by Amber Garr
They lifted the man and carried him towards me. His limp body hung at an awkward angle as three selkies tried to maneuver him onto one of the tables where, just a few hours ago, we’d had a wonderful family dinner. His blond sun-streaked hair was unmistakable and I almost collapsed when I saw who it was.
“Kain!” I yelled, temporarily forgetting that I was on the phone.
“Eviana? What’s happening?” Graham was still trying to talk to me.
“I have to go.” I hung up and tossed my phone on the ground. Lucian had destroyed so many, and now it looked like he was about to take one more.
Eighteen
“What happened?” I asked anyone who would answer. Kain’s beautiful face was crumpled with pain as he tried to control his breathing. My gaze drifted to his side where I could see dark blood pooling and seeping out past the hands that were holding his wound. With a start, I realized that one of those hands was mine. I must have instantly put pressure on the injury without even realizing it.
Kain was still conscious and he turned his head to look up at me. “He was waiting in the water.” His voice was so soft, I needed to bend over right next to his mouth to hear him. “He waited until I was alone…” Kain coughed and winced in pain the instant he moved. I felt my hand warm as more and more blood pumped out of his body.
“Shh…don’t talk.”
Besides, I already knew what happened. Lucian had been behind all of this. When I took back control over the selkies, he’d waited until one person was alone. He must have been just offshore laughing at us all while we battled the ratchets that never intended to hurt us. And as we fought against those we called friends. The anger boiled inside of me again. I was tired of dealing with this man. He had hurt his last person.
“Eviana…” Kain whispered but he never got to finish. After another cough, his eyes closed and he passed out from either the pain or the blood loss. Or maybe it was from both.
“Please call the doctor!” I yelled and Daniel slipped in next to my side.
“He’s already on the way and he’s bringing Dr. Burgess, too.” Dr. Burgess was human, but he’d worked closely with our clan doctor for a long time. He knew how to keep our secret and in exchange he got to learn all that he could about mermaid and shape-shifter physiology.
“Okay, that’s good.”
I didn’t really know what else to say. Instead, I stared down into Kain’s pale face and realized that it would literally break apart the rest of me if I lost him, too. Brendan was already gone and my uncle was dead. He had been the only tie left to my mother and with his death, I felt a huge void in my stomach. If Kain died too, I really didn’t think I would recover. It was just too much.
The doctor’s came and began to patch up who and what they could. Palmer’s injuries were pretty critical and Troy had a concussion. I was assured that they both should recover as soon as they were well enough to shift. Fortunately, no one else was killed, although I think that some of the wounds inflicted would take a long time to heal.
Julian spent the rest of the evening secluding himself from us and tending only to his selkies. Guilt was written all over his face. He had fallen under Lucian’s spell again although I think what was grating at him more was the fact that he hurt those he’d sworn to protect.
Malcolm had been one of the selkies on the beach and thought he might have been the one to hurt Palmer. But he didn’t wallow in his guilt, and instead did everything he could to assist the doctor’s. Apparently, he had been a medic during his military stint, and I was grateful that his training seemed to trump all other reactions.
Daniel and Marisol prepared several of the bedrooms for the wounded. They felt like this was the best way to help, and I also think that they were trying to avoid Aleksey and Quinlan. Their loved ones had viciously attacked them. Even though we now knew why, I wasn’t sure if their relationships would be able to move past this.
I felt bad for all four of them. Finding true love is hard enough. When that person is someone whom you are not supposed to love, it makes it even more difficult. Especially when they do something to betray your trust.
I shuddered and looked at the clock. It was nearly dawn. The flight that Kain and I were supposed to take to Montana was leaving in just a few hours. Exhaustion tried to pull me under, but one look at Kain was all I needed to keep me going.
We moved him into a guest bedroom by himself. The doctors were able to stop the bleeding but it would be days before Kain would walk again. Apparently Lucian literally skewed him with a sword. In his brief moments of consciousness, Kain told us how Lucian appeared behind him and stabbed him through the back. He didn’t say anything to my friend, just simply tried to kill him. The doctors seemed to think that the location of the wound was deliberate. It wouldn’t kill Kain right away, but was instead intended to cause a slow, agonizing death.
I stayed by his side until he finally fell asleep from the concoction the doctors gave him. They said that it would allow him to remain unconscious all day and that they would try and encourage him to shift later tonight. That should help with the healing although it may take several days of shifts before he would recover completely.
Being asleep allowed Kain’s body to heal, but it also gave me a reprieve from what I knew would have been an argument. I had every intention of travelling to Montana and meeting Lucian face to face and I knew that Kain would have argued against it. In fact, one of the Council’s own members was discouraging me to go. In thinking about Graham, I decided to at least return his phone call to let him know what had happened here.
I locked myself in my bedroom to make the call. All of the blood, glass, and broken bodies downstairs did nothing to calm my angry and frazzled nerves. I needed a few moments away.
Graham answered on the first ring. “Where did you go? I thought Lucian was attacking you again.”
