by D. S. Murphy
“What happens when the war is over?” Marcus asked.
Things were going better than I expected. I could see the interest in his eyes. Now we were just haggling over the details.
“120 pints of merrow blood per year. Delivered to you. 10 pints for each family, as long as the truce lasts. But if you harm any merrow, good or evil, the truce will be over, and I will no longer be your ally.”
I didn’t have time to discuss the details with Sebastian or Ethan, and I wasn’t sure whether they’d approve. But I had to buy some time. If we actually survived the coming war and found a way to stop Sebastian’s father, we could renegotiate the terms later… if we lived that long.
“In return, there will be peace; you will not attack our people—unless they are doing something wrong. If they are, tell me and I will see them punished myself. They are not to harm any human beings or compel them against their will. I will punish my people, you punish yours. The blood will come as long as the peace treaty is maintained.”
“It sounds lovely,” Marcas said with a smirk. “There’s just one problem. Who are you to negotiate for the merrow? You’re just a little girl. An American. You don’t belong here, and you have no idea of the forces you’re meddling with.”
I pulled out my mother’s necklace and showed it to them. The blue stone sparkled in the dim afternoon light of the veiled canyon.
“You don’t recognize this, because you aren’t familiar with the merrow, but it is the royal seal of our people,” I said.
“Prove it!” one of the men said loudly from the back.
“We don’t need your help,” grumbled another. “She’s one of them, how can we believe anything she says?”
I had to make them take me seriously. They needed a demonstration of power. I’d prepared for that, too. I knew my necklace was a very powerful Baetulia. More powerful than the Tuatha Dé were used to. Earlier this week, by putting a few drops of Sebastian’s blood on his car and clenching the pendant in my fist, I was able to lift all four wheels off the ground.
But here, there was so much blood. I could feel it, as soon as I entered the valley, calling out to me. Trevor’s fresh blood on the main stone, his crushed body beneath it. Frozen rivers of blood spreading out in every direction. And then there was the older stuff. A hundred bodies worth of blood, going back centuries. I could feel it in the roots of the trees, in the leaves above me, smeared lavishly onto each of the stones in the circle. And there, deep beneath the stones, a mass grave of merrow bodies—or what was left of them. It made me angry. I hated being here, and having to make a truce with these people, who had done this much violence to the merrow. I hated needing to prove myself to them, as if I were asking for a favor rather than handing them their salvation. My cheeks flushed and the Baetulia around my neck started glowing brightly, radiating teal light in response to my will. I’d struggled with Sebastian’s car for ten minutes before I managed to lift it. But with the amount of merrow blood at Temhair Falach, this would be child’s play.
It had taken all twelve of the Cael to lift the altar stone during the last sacrifice. I raised it with a flick of my finger. The snowflakes caught in the orb of my energy starting spinning around me. I’d never felt this much power before. I wondered what else I was capable of. I raised both arms and reached out to the blood in the ground, the blood in the stones and the trees. The earth rippled and shifted like an earthquake. The Tuatha Dé cried out in panic. It was similar to my experience with the ocean—it was difficult to raise everything, or focus on multiple things at once. I realized I was sweating, basically trying to rip the trees out of the ground by their roots. I felt like my bones might snap under the pressure. I concentrated on just the major stones of the inner circle and took a deep breath. I felt unstable and wobbly, but managed to lift them up briefly—a dozen megaliths, along with the massive altar stone—before dropping them again. The force of them hitting the ground knocked several of the men off their feet. I tried to keep my legs from shacking as Ethan helped me down from the rock.
“With that kind of power,” Ethan whispered in my ear, “who needs allies?” Many of the Tuatha Dé had pulled out weapons during the chaos. Now they stood like statues, their eyes wide with terror. Marcus raised his hand to calm them, and eyed me appraisingly.
“It seems I may have underestimated you,” he said. “Since you say you want peace between us, and as the granddaughter of our former leader, Gilroy Blake, you are safe from us. For now. Until you’re able to fulfill your part of the bargain. 120 pints a year is about one pint every three days. We’ll expect the first shipment soon.”
