the time I slipped into the kitchen, barefoot and swimming in Ethan’s oversized clothes. I was too hungry to care about how I looked.

  “Smells good in here,” I said meekly.

  “Sit down,” he gestured, and I took a chair, feeling
strangely like we were playing house. He set a plate of scrambled eggs and fried potatoes in front of me that made my mouth water. I dove in and started scarfing it down as if I hadn’t eaten in a week. Every bite I took reminded me that I was still alive.

  I looked up to see Ethan watching me with amusement, “Thanks,” I said between bites, “It’s delicious.”

  He smiled in reply, asking, “What do you want on your toast?”

  After we ate I started to feel much better, and we sat sipping coffee and pretending to look at the newspaper. Every time I raised my head I met his ocean blue eyes, watching me expectantly.

  “What?” I asked.

  “Aren’t you going to tell me about it?”

  I pressed my lips together, groping for the words. He really wasn’t going to like hearing the details, but I knew he deserved to know everything. I sighed and launched into the story. He listened quietly, his rapid breathing and tight jaw betraying his increasing agitation.

  “I thought Evie got rid of that guy!” he blurted out in frustration when I told him about Yuri.

  “Apparently he’s been stalking me too, but he ended up saving me from the Edwards,” I shook my head, “But he’s gone now… They’re all gone.”

  “Except for Brad’s father… And Evie’s friend.”

  I sighed, for he was right, I still had two powerful enemies out there, and there was no way of knowing what they would try next. I did know that they were a huge threat to Nixie, and the thought made me angry. She was an innocent baby, happily swimming in the sea, completely oblivious to the evil that stalked her.

  “Now I know what they’re really after,” I said bitterly, clenching my teeth.

  “What?” he asked with alarm, and it occurred to me that I’d done it again. Ethan didn’t even know Nixie existed. I’d really meant to tell him someday, but the timing just never seemed right. There it was, I thought, my true nature rearing its ugly head. I suppose a leopard can’t change its spots.

  “They wanted me to help them catch another mermaid. They’re planning to… do experiments.” I shuddered involuntarily.

  “What kind of experiments?”