by Munt, S. K
‘Oh.’ Lincoln swallowed down his burst bubble. ‘But...if it’s been common knowledge that you’re in line for a very important throne, why are you only just choosing a match now?’ Why didn’t you have me turned ten years ago if you loved me so much?! He accused silently.
Ivyanne’s face clouded in the silvery light. In that moment, she didn’t seem old or young-simply ageless. ‘I had a match before, Link, in fact, I had two. But both were killed way before their time-it was a massive loss to out community.’
Lincoln felt a stab of sympathy laced with jealousy. She’d been promised to other men? Twice? ‘Were you in love with them?’
Ivyanne wiped away a tear. ‘I barely knew either-but Roan and I had been matched since early childhood. Not only born on the same day-but betrothed since I turned sixteen. He could turn-there was no questioning his eligibility.’ She looked at Lincoln. ‘That’s why I had to leave you. I was to be married at twenty five, and spend the eight years beforehand preparing myself- traveling, studying our history and all of that before making an eternal commitment.’
‘You’d known it was coming all along though, right?’ Lincoln asked quietly. ‘That’s why you never let me get too close?’
Ivyanne nodded sadly. ‘I wasn’t supposed to fall for anyone-let alone a human. But I told myself that what we were doing was innocent-until it stopped being so innocent. I thought I’d be back for one last summer when I turned seventeen, but mother took me to Hawaii instead. Which is why I never got to say a proper good-bye, like I’d planned.’
Lincoln rubbed his temples. ‘What happened to him?’ he asked wearily.
‘Roan was killed in the Boxing Day Tsunami, in oh four. He was visiting the only other living mystic who could turn, on his way here to visit with me. He was in Car Nicobar when the wave hit and flattened the whole island.’ She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and hugged herself. ‘I was twenty-two.’
‘Oh god.’ Lincoln felt ill. ‘What killed the other one?’
‘Tristan’s older brother Nigara?’ Ivyanne sighed heavily. ‘He had actually enlisted in the war on terror after September eleven. I needed time to adjust to marrying someone else, and he wanted to do two more active duties before he became king-so we delayed the wedding until Christmas, this year just gone.’ She hugged herself tightly, looking back out at the ocean. ‘He stepped on a land mine in June and was obliterated instantly.’
Lincoln shuddered. ‘What was a mermaid doing in a battle field?!’
Ivyanne laughed without humor. ‘He was a mer first, but an American citizen second- no one could talk him out of his patriotic duty.’ Ivyanne seemed to have a hard time meeting Lincoln’s eyes as she discussed her former fiancés. ‘Nigara barely needed the water, unlike the rest of us. He thought it was a sign-so off to the desert he went.’ She frowned. ‘Come to think of it...Tristan doesn’t swim half as often as I do...he must have a high tolerance as well.’
‘So I’m assuming Tristan is a favorite?’
‘Of my mother’s-and the kingdom’s in general-yes. But my dad isn’t a big fan...not sure why though.’
Lincoln could think of several reasons why a father wouldn’t want a man like Tristan Loveridge around their virginal daughter, but he knew it was the wrong time to point those out. ‘And Ardhi?’
‘My best friend,’ Ivyanne whispered. ‘At least he was, until he fell in love with me, and ruined everything. That’s why I came here-because I couldn’t handle the pressure. I wasn’t in love with anyone, and couldn’t get used to the fact that suddenly, a decision was finally mine.’
‘And the other guy?’ Lincoln asked tightly, hoping it wasn’t someone else he knew.
‘Tristan’s nephew Bane. Though he doesn’t like leaving Hawaii or the resort he manages there with his parents, and I’ve been grateful for that lately.’ She finally looked at him. ‘As you can see, the other two have been shadowing me and making life...complicated.’ She reached over and patted his leg. ‘Like I’m doing to you. Are you okay?’
‘I need a minute, okay?’ Lincoln got to his feet, rubbing his head, trying to file all of the information she had just dumped on him away according to logic and relevance. He’d been so grateful to be in her company and fascinated by her story, that he’d forgotten she was there to tell him it was over. But he was seeing that now, and it terrified and angered him in equal measures.