“But we don’t have any merrow to kill,” I said, frowning. “The merrow blood will come once the war starts.”
“The way I understood it,” Marcus Byrne said slowly, flashing his teeth, “during the war you claim is coming, we’ll be able to gather blood freely from the fallen merrow. The 120 pints is something extra, to keep the peace between the two races. Since the war hasn’t started yet, and we are officially at peace, I assumed you’d begin supplying us with blood immediately. After all, isn’t that what you’re offering us—ammunition to prepare for the coming war? If you don’t supply it before the fighting starts, what do we need you for?”
I gulped. Marcus had a point, but I hadn’t thought this through. With Sebastian leaving and Trevor dead, where was I going to get all that merrow blood? I realized Marcus was testing me, to see how I’d respond. He wanted to see if I’d keep my word, and if I could deliver what I’d promised.
“I’ll deliver the first shipment as soon as I can,” I said, with more confidence than I felt. “You can start counting from today. One pint every three days, until the war begins.”
***
The day Sebastian left, it rained. Although we’d been talking about it for weeks, I still wasn’t ready to say goodbye. The Tuatha Dé had agreed to my terms—for now. The lure of that much merrow blood, enough to reclaim the legendary powers of their ancestors, was too good to refuse. And they’d also agreed to help us fight against the merrow invasion during a full-out war, if it came to that. But it was a fragile truce. I would need to keep supplying the blood, which meant, in peace time I would need donors. Sebastian was going back to tell his father that he’d found an heir, and call his authority into question. It wasn’t a permanent solution, but should hamper his ability to lead the merrow into a campaign against the humans. The merrow might not agree to the contract I’d made with the Tuatha Dé, but I felt like we’d made an important first step. The olive branch had been offered, and accepted. What came next was anybody’s guess.
I was protected, for now, as long as the other families believed I was Colin’s daughter and respected the old laws. That could change quickly, but I’d be safe if I stayed close to Ethan and Morgan. And even without their protection, I wasn’t afraid to be on my own. With my grandmother’s pendant and Sebastian’s training, I felt stronger than I ever had before. Not to mention the show of force I’d displayed at Temhair Falach. After seeing what I was capable of, I was sure the Tuatha Dé would rather have me as an ally than make an enemy of me.
Sebastian had been weird the last few days. Distant. I thought we’d moved past that, after his romantic gesture with the piano, but now he was slipping back into his shell. He seemed shy, almost insecure around me. He packed light—actually he didn’t pack at all. Where he was going, he didn’t need any of the things we take for granted: clothes, credit cards, a cell phone. For my sake I suspect he kept a pair of shorts on, then paused by the front door to say goodbye.
My heart tightened. The thought of him leaving made it hard to breath. Hard to stand. I put my hand out against the doorway and took a deep breath, filling my lungs and then letting the air out slowly.
“I left my keys on the counter,” he said. “You can use my apartment and car while I’m gone. Also, I left a small bottle of my blood, it should be about a pint. Just in case you need something to bargain with. I’d rather you have somethi
ng to trade if it comes down to that.”
“When will you be back?” I asked.
“A couple weeks, if all goes well.”
“And if it doesn’t?”
“I’ll just have to make sure that it does,” Sebastian said.
He kissed me on the forehead, then once on the cheek. I thought he was going to say something else—he had that pensive, brooding look he gets when he has something on his mind. But instead he gave me a hug and turned to leave, walking barefoot across the grass towards the sea. The rain was pouring now and there was thunder in the distance. Sebastian was halfway across the lawn, just starting to disappear behind the curtain of raindrops, when I ran after him.
“Sebastian!” I yelled his name and he turned around. I threw myself into his arms and held him tightly. I kissed him, a real kiss. Deep and lingering. Then I looked into his eyes for certainty. A promise of some kind, that he’d return for me. That I mattered to him. When I saw hesitation and doubt instead, I started crying.