“He was.” I let out a deep breath and told him everything. I went back to the morning Brendan left and filled him in from there. Graham stayed quiet, only adding the occasional question or comment. Thankfully, he left the whole Brendan situation alone.
“So you have the sprites on your side?”
“Yes. They helped us last night.” Well, Abhainn had, but he didn’t need to know every last detail.
“I really don’t think that you should go to Montana, Eviana. Lucian wants something from you and he’s obviously willing to kill anyone who gets in the way.”
“Have you guys figured out why he wants me yet?” I was hoping that the Council, in all of their glory, would be able to provide some answers. When my question was met with silence, my heart began to pound in my chest. “Graham? You know something don’t you?”
More silence. I was suddenly very uneasy about this conversation and some gut instinct of mine sent chills down the back of my neck. Graham knew and he wasn’t telling me.
“I can’t talk you out of this can I?” he asked, instead of answering my question.
“Why?”
“Because it’s not safe. Lucian is…he’s crazy. He won’t ever stop.”
“Then why won’t you tell me what he wants?” I yelled into the phone.
“Because I can’t,” he whispered. It was barely audible and his tone was full of pain.
“What do you mean?”
“Eviana….please.”
“I’m going Graham and if this thing is so bad, then you should tell me before Lucian kills me.” I was hoping a guilt trip would help my cause, but I think it just made him angry.
“You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met. When are you leaving?”
“In two hours.”
He snorted. “Fine. I will see you when you land.” He hung up the phone before I could argue. I didn’t want to see him and I didn’t need Graham fighting my battles for me.
Or did I? He was a powerful merman, Council member, and someone who really did seem to take an honest interest in my safety. Now that Kain couldn’t be there with me, I suppose I shouldn’t protest t
he presence of someone as strong as Graham by my side.
I took a quick shower and packed a bag of warm clothes. Even though it was almost summer, the Rockies still had snow and apparently we were all staying in the middle of the mountains.
I had just over an hour before I needed to be at the airport. With one last check on Kain, I walked to the kitchen and into the middle of a cleaning frenzy. Quinlan, Aleksey, and Daniel were working with a few other selkies at cleaning up the blood and glass. The smell of bleach overpowered the room, but they were doing a good job.
The doctors removed my uncle’s body and I knew that I would have to tend to his arrangements when I got back. The meeting with Lucian was happening tonight, so I had every intention of catching the first flight home tomorrow morning.
“Eviana, please don’t go.” I looked behind me to see my sister standing in the archway that led to the living room. Daniel and the selkies stopped what they were doing to stare at me as well.
“You’re still going?” Daniel asked.
“I have to.”
“But look at what he’s done,” Marisol pleaded as she moved closer towards me. “He’s hurt us all so much. Why would you want to speak to him?” She was hurting and her pain was beginning to break through the wall I’d built up around myself in the last hour. I lifted my arms and she ran to me. I hugged my sister and felt her tiny shaking body against mine. This stupid war was killing everything we loved and everything we were.
“It will be okay, Marisol. The Council will be there and they’ll have a dozen protectors.”
“I want to go with you,” a deep voice growled from the other side of the kitchen. We all looked over to see Julian standing there with his hands in his pocket and his head down. “I would like to see Lucian again.”
“That’s not a good idea,” I said.
“Yeah, she’s right,” Daniel added.
Julian paced around the kitchen while he fisted his hands at his side. “He needs to be stopped. This has gone way too far. His stupid reasons for this war are no longer justifiable.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked, abruptly aware that Julian may have more information about Lucian’s motives.
He stopped moving but never looked up. “I just mean that whatever his intentions are, he’s hurt enough people to last a lifetime. He made me attack your friends and kill your uncle. I am tired of being controlled like a puppet and I do not want to live our lives in fear of that man dictating our behavior any longer!”
No one said anything because he had a valid point. I tried to imagine what it would be like to have all of my free will taken away without warning and be forced to do horrible things to people that I care about. Julian was the strongest selkie of their kind, and even he couldn’t resist the wrath of Lucian.
I unwrapped myself from my sisters arms and walked across the room to grab a hold of Julian’s hands. “No one blames you. It wasn’t your fault.”
He looked down at me with such sad green eyes that my heart instantly crumbled. I’ve seen that look before on another selkie’s face. It was the look of disappointment and defeat. “Please let me go with you,” he pleaded.
I shook my head. “No, it’s too risky and the rest of your group needs for you to stay here right now. The Council and their guards will be there. I’ll be fine.”
“But…”
“No. You can’t. I won’t risk it.” I didn’t need to say it, but we both knew what I was talking about. If Lucian could control him again, it would be disastrous when the Council’s elite protectors were there. Julian didn’t stand a chance. There would be no forgiveness. “Will you please watch over Kain for me?”
It was a request that I would trust to few others and I think Julian realized this. Not only was Kain an important political figure in our world, but he was an important person in my life. The thought of him not being in it anymore terrified me and I believe Julian understood that better than anyone else.
He nodded and walked towards the bedroom where Kain was sleeping without saying another word to any of us.