‘So where do I factor into all of this?’ Lincoln finally asked, not looking at her. ‘A stupid victim?’ he turned to her. ‘That’s what mermaids do, isn’t it? Some part of the legends must be true. You sing, you bewitch, you steer ships into rocks and use men for breeding...’
‘Sometimes,’ Ivyanne said. ‘The breeding thing is important, and we don’t apologize for that. No race would. It’s to preserve a way of life. The singing is also true, but nine times out of ten, we were trying to steer them in the right direction.’
‘So, what about me?’ he asked. ‘Why did you draw me in?’
‘That’s where you have it backwards.’ Ivyanne smiled tenderly at him. ‘You’re the one who bewitched me, Link. And I’ll be paying the price, long after you’re released from this thrall.’
Lincoln treated Ivyanne to his best, skeptical look. ‘Excuse me? I did what? Bewitched you?’
Ivyanne shrugged, her facial features arranged into an expression of nonchalance. ‘You’re beautiful,’ she began, reaching out to tuck a floppy lock of hair out of his eyes. ‘Charismatic. Cheeky.’
‘Not like you,’ he said quickly, ‘or your other boyfriends.’
Ivyanne smiled. ‘It’s not how you see yourself that we’re talking about, is it?’ She sighed. ‘Anyway, knowing, as I had, since childhood that I was promised to someone else, I shut my heart off... until you came along.’
Lincoln’s doubt must have been written all over his face, because she laughed.
‘Don’t forget that I grew up surrounded by people, tripping over themselves to be around me because of my title. But you fell for me without knowing my worth, so I opened my heart to you.’ She frowned. ‘I was a stupid teenager-I didn’t think you’d come back after the first summer, or the second. But there you were, every year.....’ She shook her head sorrowfully. ‘I’ve no excuse for my behavior-I just couldn’t stay away from you. Even though I knew it could never amount to anything.’
Lincoln’s heartbeat began to accelerate. ‘You tried to warn me,’ he said softly. ‘I didn’t exactly heed you.’
‘No you didn’t. But if I’d been stronger or smarter-I would have done the right thing and ended it. I could have asked mum to go elsewhere, or told you I was involved...’ Her eyes met his and they were charged with electric green sorrow. ‘I’m sorry.’ She hung her head, so that her curls fell in a curtain around her face. ‘I thought I had another year-but mum had other plans. I cried for weeks.’
Lincoln reached out and ran the back of his hand down the silken veil between them. ‘So did I.’
‘Oh god...’ Ivyanne sniffled and wiped her hand under her eyes then peeked up at him through her hair. ‘At first I hated mum separating us-but in time, I started to see that it was for the best. And when I saw her this morning and she told me-’
‘This morning?!’ Lincoln demanded. ‘She’s nearby?!’
Ivyanne cringed. ‘Yes...at our summer house.’
Lincoln was floored. ‘Where?’
Ivyanne pursed her lips together and shook her head from side to side. ‘Knowing that won’t help this Lincoln. The point is-I went to see her to confess that I couldn’t choose because I was still in love with you-only for her to turn around and say that she was fully aware of that, and had allowed me to come here to say good-bye.’ She frowned. ‘All of these years I thought I’d been deceiving her but not only was she aware of you and I-but she was aware you were still here!’ She glanced at him. ‘That’s why I flipped Marcus out of his seat. That sneaky little cretin with his binoculars has been watching our every move since nineteen-ninety four and report
ing back to her!’
Lincoln hadn’t thought he could be more shocked-but he was wrong. Marcus was a mermaid? His old boss? His now employee? ‘That’s insane!’ He exploded, feeling instantly betrayed. ‘I can’t wait to give him a piece of my-’
‘Lungs?’ Ivyanne interrupted him, placing her fingers against his lips to silence his rant. Her eyes were wide with anxiety. ‘Lincoln you cannot mention this to anyone-especially not to a mer! You’ll be taken out before the next sunset if you do!’
Lincoln sagged and moved her hand away. ‘Marcus would kill me?’
Ivyanne shrugged. ‘He probably wouldn’t want to do it himself...but....’