He wiped my tears away and held me against his chest. The rain soaked through my clothes but I didn’t care. I didn’t want to let go.
“It’s not too late to run away,” Sebastian said quietly. “If that’s what you want. Just you and I. We can find a corner of the world and have it all to ourselves.”
“Would you… want that? Want me?” I asked.
Sebastian’s eyes widened and his grip on me tightened.
“How can you ask that?” he said. “Everything I’m doing is for you. You’re the only thing I want. Nothing else matters to me. However, I also know how you’d feel if the merrow attacked and we let it happen. If Portballintrae and Aedan, Jackie, Patricia—everyone you love was taken away from you. Because of me. I can’t let that happen. You’d never look at me the same again.”
“But after it’s over, if we can stop the attack, stop the war, then we can be together, right?”
Sebastian’s expression looked almost pained. There was definitely something he wasn’t telling me.
“You’re freaking me out,” I said. “Whatever it is, I’d rather know now than obsess about it for the next two weeks.”
“It’s nothing. I mean it’s just… you’re a princess now, the last descendant of Poisedon. If the merrow accept you, you could become a queen. There would be expectations. Duties. You’d probably need to marry into a noble family. The elders would demand it, if you were to rule—especially because you’re only a half-blood. They’d want your children to be as pure blood as possible, to renew the royal lineage.
“Which means what, exactly?
“Even if you change, you’d have responsibilities to our race, to our future. Rulers don’t always have the luxury to follow their hearts.”
“But I don’t want it. Any of it.” I just want you, I added silently.
“You may not have a choice. Besides, after Trevor, I’m the only merrow you’ve ever met. As princess you could marry anybody—”
“No,” I said firmly. “Just no. I’m agreeing to some things I’m not comfortable with already. But I won’t be told who to be with. Who to love.”
Sebastian cocked an eyebrow and the corner of his mouth twitched.
“You love me, do you?”
Shit, did just say that?
“You know what I mean,” I said, backpedaling. “Maybe us being together isn’t easy right now. Maybe dating shouldn’t be the first thing on our minds. I can accept that. But I refuse to give up the idea that someday we have a possibility to be together. Otherwise, what are we fighting for?”
He smiled, with a spark of desire in his eyes, and then pulled me towards him. He kissed me again, and this time there was no hesitation. Our wet bodies pressed together, and despite the cold rain, his kisses burned my skin with fervent urgency. He lifted me up and our bodies melded like puzzle pieces, fitting perfectly. I kissed his jaw, his neck, exploring the taste of him, feeling his strong arms wrap around me. His lips seared a path down my neck and shoulders. The very air around us seemed charged with electricity, and the roar of the ocean behind us drowned out the thudding of my aching heart. I buried my face against his throat and inhaled his scent—salty water, seaweed, lemon. I wanted it to last forever, just this little piece of perfection. When he set me down again I was breathless. I felt a tremor of excitement run through my body, and shivered as a gust of cold air passed through the space between our bodies.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” he whispered into my hair.
He kissed me once more, on the palm of my hand, before turning to leave me alone in the rain. My heart took a perilous leap as I watched him climb down the rocks and sink beneath the pounding surf. And then he was gone.
I waited in the rain until I was sure I couldn’t see him anymore, and then returned to his apartment in the Runkerry House. A dozen fresh red roses were in a vase on the counter next to a large conch shell. On the counter was a note.
I’ll be back before the last rose dies. If you need me, blow into the shell, then listen for my answer.
43
Two and a half weeks later, Sebastian still hadn’t returned. I’d gotten into the habit of going to Ethan’s directly after school. On my second visit, Morgan showed me her library—a sprawling maze of shelves filled with leather bound books and journals. Half of them were hand-written or printed in old type I could barely read. Together we spent hours combing through the histories, looking for clues about what happened to the four treasures of the Tuatha Dé, or details about how to make more.