I said my goodbyes and promised to be back in one day. I hoped that we would have some type of solution in place when I returned to my clan. It was time to end this.
As I flew on the private jet towards the secluded mountains of Montana, I tried to come up with a plan. But the only thing I knew for sure is that I would do my best to temporarily appease Lucian by giving him what he wants. We all needed that time to prepare a final attack on him and his allies and if I could buy us a few days or even weeks, then that was what I needed to do. That’s what was in the best interest of my clan and what would hopefully save some lives.
Nineteen
The plane landed with gut-wrenching screech and I sent out a silent thank you for arriving in one piece. The trip had been uneventful as I’d been wrapped up deep in thought for the past few hours. It was almost like I had been alone in my mind trying to fathom what might possible happen later tonight.
But I wasn’t alone after all. Troy had woken up long enough to insist that a couple of protectors travel with me. Since there were only two of them without arms in slings or broken bodies, he had picked Caleb and another young merman, Gregory. Both of them remained silent the entire time, almost as if we had all been contemplating the same scenarios over and over.
I didn’t trust Lucian for one moment. I knew that he would try something tonight but it wasn’t doing my nerves any good to continue to imagine everything that could possibly go wrong.
The jet pulled up to the small hanger and the pilots opened the door for us. Graham wasn’t waiting there, which was actually a tad disappointing. However, there was a driver who introduced himself as Randy, and he ushered us to a Jeep in the parking lot. We drove through the small, quaint town of Red Lodge and up into the mountain pass. Almost an hour later, we arrived at the lodge that someone at the Council had decided was a safe place to stay.
There wasn’t one large building, instead, I counted ten different individual cabins nestled amongst the acreage. We had two cabins, obviously meant for Kain and me, but since he wasn’t here, the three of us decided on the larger one with two bedrooms. It seemed as if no one from the Council was here yet, so I tried to get some rest. It had been over twenty-four hours since I last slept and with everything that had happened, my body and my brain needed a break.
I didn’t hear it at first, but when the knocking on my door turned into pounding, I realized that someone had been trying to wake me up. I rolled over to see that I’d slept for nearly six hours. Jumping out of bed in a state of shock, I ran to the door to see why they let me sleep so late.
“Caleb,” I said as I jerked open the door and saw his fist raised up for another knock. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you wake me up?”
He looked down at me with a slight apologetic smile on his face. “You needed to rest and nothing was happening before.”
“Oh. Okay.” I shifted uncomfortably. My jeans and sweater were twisted all around my body because I hadn’t even bothered to change. I was sure my hair was a mess and what little makeup I had worn was now gone. “So why are you pounding on my door?”
He smiled again and tilted his head towards the little kitchen and living room area. “Master Forrester is here to see you.”
My heart fluttered a bit before I remembered that I was kind of angry with Graham. He was hiding something and I needed to figure out what this secret was before we met with Lucian tonight. “Okay, I’ll be right there.”
I rushed into the bathroom and brushed my teeth. Splashing water on my face and hair, I tried to make myself somewhat presentable. After all, I was a clan leader and Graham was a Council member.
Five minutes later, I opened the door to see that our cabin was empty. Movement from the front window caught my attention and I saw Graham pacing in the yard. Caleb had decided to wait on the porch, apparently watching over him. I slipped into my shoes and made my way outside.
The two men had not be
en speaking to each other and when I nodded to Caleb, he didn’t move. “It’s okay,” I assured him. “Graham and I just need to talk about a few things before tonight.”
Caleb looked around the property nervously; eyes darting from cabin to cabin and then to the forest surrounding the perimeter. “Where are the other members?”
“What?” I asked.
“The rest of the Council?”
Graham groaned. “I already told you, bloke that they are on their way.” Graham looked at me and smiled slightly. “There was an emergency meeting about the attack at your house last night.”
I nodded my head in understanding, but Caleb kept pushing. “I don’t like it. Something doesn’t feel right.”
Although I was inclined to agree with him, Graham didn’t seem to pose that much of a threat. After all, he had saved my life once already. I doubted that he would do anything to purposely harm me now. “It’s alright Caleb.” When he looked at me again, I added, “I promise.”
I stepped off the porch and joined Graham’s side. “We need to talk.”
“Yes, we do,” he replied and then spoke to Caleb. “I’ll bring her back before the meeting.”
“You better,” Caleb grumbled while sending out a warning with his eyes.
We turned and walked away from the cabin towards the edge of the woods. “Where are we going?”
“Let’s just take a walk, okay?” I stopped in my tracks. Something about his tone sent shivers through my spine.
“What’s going on?”
He reached toward me and wrapped his arm around my lower back, effectively pulling me alongside of him. “I just don’t want an audience.” He jerked his head back towards my cabin where Caleb and Gregory were now watching our retreat. I still didn’t feel completely comfortable, but I knew Graham wouldn’t hurt me.
We stomped through patches of snow and wet ground and made our way down a path cleared for hikers. “Where’s the rest of the Council?” I asked in an accusatory tone.