Lincoln felt like he was being sucked out with the current all over again only this time, sharks were awaiting him. With a snarl of frustration he got to his feet and swiped at the eucalyptus leaves which fingered his hair from a low hanging branch above. ‘So... what then?! I can’t speak about this, I can’t be with you, and you can’t make me forget any of it? What’s to become of me?’ He glanced over his shoulder. ‘The makeover? The scene at the coffee house? Why would you do such things for someone you were trying to put behind you?!’
‘To make amends any way I could!’ Ivyanne go to her feet. ‘To give you closure! I saw how miserable you were and I couldn’t just leave it that way when I was in the position to make something right.’ She tugged the short white hem of her sundress down. ‘I wanted you to feel good about yourself again, and happy-but at the same time to realize that I was off-limits, which is partially why I started seeing Tristan. I didn’t count on his presence splitting you and Adele apart! And I certainly didn’t think you’d start investigating me!’
‘Well I did!’ Lincoln exploded. ‘And now I love you more.’
‘Then I’m sorry for you,’ Ivyanne whispered, her words shooting daggers into his heart. ‘I got you off a sinking ship and onto a lifeboat with a leak, I suppose.’ She held her hands up, a helpless expression on her face. ‘Whether you sink or swim, is now up to you. But you can’t have me, Lincoln.’ Tears spilled down her cheeks. ‘It breaks my heart but there’s just no way.’
Lincoln felt his temper flare. ‘I know I can’t have you, okay? You can’t turn your back on a thousand years of history to follow your own heart for my sake-I couldn’t even ask for it, now that I know the truth. I’m not stupid.’ He swooped to her side, taking her arm in his hand. ‘But you stuck around to heal me-so do it! Drown me or shoot me or sick your guard or father onto me-I don’t care.‘
Ivyanne wrenched her arm back. ‘I won’t take your life Lincoln! The pain will go away if you let it go! Everything you loved about me was an enchantment-now that you know this, you’ll move on to a woman who has earned this level of devotion!’
‘But you have earned it! You’ve changed my life! How am I ever going to fall for a girl like Adele again when I have you to compare her to? Being drawn together like this makes us soul mates, Ivyanne. I’ll think of you and know you’re thinking of me and the torture of it will-’
‘But I won’t be thinking of you.’ Ivyanne suddenly said.
Lincoln’s heart shriveled in his chest. After all of her kindness, he hadn’t expected something so insensitive to come out of her perfect mouth. ‘What? But you just said-’
‘I’d resigned myself to a loveless future-thinking about you for centuries, wanting only what I couldn’t have…. Yes I’ve loved you all of these years, it’s true.’ She whispered, her eyes shining with tears once more. ‘For so long...nobody could compare.’ She turned her back to him. ‘But I’ve changed. I’m more like Adele than you think. I manipulated you, I lied to you...’ She looked at him over her shoulder, her face contorting with some dark emotion. ‘And now I’ve given myself, and my word- to Tristan.’
‘You’re lying!’ Lincoln exploded. It was as though she’d first dumped a bucket of ice water over his head, then socked him in the stomach. ‘Just last night you said that you were still a v-’
‘Last night, I was.’ Ivyanne cut him off, cringing. ‘But that’s no longer the case.’
Lincoln felt like his heart was being put through a shredder. The purity of their connection had been the one thing holding him together, granting her compassion despite her treachery, but now, he was coming unglued. He recoiled from her, horrified. ‘Why?!’
Ivyanne looked ill. ‘To get over you. All of these years Link...I’ve been saving myself for you. For a fantasy that will never be more than tears on my pillow, and stolen kisses in a tree fort.’ She hugged herself. ‘To move on from you emotionally, I had to start physically. And so I did. Now...well for all I know, I might be carrying an heir, one that belongs to him.’ She looked him firmly in the eye. ‘Which means that I do as well.’
‘You slept with him?’ Lincoln’s voice was a whisper. His mind was spinning in circles. How could she have given herself to someone else when their kisses from earlier that day, and mere minutes before, was still scalding his lips?
‘I told you... I’m not perfect.’ Ivyanne whispered. ‘We’re not soul mates Lincoln-if we were, I would have been able to resist him. But I couldn’t.’ She rubbed her temples, looking pained. ‘Denying my natural desires is unravelling me. I just couldn’t take it anymore.’