We did find some rituals for creating defensive wards—a few of the sacred objects that had been passed down to Morgan came with instructions carved into their surface in tiny lettering. Most, however, called for “soaking” the objects in merrow blood for three days or more. Morgan showed me the cellar in the basement, which had space for over one hundred bottles of merrow blood. Only two were left, and Morgan wasn’t prepared to waste them on an experiment.
“One of the only reasons the Cael still exists,” she said, “is that none of us know how much blood the other families have left. The leadership of the Cael goes to the strongest families. Power used to be measured in extravagant displays of magic. The most incredible feats earned the respect of the community. This used to happen every year, then it changed to every ten years. The displays these days are often simple and conservative. Just enough to show that the head of each family still has at least a little merrow blood left, but not so much it would be seen as wasteful. If the others knew the Blakes only had two remaining bottles, they might gang up against us. On the other hand, maybe they have even less.”
“It’s more conservative to make relics and magical items like jewelry or pendants, but they still need to be renewed with a drop of blood every few years or they stop working. And there are better ways to use the blood. A drop of blood every month can nearly double a person’s life span. Marcus is said to be over two hundred years old. He was already a grown man when Gilroy was a boy. My husband used to say that Marcus never aged a bit; he always looked exactly the same.”
“There’s one thing that’s been bothering me,” I said, changing the subject. It surprised me that Marcus was that old, but I didn’t see how it mattered. “Someone wrote a note, from a friend of my mother, to get me alone on the pier in Portrush. Someone with a Tuatha Dé dagger. They stabbed me and pushed me into the water, just to see what would happen. If it was one of the Tuatha Dé, that means they ignored your protective ward. Does that mean I’m still in danger?”
“We have secrets, even among ourselves. If someone did do that, they wouldn’t admit it now, after finding out you’re kin. On the other hand, the Tuatha Dé are not the only ones who hunt merrow. I’ve heard of other groups, secretive and clandestine, that see it as their mission to wipe out the merrow. They think they’re on a holy mission of some kind.”
She lifted her long dress carefully to climb the wooden ladder and reach the top shelf. “Ah, here it is… They called themselves Worrem. Th
ough this was written centuries ago. I don’t know if they are even around anymore.”
At sunset I’d spar with Ethan. I had to be careful after practicing with Sebastian—Ethan might have magical abilities but his flesh was still soft and weak compared to Sebastian’s rock-like exo. Plus, I was much faster now. When my fists were soaked in salt water I left bruises on his body, and I could block his blows with my forearms without feeling any pain. After a few days of that, Ethan built a wooden dummy for me to torture and said we’d practice dry from now on. That way, we were just about evenly matched. I could still move faster, but my punches didn’t cause as much damage. And if I blocked his attacks with my forearms, they were soon weak and useless. Which meant I had to actually learn to get out of the way—dipping and ducking, sometimes even rolling to the side to avoid his blows, and then springing up to strike him whenever I could.
Sometimes he’d cheat, using his Baetulia to throw things at me. A rake, a bottle, or anything to throw me off balance and open me up for an attack. I could also smell his tattoos smoldering occasionally. He’d use the merrow blood to make himself temporarily stronger or faster. When he did that, he’d usually have me pinned on the ground in a few moves, no matter what I did.
“Don’t you think you should save some of that for a real fight?” I asked.
“Nah, it’s fine. A mermaid princess promised us more,” he smirked, dancing around me like a boxer. He had on jogging pants and a black T-shirt that clung to the sweat on his body.
“Besides, I already spent most of it at the bonfire. I’ve never used that much before, I didn’t know exactly how to control it. I’m not sure I even have enough left for a real fight. So unless we can get more, and soon, I’d probably be useless anyway. Might as well have some fun with what’s left. And if there is still someone after you, they aren’t likely to play by the rules.”
I frowned. Having Ethan use up the last of his stores helping me train wasn’t a very smart option. I thought about the blood Sebastian left me. He said it was for emergencies, or to trade—but why not give it to Ethan? After all, Ethan was supposed to be keeping me safe while Sebastian was away. On the other hand, we were training so that I’d get stronger. So I could defend myself.