She was killing him. Lincoln had never been in so much pain. To imagine her, naked with the same men who had rubbed his abilities in his face, who had seduced his own fiancé.... it made Lincoln’s blood boil. ‘You slept with him.’ He repeated. The words tasted like acid.
‘I did. And that weakness has made my decision for me, Lincoln. Although he’s far from perfect-Tristan has given me what I needed-time, understanding, and hope that I can survive the rest of my life without you.’ He heard her steps retreat on the creaky wooden floor. ‘And I will. Now you have to stop remembering me as the innocent virgin who you gave your heart to-and start seeing me for what I am-a sea witch, who ruined your life and gave nothing in return but pain.’
There was a faint scuttling sound, and then silence.
Lincoln stood there, gripping the rail like it was a life preserver, stung by the knowledge that the girl who had saved him from drowning had come full circle-to knocking every last molecule of oxygen out of his lungs.
‘Thank you,’ he whispered after her. He was hurting so much, he knew he’d never be able to look at her, or remember her, the same way again. He collapsed onto the floor of the decrepit old fort, and began to sob.
31.
Ivyanne had never wept so much before in one night. Three times, she had to stop as her body was wracked with sobs. She leaned against a palm tree on the outer edge of the forest and buried her face in her arms, shoulders heaving, nose running. Her room was only one row of trees away and yet she couldn’t face the idea of leaving the rainforest and facing the rest of the world. She had just defiled her own sanctuary.
‘Ivyanne!’ A voice suddenly said, from not far away. ‘Is that you?’
Ivyanne swatted the tears away from her eyes and regarded the shadowy figure creeping through the trees. ‘Tristan?’ she sniffled. ‘Go away, you shouldn’t see me like this.’
‘No, it’s Bane. Bane Londeree.’
Ivyanne’s stomach hit her shoes. ‘Bane?’ her hand went to her throat as she began to back up, stumbling over exposed and unseen roots. ‘Do not come even one step closer! Whatever you have to say, I don’t want to hear it!’
‘Fine! I’ll stay here...okay?’ he asked quickly. ‘Stop running though. No neck breaking on my account, please.’
Ivyanne stopped, eyeing his shadow warily. ‘Please go. I’m having a shocking day. I can’t handle even one more-’
‘But I’m not here to ask you to marry me!’ Bane said.
She swallowed, not wanting to believe her ears and get her hopes up. ‘You’re not?’
‘No. Now come out of the bushes please-people are looking for you all over.’
She swallowed again, taking a hesitant step forward, wiping away more tears. ‘What if I don’t
want to be found?’
Bane chuckled. ‘I won’t tell anyone. Now get over here and give me a hug! You sound like you need one.’
Ivyanne rushed forward, throwing her arms around the Hawaiian boy’s neck, a fresh round of sobs escaping from her throat as his comforting arms squeezed her tight.
‘Aloha,’ Bane said softly, holding her tight.
‘Aloha,’ she sniffled, relieved by his sudden presence now that she knew he wasn’t there to put the pressure on. Tristan was cheeky, Ardhi was emotional-but Bane was the joker. All of the Londeree’s were like that-she suspected it was a Hawaiian thing, to be relaxed and jovial most of the time. Probably all of that sunshine. His company had always buoyed her.
‘Okay, get a grip Wahine,’ Bane said. ‘You’ve been through worse than this.’
She cried harder into his shoulder. ‘But this time, it’s my own fault!’
Bane pulled back, bracing her by the arms, staring into her face intently. ‘Oh boy, you are a mess! I don’t need to call Lindsay Lohan’s damage control people do I?’
‘Wouldn’t help me,’ she sniffled. ‘Please tell me you’re here because you met your soulmate and are relieving me of one less chore?’
He winked at her. ‘No, but I am here to rescind my parents’ invitation.’
It was almost to good to be true. ‘Why?’
He smiled. ‘Ivyanne, you’re an amazing girl...nervous breakdowns, and the fact that the people who promise to marry you drop dead aside-of course-that’s scary....’
She made a face at him, but smiled reluctantly. Only he could make her tragedy seem ironic and funny. ‘Get to the point,’ she warned him.